As mentioned in my last post, Charlie Kirk died a week ago.
The death of Charlie Kirk has divided people even in families. From what I have seen, my family has their opinions but they tend to keep it to themselves – I talk to my dad about my opinions but I do not talk to my mom and bio-mom about them (there are many reasons for this).
There is a very very staunch right-wing couple in a family group chat I am in (it’s for my dad’s health, as he under went open heart surgery a few years ago, so he posts updates on his health there).
A couple days ago, I woke up and around 7-8A, the chat had a bit of chaos because my dad, who is considered immunocompromised, was venting his frustration about needing a prescription for the COVID vaccine. My dad said he hated the republican party for making it difficult for him to get the COVID vaccine. My dad said, very specifically “One more reason to hate the Trump administrations and DeSantis in Florida. I tried to book a Covid vaccine shot ad apparently you have to be 65 and over or have a comorbidity, Which I probably qualify for but I have to call my doctor and have them prescribe it and I don’t even know if that’ll work 100%. Another reason to hate the republicans.”
Now, my dad is not being unreasonable. We should not need to have prescriptions for things that have to do with public health. There is data that shows that vaccines are important to keeping people healthy and that the mRNA vaccine (which was being created prior to the COVID vaccine) is safe. There were a few things that were touch and go, but most of those had to do with the J&J Vaccine, which was a single dose.
So, anyway, the Republican couple in my family group chat is my dad’s brother and his wife. So my aunt an uncle, I guess.
What was the response to my dad venting his frustration about the fact he lives in Florida and the powers that be are forcing him to have to jump through hoops for public health? “Enough to shoot them in the neck. Don’t use word hate.”
Because, as you know, venting your frustration to your family – the people who are supposed to support you – is absolutely condoning political violence. And we’ll just ignore the fact that Fox News host has said that homeless people need to die and there was a mass shooting of homeless people – that is obviously a total coincidence, of course.
My dad asked the obvious question: “Who should I be upset at besides a Republican governor a stupid republican surgeon general in Florida.” To be clear the surgeon general of Florida is on record as saying that the goal is to get rid of mRNA vaccines. Surgeon General Ladapo has called vaccine mandates “slavery,” which is… a choice. Last I checked – Florida has exceptions for vaccines, slaves had no choice period.
And he wants to end all mandates – as in the ones for childhood illnesses… you know, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox… polio. Which is so fascinating because he is also on record as saying “Who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?”
Yes. Who are you to tell us what we can and cannot put in our bodies for our health, Mr. Ladapo?
Mr. Ladapo has also been quoted as: “If we want to move toward a perfect world, a better world, (we) can’t do it by enslaving people in terrible philosophies and taking away people’s freedoms. That’s not the path … we have to find alternative pathways.” Public health is not a philosophy, but okay. Sure. That’s a take, I guess.
Anyway, I might do a mini post on the Surgeon General of Florida, wild dude, that one.
In response to needing a prescription and my dad being like “why do I need a prescription for a vaccine, that’s stupid.” (Paraphrasing, of course). My aunt chimed in with a wild false equivalence.
“Why do I need an Rx for morphine? Used to be able to buy it OTC back in the day. I guess things change sometimes.”
Ma’am. Madam. Ms. Before I go further, let’s define what I mean by false equivalence – per the definition: A false equivalence or false equivalency is an informal fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed, faulty, or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false equivalence is often called “comparing apples and oranges.”
Comparing an opiate like morphine to a life saving vaccine is a false equivalence. Sure, times change. And yes, morphine was used quite frequently in medicine before the effects were shown to be highly addictive and there is a high potential for abuse. The move to control it and make it a schedule II drug (which, by the way just one step below marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, heroin, and mescaline) started in the 1920s.
Last I checked, vaccines are not addictive and there is no potential for abuse. Getting vaccines are not a slippery slope into using intravenous drugs.
My dad asked another interesting question: “How is it wonder why if your republican you take anything that anyone says so personally. WHy are other people not allowed to express their views without you taking it personally?” I hope you are catching on that my family’s typos drive me mad, but my best friend’s texts looks like she is drunk 24/7, so I can’t judge.
According to my aunt, saying you hate republicans is pretty personal and comparing a schedule II drug to a vaccine in not an insane comparison.
