Yesterday I had the grave experience of hearing Rush Windbag-Limbaugh, the philosopher of the republican party. All I could think was Forrest Gump's mother saying, "Stupid is as stupid does." Stupid was the only word I could think. I don't like to point the finger at somebody for being stupid, because 3 fingers point back at me. Nonetheless, the obvious is obvious. Reading a tree by its fruits. A statue of Windbag could have the word on his pedestal, STUPID. Of course, American white men would disagree. It makes me sad for the white man to have such a bozo for their representative. He does not represent me. He does not represent democracy. He is the cutting edge of preparing us for full-blown police state. Of course, that's what the white man wants, law and order, keep the niggers down, more prisons, more attacking poor, defenseless countries of colored people in pre-emptive strikes to keep them from killing us first. It's the same as keeping the niggers in prison and eliminating them by capital punishment. This is policy at home, and keeping the colored poor in the rest of the world down is foreign policy. It's the core of the American belief system, like in the Randy Newman song, Rednecks, "keepin the niggers down."
Yesterday was the third time I rode with this driver in the public transportation to take me to Winston-Salem for a computer reading of my "device," the pace maker / defibrillator. That is a 5 to 10 minute procedure and that was it. Then, to get the driver's cell phone to tell him I'm ready, I had to call from the public phone, as I don't use a cell phone. It was all computer voices. Options, press 1, press 2, press 3. I needed to charge the long-distance call to my phone at home to reach his cell phone number that was set for Sparta, though he and phone were in Winston-Salem. Before it could be charged to my home phone, they had to call my number to verify it is my number. Unfortunately, I was not at home to verify it was me calling, so I couldn't make the call. I went to a desk that looked like an information desk with a woman who looked over-worked, under paid, under appreciated and in a bad mood. I explained my telephone dilemma, she made the call, that was that.
The driver came along right away and we went over to pick up 2 other riders, who would be ready soon. He had the radio on Rush Limbaugh telling the latest additions to the republican belief system, what liberals are doing that we're supposed to hate today. I rode with this driver twice before, and bore with Limbaugh on the radio. First time, I listened because I'd never heard him before. I'd heard plenty of brief clips, but never listened to him, really, to pay attention to what he was saying. It was just white working class rant to my ears, the tone of voice of every sentence starting with, By God! The rant got old fast, especially when the content was false with intent to mislead and assert his agenda, police state. Second time I rode with this driver, the Windbag and similar nonsense was on the radio the whole way there and back. I swore to myself that next time I was saying something. Didn't want to. Wanted to be nice. Don't make waves.
I'd been sitting there riding through Winston-Salem traffic reminding myself of intent to ask him to turn it off this time. We pulled into the parking lot for the people to be picked up. On the radio, this moronic voice said the 99% in the occupy ranks are going to college; when they're out of college, they'll be the 1%. Driver was starting to get out of the car. I said, "Please turn that off." He did. Wow, I thought, that was easy. It worked. I was even level-headed enough to edit the shit out of, Turn that shit off. His solution to the issue that I obviously don't want to hear it, was to turn the sound all the way to left on his speaker and keep it down low enough that I can't hear it and he can. I didn't want to disrespect him by laughing. All I could think was, Man, you embarrass yourself.
Otherwise, I take him for an intelligent man I've had enjoyable conversation with. Then I see him reaching his ear into Windbag's words the way some people listen to preachers, and he diminished before my eyes more than I wanted him to. It's not that he's a fascist, I don't care what he believes politically. But when he has to put it in my face like it's automatically expected I'm that stupid, I have to withdraw. I don't mind being thought stupid, but when I have to live with that judgment, then I have to turn and go. My self-esteem is not that desperate. The driver diminished himself further telling me that ABC, CBS, NBC and listed other tv news shows, leaving out Fox and, not thinking to include it, NPR, accusing them ALL of being LIBERAL. I didn't want to get this going. I said, NPR is definitely not liberal. The rant in his voice was the same as the radio rant he fills his head with daily.
Then I get home, after relaxing in Selma's coffee shop, visiting with Tom Herring, probably talked an hour. He's of a mind politically that I'm not, but in his case I like to hear what he has to say, and when I disagree with his way of seeing something, I'm not so sure I know why and pay more attention to what he's saying, because he's not talking nonsense. He's talking experience. I imagine Tom and the guy driving would vote the same, but not for the same reasons by any means. One, I listen to, pay attention to, because he tells me perspectives I've not not seen before. He's not swaying me toward the right wing and has no such intent. He will listen to what I have to say too. We don't write each other off as stupid because we disagree politically. Neither of us rants and neither of us is able to listen to the Windbag of the airwaves. But when I got home, I turned on NPR news. They were telling about the Iowa caucus and front runners and losers, never mentioning Ron Paul, except incidentally, just like the corporate media. It is a media-wide refusal to take him seriously. I laughed out loud. NPR liberal? Ask Juan Williams.
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