Follow Up to "Met My First Bush Hater" (Vanity)

The Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog ^ | 9/22/04 | Pat fish

[Fishtalk]

9/21/2004

Freeper post-Followup:Met my first Bush hater

… Which was my mother-in-law as reported in my vanity post from Friday of last week.

My original entry was meant to honestly seek input but also to purge my sudden confusion that I may function during her weekend long visit without ending up angry and full of hate.

SHE hates Bush, or so she asserted that Friday when I brought her home from the airport. It had started as a normal conversation what with the upcoming presidential elections and the many Americans now paying full attention. Suddenly MIL launched into an invective against Bush, calling him stupid, and responsible for the deaths of over a thousand troops.

While I’d read of the many Bush haters across the land, this was my first upfront confrontation with one and though we can read the truth on the mighty Blogs, it’s still a shocker to discover firsthand it’s all true.

So I thought I’d follow up with the events of the weekend after our conversation. And add a few more interesting experiences regarding the popular election thought as the presidential race is now upper on the minds of the American public. Or at least my recent exposure to some fellow Americans all discussing and thinking about the election and struggling with their concern.

In fact we did bring up more political conversation that weekend, my MIL, I and my husband, MIL’s son. Husband is as vehemently conservative as myself lest you not be aware where he’s coming from. Indeed there was much political conversation throughout the entire weekend visit and it all was engaged in with good cheer and rumination. This is because my MIL had retreated behind her constantly smiling and always agreeable face that she wears 99% of the time. I’d only witnessed that 1% of her that was so angry and hateful towards Bush when her façade fell briefly and she allowed the enemy Anger to pass through.

Hey, it’s my assessment of MIL and sure it’s a bit simplistic. Frankly having an always-agreeable, smiling human for a weekend of company is a pleasant thing. What happens, however, is she has decided to agree with everything anyone in her surround says. This limits political discourse.

I did take advantage of the situation and state my various political opinions but I tried not to push MIL from behind her mask. Way I figured, if I didn’t get too overbearing and avoided any sort of position of superiority that she’d maybe hear a thing or two and in later times of solitary might consider the facts.

“Over 45,000 soldiers died in Vietnam,” I said, inserting this factoid into some conversation I forget what spurred it on. I was saying this pointedly because during one her rants about Bush she specifically mentioned that media hyped 1,000 number of dead soldiers. Sometimes America just plain loses perspective. Here the US had overthrown a rogue government in lawless Afghanistan and pulled a brutal dictator from a little hole, liberating millions. The World Wars cost millions of allied lives; as stated earlier, Vietnam cost almost 50,000 young American men. And we lost the war in Vietnam!

Yet I don’t remember the visceral hatred of President Johnson, architect and lousy leader of that miserable war like there is today for Bush. Methinks those that use the thousand soldier data in their anti-Bush arguments are just repeating the DNC talking points, faxed and repeated as commanded across the main stream media.

So flash forward to the following Monday after the weekend of reasonably pleasant political talk. I drove MIL back to the airport and had arranged, while in the area, to have my car serviced.

My car is leased and the players in this little political drama include the lease manager, his secretary, the owner of the car dealership in which the leasing company operates, and the “gofer” guy who takes the cars that require servicing and returns them all done.

It begins when I see Louise, the secretary, walking across the dealership lot as I pulled up in my car about to be serviced. I should expand and explain that for about two years some, oh, fifteen plus years ago, I worked for this company. When I left I continued leasing cars with the company. This is why I know all these people on more than a business/customer level.

Louise and I walked to Gene’s office in tandem, exchanging pleasantries like we do. Gene is the lease manager and my main contact for all things legal, arranging a loaner, scheduling service. He was also my boss when I worked for the company. John is the gofer guy who I never worked with but he’s been handling my car needs for so many years he’s become a business sort of friend. Maury is owner of the car dealership and he was my boss twice removed when I worked there and now he is, well, owner of the leasing company from which I lease my car.

It was Louise who first brought up the upcoming elections. It was in reaction to some disparaging comment I made about liberals. Louise inserted that Gene was liberal and was, in fact, going to vote for Kerry.

