Obtuse, Ignorant Republicans

I was just at a symposium at UCLA and I was accosted by a woman named Halie who asked me why I liked Obama. I said that I had liked him since 2004 when Bush won re-election, I had made a bumper sticker for Obama. What did I like? That he was smart. I then told her about an Op-Ed letter in the L.A. Times in which I paraphrased a woman who said many people like her cared about others, wanted policies on Health Care and Education that did not just serve themselves. And that there were many others like her. They were called Democrats. She laughed.

And then this woman named Dolly (can you believe that name??), turned to me and began lecturing me. Did you know that Chris Rock was a Republican? Did you know that Republicans vanquished the KKK? They didn't. They aren't vanquished and certainly were not during the 1960's, when they hung black people at will. And did you know Don King was a Republican? And that means what?

First, I wonder why she kept bringing up all these black examples of Republicans. And then referencing the KKK. If you think Don King is your best example of what a Republican is, you are two things. You are a bigot. Another word for racist. Because you automatically assume that simply because a few black people are part of the Republican rolls, that fact somehow mitigates racism. And she also proved her racism because she was evidently assuming because I am colored, though not black, I MUST have voted for Obama because he is colored, too. Because she kept saying things about black people in trying to prove me "wrong"--of what, I have no idea. And it was shown by the Pew Research Center that this year's Republican National Convention had the lowest number of black people in recent history: less than 6% black. Just for comparison, the Democratic National Convention had over 40%.

And she also proved her unrepentant, uninformed obtuseness. Because what does Don King being in your political party mean? You have bad taste in hair? Oh, right, you're not very smart. I forgot.

But like I said, evidently she thought that I was just voting for Obama because I'm not white. Even though I never said anything about race. I said I thought he was smart. Twice. That's it. And that Democrats vote on policies, even if it does raise their taxes, because they want to help other people. Today. Not 100 years ago. What kind of argument is that if you have to say that your party helped squash the KKK over a hundred years ago? Especially if you're wrong?

Clearly, this woman does not know history. Does she know that, statistically, immigrants who become citizens become Republicans? Because they read the original ideals of Republicans. No, she says, she did not. Does she know that it was the 1960's that turned the Republicans into the kind of Neo-Cons they are today? That it was part of a grand strategy to retake the South (boy, did they ever) as Republican territory? No, she did not. Did she know that Republican politicians have made it a dirty word to be "smart?" And that is what I and the letter-writer (which admittedly I have probably decontextualized) were referring to in asserting that "we care": because Republicans are always labeling Democrats, and not just the politicians but everyone else, as "Limousine Liberals" and that we're intellectuals. As if policies like Healthcare for ALL children--which Democrats want but Republicans don't--is not humanitarian but merely "Elitist."

How did this conversation with this bigot begin? Because she overheard me say Democrats value taking care of others and that I thought Obama was smart. So she just HAD to say something "because I have been standing here listening to her and I have some things to say!" Again, my question is, who asked her? This wasn't her conversation. But, like so many white people, she just feels she is entitled to intrude on any conversation. So she evidently objected to my observation that Democrats care? Or that Obama is actually smart? Gee, you're right. If you're a Republican, evidently those things are offensive! They aren't true!

I am so sick of rabid idiots who are rude and intrude on other people's conversations. And I'm sick of Republicans. Not coincidentally, they seem to go together.