lapsedmodernist | Reading Material

saintpeg wrote an amazing letter to her Bush-supporting grandfather, who resides and votes in the Midwest, in a swing state. She outlines the reasons why she thinks he shouldn't vote for Bush and why George Bush is not on his side.
You can read it here. I think it's a great model for how to communicate with our own older family members whose political views may differ from ours.

As a bonus, here are some quotes to "shock" people. Like present them together, side by side, and then reveal the authors. Yeah, I know, it's very "The Wave"-style, but still.

“The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State.” – Josef Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Information

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger." - Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg Trials

"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini