“Volunteers. They knew . . .”
“They did not know. Fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. They didn’t know, when they said their vows. No one knows!” I was getting heated.
“That’s what prenuptials are for.”
“You don’t get prenuptials in the service.” I followed that up with, “What branch of the military were you in?”
“None.”
“So it’s okay to send someone else’s kid, someone else’s son or daughter over there? And you don’t . . . if you support the war, why not have the guts and sign up? Or, are you like Bush, the first to cut-and-run; didn’t even have the courage to finish his National Guard duty. None of them did. Cheney . . . with five student deferments. And Richjard Perle. Do you know who Perle is?”
“No.”
“That’s right Steve! You don’t know . . . anything! Well, I recommend you get some information . . .” I was almost shouting. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the neighbors claimed I was shouting, as if increased decibel levels could inject some sense into the guy. I began to turn away in utter disgust; frustrated, really, really pissed, because of all the Steves I’d encountered — poor, ignorant-as-hell, thoughtless schmucks who haven’t the first clue the horrors their pitiful ignorance has wrought on America and on the world. They’re just happy go-lucky, don’t think the three or four steps ahead, and don’t really care to.
No! The plain and simple truth of it is me: I don’t know how to reach such folk, how to get them to open their eyes and their minds, no matter how I try. But I didn’t turn completely away. Hope dies slowly.
That’s when Steve opened his mouth and emptied his empty head. “If Clinton gets in, if Obama is elected, all the big companies, G.E., are going to lay everyone off. The Democrats are going to raise taxes, so the companies will have to shut down.”
At that disgorgement I just stared in total disbelief, wondering to myself, “This represents the apex of intelligent life on earth?” “Where’d you get that?”
“It’s what Democrats do. If they get in, they’re going to raise taxes on the whole middle class. Look, they’ve been in charge and they haven’t done anything, except pick on the president. It’s what they do. They haven’t done anything all year.”
I should have walked away, the battle lost. But I’ve never been composed of such wisdom. “Tell me Steve, how many votes do you need to get anything through the senate?”
“They control the House, and they have a majority in the Senate.”
“How many votes Steve?”
“They’re in control.”
