I made a RW friend realize he is being lied to!

[Nightjock]

One of my dearest friends moved from NY to North Carolina. He is registered as an independent but has always leaned heavily to the right. GW and Cheney moved him more to the middle.
Since he moved to NC he has had a daughter,(first child) he and his wife have new jobs and he has very little time to keep up on current events.

On FB he started posting all of the bullshit republican talking points about health care, Obama is just as bad as Bush and how personally his rates went way up and he is pissed.
I called him and we talked and he got very defensive. He told me how his health care cost at his job skyrocketed. How he took his daughter for a checkup the other day and now it cost $120 instead of the $20 he used to pay. He lamented his deductible was now $3000. He was angry by the end of the call and being one of my best buds (and because I didn't want to agitate him any further) I ended the conversation with my tail between legs......and immediately began researching wtf was happening in NC.

The next time we spoke I told him some of the things I discovered about his republican led state and the ACA. (Most of you know cuz you are way smarter than me so I won't bore you.)
His agitated voice wavered a bit, but than I remembered one of our biggest friendship bonding points.I asked him, "Remember in the build up to the Iraq war? Where you and I both felt like we were the only two people among our all of our friends that were against the war?! How they lied about EVERYTHING?...........THIS is the exact same thing."
The next time we talked he was still very upset he has to pay so much for health care BUT HE WENT OFF ON THE REPUBLICAN OBSTRUCTIONISTS! He apologized and even shocked me to the core when he said, "and Obamas not that bad."

I told him he would have "eventually figured out he was being lied to" and I was "just glad to help speed up the process."
He laughed and I hung up the phone with a smile.
This is one friendship those son of bitch repub liars did not break up.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. K&R

[dccrossman]

2. K&R

K&R

[freshwest]

3. Good!

[Rambis]

4. You, the friend and Obama were all against the war

[leftyohiolib]

5. the part i wish was shared wasnt

"The next time we spoke I told him some of the things I discovered about his republican led state and the ACA"

[mountain grammy]

6. Every time someone sees the truth I think, we're taking our country back..

one person, one state at a time.

[gordianot]

7. You were able to reason with your friend that alone shows he is not a true rightwinger.

I could name people whom I personally know it is impossible to reason with. As an exercise imagine trying to reason with say, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity,Ted Cruz, Louie Gohmert, Virginia Foxx, Michelle Bachmann and the so called authoritarian libertarian father son duo the Paul's. My list could grow to seemingly endless examples. The political divide is becoming less conservative to progressive or liberal, and is now more the ability empathize or at the minimum to at least understand your own self interest.

[BlueMTexpat]

17. Too true, unfortunately. eom

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Give your friend a big hug for me.

I wish my communication skills were better than they are so that I could salvage a few of my Repub friendships.

[reflection]

9. Changing one mind at a time.

And they will change one mind at a time.

Some days I think we can do it, others I feel hopeless. Your story gives me hope.

[jamzrockz]

10. Maybe I am not understanding this post

But you guys concluded that the Iraq lie is the same with ACA? You know 2 wrongs dont make a right

[leftynyc]

12. Republicans lie

It's that simple.

[Nightjock]

13. no

we caught holy hell from almost every one we know before we went into Iraq because we were against the war.
I was gently but strongly trying to tell him THIS TIME he was on the wrong side of history.
He knows I would not have brought that awful time up unless I was 100% sure about the ACA. It made him find time to research the lies he believed about the ACA. All it takes to see through the republican bullshit is to pay attention, do a little research and not believe everything you hear.

[bvar22]

11. Good Job!

We live in a very RED Rural Area of The South,
and are surrounded by many like your friend.
We have found that hostile opposition, direct confrontation, and trying to WIN the immediate argument only causes people to become hostile and defensive.
(They feel like they are being called stupid).

The indirect approach is much more useful.
Planting the seed, and then nurturing it with respect and common cause generally bears fruit.

[pnwmom]

14. Great example. You took a strategic retreat,

quietly gathered your resources, and then approached him from the best direction possible.

So much better than trying to clobber a friend or acquaintance in heated debate.

[FLyellowdog]

15. Be kind to him. He's in NC now. That explains a lot. nt

[SheilaT]

16. I'm finding I want to know a whole lot more about

what's happened with his health care.

Keeping in mind that the ACA isn't actually completely in effect yet, there's something missing in his account of paying $120 instead of $20.00. Does he now work for a different company? What are the details of what's covered and what isn't? Can he do better through the exchanges?

In any case, I'm glad you were able to reason with him.

[Android3.14]

18. Not passing the fish test

My BS radar is going off.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. My BS radar BS detector is going off. Explain yourself and why you drop a negative bomb on his post?

Please.

[Android3.14]

23. As a news editor, my profession requires that I weed out the fiction from the factual stories

This story has a contrived feel to it. It portrays a Democrat as having "tail between my legs". The jump in co-pay appears unreasonably high. It would make more sense if only the premiums went higher. The sentence "His agitated voice wavered a bit..." is melodramatic. He doesn't reveal the name of the insurance company, and the ending to the post is overly saccharine.
Finally, the portrayal is subtle, but much more positive for the RW friend (hardworking, new father, facing challenges bravely, etc.). By portraying himself as a person whom others have swayed because DU readers are, "way smarter than me", he brings forth doubts about his own beliefs and a sense that those who support healthcare reform are being manipulative.
I dropped the "bomb", as you say, because that's how I see it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Thanks for clarifying. I agree with some of your points. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Very deftly handled. Friendship is worth taking the time to get it right. Kudos & thx for sharing.nt

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

21. Congrats! Great story...

...wish I had one or three just like it, but I find I'm talking to people who live in a Republican bubble impermeable to facts and information.

[Heather MC]

22. Also tell him

A lower court ruled that the FCC does not make laws, and therefore it is not illegal to lie during news broadcast, because telling the truth is not a law just an FCC rule.

So Faux news has no reason lawfully to spread the truth.

But most people don't know that