Ignorance in a Blue State

I can't WAIT for this election to be over. I am tired of the name calling, the hype, the lies, and the stupidity of so many supposedly educated people.

I crossed the river into Rhinebeck, a well to do town in Dutchess country in the Hudson Valley. I stopped into a friend's shop where I met one her her clients. She teased me saying "and he is voting for McCain". I rolled my eyes, said "oh no", and proceeded to chuckle and leave it at that.

He proceeded to drill me and asked me wasn't I scared if he got into office.

"What do you mean by that?", I asked.

"Because he is a Muslim and he pals around with terrorists".

Now mind you, this comes from an investor, who was well groomed, and I would presume have half a brain.

"No, he isn't a Muslim" I retorted, shocked that he did not know by now that rumor was false (check out snopes!) I told him that 30 years ago I too was a very different person, and hoped that people judge me for who I am now, not what I did or who I was some 30 years ago.

"Nope" I said, "the only thing I fear is what will happen to this country if McCain gets in. THAT is R E A L L Y scary."

We continued our conversation about it, but I ended it quickly as my girlfriend and I were heading over to the movies to see the Dutchess, an entertaining flick about politics in England in the late 18th century, where the men ruled the government,land, home, and women were merely a vehicle for producing heirs.

I thought about it for a while, and it seemed that we have not moved forward much in 200 years...

Back to The Dutchess. Fabulous costumes, sensuous and hot at times, but painful to watch the abuse of women and others by men in power. Keira Knightly is beautiful and fabulous, and Ralph Fiennes is his usual painful tragic self. The music was also complimentary to the movie..neither distracting nor boring.

I love period films, and have watched a long list of them, the most recent being The Other Boleyn Girl.

As an interesting aside....I just finished reading about the French Revolution. Some of the causes? "Louis XV fought many wars, bringing France to the verge of bankruptcy....The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy's military failures and ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. The inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to manage the national debt, something which was both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation. Another cause was the continued conspicuous consumption of the noble class.....resentment by the ambitious professional and mercantile classes towards noble privileges and dominance in public life....resentment by peasants, wage-earners, and the bourgeoisie toward the ...privileges possessed by nobles, and....perhaps above all, was the almost total failure of Louis XVI and his advisers to deal effectively with any of these problems." (as extracted from Wikipedia)

Sound familiar?

Let's hope it doesn't get to that.

Comments

Unknown said…
my father likes to tease me by saying he's voting for palin. he's lucky he's 3000 miles away. sister, i share your pain!!!!! hope you had a fabulous time with your daughter!
Anonymous said…
Another snopester! Yay!
-A

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