Gene threw his glasses open-hinged on his desk and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t like Kerry,” he said after a long exasperated sigh. “But he hates Bush,” Louise interjected. I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t hate Bush. Tell you the truth, I don’t like either one of them.” Louise began a discourse on the recent statements of Sean Hannity so I knew she was a conservative. And she was very schooled on the political scene as one might expect from a Hannity listener.

“If you don’t vote for Bush than you’re the only Jew in America that isn’t,” I put in my two cents.

It’s was an odd thing to say but I really wanted to get Gene’s attention without repeating the same old, same old. And of course every Jew in America isn’t voting for Dubya. I am not Jewish but through my various business dealings associate with many Jews. Get along fabulously in fact, shiksa that I am, I don’t know why.

“I mean, this administration is Israel’s best friend,” I said in response to Gene’s surprised raised eyebrow. “But then maybe you don’t feel any special affiliation with Israel. Perhaps I shouldn’t have assumed that.”

“No,” Gene said then faded off. All Jews feel a love for Israel and when I’m trying to slap a liberal Jew to the right side of track I will always mention Israel. I felt Gene’s belligerency deflate. He knew John Kerry would never be a friend of Israel and that, my friends, was that.

So off to shop with the loaner car while John arranges to have mine serviced, new windshield wipers, that sort of thing. Upon return, now Maury is in Gene’s office, as is Gene, with John and I having just walked in.

After bidding Maury hello and all that he asked what I was up to. I handed him my “business” card. A simple affair I designed myself, it features my proper name and my job title “BLOGGER”. Another line has my email address and another my web site. Some cute fishes swim along the bottom in honor of my name and hey, it’s how to make people remember you. That’s it. If they want to contact me, email me. Anyone without access to email will never need my services.

“So you’re a Blogger, huh?” Maury responds. I could tell, gratefully, that he has heard of Bloggers and indeed, seemed to know all about it. He pocketed my card and I knew he would be checking out the web site. He made a funny comment about CBS and we exchanged chuckles. No matter the perceived hoopla, folks, the vast majority of this country hasn’t ever heard of a Blogger or FreeRepublic for that matter. When I meet someone who knows the term then I know they are most likely conservative, intelligent and well-read. Yes, it’s stereotyping but Bloggers are allowed what with no editors or anything.

Gene looks at me and says the sentence I think he’d been practicing during my shopping spree absence. “I mean, John Kerry, George Bush,” he began, spreading his hands to illustrate his dismay. “Can’t we do any better than this with all the people in this country?”

Now John, the gofer guy just stood next to Gene’s desk. Gene is his boss. John smiled sweetly at Gene’s comment and I assumed he was a non-voter, non-political type of chap.

“Oh, I love George Dubya Bush,” I said. I was nice about it. While I didn’t want a confrontation with these fine folk I wasn’t about to leave having Gene thinking I agreed with his sentiment. Again I think my comment took Gene aback as he might not have been expecting any prideful human being to claim a love for George W. Bush.

I made an excuse to leave and use the ladies room before my long trip home. John motioned me to follow him and he would show me the room. We passed the waiting area of the dealership where folks wait to have their cars repaired. A TV was on. And showing on the TV was some news show deep into a story of the presidential campaign. John Kerry was speaking morosely-does he speak any other way? “I mean, this guy, he’s really awful,” John the gofer said pointing to Kerry. It took me a few seconds to realize what John was saying.

Then the President came upon the screen. “Now look at him,” John the gofer said, “I mean, he’s a nice guy. What did he do wrong?”

John and I then spent a few minutes discussing the Bush haters and each scratching our heads as to why. I suppose John didn’t want to mention his preference for Dubya in front of his boss but John sure wanted me to know how he felt.

Hey, I don’t know what it all means and I have no brilliant summation. I do think the political discourse was interesting and if nothing else, signs of a thoughtful America, all minds turning to the upcoming and very important national election.

Kind of exciting, actually

[Fishtalk]

Pinging commenters to the original post.

[mhking]

And the quiet among us will lead....

[Jaysun]

It's the same all over the place Fishtalk. It's rare for me to find a Bush-hater here in Alabama. I'm from Texas, and I have seen some there. I usually just point out where there facts are wrong, tell them they need to do some research on their own, and hop away in a jovial way. It works for me. I've converted 3 distant family members.