As a cracker, how did you respond? ;-)

Sounds like a pretty cathartic encounter.

Certainly preferable to my exchange with a co-worker yesterday:
Rob: "I feel like I should be wearing black today."
Mr. D.: "You a Kerry man? Hey, why do you democrats think it's a crime to be rich in this country?"

I almost threw up.

Thanks for sharing your story - I feel lost in a morass of hilbillies out here in Colorado sometimes....

as a cracker, i laughed loudly, from deep in my gut, drawing the attention of everyone in the store. :-)

rob, you should have responded to mr. d, "i don't think it's a crime to be rich... but you are aware that money is the root of all evil, right? so you'd better keep an eye on those 'moral values' of yours, asshole."

Thank you for sharing that moment - it must have been cathartic indeed.

Not to defend Mr D., and certainly not to imply that I voted for Bush....but there is something to be said for the "conservative" approach to running the economy. I.e. being business-friendly and fiscally responsible and letting people reap the benefits of their own hard work. There's also something to be said for being compassionate to people who don't have all the advantages that a lot of us grow up with.That's why I see the value of both parties and in general, it used to seem like they balanced each other out pretty well but obviously that's not the case anymore. I grew up in a very "red" state and currently live in a very "blue" state and I'm just trying really hard to understand and learn how to talk about the issues in a way that doesn't alienate people like my parents.

rob, i think i woulda look that guy right in the eye and said,

"money can't buy you love, man."

Xta -- an important little correction, it's "the *love* of money" that's the root of all evil, not money itself.

I remember feeling liberated once when I heard Mario Cuomo say, "there's nothing wrong with being rich."

i would agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with being rich. in this day & age, though, i think it's becoming increasingly difficult to acquire one's wealth without being somewhat exploitative.

hell, i'd love to be rich, but i'd also love to attain that in a way that doesn't put someone else down. i have no idea how i'd do this, however... and that explains why i'm so poor.

If you voted for Kerry then you voted for bigger government. And bigger government is what we're going to get, with Kerry's frat brother. Sobbing rights belong to us few who voted for the guy who wanted smaller government, the guy who wanted to stop the draft, end the war, bring the troops home in 90 days and repeal the PATRIOT Act.

You mean the guy who had no chance of winning the election? I wasn't using my vote to earn sobbing rights, I was using it to do everything I could, given our current preposterous two-dominant-party electoral system, to keep a man who I seriously believe to be a threat to just about everything I love about this country from returning to office.

Kerry had little backbone, and only a marginal vision for how to lead the country. But he had a chance to keep Bush out of office. And that is primarily how he earned my vote. The fact that he fell short leaves me sobbing, whether or not you have granted me that "right".

No I did not mean someone who had no chance to win, I meant someone who was on the ballot in 48 states and DC.

The threat to America is not Bush the man, but the Bush-Kerry values and policies: pro-pre-emptive-war, pro-occupation, pro-interventionism, pro-global-meddling, pro-secret-search, pro-secret-arrest, pro-torture, pro-draft, pro-PATRIOT-Act, anti-due-process, pro-asset-forfeiture, anti-separation-of-powers, anti-medical-marijuana, pro-increased-govt-spending for decades on end, pro-forced-charity, pro-drug-war, pro-EPA-permits-to-pollute, pro-corporate-welfare, pro-censorship, pro-federal-control of education, pro-turning-our-military-over-to-foreigners, etc....

So please either celebrate bigger government or else stop voting for it. Cuz we sure are getting it.

Sta, you are soooo NOT poor....