Sorry If It Offends You, But...

I was having my daily chat with my mother this morning.  This is not as easy as it might seem.  She is 91, has dementia, and is losing her hearing.  Unless you have ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone with dementia, you cannot possibly understand how difficult and exhausting it is.  Nevertheless...I persevere.

Early into the phone call she said, "What do you think about Obama?"

I was about to give her my standard answer that he has a lot of work to do when she said, "There IS no Obama."

Okay.  Even for my mom, this was off the wall.  So I asked her what she meant.  And she told me that a person with whom I am acquainted had called and said that there is no Obama...no birth certificate...no one by that name...and no one was currently President of the United States
.
Then she started to cry.

My mother is a first generation American.  Her parents taught her - and (some of) my generation later - that the greatest privilege in life was receiving Eucharist...closely followed by voting.  My grandparents worked hard to gain their citizenship.  Much harder than those of us who were born here.  I have heard many times about how difficult it was for them to take their citizenship exam, and how their kids helped them study for it.  This was interspersed with whispered stories of "so-and-so" who was a DP (Displaced Person) and always watching over their shoulder for someone who might turn them in and send them back.

Being of immigrant stock (what a stupid idiom!), as well as a daughter of one of the first members of the United Auto Workers Union, my mother has always voted for Democrats.  I thought race might come into play when Obama first declared his candidacy.  But no - she liked him.  And she was thrilled when he won the election.

And now some fool told her that he didn't even exist.  No birth certificate, no Obama.

I wish you could see the smoke coming out of my ears right now!

First of all - leave old people alone.  She can believe whatever she likes - she's earned that right.  If you want to scare or disappoint someone, do it to someone your own age.

Second - Birthers need to get over it.  I believe the current internet term is STFU.  You are being ridiculous and are wasting valuable oxygen with your constant blathering.

And third...ah, third!  If you really feel the need to be afraid all the time, rent some horror movies or take a ride on the biggest roller coaster you can find.  Because I DON'T!

--There are no death panels.
--You will not be thrown in jail if you don't have health insurance.
--The Constitution was wounded by the force-feeding of the Patriot Act, but it's holding its own right now.  I visited it less than a year ago.  Still there.  Protected by men with really big guns.

See...I didn't spend all those years in grad school for nothing.  I actually learned how to do research.  Check facts.  You maybe be too lazy to google a topic, but I am not.  Fox News might just need to hire someone like me.

Republicans, I had eight years of your Bush presidency.  Now you have four or eight of my Obama presidency.  That's how a democracy works, Karl Rove notwithstanding.  Your breath-holding and fear-mongering are getting really old.

And frightening my mother is simply reprehensible.

She prefers to see the glass as half full.  I prefer to see the glass as half full.

Like the title says - sorry that offends you.