Some sound advice from J. Bryan Lowder:
While we undoubtably all have family members who live for nothing more than to stomp on political land mines, I’m deeply uncomfortable with the idea that the Thanksgiving table necessarily must be a forum for working out all of these issues. Call me sentimental, but I like to imagine that for most families—even contentious ones—the holidays are a time to reconnect with loved ones (like me) who fled "fly-over country" for the sinful Big City, not for rehashing tired debates that will almost certainly remain unresolved. When many of us get to see our families so rarely, is it really worth it to arm ourselves for some kind of apocalyptic ideological end-game before we even say hello?
The Dish 