This is episode 5 of my series about having FUN as a Dem grassroots activist. Yes, people... have FUN as a Dem! Be contagious! Smile! Do some respectful chummy kidding! Dare I say it? Laugh!
Yep, there are Swiftboat Whatevers telling 'bad stories' about our candidate. Yes, those stories have to be debunked and they are being debunked. But let's not let their crappola ruin our day! After all, we are winning! FDR had that jaunty angle to his cigarette holder and 'we have nothing to fear but fear itself' attitude. Americans loved him and his attitude.
Our lives are short and this election is one of the most important in my lifetime. But my life and life in my hometown of Napa California will not end no matter how the election turns out.
An important short term goal in my life is the defeat of George W. Bush, but my longer term goal is to 'live my life well'. So I am exploring the personal stories of the people I meet and sharing my personal story with interested people as well. It turns out that a very good place to do that is at a 'street fair'.
I have come to the conclusion that it is going to be very important that we be 'attractive' to potential voters of any stripe.
To the best of our ability we must authentically provide a personal contrast to the bushit being spewed by the Right Wingnut Media.
LIBRULZ are protrayed as unpatriotic, my personal contrast is that I am obviously patriotic. And I ask people to recognize it and they do. And LIBRULZ are portrayed as wanting to tell you what to do, my personal contrast is that I want to hear what YOU like to do.
Do you enjoy being 'lectured' by someone who 'knows more than you'? I don't. I watched the Krugman/O'Rielly matchup on a Russert program and something came over loud and clear. Several times, O'Rielly sarcasticly used terms like 'you know more than everybody' and 'you are smarter than the rest of us' against Krugman, in a rather blatant "Don't listen to Mr. Smartypants" ploy. I paid attention to that ploy -- it is dishonest, and it deserves refutation -- by personal contrast.
My personal credo is to try and be as authentic as possible, (for instance I will register any voter) and listen... yes, listen... to other people tell their story. I ask Republican leaning voters for their stories about how they came to where they are, and it can be fascinating. And it is easy to filter out what the 'talking points' by asking about them and their story.
And I find that I am learning and growing MORE certain that we are going to win in November. But we need to listen to our disaffected brothers and sisters. So, I went down for a glass o' vino and a BBQ'ed turkey drumstick (actually quite a good combination) at the Napa California Chef's Market 'street fair' and to listen to my citizens.
Here are a few thoughts about last night's 'vino and drumstick'.
I know, I know... The Bushiter would dearly love to divert us all from his agenda of greed and into a yak-fest about the war of my generation, Vietnam. And I don't mind talking about it either, but we have got kids being maimed and killed in the now. I strolled over to the Republican voter registration table and found out several interesting things.
I walked up wearing my 'Veteran for Kerry' button and started talking to the husband and wife team that have been behind that table since my first visit. Hubby has grown a beard! And we were kidding around, I said I liked it. His wife is not so impressed, I said well, I don't have to kiss that face and we all had a laugh. I found out that Hubby works for the State of California, is a union member and doesn't like having his union donations being parceled out to political candidates by the union leadership. Well, I told him, I don't like corporations or unions giving money to candidates. I suprised them by recommending a plan by a California moderate Republican (retired), Tom Campbell, who wanted to make it so that only a person living in a congressional district could donate to a politician. We agreed that would be better because a corporate kingpin who gets a twenty million dollar bonus for laying off 10,000 workers is not to be trusted either! A little later, the wife got up and went and sat with some... Democrats for a bit! The mind boggles...
A guy and his wife strolled up and the guy was wearing a button saying "Vietnam Vet against Kerry". I asked him his story. He was a marine and humped his way through Nam. Kerry had it very easy on a Swiftboat compared to him. I told him I agreed. I am a vet but I had it better than both of them, never saw a single shot fired in anger -- I just practiced blowing up cities with my nukes every damn day. Then we got to the meat of his beef. He had served honorably and came home to apply for a job as a policeman and was turned down as being too dangerous and he used the word 'babykiller'. This guy was mad at Kerry because he had come home disrespected and Kerry symbolized the war resisters.
I can see his point, but I said... You know, no matter what you think of Kerry as a man, a couple of things really bother me about this Swiftboat business. (1) What about the bullet holes in the boats, and the mine explosions? (2) How do you 'arrange' to get wounded? The guy shooting at you wants to kill you, not wound you so you can run for President thirty years later. It is not likely the VC were hoping to help Kerry run for President thirty years ago. I could see a spark there, but it did not catch flame last night. But it is still there. This guy's real anger at how he was treated when he got home from Nam had been directed at Kerry by skillful propaganda, but his real enemies are the greedy people who made billions off the war and ripped him off.
Finally, back at the Dem table, I talked to a sixteen year old FAUX news watcher, who was eager to go sign-up when he got old enough -- at least now, while he can still go home to bed at night. I asked him if he had thought much about the 1000 dead kids just like him and no WMD, and in some ways even worse... a life without a leg, arm, eye or brain damage -- and no WMD. According to Chris Matthews there are 6500 of those maimed soldiers for us to care for now. I pray the Iraq war will be over before he has to spend a day slugging it out with an Iraqi over a piece of the Iraqi's country.
Well, today is moving day! I am off to move into my breezy new digs overlooking Napa. So this magnum opus comes to an abrupt end. I could tell more 'GA at the NVCM' stories today, but I gotta go. I hope you enjoyed the glimpse into the lives of our fellow citizens who are more like us than not.
I await your comments!
RMD