.....MODJESKA CANYON: It's 2:15 on Super Tuesday and Rebel Girl's father has already telephoned her to inform her that her vote for Obama (he knew, he said, that she voted for Obama without having to ask) was naive......Ouch!
.....He has, he reminded her, lived longer than she has and has seen more things.
.....This is true. He was born in 1927, the youngest son of Juan and Teresa, two immigrants from Mexico, and grew up in Los Angeles. He served in WW II as a teenager, came home and went back to high school for his diploma (back then you had to sit in classes with the high school students in order to matriculate, no special classes or equivalency tests). He then applied for a job with LA City Fire Department and was denied on the basis of the physical given him by the department's doctor. His health was good enough to go to war but not to fight fires in his hometown. He had to fight the doctor and the department and, in the end, he prevailed. Rebel Girl's father doesn't use the word "racism" often, but he uses it when he recalls this incident. He became one of the first Mexican-American firefighters in the department and when he retired a few years back, he was the oldest active duty firefighter at age 74. His health, once judged so poor, had apparently held out. Yet among his defining experiences were the four decades he spent in firehouses and what he saw there among men (it was mostly men in his days) who were supposed to be brothers.
....."There is no way," Rebel Girl's father said this afternoon, "that this country will elect a black man president." It saddens him, he said. He worries that Americans won't elect a woman either, but he doesn't worry about that as much......He liked his daughter's optimism but he doesn't share it. "I have lived," he said. "I have seen things. Change doesn't come as quickly as you'd like." Then suddenly his tone changed. Maybe he remembered he was talking to his daughter. "But, I don't want you to be discouraged," he said. "I don't want you to be disappointed. That's just the way it is."
.....He sounded tender, full of regret.
.....Rebel Girl's father, of course, like most parents perhaps, is unaware of the depths of his own child's experience, doesn't perhaps spend too much time measuring what she may or may not know about disappointment or defeat. There's a level of naivete there as well and hope, of course.
13 comments:
Reb, we share your father's views. We don't think this country will vote for a black man any time soon. Of course, we'll be more than happy to be proven wrong.
Sounds like RG's father wants to win and RG herself wants to lose.
I think he can win, and Hillary can't. Watch me be wrong.
I think he can win, and Hillary can't. Watch me be wrong.
This week, Katha Pollitt wrote, "If the campaign becomes a competition between race and gender, the winner will be whichever white man the GOP nominates." So cut it out.
Is Katha Pollitt that new geography teacher?
If Democrats cared about the 2/3 of American businesses that are small businesses, they would never lose an election. Instead they want to bleed business white to feed people who literally pay zero state or federal income tax.
If Republicans cared about small businesses, that would be a real change.
Republicans only care about more and more money for the vested big business interests, and they bleed the taxpayers to subsidfize the corporate welfare state. Looked at the agribusiness subsidies lately? Try the sugar props to the huge conglomerates in the Dominican Republic. Ethanol? Halliburton? Any Democrats on that corporate board?
Stop buying into the Republican big lie, that they care about the little guy. They only care about profits for the few.
Anonymous 10:11 is right, and so is Katha Pollitt.
10:11 Your observation of the Republican racket protecting big business is correct. However, there simpily aren't enough votes to even begin winning an election amoung "the few". 2/3 of Americas businesses are small businesses. These folks fill the ranks of the Republican party. You find them at the Elks, Rotary, Cattlemans Association, Chamber of Commerce. Republicans are indeed friendly to "BIG" business but they also are to "small" business.
If the Democrats would focus their ideals on the small businessman (or woman) and support their incredible contribution to our economy, they would never lose an election. Instead they seem to hate anyone who makes a profit. They drive natural allies into the enemy camp. Remember, perception IS reality and Democrats are perceived by small business as an obstacle to wealth generation.
If you don't believe me look at the Presidential results for the last 60 years. It doesn't have to be like this....but it is.
Well, TB, much question begging going on there. To say Democrats hate anyone who makes a profit is a bit disingenuous, don't you think? Any source for this?
How about the concern with people making huge, obscene profits--like hedge fund managers--who contibute nothing to society? I will bet ther are almost exclusively Republican, and they exploit the loophole in the tax system to avoid paying their fair share.
Also, it's not the numbers of "the few" but their financial clout that concerns me. They use the power of media and influence to get people to vote against their interests, like the small businessmen to whom you refer, and the theocratic twits in places like Kansas.
Remember too that small business owners are not a homogenous group--many of them are Democrats, as they see the favoritsism that goes to corporations.
10:52 You are correct about the obscene profits of folks like hedge fund managers. The financial workers in America constitute 5% of the workforce yet "earn" 25% of the paycheck dollars.
The rich also carry the income tax load. The bottom half only pay a few % points. The top half pay All of the rest (Math 51).
The rich also live in multi-million buck homes. A million dollar house is $10k/yr property taxes. My $100k home is $1k/yr.
The rich drive $60k SUV's and pay $1200/yr registrations. I drive a 30 year old rusty, torn up interior, sitting on seat springs, 282000 miles Datsun and pay $78.
The lesson here is that the rich carry the load. I could be a stockbroker (median income $350k/yr). Instead I work at a college ($50k/yr). I made a conscious choice. I obtained skills necessary for me to compete and win my employment. I am not jealous of hedge fund managers who make millions per year.
The middle class is populated with millions of small business owners. They fill the ranks of the Republican party because the Democrats practice class warfare against them. Republicans WIN elections because of this demographic. There are not enough rich people to even begin winning ANY election ANYWHERE for any party.
Again I state, comport Democratic Party values with the needs of the small businessman, make them comfortable that they have their interests served, and the Democrats will peel enough votes away to win everywhere. Remember Florida (dig dig 547 votes)
But Democrats won't. And the game goes on, sadly.
Republicans win elections because of making huge bald faced lies, and using every dirty trick in the book. They also raise huge amounts of money from the few with millions and billions to spare.
The brain dead electorate is clueless.
I don't think we're talking about jealousy of hedge fund whores--it's just plain wrong, and an outrage. I'm also not sure about the shouldering of the tax burden--that's probably more to do with the middle class. However, the very rich also profit handsomely from government largess--Blackwater, anyone? And the tax codes are written to favor them. Also, can anyone under a certain amount use an offshore tax shelter? Corporations do.
I am constantly amazed that someone who has a low paying profession will champion the republicans--is it a sort of self loathing going on?
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