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Hey Ron!

Hey Ron! - My Dad's a Bigoted Bastard


UH to the OH. This week Ron tackles the one issue that’s usually off-limits unless your father is an insufferable loudmouth who can’t be told he’s wrong. That’s right, we’re talking about politics, specifically the kind that makes people march up and down the streets of DC because they don’t want poor sick people to get well. Keep reading for the TRUTH.

Hey Ron! My father hates Obama. He was actually considering traveling to DC from Boston to attend those anti-"Obamacare" rallies last weekend. I'm all for public discourse and the free expression of opinion, but he seems to go about it in an ignorant way. Every week he sends me those stupid mass-forwarded emails containing rants against the Obama administration's policies and pictures of Barack as a witch doctor or whatever. When I try to have a real conversation about it with him he just starts to talk smack about Democrats and tells me Obama’s stupid and shouldn't be president. I've even heard him question the idea of having a black president with his friends. I love my dad, but sometimes I want to tell him to shut his mouth and wise up. It's affecting our relationship. Dearest Ron, how should I go about talking to him without turning it into a screaming match about politics? First of all I'd like to say that you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Your dad is what I would call a "third-world country thinker." I don't think talking to your dad is going to work because two things you can’t really talk about with friends and family are religion and politics. You're always going to have somebody who is going to disagree, no matter what. I think Obama's doing an OK job, but that’s just my personal opinion. There are certain things I don't care for, but he's not doing what he's doing just for me; he's doing it based on the entire population. He’s inherited a real mess that was created by the last 15 presidents, and now he's trying to fix all of it. We haven't been doing well for quite some time, be it Nixon, Reagan, Carter, Bush, or Clinton. They all kind of sucked. They all put us into debt and now he's trying to reform and fix it. I’m sure it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I’m just talking about the gist of what he’s trying to do. That said, dealing with your dad is a touchy situation and instead of you losing your relationship over it, you have to let him believe and think what he wants to think. As long as you don't see any sheets in his closet, I guess think you're OK. If he decides to shave his head bald and get swastika tattoos all over his body, then I think you've got a whole different set of problems on your hands. I could care less about what your dad thinks or what kind of emails he sends. Most people are ignorant, and ignorant people will never prevail. Just keep thinking what you're thinking. Vote for whomever you think is the best candidate in the future. Just stay on the right path, and don't think about racism, just think about politics.

Love,
Ron Spill your guts here, and if we pick your question you'll end up with a "Hey Ron!" t-shirt in your mailbox.