I keep these responses at the ready.
On Immigration when the Republican says, “My ancestors came here legally!”.
I reply: Well, that’s probably because they came here before 1880 when up to that time, there were no laws governing immigration. You just arrived and you were let it. It was not until the Chinese Exclusion Act signed by President Chester Arthur (Republican) on May 6, 1882 prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers. Yeah, that sounds racist, and it was, just like every immigration law since then.
On the Public sector versus the Private sector, when the Republican says, “ The government can’t do anything right. Things are better left to the private sector!”
I ask them, “Do you have a smart phone? Because if you do, know this: Every major technological change related to what makes the smart phone smart traces most of its funding back to the US government. Oh, and are you any sort of prescription medication? Roughly 75% of so-called new molecular entities with priority rating (the most innovative drugs) trace their existence to NIH funding.
On Health Care, well, this is a tough one because somehow, facts don’t matter.
But I still press on. When a Republican tells me that single payer results in long waiting times, high costs, and poor results, I remind them that: In Canada 86.2 percent of its citizens approve of their health care system and want no part of any privatized system. So, how do we interpret the fact that Canada is a democracy, able to switch to a privatized system but a HUGE 86.2 percent say “no thanks!”…..I suspect they just have to look south of their border to see how lousy that sort of approach is.
Well, that’s three. I will add a few more in the months to come.
I just this past week found out that I am Mayflower-descended. The Wampanoags didn’t ask for documentation, possibly to their eternal regret.:)
I just sent in my DNA test to see what “$#!+hole country I came from.
I used to try to argue with Republicans, but they generally would be to slippery to pin down. Then I realized that the arguments they would employ were mercenary and fig leaf. And you can’t argue with that because what’s important to you in the argument (logic, or at least linearity of thought…) is not important to them. (you acknowledge this yourself when you say that, for them, ‘facts don’t matter.” Well, they don’t.) What’s important to them is expressing racism without deliberately employing previously expressed forms of racism… (A mentally taxing thing to do, in and of itself..)
When they say “My ancestors came here legally!”. they really want to say “I’m white and entitled to supremacy.” Deep down they know they their interlocutors (in this instance, you) would not celebrate white supremacy nor feel they deserve to be so entitled… but they don’t know how not to do or to be other than in that manner.
I don’t waste my time arguing with clueless Republicans anymore. Now, I just beat them like a drum every chance I get. : Joe Kennedy was right : ” Don’t get mad. Get even.” 🙂
Here’s my strategy, when arguing with a clueless Republican. I make it short and sweet with a “Did you know” comment, like “Did you know that all of the technology that makes your smart phone smart was developed by the US government with your tax dollars?” …and leave it at that. The only time I will spend more time is when there is an audience an at that time, I am simply interested in showing them that I have the facts and a cool head while my Republican counterpart has anecdotes and anger.