Do you like to talk about politics? I do.
Recently during a Scrabble game, a desultory conversation arose about a conversation we’d had earlier that day. Partygirl had told us that she knew a lot of Catholics who were “voting their religion” — that is, voting for McCain in spite of his clear problems because he was less likely to favor access to abortion than Obama.
“She’s a reformed Republican, you know,” I said.
Now, I like to talk about politics, but I don’t like to argue about it. I try not to say any Fighting Words, including words like “reformed Republican” if that would be Fighting Words to someone in the room.
The “someone in the room” bit is touchy, I know. My friend Elkhorn and I are both white women married to men of other races, and both of us have had the experience of someone’s saying some racist thing in front of us and then apologizing on the grounds that they didn’t know we were in mixed marriages. I don’t accept those apologies. If you only make racist remarks when everyone in the room with you shares your ethnic background, or only say nasty things about some religious group when you think nobody present is a member of that group, or avoid making your sexist remarks in mixed company — well, you’re a bigot, that’s what.
But inflammatory political remarks are part of our heritage here in Hamburger-a-go-go-land. And I was there in a room containing intelligent young people doing things like working for Legal Aid, so I didn’t expect any of them to be Republicans.
One of them was.
“Really?” I said in a benign voice. “Did you vote for Bush?”
“Yes,” he growled. “And it’s not as though I’m not smart enough to defend myself.”
There was a silence.
Not smart enough. Where had that come from? The guy was beating me at Scrabble. #2 daughter was beating him, of course, but she’s a Scrabble shark. There hadn’t been any threateningly intellectual conversations or anything. Physics had not been mentioned.
…to defend myself. And where had that come from? I had given him home-baked cookies. No one was wearing a gun. The guy’s a law student, for heaven’s sake. You’d think he would be familiar enough with situations requiring a person to defend himself that it would be clear that my living room, with cookies and Scrabble, wasn’t such a situation.
Are young Republicans just feeling defensive these days?
The silence lengthened. I asked his opinion about McCain and listened respectfully and nodded a lot. We had a chat about vice presidential prospects. We moved on.
I’ve got to quit stereotyping.
Ack! I really try to avoid talking about politics. I mean, we discuss things at home…but other than that I avoid it. You guest seemed to be a bit touchy, though. What with you plying him with cookies and good family fun.
I think, since he does work at Legal Aid and battered women’s shelters, that he probably does get attacked a lot for being a Republican. And we were attacking the words he kept trying to play, so maybe he was feeling vulnerable…
But really. ‘Cain’ and ‘Joe’? What do we look like, noobs?
@chanthaboune – noobs?
never a dull moment around your parts huh?
I never cease to be amazed at people who run churches including information on who to vote for in their sermons!
I still haven’t figured out what right these people have to advise anyone on politics, let alone TELL someone to vote a particular way!
The thing that amazes me even more are the people who vote the way they’re told to, whether they agree with it or not.
Then again, after 64 years on this earth, I’m still amazed at the stupid things people do and say! Read the Darwin Awards sometime.
@lostarts – I’ve never heard of that. Does your pastor do that?
@chanthaboune – Hey, we could have challenged him to a duel, with that blatant cheating of his. “QUE, the letter q”?
@fibermom –
No, but I’ve talked to a few people whose pastors DO do that.
And the thing that amazes me most is that they do just what they’re told to do without processing the information at all.
Of course, these are the same people who didn’t like a particular movie about the life of Jesus (and it was a really excellent movie) because “the actor who played Jesus looked like he was Jewish.” They also hate the Jews because “they asked to have Barrabas pardoned instead of Jeasus.”
I asked them if they had ever READ the Bible, and they said that they hadn’t, but they believed in it absolutely.
I need to, as well, apparently because I thought you were a Republican too. I am a Republican but it seems as if no one else is these days so I guess I should just expect everyone to be a Democrat and then be pleasantly surprised if someone turns out to be Republican, as well.
@JewelE19 – I’d be curious to know what made you think I was a Republican. I can tell by your xanga, of course.