Tuesday, November 02, 2004

A lesson in freedom of expression and true democracy

EDIT - AS OF 11/03/04: If you click on the title to this piece you can see the sticker my friend created....

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I have two very dear friends. They are friends that I hung out with when I was with my husband. They are both wonderfully funny, bright people. As a couple, they are the most well matched pair I have ever met. It lifts my heart to see them together. The lady of the pair (who so happens to have the same name as moi) – is very pragmatic, intelligent, determined, blunt and could probably argue a case in court against the likes of F. Lee Bailey and win. Her male counterpart is much more laid back but extremely funny and irreverent – and also very intelligent – he is a kind and gentle soul.

I was out with this couple last night attending the big rally here in Cleveland for John Kerry. Now I want to say here that both of them are Bush supporters. But I love them regardless. It’s nice to be out with friends. At any rate HE (which are the first two initials in the name of my male friend) – had recently sent our group out a graphic he had put together with a cartoonish picture of John Kerry looking very menacing (almost monster-like) and the word art he placed as a ‘halo’ around the picture read “John Kerry Eats Babies”. Now as I have indicated HE has a very irreverent sense of humour – so this was really a joke – he did not mean any harm it in and for the most part I think our circle of friends got a kick out of it – well at least I certainly did and I took no offense to this image or sentiment.

So at any rate we all were downtown and we went to a bar where a mainly Kerry supporters were drinking before the rally. The people we met in the bar were actually friends of C2 (my female friend – also known to our group as Bad C or Evil C while I am referred to as Original C or Good C – very funny I think because on any given day I can be way more bitchy and evil than she can)….so there we are with C2’s friends and soon it becomes evident that HE and C2 are Bush supporters (I believe the one girl in the bar already knew this about C2). Of course the fact that they were both wearing a “John Kerry Eats Babies” sticker did not help…so we had some general razzing and some great political discussion and some beer and all in all it was quite fun. And as a side note I met a really cute guy. The downside of meeting the really cute guy was his reaction to finding out that HE & C2 were not voting for Kerry. C2 mentioned this to me asking why is it that when people like that find out who you are voting for they turn almost mean – I really do not have a good answer for this – and while I am passionately against the current bumbling idiot we now call president – I am certainly not going to get nasty with one of my friends for voting differently – I might try to dissuade them – as they might me as well…but surly – um no it’s not my job to be that way. But then I guess politics is a nasty business and divisive in it’s very nature.

So onto the rally. We decided the lines were too long to try to get into the encampment and we were not allowed to bring in our umbrellas, so instead we looked for a place to stand and watch from a distance. As we approached the area we were greeted by a teamster (obviously for Kerry) – as we began ‘chatting’ with him, he found out that my two friends were not Kerry supporters and when he saw HE’s “John Kerry Eats Babies” sticker I thought there was going to be blood shed. The teamster gentleman (I use the term loosely) – was sputtering, red-faced and asking how we could be attending a rally for Kerry and wearing such things. How dare we suggest John Kerry eats babies, what the hell was the matter with us – I mean this guy was having a conniption! At one point my friend C2 turned around and walked back to say something – I am not sure what it is she said but the next thing I knew this teamster jerk was ‘chaperoning’ us – it was ridiculous and stupid and frankly I was embarrassed that he was a Kerry supporter. It was the most ridiculous thing I think I had ever witnessed – this guy obviously had no sense of humour – he felt that these stickers were somehow ‘real’ and that my friends were indeed trying to propagate the idea the John Kerry eats babies….

*sigh* it was a good lesson for me in freedom of expression and the democratic process and I did at one point tell this guy that even though I was a Kerry supporter my friends had every right to their opinion and I would die defending such ideals. But of course his pea-brained-tobacco-chewing-cheap beer-swilling mind could not somehow wrap around this concept. Finally at one point one of his counterparts came up and dragged him away explaining that we were no real threat just because we had stickers. We all had a good laugh about this and even now it continues to be funny and ridicoulous - but it's also serious and drives home the point of how this country needs to learn a lot about tolerance. We all do.

So look everyone no matter who wins this election – can we please call a truce? Whether you believe that John Kerry eat babies or in my case that George W. Bush is the anti-Christ – we should all still recognize that each and everyone of us is a human being and by the ideals I always thought at least were held dear in this country, entitled to their own opinions- as long as you don't try to force your opinions on me or vice versa. We need to allow for differing view points - isn't that what makes us all unique and individual? I just want to somehow see people try to pull together and perhaps it's a pipe dream but if we begin to realise there is more that unites us than divides us perhaps there is a way to a lasting peace - not just in this nation but in the world. As the old song so sublimely asks "Why can't we be friends?"

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! What's wrong with cheap beer?? ;) --C2

1:42 PM  

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