Adventures in arguing with idiots

As many of you probably guessed, I like to argue. I don't take a position lightly and when I do, I have reasons and I'm not afraid to trot them out to defend my positions.

And I live among republicans. My hometown is a hot bed of conservatism, home to many tea party chapters and until Barack Obama broke the streak, has voted Republican in every single presidential race since they started keeping track way back in the 1800's.

So I get to argue a lot. Sometimes even I'm dumbfounded. Like arguing about this recent immigration fight. I've been explaining over and over that there is far LESS illegal immigration now than anytime Jimmy Carter was in office. But of course, they "know" otherwise. All crime is committed by immigrants and they suck up our government money like El Shamwow. So I've been knocking down these myths when suddenly, all my conservative friends are telling me that crime is SO bad along the border, Obama has had to shut down a HUGE national park in Arizona because of the be-headings and the machine gun toting illegals that run roughshod there. They all told me about these ominous signs posted there!

"Active Drug and Human Smuggling Area," the signs say. "Visitors May Encounter Armed Criminals and Smuggling Vehicles Traveling at High Rates of Speed. ... If You See Suspicious Activity, Do Not Confront!" There is You Tube video of John McCain reading the signs but it's probably better to get the WHOLE story from Fox news!

Fox News! OMG! WTF is going on???

Updated On: 7/29/10 at 04:26 PM

Yeah, well kinda. I visited the website for the national park in question and they are most certainly NOT closed to visitors. Hunting fishing hiking camping- it's all there! But what about the truckloads of gangs collecting severed heads? The fast-moving caravans of drug smugglers that would rather run you down than turn the wheel?

Oh yeah. Well, they don't exist. Turns out in 2006, President Bush asked people to stay out of a teeny slice of the park (right along the border) partly because of increased patrols by INS and Homeland Security and Fox took that and somehow made it into "Obama is giving our country back to the Mexicans!"

So that's why these right-wingers are so angry. Because they have NO IDEA what is really happening. They are watching a "News" channel that has absolutely no desire to be accurate. These "Media" outlets are making money by scaring them so bad they are afraid to change the channel.

My mother was old enough to be terrified by Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast. I asked her once, why didn't you check the other channels? "We did!" she told me "We flipped around but no one else was reporting so we went back to the station that was! We didn't want to miss one detail about that horrible invading martian army!"

Fox has found a way to make that terror pay. We've got half the country scared that a Muslim Kenyan socialist is running wild, hell bent on destroying all they hold dear. Of course they aren't going to change the channel to see what CNN is reporting- they don't want to miss one detail!

looks like a nice park

Updated On: 7/29/10 at 04:46 PM