Another Day, Another Case of Anti-Obama “Road Rage”

Another day, another story of right-wing rage against the African American guy in the White House, how it constitutes a public menace to all of us, and how we had better not sit out this election and turn the country over to these lunatics. Thanks to Arlington County Democratic Committee Deputy Chair Maureen Markham for sharing (bolding added by me for emphasis).

Dear Friends,

I wanted to write and tell you about an experience that I had in Maryland on Highway Route 40 today.  I had been to visit my parents in Delaware and was driving home to Arlington. Often I avoid the heavy traffic on I-95 and take Route 40 to Baltimore. I was stopped at a traffic light, about to turn right to jog over to join 95 and take the tunnel under the harbor, when a dark sedan pulled up alongside me, beeped, and the driver motioned for me to roll down my window. It was not an isolated place and in broad daylight with lots of other cars around. I thought the person wanted to ask directions or something so I put down the window.  The driver was a normal-looking young white man, maybe 35 or so, with short sandy hair. He leaned forward from his open window and said to me “Did you vote for Obama?”

I should say here that I have two bumper stickers on my back fender. One says “Peace is Patriotic.”  The other is a round circle that says Obama-Biden.  I answered “I sure did.” Then he got loud and excited in a sneering sort of way and asked something like, “Are you happy now with the way things are going?” I thought “uh-oh” but I answered again, “I sure am.” Then the guy went off his rocker and started verbally accosting me saying something like, “I hope to God someone shoots you dead, you liberal Pig…” Sophie started barking and I said “Oh that’s nice” as I rolled up my window. He lurched forward, cutting me off in the lane and beeping his horn and I made my right turn, glad to get away from him.

I had time to think about this during the rest of the drive home.  I could not find anger in my heart toward this person, but rather a deep sadness took over me.  Is this what our country is coming to? I’ll bet this person thinks he is a Christian.  I thought about how oppression, violence and intolerance have characterized human history, and it makes me sad that we have made so little progress.  I feel that our Country is in deep trouble, threatened by people who claim they want to “Take our Country Back” – from whom?  Take it back where?  What Constitution are they reading?  What Bible are they reading?

I am thinking of Nazi Germany before World War II when ordinary German citizens felt vaguely uncomfortable about what was going on but did not speak up because it did not impact them directly, and then afterward because they were afraid. It is a wake-up call to Progressives, Liberals, Moderates, and Independents who do believe in the values that this country was founded upon, among them freedom from persecution because of your beliefs and because of your religion. If we want our streets to be safe to drive on, we need to find a way to defuse these people without being wimps and just giving in. We cannot let these people take over our Government!

Please, if you are not paying attention to your local elections this fall, now is the time to get involved. If you voted for Obama and are now disappointed because he is not Left enough, think what it will be like when they try to undo what he has managed to accomplish.  If you voted for Obama and are now disappointed because he is too Liberal for you, do you really want to go back to the Wild West days when people wore guns in holsters on their hip?  Do you approve of people trying to threaten and intimidate others just because they voted for a Black man for President? Did you all really think that we could turn around 8 years of war and decline in just 18 months?  Do you really want to hand over the reins of government to the people who drove us into the ditch and who have stubbornly refused to be part of any solution to pull us out?  These people would rather see Obama fail, and the middle class suffer, and the country pulled apart by strife and conflict than do anything to make things better.  This is not putting country first. Don’t let this kind of cynicism succeed!

Please folks, don’t sit this one out.  If we fail to participate, and the other side wins for lack of enthusiasm on our part, then truly Fear will triumph over Hope. We just can’t let that happen!  Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to pass this on.

Still a Hope Monger,

Maureen