Vote Green

I gotta say, I have not received nearly as much controversy over a t-shirt in my entire life. It is so strange that a statement as simple as, "Vote Green" can get people fired up. The other night I went to Sheetz and saw two guys out of the corner of my eye. They both looked me up and down and the one guy says, "Vote Green!?! Is that some kind of joke?!?"

My liberal training came in handy at this point. Our secret meetings prepared me for such an occasion. In fact, I think it was one of the first classes I took in the Fine Arts of Handling Guys in Polos and Pleats. Quickly, I thought of a response, "Nope". Ahhh pure genius! I knew that by saying, "Nope" it was more than saying, "No". The word "Nope" was a statement of my attitude. I was in reality saying, "Nope" to the man…"Damn the man." I was on the road to pure liberalism "No turning back, no turning back". This guy retorted back to me with a smug look across his face, "Why?!?" Crap!! What do I do now?!? I started to panic. My knees quivered as I tried to think of a response as equal to his barrage of questions. It was as if I was under scrutiny for everything that I am and believe. "Why God?!? Why do I suffer under persecution?!?" I started to think back to the recesses of my mind and wonder what inspired me to get a t-shirt that would have such a bold statement. I started to flash back to a scene in the store and remembered that they were all out of "Flaming Liberal Cannibal" t-shirts and I had to settle for, "Vote Green" instead. Then I thought and responded, "Because I like the environment." Boo ya! In your face Polo guy. I now had the upper hand. He just shut up. The victory was won. I was smarter.

Sorry for the sarcasm. I just hate to feel the need to deal with someone who is ideologically far removed from where I stand. It takes a lot of nerve to attack a random stranger for an article of clothing. I think if I were wearing a t-shirt that said, "Abortion kills" or a bumper sticker that says "Say yes to Marriage: Husband + Wife = a God who smiles" that I would be seen as a hero or ignored as the norm (At least in this town). Please understand, I am not equating issues of abortion and the environment. I am saying that I really don't think that I have to personally make a choice between two issues. I know that Polo guy was thinking to himself, "There are more important issues." That is the typical attitude towards anything that is anti-agenda.

Political groups have their agenda and anything that strays from that is nonsensical and is of no importance. I think that is the lot we find ourselves in today. There have been a ton of issues that have been ignored because we thought that abortion and gay marriage were more important than anything else. What happens though, when a politician starts to realize that these issues are "important" to so many Americans? They run on this premise while being backed by lobbyist who advocate for their own issues. These politicians will still sing the same song that, "Abortion is wrong!" But words without action are meaningless. Their technique of "Bait and switch" is unmatched so that you have people who voted for a politician based off the fact that he was against abortion and the politician switches it with war or whatever else lines the lobbyist or his pockets.

I digress. I don't believe there is one candidate who will do or believe everything that I believe and stand for. But that doesn't mean that I don't vote and it also doesn't mean that what I believe must conform to the candidates' views. I can believe in social issues like fair trade and the environment and also be for anti-abortion legislation and gun control.