Politics At The Barbershop
My son and I were in desperate need of haircuts, so we went downtown for a buzz. Unfortunately, The View was on.
"Ever watch this show?" my barber asked in her mid-30's Italian American accent, with just a tinge of tar in her throat and lungs.
"Never," I replied.
"It's pretty good."
I made sure not to roll my eyes.
"It's better without Rosie."
"Yeah, she can be opinionated."
"Oh being opinionated is ok. It's when a person gets obnoxious about it that's wrong."
"She is that."
Thanks to Countdown, I knew about the blow up between Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselback, but I deliberately didn't give a shit enough to learn the details.
"I mean, it's like she's a terrorist in her own country."
I don't give a fuck about Rosie O'Donnell so I made no effort to defend her. But a terrorist?
"You just can't go against your own country. We had an election. You'll just have to wait until the next one. There's nothing you can do."
So apparently we should all shut the fuck up about the shit that's gone wrong the last 6 1/2 years.
I would've loved to spoken up at this point, but for three reasons:
1) I didn't want to appear like I was defending Rosie O'Donnell,
2) This woman was cutting my hair and made my already bad hair worse
3) My latest poison ivy rash was flaring up again and I just wanted to go
"Invading Iraq was a mistake, but we just can't leave those people. I don't know what the solution is."
"I don't think there is one."
"It's not like Bush is a bad person. He just made a bad decision and he's going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. It's not like what Clinton did. I can't believe he did that. What an example to set for our kids. Not that I have any, but I'm a values voter. That's what's wrong with this country. Morality's gone out the window."
Wow, I actually met one of the much ballyhooed "values voters" from 2004, right here in Connecticut. And she's willing to give W a pass on his Iraq mistake but Clinton should be drawn and quartered for his oral sex infidelity. I was dying to say, "Well, at least no one died from the blow job," but the snip snip of the scissors, the twitching of my forearms as blisters yearned to pop, and my son being right there too, kept me quiet.
Shame on me for my cowardice. I should've worn a butchered hair cut with pride.
Keep it up Karl. The propaganda is still working.
\_/
DED
"Ever watch this show?" my barber asked in her mid-30's Italian American accent, with just a tinge of tar in her throat and lungs.
"Never," I replied.
"It's pretty good."
I made sure not to roll my eyes.
"It's better without Rosie."
"Yeah, she can be opinionated."
"Oh being opinionated is ok. It's when a person gets obnoxious about it that's wrong."
"She is that."
Thanks to Countdown, I knew about the blow up between Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselback, but I deliberately didn't give a shit enough to learn the details.
"I mean, it's like she's a terrorist in her own country."
I don't give a fuck about Rosie O'Donnell so I made no effort to defend her. But a terrorist?
"You just can't go against your own country. We had an election. You'll just have to wait until the next one. There's nothing you can do."
So apparently we should all shut the fuck up about the shit that's gone wrong the last 6 1/2 years.
I would've loved to spoken up at this point, but for three reasons:
1) I didn't want to appear like I was defending Rosie O'Donnell,
2) This woman was cutting my hair and made my already bad hair worse
3) My latest poison ivy rash was flaring up again and I just wanted to go
"Invading Iraq was a mistake, but we just can't leave those people. I don't know what the solution is."
"I don't think there is one."
"It's not like Bush is a bad person. He just made a bad decision and he's going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. It's not like what Clinton did. I can't believe he did that. What an example to set for our kids. Not that I have any, but I'm a values voter. That's what's wrong with this country. Morality's gone out the window."
Wow, I actually met one of the much ballyhooed "values voters" from 2004, right here in Connecticut. And she's willing to give W a pass on his Iraq mistake but Clinton should be drawn and quartered for his oral sex infidelity. I was dying to say, "Well, at least no one died from the blow job," but the snip snip of the scissors, the twitching of my forearms as blisters yearned to pop, and my son being right there too, kept me quiet.
Shame on me for my cowardice. I should've worn a butchered hair cut with pride.
Keep it up Karl. The propaganda is still working.
