ITT we discuss political/religious debates we have with irrational people in our family, and reflect on how far our civilization has advanced since the barbaric times of past generations.
I've been wanting to beat a few family members over the head with common sense for a while, and i've gotten a nice opportunity lately thanks to an old christian conservative in my family who basically just learned how to use the internet. Below is our facebook chat, up until the point he bailed on me due to being pwned so hard. I know it's way tldr (hence the commentary outside of the quotes), but you should still skim a bit of what he says to see how astoundingly packed with soundbites and propaganda his dinosaur brain is.
I send a link to a documentary showing how evil Fox News is:
Me said:
<relative's name>:
I just watched an interesting documentary on Fox News that I wanted to share with you. It's really important to be aware of what goes into TV news these days, and I think I can say with full understanding of your conservative viewpoint that this video makes a good case for Fox doing more harm than good to conservatives in America (note - if the video quality on Youtube is too poor, I can show it to you on Netflix sometime):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFDwdRXCg3I&feature=related
He writes it off without watching it since it's made by "liberals", and proceeds to spew his standard litany of evils about Obama/Democrats:
Relative said:
Who wrote this? a Liberal!!Obama's done way enough to divide this Country,If he wins the election ,We will no longer have our freedoms that we have now.We will be a socialist state.the economy will crash in 2013.Pay attention to how the Trayvon Martin case played out and NBC Doctored it up and now troublemakers like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson along with Obama make this a case on Racism.Pay attention to what's really going on.Wake up the Liberals want this country to be third world.Do you want someone to take the money you have earned and give it to some Illegal who never has worked.You cross the border in North Korea or Iran and You will be arrested.you cross it here and you will get free food and healthcare and a job.
Obama is now doing everything in his power to betray Isreal.He is on the side of the rogue nations.He got caught red handed on tape and told the Prime Minister of Russia to tell Putin that after the election he has more leadroom meaning he's giving up our nukes so WE CAN GET NUKED BY SOME PISS ASS COMMUNIST NATION AND GET TURNED IN TO A PARKING LOT!!Pay attention to what's going on and figure out how that son of a Bitch President we now have is selling us out.Don't worry about Fox they are the most popular news agency going.They must be doing something right.If you want to make a difference,get involved with the heritage foundation.This Country was founded on principles and Socialism has never worked.I guess it's alright to be with the young generation and be cool and be a liberal but dont forget where you came from.your grandfather who was in the pacific and your great Uncle who ate shit in a Japanese war camp would not approve of a U.S. president apoligizing to the Japanese.
I watched it Grant and came the conclusion when i saw thw gentlemen from media maters who insidently is funded by george sirious who funds all liberal groups lik acorn and others which are designed to take this country down.this all hogwash.
Media Matters
I call him out on trusting Fox and the Republicans:
Me said:
"Don't worry about Fox they are the most popular news agency going. They must be doing something right."
What do you mean by "doing something right"? Fox is popular because their programs are entertaining to watch. The documentary provides numerous interviews with ex-Fox employees who all say they were ordered (on penalty of losing their careers) to present biased and misleading stories -- propaganda -- to the public. That propaganda is what is dividing the country, as well as fooling people like you into thinking the Democrats are the only ones in the government who are destroying our democracy.
He passes off the Republicans, and tries to turn the partisan bias argument against me:
Relative said:
Yes but the republicans are not the ones who will be respondsible for this countries downfall.He's had three years to straighten it out and he ain't done shit.this countries fate will rest on whethewr he get's in offoce to know.all the colleges preach liberal bias because of all the unions who cbute to democrat candidates.i have a friend who said his wife works in a local high school and if they knew that she had any conservative views she would be fired on the spot.small gov't all the way If they pass that health care bill which nobody read you will see what i mean and how far this regime will g
ne day i'm going to tell you i told you so.Maybe we'l be obama's political prisoners and I'll tell you that from my cell.
believe you me the far left has gone way fuckin' left.
I ask for evidence of his claims:
Me said:
Since you're trying to argue that there is a liberal propaganda machine on the same level as Fox, you'll need to show me some evidence. I already know about the other news networks, but I find your accusations about schools hard to believe. A story from your friend does not prove anything alone.
One other question for you: given what I've shown you about Fox News, do you still consider it worth watching?
Nope, don't need evidence -- you're a liberal so that makes you wrong no matter how much sense you make:
Relative said:
you and I can debate this all you want,U will see my point if he get's elected.Hopefully this won't happen.do you have any proof of where any of this bailout money went to besides Solyndra.Mostly his campaign funds.why does the drive by media stir up shit like that Fluke women who can get her pills down the road from wal mart.Why does Rush accountable for what he said and Obama will not retract 1 million dollars back from Bill Mahrer for what he said about Sarah Palin.
Just face it you are a liberal and leave it at that.why do you support a ike Ron Paul who calls himself a Republican and has no chance in hell of winning.the liberal Ideology is plin and simple.still from the rich and give to the poor.Have control of everyone's lives.do you really want that.I'll let you talk to my friend and prove it.
do you feel the constitution is outdated?
did you know the Democrats were the first ones to have slaves?
steal from the conservative rich.Why does Obama exclude himself from his healthcare law?
I'm like seriously dude, you're brainwashed and acting like a bigoted asshole:
Me said:
Actually, I think you don't realize what's really happening in the government because you don't understand the importance of where you get your information. The fact that you fail to see that both parties are part of a broader problem makes it look like you've been brainwashed by one of those parties.
I know Obama is going to continue bringing the country down if he gets re-elected. Why would I agree with you on that if I'm "just a liberal"? For you to avoid responding to all the points I've made so far and simply write me off as a liberal is an insult to my intelligence that I do not appreciate. You should actually try to learn something about the topics we're discussing before just assuming you're right.
Again, I want to know why you think you should trust Fox news.
Nope, i'm not brainwashed/bigoted - discrimination against people's age and education level clearly constitutes a valid argument so i can go ahead and shut my ears now. Oh btw Fox News is the best!
Relative said:
Why do you trust Media matters? i do not like these other news agencies because they are always regarding whie male christians as racists and i am tired of that.i do not insult your intelligence.just wait and see if he get's elected.i hope not,but one good thing will come from that.i will prove that point about that scumbag.
white.Fox news doea better outlook than the others.MSNBC is nothing but hatred.The far left is about as racist as you can get.
I don't expect you as a person fresh out of college to understand any of this.when you get older you will see,And hopefully it won't be to late.
colleges are nothing but liberal.
I'm going to watch Fox News now.Enjoy Rachel Maddow and Keith Oberrman.
Me: *sigh*
Me said:
I trust Media Matters in this documentary because of the evidence they present. They interview real ex-employees of Fox, they show numerous clips from Fox programs that demonstrate the bias in their programming, and they also show memos from the people running Fox News in which they basically admit to controlling the information shown on the station. Do you really think they're lying about all of that?
I'm not saying you should stop watching Fox and watch MSNBC instead. I'm saying you should stop basing your opinions off of TV news entirely and start looking for real information about what's going on in politics.
"I don't expect you as a person fresh out of college to understand any of this." So now you're discriminating against me based on my age? That is just as insulting as writing me off as a liberal. You still haven't told me why you should trust Fox News, and that's just another excuse to ignore my points.
