Crazy Talk

So, I'm standing in the ammunition line at Wal-Mart (how many great stories start with that line?)  a while back, and I strike up a conversation with a guy behind me in line.  This fellow looked like a stereotype of a Wal-Mart gun shopper - dirty jeans and tee shirt, missing a couple of teeth, four-day beard growth - in other words, he looked about like me.  I made an offhand remark to the effect that it was amazing you couldn't buy any 22 ammo. 

For those of you who haven't tried to buy ammunition lately, it's pretty scarce.  In particular, 22LR is hard to find.  In my opinion, this is almost entirely due to the nuts who think Obama - or the UN - is about to take all their guns away.  In the case of 22LR - a low cost, low power caliber mainly used for "plinking", target practice, or small game - this is a particularly absurd argument.  I've seen no proposal to eliminate or limit this caliber (as a practical matter, I've seen nothing to  make me believe any limits on gun ownership are coming in the foreseeable future). 

In any case, I was surprised when the other fellow agreed with me that no one was going to be confiscating 22 caliber weapons, although he did say he was more worried about his other guns.  I didn't answer that, since I was pretty sure we'd see things differently, but he continued.  "He's a communist, you know".  I thought I knew what he was talking about, but I asked who "He" was.  "Odumma", he said, "No wonder this country is going to hell - I can't believe they elected him twice!"

I told him I could understand how he got elected, and that I had voted for him twice.  He was incredulous, "You voted for that BOY?"  I said, "I wouldn't say boy - he is the president, after all".  I did tell him - truthfully - that I wasn't happy with everything Obama did, but that I thought (still do) that he was better than the alternatives.

At that point, my fellow shopper apparently decided his need for ammo was not as strong as his disgust at standing next to an apparent communist, so he walked away, muttering to himself. 

So this guy has such strong feelings about Obama that he can't even stand in line with me, knowing I have a different opinion.  Contrast his reaction to mine regarding George W. Bush.  I happen to believe Bush was the worst president in my lifetime - a period of time that includes Richard Nixon!  I was disappointed when he was elected the first time, disturbed when he took us into two unnecessary wars, and absolutely shocked when he was re-elected in 2004.  I had a hard time understanding why ANYONE would vote for him, after the disaster that was his first term.  Because I live in a dark red state, my opinion was certainly in the minority, and I was constantly made aware of that in conversations.  There was never a time, however, when I was so disgusted to find myself standing next to a Republican that I just had to vacate the area.  I also never found it necessary to intentionally mangle his name, or to invent some crazy theory about what he was doing or planning (of course, in Bush's case, what he actually did was bad enough - no imagination was required). 

In short, this Wal-Mart shopper was afflicted with Obama Derangement Syndrome - the idea that our president is responsible for everything bad that happens.  Even more delusional - if Obama is for something, it must be bad, so it should be opposed.  This is why "Obamacare", originally a Republican idea, is so universally hated by the right wing.  I don't love the new health care law - it falls far short of my ideal - but it's at least a small step towards true universal coverage.

Another example:  I was recently talking to an elderly gentleman from South Dakota.   He made the comment that his son - a health care worker in Georgia (not a physician) - had been out of work for over a year.  And now, "Obama cut off his unemployment pay."  I normally avoid political discussions with acquaintances, but in this case, I couldn't stay silent.  I explained to him that the senate - controlled by the democrats - had approved an extension of the emergency long-term unemployment payments, but that it was being held up by the republican-controlled house.  In addition, I pointed out that the republicans in Georgia had refused to expand Medicare, leading to hospital closures, perhaps leading directly to his son's unemployment.  He said, "Maybe I've been voting for the wrong party."  I told him I thought he was, and he laughed, and said, "I could never do that."  So here we have a man who doesn't know what his son will do without this help, doesn't agree with the failure to expand Medicaid, but can't imagine anything that would cause him to vote for a democrat!  I quit talking politics at that point, but I can't help but wonder, what makes people vote for candidates that support policies with which they disagree?

More crazy talk:  I was informed by a woman that the reason so many young blacks are in jail is that our jails are too pleasant!  She said, "Jails should be underground, like in the old days.  Most of them have it so much better in jail than where they live that, as soon as they get out, they look for a way to get put back into jail.  If the jails weren't so nice, they wouldn't do that."  "Couldn't it be", I argued, "that so many African-Americans are in jail because of the long sentences imposed on non-violent drug offenders?"  She also didn't recognize that blacks are much more likely to receive jail time than whites for similar offenses.  I told her I didn't think our prisons were all that pleasant, but she just wasn't buying it.  In this case, since I was stuck in a car with her for several hours, I changed the subject.  Sometimes it's just not worth banging your head against the wall.

Want another story?  I played golf with a fellow from Alaska.  He's a pleasant guy, and we were chatting on the way home.  Somehow, we got on the subject of health care, and he said that he - apparently due to a small percentage of native Alaskan in his heritage - could get free health care if he wanted it, but of course he turned it down.  I asked, "Why in the world would anyone turn it down?".  He said the trouble with this country was that people weren't self-reliant enough.  I asked what we should do with people who had serious health issues, but couldn't afford care.  He said, "the Eskimos would just float them out on an ice floe.  They had the right idea."  So here's a seemingly reasonable man, suggesting we just kill off anyone who can't take care of themselves.  Of course, he had a good job, with insurance, and no health issues.  In his mind, that's because he's eaten right and taken care of himself.  So, all you folks out there with cancer, diabetes, or any other debilitating condition should just go ahead and keel over so you're not breathing oxygen the rest of us could be using!

I could go on with stories like this far longer than you'd want to hear them (I probably already have, right?).  What is it that makes people so wrong-minded?   All of these folks are out walking around like everyone else - are they nuts, or am I?  I'm not trying to be one of those old guys who walk around talking about how the country is going to hell, but, seriously, what is going on?  Maybe all this crazy talk will stop in 2017, after Hillary Clinton is inaugurated............