What a day it has been. A Monday all the way. Monday the 13th no less. Does that count for something? Only in a superstitious mind.
A quick note regarding our Vice President, Dick Cheney: he’s a dumbass of the grandest proportions. The long and short of his hunting adventure is this: he was the man that pulled the trigger of the gun that shot another hunter. They can slice and dice that bullshit any way they want but in the end it is the responsibility of the man with the gun to know what he is shooting at.
I can only wish that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove would go quail hunting together.
I have no idea what it will take for the American people to wake the fuck up and realize that we have idiots in the White House. Check that; the House and Senate as well.
How these morons were elected to a second term still amazes me, but at the same time it is a reflection of the of the American voting public. Interestingly enough, I’ve had more than one conservative tell me that there should be a mandatory IQ test taken and passed before one is allowed to vote.
...cough cough ahem…As much as I try to understand the logic of conservatives, it completely escapes me. I have yet to hear a valid argument to support anything, ANYTHING, this administration does.
Reasons given to me by conservatives for voting Republican:
a) Clinton
b) I don’t like Kerry’s wife.
c) They will reduce my taxes.
d) They will uphold traditions such as marriage, which should be between a man and a woman.
e) The democrats wanna give everything away.
f) We would be worse off under Kerry.
g) Democrats are soft on terror.
Let’s address those one at a time shall we?
a) Clinton – you got him on a blowjob with an intern, what else? I realize it tapped into every Neocon’s/conservative’s fantasy, he lived something they can only dream of, but besides that what else have you got? Be prepared to back up your accusations with irrefutable facts. Not WMD facts, real facts.
b) Who the fuck cares about Kerry’s wife, besides Neocons/conservatives?
c) How much have your taxes been reduced and at what cost? Go ahead and show me some data and how it has enriched your life.
d) Homophobia – I hope that you feel secure in your marriage knowing that you denied someone else that chance, even if your single, and once again: at what cost to America do you realize your dream of homosexual discrimination? Basically what Neocons/conservatives are saying is that it’s ok for this group of Americans, the group we approve of, to participate in a particular activity, BUT, this group of Americans, because they are different than us, are not Ok to participate in this activity. Spell it with me now people: D-I-S-C-R-I-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N
e) This one is laughable at best. Please show me the evidence that supports that thesis. I will gladly entertain anyone that wants to show me valid data that supports that statement.
f) I’m all ears on this one; how could things be worse under ANY Democrat, let alone Kerry? Take a good long look at where we are and tell me that things could be any worse. HOW? Remember, facts are important, not conjecture or opinion. All you guys have at this point is conjecture, all I have to work with is this administration and it’s record. Heh heh, I like the odds.
g) Dems are soft on terror. I think that since largely the Democratic party is anti-war, from a Neocon perspective this appears as soft on terror. Please tell me how the fuck exactly invading Iraq and CREATING more terrorists, more attacks world wide, and meanwhile Osama bin Laden (remember him?) goes free, is being
tough on terror? How is that the solution? One reply I’ve heard to this, from a conservative who voted for Bush TWICE, is that there have been no terrorists attacks on American soil since 9-11. Never mind that we are losing American military lives daily, maimed and mentally injured. Never mind that world wide terror attacks are up approximately 400% since we invaded Iraq. Well then, it must all be working out just beautifully eh?
Here’s the basic conservative view to any problem: I can’t solve it with my brain, so I hammer it into a form that is acceptable to me. If that doesn’t work I’ll kill it. Problem solved. The other statement that appears during this subject is “we’re drawing them out.” There is a huge difference between drawing them out, which implies a finite number of terrorists, to creating terrorists, of which there will be a NEVER ENDING SUPPLY. This requires critical thinking, logic, reason, and understanding the enemy. None of these things have been exhibited by the current administration, nor the people that voted for the current administration – TWICE.
This essay/diatribe was instigated by my Monday night visit the local Sushi bar to relax and read a little bit. Tonight’s reading selection was Booker T. Washington’s
Up From Slavery.
Upon my entering the establishment, I immediately noticed two male and one female rednecks at the bar. Since I almost always visit this place solo, the bar is where I choose to sit. Without explaining further, the bar is always the best place to sit. Anyhow, I saw the rednecks were drunk and loud, so I chose to sit at the very end of the bar. The whole of the bar is six seats, and the way they were seated only allowed for one seat between me and the rednecks.
Now, before one can call me intolerant etcetera and so on, I am a redneck myself. Born and bred right here in the capital of the confederacy, Richmond, Virginia. As I have explained
before, there are varying degrees of redneck.
So, I pull out a chair at the end, seat myself and begin to read my book. A few moments later I hear the closest drunk ass dipshit redneck call out to me: “ Hey queer…hey gay guy…hey queer…can you grab the waitress for me?” I ignored these comments. He continued: “Hey gay guy…”. At this point I become incensed. I turn to him and look him directly in his dumbass redneck drunk eyes and say: “I am not a queer, and I am not a gay guy” and then return to my book. Being the fucktards they were, they laughed and acted all stupid and then started in with the fake apologies. I totally ignored them until it was apparent that unless I acknowledged their fake apologies, they would continue on. Needless to say, the drunk ass loudmouths and my rather stern reply garnered the attention of the ENTIRE place. It is fairly small after all.
First, I was angry at their ignorance and stupidity. Then I was angry with myself with my reply to them, as it was itself somewhat discriminatory. My only defense of such a reply was that I was thoroughly pissed and did not calmly and rationally respond to these idiots. My reply should have been more like “I am not gay however I do find your homophobia and stupidity rather insulting.” I’m not a large man but I do find that intelligence often placates big, stupid rednecks who appear to be looking for a fight.
