CNN, if you're listening,
I don't remember the year I put an end to Thanksgiving celebrations with the relatives, but I'm guessing it was about the same time I went back to school. I was one of those stay at home moms who was looking for a second chance to return to the workforce, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy because I had health problems.
When finals came around that first semester in Fall, I had finals to prepare for and everyone understood when I said I wanted to stay home to study instead of going down to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. I wasn't surprised when the relatives were fine with my absence. I was also glad that I had found a built-in excuse for the next year or two, as I acquired credits for my second B.A. That would put my time that I began to drift away from THAT side of the family, around the same time that Bush became president. You, CNN, were notably absent from reporting that Bush was breaking up Thanksgiving dinners way back then, because I know I wasn't the only one.
I don't know when I started reclaiming Thanksgiving so the rest of my family (husband and kids) stayed home too. Maybe it was after that crazy hurricane season in 2004. We had friends who were going to skip the holidays because they were hit bad, so we invited them over. Since then, we have had our own holidays, here at my home. We have had a wonderful time, inviting two families over every Thanksgiving, until this last election.
A month before this last election one of the people we invited called out of the blue and began spouting right-wing crap. They said things, like Obama was a Muslim. They said that Obama was changing the flag of the United States on Air Force One. They were spouting right-wing lies. I asked them to put our friendship first, but, they felt so entitled to badger me with right-wing propaganda that I finally told them that it was best we didn't see each other until after the election.
This Thanksgiving, they made their excuses from coming to dinner. But my other friends came. They're Democratic--mostly. It was one of the best Thanksgivings yet. We didn't speak politics until my friend's son, who registered Republican a few years ago, began spouting off the Libertarian meme,(which around here translates to exploiting what isn't nailed down and protected with shotguns). Because it was just him, we weren't tense and it turned out to be a great conversation. He looked for areas of agreement and brought up the Detroit bailout. I said, well, atleast jobs were kept in America. And when Iaccoca was given that blessing, he paid the loan back. It was still too early to see if Detroit would do the same.
By the time dinner was over, the son said, "I don't even know why I registered Republican."
So, you see CNN, this political strife didn't begin with Obama. It began with Bush. And I'm happy to say, that when two Republicans friends chose to stay away from Thanksgiving dinner this year, it gave us a chance to reclaim our wayward son.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Well, that's one opinion.
But then I was around to see Nixon get caught for his criminal acts and ran out of office, and Ronnie Raygun start this Nation down the path to 3rd World status...
