A new convert - the story, or in other words, a "Scrooged" moment

Today I found out that one of the most die hard Repubs I know will not be voting for any Repub candidate in the 2006 or 2008 elections. As a matter of fact, he specifically stated he will be voting for every Dem on the ticket. This is a man, who is a close friend of our family, who has a long law enforcement background, is generally good people, worked for the US Marshal's office through different party presidents until he retired, is an avid attendee of one of the Reformation Ohio member founder churches (one of the two..I will not say which one specifically, ex military (marines) and is the son of first generation Italians immigrants, believes fervently in owning guns, etc. etc.

And here is why, in his paraphrased words, he will be crossing over to the "dark side" :)

"We are sending billions of dollars overseas to not only our friends but also or enemies. We are fighting a useless war in Iraq that is nothing more than the act of an imbecile to perform a one up on his Daddy. The Republicans have completely abandoned anything that has to do with what really made this country great and have completely fallen into beholden status to corporate America. We are spending and sending money all over the world, while we have people in this country going hungry, homeless and without medical care. We should be cherishing our elderly..they should not have to decide if it would be better to die than to find a way to get money for nursing care or medical care, knowing they do NOT have the money for either. Children go without medical care, without food, without clothing...for what? Our educational system is in ruins...we need to fund all schools 100% and educate our kids...not just in math ans science but art...EVERYTHING. We can create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in this country for generations to come simply by developing alternative fuels for transportation, heating, power. Building the factories, the cars, the technology for alternative fuels and the subsequent by products (new cars, new electronics, new building materials, etc.)should be a huge priority for us. Jobs for the unemployed, jobs for the newly educated, jobs for everyone. And we have GOT to get some kind of national health care to take care of the medical needs of EVERY citizen of this country, regardless of their economic situation. You should not have to be rich in order to go to the dentist or doctor. We are killing our children and elders and citizens here, and we are killing our young men and women overseas for WHAT? AN ideal? A nanananabooboo? FOR OIL? We have GOT to stop this madness and take an inward turn back to our own country for awhile. The world will not collapse if we kick the corporate boardroom out of washington for a few years while we get the business done of providing health care for every citizen of this country from the time before they are born until the time they leave this earth...until we get self reliant on our own fuel sources, clean up our water, encourage more of our own food productions, fund education 100%, and bring ALL the jobs back here that belong here. We need to get rid of the tax shelters of offshore addresses...by God if you want to do business in this country, you should have to pay your fair share too just like I do. I will not longer vote for anyone that has an R next to their name because they have abandoned their own country....willingly and with near glee and disregard of who they actually work for...and that person is ME"

His rant with me went on for more than two hours and said far more than I covered/paraphrased here. This is about one of the most macho men I know, and he was damn near to tears when he was done....mentally exhausted, nearly heaving with his outburst. Although he is not the type, and although he and I have had some very heated discussions over the years (he tends to forget that women are as smart as he is...part of his upbringing I know, but he in his early 60's and was simply brought up that way...he tries but sometimes he regresses...it is even harder when he speaks to me because I am about the age his daughter would be), I felt the need to just give him a hug, and said "we are working on getting all that done, but we need more helpers like you....now I need you to convince 10 other people to consider the same things you just told me...and get them to see the light. The you can tell them to speak with 10 other people...we need EVERYONE, across party lines, to understand everything you just told me."

This all from a man who I thought would NEVER vote for a Dem candidate.ever..I would have put money on it. Believe me....people GET it. Forget the stupidity of today's split vote on timelines..these things do not MATTER anymore to regular folks. People GET it out there...all we have to do is bring IT up.

People are having their Scrooged moments.


They GET IT NOW.

Thought I would just share.

slowly, slowly, they are waking up.....

EVERY day..from the most unlikely folks. They do not care about anything except getting out of Iraq and getting this country back on the right track.

I often find myself at the verge of tears when I consider how far astray our country has gone. I used to consider the terms "evil" and "wicked" to be hypebole. I don't anymore.

still stolen

STOP ELECTION FRAUD----PAPER BALLOTS

are so angry, you can hear it in their voices, as well as there words!.