Well, the drunken stupidity continued on for about 15 minutes, with more homophobic statements and the like, to which all I ignored. Finally they paid the bill, apologized three or four more times, and then left.
Finally: peace.
The bar was empty, my sushi and sake arrived, I went back to reading Booker T. Washington.
Not so fast Junior!
Another gentleman came in and sat at the bar. He was very clean cut and without elaborating further, seemed to emit a gay vibe. That may get me in trouble with some of the gay folks that know me, but rest assured the gay vibe does not register in me a negative connotation. It registers in me someone that is different than me, which in my view of the world is wonderful and natural. Even the stupid rednecks evoke that feeling, although their stupidity makes their presence less tolerable.
At any rate, the gentleman offered up his soy beans to share, to which I declined. I really don’t care for them and I told him so. Well, this led to introductions and so on. In my mind I’m thinking “damn, first a couple of drunk ass dumbshit rednecks calling me gay, and now a gay guy hitting on me.” Maybe I’m the one putting off the gay vibe.
Let’s think about that for a second. I’m well dressed although not impeccably so. I’m flying solo at the sushi bar. I’m reading a book. I live in Richmond, Virginia. Well there you have it, I must be gay!
Sorry fellas, I love the ladies.
Ok, back to the newly arrived gentleman:
Without going into every detail, our discussion turns political. It turns out he is ex-military, and an ex-fireman from New York that lost six of his buddies in the Twin Tower attack.
He’s conservative. He voted for Bush twice.
YET, he can’t stand Bush or his policies, but his training tells him to follow the orders of the Commander in Chief, even if he believes these orders are wrong. Please refer to
this post regarding training, as it is explained by Mark Twain. While I do not like to refer to quotes in general, Twain articulates this idea of training in such a fashion that I cannot improve upon it.
At any rate, the discussion with this gentleman was enlightening. I love to discuss the Iraq war and the current admin with any military figures I can find. I chatted with a couple of military officers on the Metro during my travel to
this event. Once again I must reiterate how training can so form a man’s mind.
So me and this gentleman went round and round about the war, and in true Neocon/conservative fashion he began to beat on Clinton. I pointed out to him that Clinton was no longer a factor save for Neocons/conservatives and their hatred for him he began to cite Hillary Clinton specifically.
“Can you imagine what would happen to our country if Hillary were elected President?” he inquired.
Geesh, I thought, these Neocons/conservatives just cannot let the Clintons go.
“The only reason you bring up Hillary as a viable contender for President” I said, “is so that she will polarize the conservative base. Since your current conservative leader has turned out to be a total fuck-up in every sense of the word, you guys want a new Clinton to hate in order to turn out the vote in favor of whatever moron you guys will select as the next Presidential candidate, all in order to maintain total power over government, which you all seem to despise.”
I swear there were tumbleweeds driven by a desert wind, heard only above the din of silence within the whole establishment.
He hemmed and hawed, paid his bill, put his hands on my shoulder and said “I’ve got to get out of here before you expose me for the closet liberal I am.” He shook my hand, said it’s been real, and hopes to see me at the bar again to continue the conversation.
I took that to mean that our conversation cause him to think, to think outside of the conservative box.
The box that hates government yet wants to control it.
The box that says discriminate against Americans because they outside of that box.
The box that justifies invading a country that didn’t have shit to do with 9-11.
The box that wants to shut down the borders on illegal immigrants even though that is exactly what this country was founded upon.
The box that wants to blame the poor for being poor but votes for the party of greed and war.
The box that wants to protect the sanctity of life yet supports the death penalty and war.
Back to an earlier part of our discussion: illegal immigrants. This guy was all about shutting down our borders to prevent illegal immigrants from using the resources of this country for a better life.
In his words: “taking resources away from me.” I asked him who was taking resources away from him; illegal immigrants who have next to nothing, or companies like Enron and big oil, companies that have been proven to be in bed with the current administration and it’s power players.
Once again the tumbleweeds blew by.
I’ll give the guy credit, he did think about the points I made, and how all of the things he rails against are the very mantra the current Republican party lives by, the party that is in control of our government, which he totally despises.
All I wanted to do was eat some sushi and get in a good read.
It is no secret that Neocons/conservatives shun education. In their minds all universities are havens of liberal thought and indoctrination. My answer to that is if you educate yourself, you will shun conservatism.
Conservatism is the clinging of the past, is the holding onto the idea of the way things
should be in their minds, as opposed to the way
things are in reality. Conservatism shuns evolution, and in fact often refers to evolution as de-evolution. Modern society and it’s progress irritates them. The poor souls cannot seem to grasp that evolution is selecting them out, for they do not change. Change is constant, change is natural, change is inevitable. Man is an animal in every biological sense of the word. Therefore, globalization to some extent is inevitable. You may choose to bury your head in the sand and refuse to accept it, but please do not lash out as the world passes you by.
Recently I was asked by a conservative/anarchist (his own description of himself) what I thought would have happened in the United States had the South won the Civil War. “Don’t you think States would have more power, be stronger, and wouldn’t have the Federal government to answer to?”
In response to that question combined with the wonderful evening I’ve had, I will end this post/diatribe with some words from Booker T. Washington, from his work
Up From Slavery:
"I had no schooling whatever while I was a slave, though I remember on several occasions I went as far as the schoolhouse door with one of my young mistresses to carry her books. The picture of several dozen boys and girls in a schoolroom engaged in study made a deep impression upon me, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.So far as I can now recall, the first knowledge that I got of the fact that we were slaves, and that freedom of the slaves was being discussed, was early one morning before day, when I was awakened by my mother kneeling over her children and fervently praying that Lincoln and his armies might be successful, and that one day she and her children might be free."That about sums it up, no?
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