Friday I was bartending. I had the MSNBC on. He was about 55, rail thin, plaid shirt and moustache, worn in the trucker style. Said to me, "I just don't think we're ready for a Black Muslim president." I asked him if he really believed that Obama was a muslim. (Not sure whether muslim should be capitalized. Is it like "Caltholic" or like "christian"? I think it's not a proper noun but that perhaps putting "Black" before it refers to a specific group so there it should be capped. Anywho . . .) He told me that that's what the email said, but regardless, he wasn't voting for anyone who wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance. That too he got from email, it turned out – email that he thought originated at CNN. He went on to tell me that he was a patriot and that was his main concern when he votes. I responded that he should like Barack then – after all he's the American dream (in a bootstraps-success-story kind of way, not in a mixed race way – had none of the privilege of a McCain or a Bush, you know,that kind of thing). He told me not to ever say that to him. I suggested that he check his facts and then vote based on issues, but I'm pretty sure he's found his reasons for voting against the black man, and he's gonna use 'em. He paid for his Bud and left. We said friendly enough good-byes.
How many guys like that, the kind of guys (and gals)I don't run into that much, who're kind of scarce in Western Mass in general,who don't get called by polls but who will be at the polls tomorrow, are out there? And, conversely, how many people who've lived all their lives around that kind of tacit orspoken racism, around ignorant hatred of"difference,"but who will get in the booth and think Fuck it. McCain's a rich-boy-piece-of-shit who's run adirty campaign, and, dammit, I like Obama, I just like the guy. I think, hope, feel that the two groups will cancel each other out, but I just don't know. I guess none of us does, except maybe Dick Cheney.
If you're looking for a place to watch it all go down on a big screenwith a good bunch of folks and plenty of liquor, we'll be at the bar tomorrow night. Come on down. Either way, it'll be good to have company, come what may.
As a friend said to Anja and me today, "Don't you feel like tomorrow's Christmas?!" She replied, "Yeah, but it might be the worst Christmas ever."
Yikes! Yay! Yikes! (rinse, repeat)