Now, let’s talk about if it actually is personal. My dad was talking about the republicans enacting policies that personally effect him and his day to day life. My dad travels frequently (even though I absolutely hate it because he’s old and could get really sick) so getting vaccines and making sure he is up to date on them is a very important thing to do. Especially as he travels to South America… on planes. Big metal germ tubes, as my best friend and I call them.
He was not saying he hates all republicans, it actually frustrates me that he interacts with my aunt and uncle because my uncle has on occasion been hostile towards me. My dad has stepped in. But I am of the opinion of if you can’t respect I am a whole ass grown woman with a husband and a household I take care of, then you do not get respect from me and you do not get access to me.
I have always been of the opinion we attack ideas and ideologies, not people. I find ad hominem attacks really petty and low hanging. There are better ways to insult people than calling them an idiot or a radical. Ideas over people. So when I am sitting here ranting about my aunt and uncle, I am presenting evidence as to why their ideas are incorrect. They are not stupid – I think their ideology is flawed and they are undereducated on the circumstances they are trying to discuss.
My dad is wrong for his attack and using a sweeping generalization on republicans, sure. I understand he is frustrated, I live in Oklahoma – which I referred to as ‘Diet Florida.’ After all, I have two pieces on this blog about Oklahoma and the schools here (Ryan Walters and Owasso Public Schools).
It is why I have been breaking down On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. Because the lessons in that book are useful for what is happening in the world – especially the US.
Towards the end, when I was waking up for the day, I saw all this happening hours prior.
My response to this? “Y’all, 7-8am is too early to be spitting venom over freedom of expression because of frustrations over public health. I think my dad has a reason to be frustrated at the policies enacted by the ruling party of the government who is currently royally fucking over most of the people who elected them.”
Rational response, in my opinion, because, in reality – why are you so damn wound up that early in the morning? What is the reason to be that pissed off in the morning? There are worse things that could be happening in the world… like everything else currently taking place in the world.
The response I got? My uncle telling me to “hush child.”
And while I kept my cool, I reminded him that, you know. I am 31 years old. I am married. I have been in my relationship 10 years. Like, should you be talking to me that way? I understand I am his niece. I get that our family sees me as my dad’s “little girl” but at some point, the common sense kicks in and you know, little girl is a woman now.
I was told I should watch my mouth. I bowed out politely, told my uncle that I don’t have time to be patronized because I had things to do and to have fun with that. Was it petty? Yes. I did have things to do. I am still in school.
The whole point of this is to say that my family is divided. It may not be Charlie Kirk that did it. We have all had our issues for a while now. The divide between families is only getting worse the more the US shifts into what is becoming a dictatorship run by a reality show star. Charlie Kirk’s death is just one of many things that has happen and they are, as expected, trying to make him a martyr, because it was a public execution. Something Mr. Kirk advocated for. (Around the 49:33 mark)
It is frustrating to see, because when I was a child, my family was very very tight nit. And I want to, eventually, introduce my husband to my family. To be clear, he has met my parents. He and I were friends from age 14/15 before we even started dating at 21/22. He has not met my extended family and that is a big scary thing for me because… my husband is to… bring in the banhammer. He’s very clear about respect and lines he has drawn. It’s what has made me more certain about being more likely to advocate for myself.
This is all just a bunch of nonsense. You’re supposed to be able to commiserate with your family, especially your siblings about things. And my dad tried to do that and it turned into… that. It ridiculous.
This is not the first time people have turned on each other due to politics. For the longest time, one of the people I called a close friend and I stopped speaking because I drew a line in the sand. We had agreed to not talk politics with each other and when it turned that way… I told him we agreed not to and then changed the subject.
That stopped in 2020, it may have been 2019 or 2021, around christmas time when he went to a family party and his grandparents won the ‘ugly sweater contest’ by stapling photos of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to their sweaters. And I posed the question: Does this not feel weird to you?
His response? It’s a joke.
I don’t remember my exact response but it was something along the lines of “jokes are supposed to be funny. Stapling the first woman… the first woman of color vice president, to a sweater and calling it ugly? That feels racist.” It felt wrong, on many levels. And my best friend and I have a policy – if it feels a certain way, it probably is that way.
That was the first person I cut off because of a political dispute. Since then, I have cut off my bio-mom and an uncle that my brother and I do not talk about nor acknowledge on my mom’s side. Turns out, calling all transgender people pedophiles? Yeah, it pisses off your LGBT+ niece and nephew real bad.
Also, make sure you are treating people with respect owed to them. Do not refer to a grown person as a child. That’s inappropriate.