Irrelevant But Not Meaningless
Pick Your Poison.
Broadcast on The Mike Malloy Show August 07, 2012.
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Below is an excerpt. To read the rest of the words go here Permalink: http://www.voicesinourheads.com/2012/08/07/irrelevant-not-meaningless/
I was in a Starbuck’s a couple of months ago talking to a guy who was proposing we go into business together. We talked about all sorts of things and eventually we touched on American Politics. He claimed he was apolitical. He said he didn’t follow the news. But then he said, “I don’t want to see Obama reelected.”
He didn’t say, “I’m voting for Romney.” He didn’t say he would vote for a third party candidate. He didn’t know Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, nor did he know what the NDAA was. He didn’t know any of the reasons why I couldn’t vote for Obama. He was apolitical. He didn’t follow the news. Somehow … without reading a word about anything … he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t want to see Obama reelected.
Since he’s a couple of years younger than I am I asked him what he did during the Vietnam War. His answer? Smoked dope and partied. Well … after all it was the 60’s and early 70’s. Smoking dope and partying was not … um … uncommon. But it was also the time my generation was directly exposed to the darker, bloodier aspects of the American Empire. Or to put it more precisely, white kids were finding out the government didn’t mind killing them too.
Living in America while the Vietnam War was raging was like being at an elegant party where everybody looks like they’re having a good time … while at the same time pretending to ignore the stench wafting from the kitchen.
My prospective business partner wasn’t in danger of getting his ass drafted … so he could party on. But why didn’t he notice the bad smells coming out of the kitchen? And now decades later … why didn’t he want Obama to be reelected?
Racism.
Pure and Simple.
