Posted on 10/30/2004 10:53:13 PM PDT by John Robertson
Had a run-in at the gym today. Locker room, Kerry supporter is muttering about how he hates Bush, can't wait till he's gone. Talking to another Kerry Edwards supporter (and yes, our gym is going about 75% for Bush), and he invokes...Halliburton.
That's all they have to say. It's a touchstone. Just say it and nod wisely and knowingly. It conveys: Corruption, proof of corruption, hatred for Bush, etc.
So then I got stupid on him...I pretended like I was really curious, and really interested in what he had to say....
The guy looks at me like I'm a ripe one. Ask away, says he.
Where is Halliburton located? He frowns. I mean, where is it headquartered? No answer. Now the rest of the locker room starts to pay attention.
How many employees does it have? Blank stare.
What were its revenues in its last fiscal year--and when is its fiscal year? Nothing.
Who are its current chief officers--just the top three? Growing anger.
Is Halliburton a public company?
Red-faced. And guys are starting to snicker and laugh. And they're tossing out other questions: What profit did Halliburton make in its last quarter?
Lots! he sputters.
And my locker room mate smiles and says, Zip! They've lost money for the last seven quarters in a row. (Hey, I didn't know this.)
Everybody's laughing out loud. The K-supporter he was talking to when this started? He's distancing himself, pretending not to hear any of this--and jamming stuff in to his gym bag so he can get out of there.
Bush and Cheney are crooked! he says.
Silence. He looks at me. Everybody's looking at me.
How do you spell Halliburton? I ask.
He pauses...says H-a-l...then he's in a mental rotary, and doesn't know how to drive out of it. One L, two L's?
Finally he mutters, "F-ing Republicans!" and flounces out of the locker room, a wave of ridicule and laughter washing behind him.
I hope he doesn't have the stones to come back for year. If Bush wins, he'll probably quit.
In the gym, for the rest of the workout session, whenever any of us from the locker room would make eye contact, we'd shout, "Halliburton!" then laugh our butts off.
Facts to leftists are like sunlight to vampires. Good show ;)
That's priceless. Brilliant play.
Thats hilarious!
And just acting like a god-darned innocent as you ask your questions really sucks them in. Kinda scrunch up your face and try to look 20 points dumber than you are.
You've made my day.
Early in the week I ran across a site in Va for a Victory party after kerry wins. I sent them an email and told them that I was sorry to inform them, but President Bush and Vice President Cheney would be unable to attend as they would be busy at their own celebration, a celebration of 4 more years.
Got a nasty email in return asking how any intelligent individual could not vote for kerry.
I replied with about 2 pages of flip flops, inconsistancies, stupid comments, fraud committed by democrats in registering and voting, breakins at BC headquarters around the nation. Finished it off with a graphic description of a late term abortion and then said, kerry supports this barbaric form of MURDER.
I can't understand, but she didn't have a response.
It's hard pretending to be stupid, isn't it? :)
Good job. If the opportunity ever arises again try asking him who else does the kind of work Halliburton does.
Nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning!
Thanks for the compliment, really appreciated. Halliburton!
Halliburton!
Nice work!
can you say...
Halliburton!! or is it Halibuten? or... arrrgggg. blast you republicans
If Bush wins, then your Haliburton hater will workout in France.
The no-bid relationship between the Army and Halliburton was established under Clinton, at the Army's request.
There is reason to question whether battlefield logistics should be handled by a civilian company rather than uniformed soldiers, but the run-up to a war was not the moment to be rocking any boats.
The idea of going out to bid on the eve of war is laughable. First, who would be on the bid list? In the business of warzone logistics, Halliburton doesn't have any competitors. What would the contract look like? Are you going to reveal your battle plan to potential bidders? How many contract administrators are you going to need to process all the change orders when the logistics requirements change from hour to hour?
For warzone logistics you don't want low bidder. You want the guys that can get it done.
Not hard pretending to be stupid when you know you're outsmarting them.
By the way: The value of an exercise such as this, I've found, is not to change the mind of the person who deserves to be taken down--that will never happen. But you stand a fair chance of changing some of the minds who witness the act. At the least, you'll make them think, and stop buying into soundbites. So the next time someone says Halliburton! to them, they just might start asking some questions of their own.
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