The Atlantic Calls to Use Thanksgiving to ‘Deprogram’ or ‘Report’ Conservative Relatives
The Atlantic published an essay on the eve of Thanksgiving, calling on readers to utilize family Thanksgiving get-togethers to “deprogram” and sow doubt in conservative relatives, suggesting that one may even succeed in changing their mind or perhaps “need to report [them] to the FBI!”
In an essay penned by Daily Beast contributing editor Molly Jong-Fast titled “Deprogram your relatives this Thanksgiving,” the left-wing pundit called the national celebration “terrible” and “no one’s idea of a great time,” though insisted using the time to “deprogram” relatives could make it worthwhile.
“Thanksgiving is terrible, and if you at least spend the time trying to deprogram your niece, you won’t be bored or depressed,” she wrote. “[T]hough you might be enraged that Fox News or Infowars has convinced her Trump can ‘save America’ from Joe Biden’s radical agenda of giving people hearing aids and free pre-K.”
Calling the notion that Thanksgiving is a “time for harmony and niceties and gratitude” a “completely wrong” one, Jong-Fast slammed those who “think that you should spend your Thanksgiving playing nice.”
She specifically targeted those “pretending that your cousin doesn’t follow QAnon and that your uncle doesn’t believe the election was stolen and also that the Cyber Ninjas are a bunch of cucks for not uncovering voter fraud.”
“Spending a holiday sitting around, pretending your crazy relatives aren’t crazy, is one of America’s time-honored traditions,” she claimed, though adding “we are not in normal times.”
Noting that, in contrast with last Thanksgiving, Americans can finally gather “more safely” with family — including “weird cousins and uncles” — Jong-Fast called upon readers to utilize the opportunity to “deprogram” them.
“This is your chance to deprogram them,” she wrote.
“This is your chance to tell your aunt that maybe the news she gets from it isn’t all that reliable,” she added. “And that maybe the MAGA news network is not giving her unbiased news, either.”
She also highlighted vaccination against the coronavirus as a particular issue to confront relatives about.
“Especially when it comes to vaccines, family members can actually win each other’s hearts and minds,” she wrote, adding, “You could literally save your creepy uncle’s life.”
Concerning other issues, she claimed, “there’s a decent chance someone at your Thanksgiving table will be QAnon-curious or believe the Big Lie.”
“Should you let this person rant and rave about how there were voting ‘irregularities’ even though there weren’t irregularities?” she asked.
She also argued that such relatives may be ignorant of the truth due to their news sources.
“If they’re keeping up with current events through Facebook and Fox News, they’re in such an information silo that they might never hear the truth of what really happened during the 2020 election,” she wrote.
Jong-Fast added that, “For the record: Nothing happened.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/25/atlantic-calls-use-thanksgiving-deprogram-report-conservative-relatives/