North Carolinian Terry Mancour looks on the bright side of having his car keyed:
The anecdotal reports from our fellow Obamanauts have documented a string of petty vandalism across New Carolina, with cars bearing Obama stickers getting viciously hacked like this every day. It was an erratic and not particularly successful attempt at voter intimidation. At least I didn’t feel intimidated. And I tried to keep things in perspective.
A century ago there would have been lynchings and homes afire, doors being busted down at 4am, the kind of cruel guerrilla warfare one tends to associate with banana republics and Asian despots. Even a few decades ago there would have been angry meetings, axe-handle wielding thugs, vicious dogs and fire hoses. If the sum total of politically oriented violence in North Carolina was reduced to a few angry words, a scuffle or two and poorly worded public attacks, well, I had to count that as progress.
It’s progress on several fronts, I think. Four years ago I heard from several southerners who said they did not dare put a Kerry bumper sticker on their cars or a Kerry sign on their lawns, and petty vandalism was the least of their fears. Of course, according to righties, the only vandalism that went on was against people with Bush signs. And maybe there was more retaliation against people with Bush signs, if only because in many parts of the country it took a ton of courage to display a Kerry sign at all.
Maybe southerners are less fearful of openly supporting the Democrat this year. See, that’s progress.
Mancour continues,
“You don’t seem very intimidated,” he said, surprised. He was from California and he had been watching the circus that is southern politics with a mixture of amusement and anxiety. Clearly he had been expecting dogs and fire hoses and race riots by this point.
“I’m not,” I shrugged. “Like I said: they’re scared. And I’m not. I’m not even particularly angry. If my cherished ideas of political philosophy were getting flushed down the toilet every day, I’d probably be scared to. I guess it’s because I’m a parent. When I see stuff like this, it reminds me of my kids drawing on the walls. You can get upset about it, but they’re just kids.”
It may be that the most devastating thing you can say to a rightie is we’re not afraid of you any more.
I dunno. I recently saw a saying along the lines of: “from the right you have to fear for your life, from the left, you have to fear bankruptcy” and I think there’s truth to that. I personally have experienced how viscious (and unconscious) righties can be, and I don’t live in the South.
And yet I can definitely see how the mere keying of a car is progress in this case. It is indeed a great step forward for those of us on the left to be able to say to right wingers that we’re not afraid anymore, but I would never take my eye off of them.
And the largest newspaper in Alaska endorses… wait for it… Obama!
This from The Anchorage Daily News. (Isn’t Alaska where Palin comes from?)
Under The lobsterScope
As a fairly new NC Resident, the only comment I have had on my Obama bumper sticker was from a friend visiting from NY. In Charlotte there seems to be a fairly even amount of McCain/Obama signs and stickers. I haven’t noticed any signs down or removed. The early voting is going well, but some places have 2-3 hr waits. The Charlotte Observer endorsed Obama this morning, I’m not sure if it’s significant or not as I have no idea it leaned in the past. Even more so than Obama, I’m watching the Kay Hagan-Elizabeth Dole race. In a little more then a year of living here, until this election you never saw or heard of anything she had done. In fact my kids, who have lived here for years didn’t know who their Senators were and 2 of them thought John Edwards was still Senator. Coming from NY (Buffalo area) you would have to be in a coma not to know who your Senators were and this is going back years even before Shumer and Clinton.
Also am voting for the Republican Candidate for Gov. He’s been a good Mayor for Charlotte, no reason he wouldn’t be a good
Gov for NC. Thats my vote.
If my cherished ideas of political philosophy were getting flushed down the toilet every day, I’d probably be scared too.
At my workplace, I’m surrounded by conservatives. Luckily for me, most of them are nice to me, even if they think my political views are wrong. On Nov. 5th, I’ll be saying to them, over and over: “There’s nothing to be afraid of, I promise! Obama is very smart, honest, and energetic. He comes from the working class, just like us. He and his wife pay their little girls each one dollar a week for allowance, and make them do chores! He doesn’t believe in giving anyone a free ride. If you give him a chance, I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
I’ll never turn these folks into Democrats, but then, that was never my goal. I just want them to insist on better leadership. Some of them seem to think that’s too much to ask.
The Righties were never anything to be afraid of, Maha…
In my experience, it was always the R-W’er with the loudest mouth who was first to turn-tail when the shooting started…
My friends in Tallahassee have found an interesting way to keep their Obama lawn sign from being defaced. After losing two signs to vandals, they planted an American flag beside the third sign. I just saw the wife yesterday here in Toronto. I hope the sign will still be there by the time she gets back to Tallahassee tonight.
Thanks for a good dissection of Bobo. I had a similar reaction to his intro. In his world, every American except the fringe has a conservative soul.