This was so great, I just have to share!

So this weekend I was attending a family function and ended up in a political debate with my very religious/conservative mother and sister. Usually this becomes a completely un-winable fight, with each side taking the hard line and not budging. It's actually so predictible, it's almost not worth fighting in the first place. It's always me trying to argue reason vs. them parroting the latest Bush talking points and defending his every move.

Well, this discussion started out that way until said republican sister blurts out (completely off-topic, I may add), "What is up with the goverment getting involved in this feeding tube thing? I mean, just let the poor woman die, for heaven's sake!" My jaw drops to the floor. It actually takes me a full minute to respond. I'm agreeing with her? What? Then my sister and I begin to have a political conversation in which we agree for the first time...well...ever. It was so refreshing. Well, until my mother pipes in with "but her parents don't want her to die. Her husband had an affair, that's why he wants her dead, he wants to move on. He had motive, blah blah blah." At which point my sister actually turns to her and says, "Well, I don't know about that, but she's been a vegetable for like 15 years! And I dunno much about the government, but Congress doesn't have the right to say she has to be kept alive, do they?"

This continued for a good 10 minutes. Me and my ultra-conservative sister trying to convince my mom that she's wrong. And in the end, even mom was a bit softer in her stance. It was so refreshing, and honestly, gives me hope.

keep going on with your fight :)

That shit just slays me. What, he's going to have a RELATIONSHIP with his wife in a coma? Where is it written that he must be a martyr? He's gone above and beyond for Terri.

trust me, that was my response. Even conservative sister was nodding with that one too. It's ridiculous to think that he would put his life on hold for 15 years when he would have been a widower many years ago but for his selfish in-laws.

annulment long time a go. Why did he hold on a dead marriage? He should have award her to the state or to her parents. All he's done now is to place that woman in a three ring circus. Number one being bush the clown and his blood thirsty followers. Terri's (legal) husband needs to file for divorce immediately...get a life!

that he shouldn't fight for his wife's wishes? Because she's a vegetable, he should dump her and walk away. He has not placed her in a 3-ring circus. If Jeb and George Bush had not stepped in, the Florida court system would have allowed the feeding tube to be removed permanently many, many years ago. If he had divorced her, he would have left her with the very people who are forcing the issue...her parents. They are the ones who won't let her die peacefully.

Concern for Terri and loving a sentient woman are not mutually exclusive.

Thanks for sharing!

LOVE hearing about issues that divide the right... gives one hope that all their pandering to the far-right religious whackos might actually backfire on them... not that there's been too much evidence of that. Unfortunately, it seems like most moderate republicans seem just fine with the GOP's slide to the far-right.

the best part is, my sister is a Republican basically because she thinks she's supposed to be. She's almost entirely disinterested in politics and rarely watches the news. However, she goes to church a lot, and listens to Dobson. Basically, she's sheeple. She's been lead to believe that to be a good Christian you have to vote for Bush. So for her to bring up a current political topic and have such a strong opinion about it was actually quite surprising. Particularly since she probably heard about it in church that morning and came to a solid, opposite conclusion by mid-afternoon.

My mother, on the other hand, is rather rabid. She's a Dobson-loving, Faux news watching...well, fundie. I love her dearly anyway, lol.

But I'm thinking if we can start winning back those who are following blindly, we easily get back the majority. I'm convinced that the die-hard fundies are actually a very small percentage of the population. In other words, not all Republicans are completely unreasonable/unreachable. If we can hook them on a few issues, we've got a chance. And she really was quite upset by the idea of government telling Mr. Shiavo that he couldn't make medical decisions for his wife.