Impolitic politics

Family political fights. My Dad is a right-wing crank. I'd respect him more if he weren't so obviously parroting the rhetoric one can hear every day on ill-informed, biased, right-wing radio. I know, because I've borrowed his car and every time I get in and crank it up, some stupid radio show comes on, and I get a dose of lies, exaggerations, fabrications, etc. Adding to the confusion is my Dad's ability to mix up stories that he hears Rush blathering about and then to propagate even further and worse untruths.

And so last weekend my wife Mira and dad got to talking about Obama, and my Dad was trotting out some story about how some shady guy (Ayers?) supposedly loaned Barack a large amount of money to buy his house in Illinois, and how this guy was part of the Weather Underground and basically a terrorist, and so my Dad is going on about how if THAT is how Obama judges character, then no way will he vote for him. And so Mira, who is pretty savy and politically aware, and who knows these facts pretty well, challenges my Dad, who begins to impugn her veracity, basically was very insulting, doubting her command of the facts, insisting on her brainwashing by the "liberal media", leading to Mira becoming, frankly, hysterical, screaming at my dad, cursing even (very unlike her), and storming out of the apartment. Unbelievable. "Thanks alot Dad!" I shouted, as I chased after her. Many hours of conversation later, Mira began to appologize and to cite hormones, sleep depravation, stress, and so on, none of which I found necessary since my Dad was admittedly just being an idiot. What I can't understand is how she actually takes the bait in these discussions. When my Dad goes off on these strange digressions