\_/
DED
Labels: politics
posted by DED at 1:52 PM
7 Comments:
Good rant, it helps to vent sometimes. You have no idea how bad it really is though, try it where I live. It isn't worth it. We're doubly toast. Crooks have got control of the gubmint and the citizenry either supports them, don't care, or is too stupid to notice. They will deserve what's coming. I feel bad for people such as yourself who see it for what it is and have young children though. I hope your son has a bright future. (Blessing by Mort)
I do have some idea.
I lived in Atlanta for a year and a half during the early 90's. The place had a hard on for Newt back then and people were screaming for Clinton's head less than a month after he took office.
What I remember most from back then was the embedded racism still present in a sizable minority of the population and the fact that too many were still pissing and moaning over the Civil War despite the fact that it had concluded nearly 130 years ago (now it's 140+ and I wouldn't be surprised if nothing had changed). None of us "Yankees" still gave a shit about it, but I guess that it's because the North won and its cities went unscathed. It was so bad that I adopted a southern accent when I left the Atlanta area for service calls. The whole region was in deep need of therapy.
Thanks for the blessing for my son. :)
too many were still pissing and moaning over the Civil War despite the fact that it had concluded nearly 130 years ago (now it's 140+ and I wouldn't be surprised if nothing had changed).
(Hi, DED. Thanks for adding me to your blogroll.)
Nope, nothing's changed. When we moved here, I asked a new acquaintance how to get in touch with the local Democratic party organization. "Oh," she hesitated,"well, we don't really have much of a Democrat party anymore in this county."
Later she told me that in this area, Democrat is code for African American. I was from Illinois - I had no idea that Southerners had become so virulently Republican.
I don't blame you for being reluctant to "argue" politics. Since I'm so outnumbered, I usually just keep my mouth shut about politics in public.
Hi DCup,
I was visiting your site so much via Mike's Neighborhood, I decided to cut down on the traffic running through there with an expressway from here to Politits. :)
I think Zell Miller's tirade at the Republican National Convention in 2004 highlighted the end of culturally conservative white Democrats in the South. After all, the Dixiecrats split off from the Democratic Party in the 40's. With the most whites headed towards Republican territory, it left a power vacuum. African Americans were able to move in an fill that void and thus have a voice in local government.
I certainly don't envy your attempts to make a home for yourself in Georgia. I couldn't do it.
What I remember most from back then was the embedded racism still present in a sizable minority of the population...
It offends me when I (infrequently) hear racist comments from people. I guess I shouldn't be surprised when I hear it from people like neighbors, etc., but I always am anyway. Equally disturbing is the expectation by some blacks that all whites are racist. Yes it is still a problem, but not as much as you might think, at least I don't get that feeling here that I do in some other places. I had an eye opener with the FIL the other day too. Something about how we should bomb islamic religious leaders, mosques, and torture is a good idea, etc., etc. It truly broke my heart, this is a man I respected. Sometimes it doesn't pay to get to know people too well. Happy to do the blessing, I haven't done one in awhile.
And here, good sir, is my rant:
There are far too many cretins out there like the one who cut your hair badly such that one should put no stock in the electorate's ability to make an intelligent choice, (as if there were a choice), when confronted with the voting booth. As H.L. Mencken said, "One can never go wrong underestimating the intelligence of the average American voter." Things have not improved from Mencken's time.
As for racism, yes, indeed, it is alive and well here in Freedumbs Land. Dcups neighbor is correct, (though not for the reasons she provides), there is no Democratic party. Oh sure, there are plenty of polls whose rhetoric is somewhat different than that of the average Republican, but both parties are bought and paid for by the same entities. To end my bloviation, one should make their own contingency plans for the inevitable dissolution of the Republic of The United States. Don't look for help from Uncle Sam or the neighborhood barber who educates herself with The View.
Equally disturbing is the expectation by some blacks that all whites are racist.
I first encountered that in college. After I got over my initial resentment, I pitied the guy for being unable to see potential friends and allies in a sea of white devils.
Things have not improved from Mencken's time.
Sadly, no. They haven't.
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