Bush and his crew really has destroyed the GOP and that is a good thing. I officially (voted Dem earlier but did not switch my party affiliation) became a Democrat after I had reached the point of no return with the Clinton witch hunt.

I think a lot of the Repubs., were trying to keep it together because they had waited so long for their chance to change Washington, but this group has so blatantly abused their power that now, they will leave in groves. I never donated to the GOP or worked on a GOP campaign effort, and did so immediately following my conversion.

The best thing is when a GOP tries to sell me on their bs, I can say been there done, done that and it just shuts them up.

Edit

Thanks for sharing your story!

Those nutjobs are still gulping the KoolAid, calling him up, saying that we are winning the war in Iraq, that Marines would NEVER kill an innocent person (how can one deny something on behalf of a whole group, 99% of whom are noble, but there's always that 1 bad apple?) and that Cheney and Bush are heroes and will be proven to be far-seeing statesmen through history.

Hannity's show used to aggravate me - now I just laugh at it. Total break from reality.

In Tulsa, we have TWO 24/7 RW talk stations and a conservative christian station. We have Rush, Beck, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly, Ingraham, Savage, etc, etc.

If you hear this stuff all the time, it seems to be 'the truth.'

The stations and their advertisers constantly rail against the 'liberal media' and reassure listeners that 'we support your values, unlike the liberals.'

I truly hope that they are not too late waking up, and that there is still a chance to salvage America...

see if you can get him and a few of his friends to throw some tabulating machines off Fishinger Bridge.

some into the Scioto!

:bounce:

for Ohio, yet! As Chrissie Hynde said it best (though not sarcastically), "Way to go, O-Hi-O."

Kerry is the first Democrat he ever voted for and he isn't looking back. He hates Chimpy with such a passion that he turns red and starts perspiring when discussing him. My sister, also a Republican, feels the same way but is less emotional.

that is almost frightening...as in watch out you are reaching stroke blood pressure!

Like Lakoff says, they apply liberal values to some parts of their lives--just not to politics or government. But when they reach their tipping point--boom! They can suddenly understand the plight of the poor, those without healthcare, education, or infrastructure. They remember all of the good ideas Dems have which they have suppressed while drinking the Koolaid. Suddenly it makes sense. They know what we care about, and all they have to do is stop believing that their way works better!
I know the repubs around me are pretty pissed off. Even if they won't vote Dem, if they just stay home, that's a good thing.

and with sincerity....I agree wholeheartedly.

tonight.

I'm certain of that.

Great post.

But the voting machine problem just sole the last 2 elections!............

We will need international UN vote inspection in the fall elections or nobody's going to believe these bastards won another one...........

because it seem to be from more than the MSM. Especially the stuff about the Corporate influence over our current situation. He doesn't sound like the type to be hanging on DU!

Reading what he said, I'm struck by the simple sanity of it. The extent to which Fox News and Rightwing radio are able to make people forget simple common sense like this is amazing.

Anyway, give him a big kiss for all of us, and thanks for posting.

knows a lot of people, travels alot, and just keeps himself aware...like many folk....

I think he must have heard some stories about seniors and the horrible contemplations that so many of the older generation are having to deal with as their health fails. I mean, if both spouses are still living, one of the spouses has to damn near become indigent in order to keep another spouse in nursing care. And with the 3 year lookback...

He just keeps up on current events, and knows how to think and analyze things for himself. And I am SURE he has some higher up muckity muck contacts in the military he hangs with...I did not think to ask him why now....all I wanted to do was support his decision and thoughts, and ask for his help in turning this country around.

What was the straw that broke the back?

It did not seem the time to do that.

I did receive a call from my father last night, indicating he had also ran into this man at a gathering last night, and he reiterated the same thing during their conversation.

... I would recommend this one, over and over, for the rest of the night!

Thank you not only for sharing a great story with such eloquence, but in so doing, giving us hope that all is not lost.

:toast:

But, I hear these same kind of things being discussed in restaurants, coffee shops, the grocery store...people are talking, people are awake, and I think they will speak loud and clear in November.

