Letters to the Editor
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The Bad Guy
I, too, have been labeled as the "bad guy" at gatherings with my husband's side of the family. My husband is a liberal in a family of raging conservatives. You name it, they got it: jesus freaks, gun zealots, separatist types, and the general tone during these dinners consists of gay bashing, tax rage, and the seniors bitching about the high cost of health care. I sit there and think, wow, are you people really that stupid that you complain about the high cost of health care and you're on a fixed income, and you keep voting Republican??? I guess they are content in knowing that if someone breaks into their home wanting to steal their TV, they can grab the nearest firearm and shoot to kill. Of course, the chances of this happening are one-in-a-black-hole-type-number, but who needs affordable medicine when you have the right to own dozens of really neat, shiny guns???
My brother-in-law is a 48 year old loser, doesn't drive because of repeated DUI citations, doesn't keep his house in his own name because the federal government will take it away for payment of back taxes, does not have mail delivered to his address, and drinks himself into oblivion every night. He is the typical never been married macho know it all, always insisting he's right about everything. He's an argumentative ass who barely holds a job but bitches endlessly about taxes. What I pay in taxes in one year exceeds his total income over a three year period. People are funny, huh?
I have learned to keep my mouth shut about politics/religion when I am around them, not because I care what they they think of me, but because I prefer to engage in worthwhile exchanges with enlightened people, not people who are blinded by the rantings of HannityInsanity, Druggie Limbaugh, and the sexual predator O'LIElly. My in-laws and other relatives by marriage are so misguided and delusional, they are just not worth the energy.
I have been screamed at, told who I should vote for, told that I need to find jesus, told to remove the Kerry-Edwards sign from my front window, and asked, with much exasperation I might add, why on earth I would have an "Impeach Bush" bumper sticker on my car. Of course, they all believe that Clinton's impeachment, and the millions Starr spent, was totally warranted. I savor the times when this point comes up because I get to remind them that the Clinton impeachment was killed in the senate. Ha!
My side of the family is better, but only by a little. I was raised by FDR Democrats, but since my father died almost 5 years ago my mother has steadily moved to the right. My sister was a moderate Democrat until she married a Republican cop and had two children with him. She literally believes that terrorists are going to come to the United States and eat her children. My other sister, who also used to be a Democrat, thought that the police should have had the right to shoot the people who "refused" to evacuate New Orleans during the hurricane. I tried to point out that many people simply did not have the resources to leave, and she replied that if "they" weren't so lazy and would just get a job, they would have had the resources to get out.
This all leaves me with a very frightened feeling.