Last night, after canvassing in Northern Virginia, I posted a diary Canvassing ~ A Great Conversation with a Vet about a joyful experience I had yesterday afternoon with a 75-year-old Navy pilot who has known John McCain, he said, "for years," and is, as a result, supporting Barack Obama.
Most of my afternoon canvassing was similarly uplifting.
But not all of it.
On a nice block in Old Town, Alexandria (not too far from where Virginia's next Senator, Mark Warner, lives)(everyone around here knows where he lives and says "hi" to him when he's out and about), I ran into a 20-something man who was walking a really cute little dog.
"Oh, what a cute dog," I said.
"My girlfriend thinks so, too," he said. "I think he's a pain in the ass."
(Imagine calling a sweet little dog a "pain in the ass"!)
Anyway, I was on to the next doorstep of the next low-rise apartment building on my canvassing list -- and the dog-hater was half-a-block away -- when he apparently spied my clipboard.
"You must be working for a campaign," he yelled, from where he was.
"Yes," I said, cheerfully, "I am volunteering for Barack Obama and Mark Warner."
"Demonazi," he said. (In Old Town, Alexandria? OMG). I thought I had misheard him (and I didn't really care, since he was a half-a-block away) so I went about my business -- walking up to the buzzer pad, checking my list, and ringing buzzers.
He walked back down the block, to where I was.
"Those doors are locked. You can't go in there," he said. (Like I was about to do some evil breaking and entering. Oh, and by the way, I pose a real threat to my community -- I am short and 51 years old.)
"I'm not going in," I said, still cheerful. (Thinking: please leave me alone and I am glad it's a beautiful sunny afternoon in a safe part of the City.)
"There are no Demonazis in these buildings," he said. "There are no undecideds. You are wasting your time."
"Thanks, but I'll keep canvassing," I said.
He followed me with his sweet dog for the whole block. I suppose he meant to be intimidating. I guess he didn't know that (a) I am a lawyer and (b) I've been held in contempt by a federal judge while standing up for a client -- and that, consequently, this Future Fascist of America and his pint-sized dog didn't exactly "intimidate" me.
At the last building on my block, his little dog ran toward me and bit my jeans. I don't know whether the thug purposefully scared his little dog or what. I know I wasn't scared. I felt sorry for that sweet little dog, being in the custody of this obvious bully. Poor dog.
I told the little dog, in soothing tones, that he was a good dog and that it was okay. The thug who was taking care of him said: "We hate Demonazis, but we don't bite them." Then they finally went away.
Thank God; my hydrophobia shot isn't updated.
I finished my canvassing. I'm going out again tomorrow. To another good Democratic neighborhood in Northern Virginia, where our primary duty is to get out the votes.
I grew up in a village in Westchester County so Republican that Richard Nixon felt safe holding a motorcade there in 1974. But that Village had dissenters (loud dissenters) -- including the parents of First Lieutenant Robert C. Ransom, Jr. -- and no one ever called them Demonazis, or, indeed, any names at all. They disagreed; but they did so in civil discourse.
How dare the right-wing radio thugs, Sarah Palin and even John McCain encourage the hate-speech that has now become their brand? What is wrong with them?
Tonight, I am thinking about our kossack brothers and sisters who live in unfriendly neighborhoods and are putting up with this horrible stuff in order to help all of us have a better future. Bless them.
As Kos has said: We cannot leave anything on the road.
But some of us are lucky -- our only obligation is to work hard in basically friendly territory. This diary is dedicated to our fellow kossacks who are working so hard amidst the hate-filled unfriendly parts of this country.
Bless them. Support them. Send donations and good wishes to our friends in unfriendly places.
And to everyone: Donate. Volunteer. We must bring this home.
Watch and weep: Hate or Hope ~ We Decide. (Bring tissues.)
Bless this community. (Major h/t to kossack Luthien Tinuviel for alerting me to this extraordinarily moving video.