So, I was in Las Vegas for my husband's birthday the other day....

and I was playing at the Stardust in a game of "Texas Hold'Em". I ended up being a "donor" (which I'm okay with since it wasn't much money, and I've now played the game less than ten times), but I had the most FASCINATING discussion with "Lance" --

While I was politely meeting the other players at the table, "Lance" decided to try to figure out how to "goad" me; I'm not sure how the topic came up, but I admitted I'm a "flaming liberal." He informed me that I really wasn't. I told him I was a "Social Liberal / Fiscal Conservative" who loved big government and that I *hated* Bush.

(The guy next to me said "Big government? I don't want to pay for Big Government! You *LIKE* Big Government?" "Yup," I said. "Teachers, Firemen, MEAT INSPECTORS -- what do you have against Meat Inspectors?")

Back to Lance: Why did I hate Bush he asked me indignantly. I found myself nearly speechless with the multitude of answers that were all burning to leave my lips, so I said something to the effect of "there are a ton of reasons, but an easy one for you to understand is that I blame him for 9-11."

Lance tried to say that 9-11 was really Clinton's fault, and I smacked him down with the reality check of Page 9 of the Senate's Report on the Military's Role in Domestic Terrorism (the one that says Bush dismantled our WORKING ANTI-TERRORISM SYSTEMS in February of 2001, and didn't put anything else in their place until September 12, 2001 when he put the old systems back in), and Lance then tried to say we are at war with the Muslims, and should kill them all.

I rolled my eyes, and sneered that he was probably a Christian; fortunately, he quickly corrected me that he was Jewish, and hated EVERYBODY --

Did I mention this guy wasn't exactly "charming?"

So, he told me I probably didn't believe we were at war with the Muslims, and I told him he was right. "Why don't you think we're at war with the Muslims?" this MORAN asked me.

"I was just in Egypt in November, and trust me -- we are NOT at war with the Muslims."

Well, that shut him up for a moment. He was just astonished that somebody actually went to Egypt, and came home alive -- and I'm female, too. (Insert eye roll here, please.)

His buddy chimed in at that point, with a comment about how every time he calls for tech support, he gets some place in India, so did I see the place where his phone calls were going? (This was said in a very snide tone.)

I started laughing. "Umm, that would be kind of hard, since Egypt and India aren't even on the same CONTINENT...."

Last thing the MORAN really said to me was a crack about Ted Kennedy -- and, Lord that was FUN!!!

"DICK CHENEY!!! Your guy SHOT A MAN IN THE FACE because he was DRINKING WHILE HUNTING!!!"

"Do you know how many times people I know have been shot on hunting trips?" asked "Lance" indignantly. I shook my head. "NINE TIMES!"

"Lance," I said ever so politely, "you are certainly NOT impressing me with either your intelligence or wisdom, or that of your friends if you are hanging out with people who shoot each other while hunting."

"You believe what you want to," he sneered at me.

"Its part of being an American," I told him proudly.

Evil, Ignorant, Uninformed & Stupid: Bush's Base.

But my husband took his money, so it all worked out.

:evilgrin:

P.S. Mine ended up going to the nice Ethopian man at the table, and that was okay by me -- POCKET ACES!!!

You could have made the point that it was Bush's big buddies in the corporations that made the decisions to outsource all those jobs, and that if unions had been permitted in those corporations, we might still be getting tech support from AMERICANS.

my best to bite my tongue because we were all there to have a "friendly" game, and it didn't seem like the appropriate place for a political Bush Bashing.

But the dealer who had observed the whole thing leaned over before he left and told me not to let "those guys" get to me.

Sadly for Lance, he didn't. I thought he was just a typical unimpressive Puke, and the ploy was so transparent it didn't really work. Losing to pocket aces wasn't that big of a deal, and my husband had a good time while winning back all of the money I donated. :)

for sticking up for what you believe.

Damn, weird.

You handled that whole episode beautifully.

I guess it's their insecure cowardice (why it's so easy for Cheney to scare them into frozen little rabbits with terrorism warnings)(and why you find so many Vietnam draft dodgers/evaders at the top of the GOP), BUT ANYWAY, people like Lance are speechless with fright to hear anyone discuss their travels abroad. Add to that their stupidity, like confusing Egypt with India, and you get a bunch of easily manipulable idiots who don't even realize that they are so ignorant, they should be barred from speaking in public. I spent an enjoyable week in Istanbul in December, and have great photos of multigenerational families, laughing school kids touring Topkapi, waiters, shop people, cabdrivers, etc. I learned alot about the local scene reading the local English language newspaper (including a column complaining about CIA flights landing at a local airport without any records being made by air traffic controllers, and people getting off and heading to Turkish prisons, etc.) and watching TV channels from all over Europe. There was tons of coverage on the US death penalties executions, and protests all over Europe against this. Visiting this huge (12 million officially, 16 million unofficially), cosmopolitan, simultaneously modern and ancient city is a mind-blowing experience. I'd love to put someone like Vance there for a week. He is a toothless, gutless barbarian - the worst of American culture.

I have had many close relationships with Jewish people throughout my life, both friends and family members, and any one of them would have kicked Lances ass pronto for spewing that kind of hate.

Nice post. Thanks for sharing.

Don

who follow the Jewish faith. He was just an Asshole. He wanted to kill "everyone over there" -- including the Jews of Israel, the Muslims of Anywhere, and any European Christian who got in the way of his buddy Bush.

Did I mention he was an Asshole?

It was a fun read even if you didn't see Bill Bennett, though.

:scared:

Non-political like gambling by screaming at people: "What the fuck do you have against MEAT INSPECTORS!"

definitely sounds entertaining. :)

The meat inspectors bit did make me laugh :)

when she was six years old due to having a very rare form of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which is usually associated with e-coli (but not in her case). There is nothing like visiting an unconscious child on a respirator for three weeks in intensive care to suddenly make you realize the importance of meat inspectors! (She's fourteen now, and doing well.)

And then can-dish-it-out-but-can't-take-it crapulence.

I've become fairly good at finding, provoking, and abusing the inner weenie in these guys too.