What really goes on when all those old guys meet for breakfast at the local cafe?

The time is early morning in early December 2012.  The election was decided nearly three weeks ago but I am still paying the price for holding a few political thoughts that differ from my breakfast companions.  They have already left the Pueblo, CO area restaurant.  Only Lord Northrup lingered on to talk politics.  I am tired of talking politics with Lord Northrup!  He is a friend, so I endure what has become a continued assault on my peace of mind.  By the way, I assault him too.

As I walk out the door of the restaurant into an unseasonably beautiful warm Pueblo morning to my pickup truck I have to ask.  “Whatever happened to free speech?”  This is a rhetorical question and no one hears me.  I mumble to myself.  “I’ve never been an original thinker, but I am cursed by being an independent thinker.” 

Certainly, not all twelve of those guys that come and go to the Pueblo area restaurant think exactly alike about politics.  Are they all Republicans?  Some don’t talk about politics at all repeating the old caveat, “my mom told me not to talk about politics or religion.”  Could it be that they are simply afraid to speak up?  Maybe they know they will lose friends.  Some of these old guys are pretty sharp.  They don’t seem to be too concerned about losing business, like that barber in Missouri I read about.  He was the guy with a big mouth who ran-off all of his customers with his political ranting’s and ravings while he sharpens his razor on the old leather strop. Most of my breakfast companions are retired.  So I suspect they just want to hold onto their friends.

The peer pressure to conform seems to be just as strong at seventy years old as it was when we were all in tenth grade.  Hell, if the pressure to conform was just a little bit stronger all of the men at the coffee clutch would be calling each other to see what to wear today. 

The phone rings, “Hey Jimmy, are you wearing the ratty Levis with the imprint of the Copenhagen can in the right back pocket and your blue socks and red plaid shirt today, or are you going with that outfit that your wife usually makes you wear on Monday?”

  

A guy I thought was my friend just called me a socialist.  Then he jumped up and shoved aside his chair like he was ready to kick my ass.

I am the guy with the differing opinion.  Sometimes I forget what mom told me about politics and religion.  All of the rest of the guys at the table fall right in line. They either agree with each other, or they keep their mouths shut.  They’re like a flock of Starlings on a utility wire.  The breeze blows a bit and they all dip their beaks in unison.   

I want to implore Lord Northrop to listen to my point of view, but he is gone and my political thoughts bounce around in my injured cranium.  What would I say to him?  Perhaps I would say what I have been saying all along.

“Lord Northrop, as much as I sincerely enjoy your company most of the time, the rancorous political discussions have to come to a halt.  The election is over pal.   As I have said numerous times lately, I am tired of talking politics.  The right to political dissent and discourse is inherent in our way of government.  Why can’t you accept the fact that I have a right to my own point of view?   We are firmly into our geezer hoods and what either of us thinks isn’t going to matter too much of anyone other than the two of us.” 

But, it’s too late for that.  The gauntlet has been thrown.  He has called me a socialist and the way he shouted at me in the restaurant was beyond your garden variety democracy.  Everyone looked at me like I was Hannibal Lector.  The only way I can patronize the place again is if I’m strapped to a chair in a strait-jacket with that hideous mask over my face.  How will I possibly eat?  

Maybe Lord Northrup will read what I have to say, so I keep writing.

So once more, Lord Northrup, allow me to state what I think and then I’ll put it to rest and I hope you are willing to do the same. 

I think that reaching another 30 million people with medical care that they didn't have in the past is a triumph for the current administration.  If nothing else it is a starting point.  If they can't get it to work financially, at least they tried to do something.  It may fail like many other great experiments, but our democracy has been an experiment from the very beginning and I suspect we will weather the storm. To me, medical coverage for a large number of people is a moral issue.  There are other moral issues to be sure. I hate the mere thought of abortion, but Roe vs. Wade has taken a back seat to other current issues. Politics comes down to issues that are important to each voter, whether that voter is purely practical or a dreamy-eyed ideologue.  I pick one or two issues and pull the lever.  That works for me.   

My vote is not a vote for socialism. Your charge that I am a socialist is particularly egregious to me.  The Supreme Court has plainly stated that the money to cover the cost was obviously a tax.  I never saw it as anything other than a tax.  Check out any dictionary for a proper definition of socialism before you start aligning your friends with Stalin and Marx.  “Hey, Lord Northrup, why won’t healthier people work for America? 