My personal thoughts? They will have to steal it..and steal it BIG this time.

I rarely hear these kinds of stories & it's encouraging. It's like people are finally being cured of insanity or waking up from a catatonic trance. There's been A LOT of damage to our country, especially as a result of reaction to 9/11 and subsequent mass manipulation of that reaction (and milking it for all it's worth). It's like some kind of insidious disease that quietly almost kills a person before it's discovered.

Let's hope the rest of the pod people get out of sci-fi world ASAP.

He makes some terrific points & this story's a keeper!

bullshitting. It's the general feel I get from it. But see what he says in another couple weeks or months.

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

saying this, but the other night there was a person on PBS or C-Span (reporter type) that said the gerrymandering (with like minded)has been so completely manipulated that the Congress actually hears this stuff when they go home and believe that they are really representing the the people. Don't let the Congressional Reps. uninformed arrogance shake you, because the people are revolting.
Today, King (R-NY) told a Repub. caller who said she HATED Bush and his lies that she lacked knowledge in her personal attacks on Bush!

Watch Washington Journal, the GOP is blowing up! Seriously, KER BOOM!

Today, there was one freeper type with the WMD, Susan, completely shut him down with the Admin. denial of the claim.

The last segment was when the freeps started calling (the other Repubs. have had it!), after it became obvious they had to do something, anything,.

Yesterday, it was the Repubs. calling on supporting the minimum wage increase, it took a long time but it is happening. When the numbers are so skewed, they can't even attempt to steal it. It is just to in the face obvious. They are not even buying the Rove BS, there may actually be a day he wished he was indicted, so he could be born again (wiped clean from his sins).

heard this on DRehm show about oil and gas-----some guest with the oil industry said caller's statement was 'clearly just an ideological rant'

believe me I know when a guy is full of shit.

Not this one.



On edit - oops, left a vowel out of a word

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

and he sounds like the kind of hard-working, middle-class, Ohio Democrats I grew up with. Maybe he was a Dem all along and just didn't know it. Our views are so misrepresented in the mainstream media he didn't even know he was one of us!

FDR's social programs. When it is us white people who need help from the government. What if every policeman/military person out there had to support their elderly parents and their spouse's parents? Not such a good thought.

and I believe that A TON of people "get it"...and the spin just isn't
working they way "they" want it to anymore.

Great post.

and therein lies THE MAJOR problem with Congress -- both Republican and Democratic members . . .

were there any sanity at all in Washington, the Democratic Party would position itself as the anti-corporate alternative to the Repugs . . . or, phrased more positively, as the "People's Party" . . .

since most Dems are as deeply indebted to corporations as are Repugs, though, the chances of that happening are slim and none . . . which means that NONE of the critical problems facing the nation and the planet will be adequately addressed anytime soon -- regardless of who controls the House and the Senate . . .

...that gay people can't get married, but bad things are still happening?!!

:wow::wow::wow::wow::wow::wow:

why should I care if they get married or not? How does that affect me at all? Do I like it? Again, why should it matter if I do or not...

The he used rat's and ass in the same sentence.

PER GEORGE LUCAS HIMSELF! The dark side is the Republicans.

but my repub sis who hates Bush now, still will vote for the repubs.

by suggesting his ballot might be pre-counted at least once for the GOP anyway. Also, he has to be careful about switching his registration or he may not get to vote at all. Oh oh Ohio.

affiliation or declared party - he can vote for anyone he likes.

Now, he did not say he was switching his party affiliation, which you can only do every two years in Ohio (during a primary, next opportunity would be 2008, May). Only that he was not voting for any Republicans, only Dems, in the November 2006 and 2008 elections.

something with all that enlightenment and anger! Send him to the Democrat candidate for his Congressional District or off to work for Sherrod Brown's campaign.

We need to turn Ohio Blue and we desperately need SUBPOENA POWER! I bet your friend already knows that!

he tends to give large dollar amounts to whatever he is fervent about. Particularly candidates. That is a good thing too.

:yourock: and so does that former Repub. Recommended.