I visited an old friend in a nursing care facility today. I've been helping his family work out the financing for his extremely expensive care. (He's a great commercial for long term care insurance, since he didn't have any.) I've got nothing else to do in my spare time.
This eighty-something gentleman and I have been friends for more than 30 years. He's a staunch Rotarian and a pretty congenial guy, but he shows a strong strain of independence as a result of his upbringing on the sparcely populated and storm-tossed Atlantic coast of Maine. And, he is a radical conservative - almost anti-government - and clearly a right wing radio addict. I love him anyway.
Today I broke the news to him that Obama got the Peace Prize. He was horrified. He said that there's nothing about Obama that he can agree with. So, I pressed him on his views. "What is it, exactly, that you have against the president", I asked. After he responded, "Everything", I asked him what the big problem was. My friend then opened up. "I think he's a Muslim", he said. Well, that was all I needed to hear. Hopeless, this conversation.
American is cursed with an older generation who were in their 30's and 40's before integration was legal. A great number of them strugged hard to come out of the depression, and they got some pretty racist attitudes when they participated in the war. Limbaugh and Beck say things that resonate with them. And, sadly, these folks vote.
Amidst my sadness about this conversation I'm encouraged by Amercan demographics. Every year a lot more people who are not racists, who are not natually fearful of the "other", and who see the world as a small, shared place begin to vote. And people like my friend go on to whatever lies ahead for them. Progress is inexorable, and I'm thankful there's a good chance I'll live long enough to see the group of folks like my friend become an immaterial minority.
Postscript: If Obama is ever shown to be a Muslim, I'll try to walk across the Genessee River with an anvil in each hand. But it wouldn't matter to me if he was.
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15 comments:
I'll differ slightly with you on one point. We aren't cursed with them. They did some amazing, good things. Their formative years didn't allow them to see what else is out there, they aren't prepared to deal with it now.
That they did, Dave. But my dad was of the same generation and a conservative. For some reason, he always looked at the person and always looked forward to a fair world. I strive to emulate him.
Racism comes from a place deep in the heart. It pains me to see it.
We yutes are saddled with our own set of deficiencies. If the boomers were the "me generation", then I am at the vanguard of the "can you do that for me generation". TV. Video games. Microwave dinners. EZ credit. And now, Google it.
Again, I'm charmed by your progressive conservatism, but I think it is a bit feel-good/hapless. Obama will be hurt by this award, really. What exactly has he done to promote peace? Did he change the tone? Tell that to the Russians, to whom we sent the "reset button" message that actually said, "overcharge".
Let's review Obama's actual accomplishments:
NO___ Close Guantanamo Bay
NO___ Out of Iraq
NO___ Improve Afghanistan
NO___ Health Care Reform
NO___ Olympics to Chicago
NO___ Global Warming
NO___ Immigration Reform
NO___ Gays in the Military
NO___ Limits on Executive Power
NO___ Torture Prosecutions
YES___ Squash Fly on TV
YES___ Cash for Clunkers Improved Japan Economy
YES___ Brought White Cop and Black Professor Together for Beer
YES___ Took Four Months to Pick Out a DOG
On another topic, join me in evangelizing this communist atheist (see comments)...
"and they got some pretty racist attitudes when they participated in the war"
How did that happen?
I wish it would happen, but I don't see racism fading away like you do.
"What exactly has he done to promote peace? "
Pulled the missile plan out of Europe that was reigniting the cold war with Russia.
I see that hollow concession and I raise you Biden's glorious remarks in Ukraine and Georgia. And to make it more interesting, I'll throw in the hellfire missile slaughter of children in Pakistan.
The missile defense in Poland was always a bargaining chip, and the Obama used it in order to get the Russians to play ball on Iran. How did that work out for us?
Obama, prince of peace.
I see that hollow concession and I raise you Biden's glorious remarks in Ukraine and Georgia. And to make it more interesting, I'll throw in the hellfire missile slaughter of children in Pakistan.
The missile defense in Poland was always a bargaining chip, and the Obama used it in order to get the Russians to play ball on Iran. How did that work out for us?
Obama, prince of peace.
Jealous much?
Jealous of the President of the USA because he won the Nobel Peace Prize while escalating the war in Afghanistan and living up to precisely zero of his campaign promises?
On the face of it he is the most powerful person in the wold, but apparently he won't get to do anything he set out to do, and he is constantly sucking up the real power which is the banksters.
Not so much jealous, no. Now that we've established that, do you have anything substantive to say or are you going to teenage girl text messages?
*continue the* teenage...
No thanks, I think I'll leave all the immature name calling to you.
I'm happy we've got Thimscool; he's educational in the respect that we get to meet, up close, someone who lives in a different and strange place.
In retrospect, I wish Obama had not got the Prize even though it's a nice honor, and I bet he does, too. But, it would have been hard to refuse; complications there, too.
'someone who lives in a different and strange place'
That he is, at least in regards to how he thinks it's proper to address others.
I'll tell you what 1138, I'll take the time to explain why it is rude to dismiss someone's considered opinion as arising from mere jealousy, and you can explain to me what prejudice you have against teenage girls that made my comment so insulting to you.
But you have to go first, because you've carried almost no water in this thread and I'm sure you've got at least a full paragraph yearning to get itself out of you.
Lay it one me, sister. Tell me why you are so horrified by my behavior. Then tell me how yours is beyond reproach. Then perhaps I'll make my rebuttal; but only if you make an effort to be more interesting.
Well Lifehiker, I'm happy to have you too, because now I can point out this blog to my fruitcack republican relatives and say, "Why can't you be more like him?"
But I take issue with the concept that I live in a "strange place". Chapel Hill may properly be called "exceptional", and not "strange".
Come and visit sometime and see the Paris of the Piedmont too. The Laphroaig is on me, and I'll fire up a round of Wii golf, in which no actual ecosystems are harmed.
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