Therapy anyone?

Last night, my son was invited to go to a baseball game with his very bestest friend. He hates going with me, which is why I haven't been able to go to more than one game this year, but with his friend, he was thrilled. What gives? Momma's not good enough for ya? Ok, I know I would prefer to go with a friend over my Mom, but it makes me feel old.

Anyhoo, my husband was supposed to be at a meeting, but it got cancelled, so my daughter and my "girl's night" got shut down. Bummer, too, because girl's night around here usually involves a really good girly movie (Princess Bride) and some junk food. Oh, and snuggling on the couch the whole night. It's loads of fun!

My daughter wanted to go see Grandma, so we hoofed the whole 3/4 mile to Grandma and Grandpa's house, dog in tow. It was a gorgeous night. We had a lovely visit until... my Dad brought up politics. Well, to be fair, he brought it up, and I went totally ballistic about what he was complaining about.

You see, I'm a black sheep. My whole family believes some very strange things (to me, at least) and I have a really hard time keeping my big mouth shut. Anyone else have these issues? The good news is, it's mostly just politics and religion, so there's lots of other stuff to talk about. And I just can't be calm about something I passionately believe is wrong, even though I KNOW I'm not changing minds here.

The part that will soon require therapy, well, the most recent part anyway, is that I found out my Mom is a birther!



You read that right. She wants to see Obama's real birth certificate. And when I walked into their home, Fox "News" was on. They claimed they just wanted to see more about the last combat troops leaving Iraq, and that no other station was carrying the info. Then I turned to CNN, and whadaya know? It was also broadcasting about the last combat troops leaving Iraq.

My Dad was a lifetime Department of Defense employee. He's a Vietnam Vet, and still has issues related to his war experience. He's a staunch hawk, and thinks we should always carry the bigger stick. (Imagine what he must have thought when his oldest daughter nearly joined the Peace Corps and started wearing Birkenstocks!) My Mom and Dad were engaged right before he went off to war, so she's lived through some trying times as well.

At 35, I should know better than to get involved in a political discussion with anyone in my family, but damnit! I hate listening to people I love regurgitate the trash they hear on tv and think it's the truth! I'm sad that I feel like such an outcast in my own family on these matters.

And, more than anything, I wish there was an easy place to go where you knew you'd hear the truth. There just isn't that place anymore. Journalists get press releases and copy and paste their stories. "News" organizations are bought and paid for. The internet is full of crazy stories trying to pose as truth. It's insanity!



There are those walking around these days wanting "their America" back. Well, I'm not one of those people, but I want the America that I was taught existed. The one that was tolerant, and free to discuss important topics with each other using facts and truth, not scare tactics and blatent lies. The older I get, the more I wonder if it ever truly existed. Maybe it was all just a dream.