I am a registered independent, but I voted for the Democrats this time (and last time) for two reasons. The first I have mentioned above.  The second is my perception that the Republicans consistently show a patent disregard for any attempt to keep the countryside clean.  I don't care how many holes the oil and gas companies punch in the ground as long as they engineer the wells correctly and the crews do the work as it should be done.   This serves not only the safety and health of the nearby residents but also the financial well being of the energy companies.  I don't have to remind you of all the billions of dollars that British Petroleum has spent on cleaning up their mess.

Gas is cleaner to burn than coal and I am all for it until someone comes up with a method to clean up dirtier hydrocarbons or go to renewable energy entirely. If you don’t think that cleaning up the atmosphere is important I will simply point to the latest study on the melting of the Arctic ice cap which is, by good scientific measurement, melting at a much higher rate than previously measured.  Keep in mind that scientific theories can never be entirely proved, but they can be disproved.  So go ahead and disprove it.   

Thirdly, believe it or not, I don't really care about politics all that much.  I am not an adversarial personality. Hell, I really don't care if the Broncos win from week to week (as long as they make it to the playoffs).  When I watch a football game it is for the beauty of the logistics and the prowess of the athletes.  What concerns me most is my family’s health which is impacted by poorly delivered health care and lip-service environmental regulations and enforcement.

I really regret that the Republicans don't get it.  They were my party for most of my life and I would like to return to the fold.  My parents were loyal Republicans and most of my friends are still Republicans. I like all that talk about motherhood, apple pie, and bootstraps.  They are going nowhere unless some devil in an expensive suit runs for office and convinces the real fools to vote for him. I also regret that they feel they can write off the Latino/Hispanic vote, even though by doing so they helped ensure a Democratic win.  Open your eyes Republicans. 

When I think of the Republican Party I see something akin to General George Armstrong Custer leading all of his troops bravely to their deaths at the hands of a superior force with inferior weapons. (The guys with money vs. the guys with no money)  The popular general didn’t understand what he was up against simply because he didn’t take the time to understand what was going on.

General Custer is said to have been very popular in his graduating class at West Point and in the final analysis, his popularity was his undoing because his time should have been spent on study instead of his social life.  He was long on personality but he lacked substance.  Does the lack of substance begin to make sense to you?   By evidence, I can point out that he was the ‘Goat’. The Goat is the student who graduates last in his/her class at the Point. To this day, the West Point Cadets still glorify the Goat of each graduating class. The Goat sometimes goes on to achieve an amazing military career, but the odds are not with the goat.  The odds are with the people who pay attention.  The Republican Party does the same with the candidates they have picked recently.  They pick the long-shot goat.  The Republican Party needs to worry less about influencing members of their own party and spend more time on figuring out what is going on. They need to pick someone who can tie all of the diversity and real problems in this nation together and make all of it understandable to the populous. Goats bleat and pander.  Leaders have a vision and a sense of altruism and compassion for all the people.  Lord Northrup, have you ever met a goat with compassion?  The climate change problems are much more ominous than the big tribe of Native Americans that Custer faced.  The goats just can’t get these thoughts to square. 

To be sure, I am concerned about the current fiscal problems.  However, in my opinion, the morality of health care and the environment trumps the money problems.  We are still the richest country on earth.  It seems to me that the Democrats like to tax and spend, and from all indications of recent history the Republicans are fond of spending and borrowing, but reducing taxes.  When it's time to pay these huge deficits and the debt, we as a nation will have to bite the bullet and cowboy up. The sky is not falling. Both parties spend too much money. The end doesn't have to be lurking behind the next hill waiting for us to charge by, following the guy who graduated last in his class.

The Tea Party accomplishes nothing but damage by holding up approval to pay the bills for items that were voted on long ago.  I can't decide to stop payment on a car that I bought last year without severe consequences.  Where did the Tea Party get the idea they can throw a monkey wrench into the cogs of our capitalism without causing a catastrophe? 

You are frightened about your future because there are many in your political party who want to keep you frightened and in their back pocket.  

Let us get back to the discussions without the drama.  There are very few socialists in Pueblo County and I am not one of them either.