1 Boring Old Man

Back in 1960 when I finished high school, I had no idea what was up ahead. All I knew was that I was going to leave home and go to college. Whatever I thought then didn’t have anything to do with what was going to happen, the twists and turns that directed my life after that. How could I see ahead? The only thing I could’ve known at the time is that things were goingto be a lot different. And they were.

That’s how I feel now. For the last twelve years, we’ve had a Republican, Conservative Congress. For the last six years, we’ve had a Republican, Conservative whole government. I haven’t particularly liked either. In fact, from my point of view, it’s been a nightmare. So, I’ve been rolling it around in my mind trying to see where things are heading after this election. And I honestly don’t know. The only thing I know is that it’s going to be different, and that’s a good thing – just like it was in 1960. I wasn’t paying much attention to such things back then, but that’s when they built the Berlin Wall.

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down thirty years later and Communism bit the dust, I felt really good about it. The future was bright ahead. I guess I had that old 1960 feeling all over again. There will be grand things on the horizon. But, while it was better in some ways, we’ve had Republicans, and Neoconservatives, and the Religious Right, and Terrorists, and 9/11, and more Republicans. The worst part for me was that, stripped of global Communism, there was a new enemy in America, and I was it – a Liberal!

And it’s not what I thought it was, being a Liberal. I thought it was about equality and helping people who needed help. I thought American cultural and religious diversity was a good thing. Something to be proud of. But it turned out, I read in my papers, that Liberals wanted to spend lots of money, raise taxes, destroy the family, do something called the "homosexual agenda," clone some babies, kill other babies, be sweet to Middle Eastern Lunatics. I hadn’t thought about doing any of those things [still haven’t].

So, I’m a little concerned about what’s up ahead. I’m worried that the Religious Right, the Neoconservatives, the Federalists, the foul mouthed Limbaugh/Coulter set are going to start making up more horrible things about me and my friends that scare the bejesus out of my neighbors and we’ll have to go another round or two.  But I’ve still got my 1960 really good feeling  and I’m sticking with it in spite of my worries.