November 07, 2006
Win or lose, Michael Steele's a class act...
From the Weekly Standard:
...Steele's voting site in the heavily African-American county was unlikely to be a stronghold of support. He had some supporters in the crowd (a handful of people sought him out while he was standing in line) and outside the middle school, the vast majority of those in attendance appeared to be overtly hostile to the candidate.
"Anyone who's with Bush is not with me," proclaimed one black woman as she crossed paths with Steele in a hallway. There were other remarks in the same vein. While being interviewed in the polling place, another African-American voter stated that she couldn't support someone who still believed in "a false war based on lies."
...Standing in line to vote with his wife, the pair wearing matching blue Under Armour windbreakers, Steele was surrounded by folks who clearly had no desire to vote for him. They made snide comments behind his back. "They're just trying to trick us, but we know better," exclaimed one elderly woman. She went on to explain that Steele's great "trick" was not cutting to the front, but instead choosing to stand in line like everyone else.
For 45 minutes, Steele was waiting in line, listening to the jibes, biting his tongue, and smiling bravely. If not for his resolve, it would have been a depressing sight--the capacity some of us have to be rude to strangers is remarkable. Michael Steele deserved better...(thanks to Dean B)
How low. What animals leftists are. And how classy the Steeles are to just smile and stick it out and vote. A real man, and a real woman.
And can you imagine John Kerry being in such a situation? No, because he'd push to the front of the line and say "Do you know who I am?"
Keep this in mind when you hear the usual bullshit claims that black voters are being harassed and intimidated at the polls. Here's a genuine case.
Posted by John Weidner at November 7, 2006 02:22 PMNot looking good tonight...well, if the troops do end up getting de-funded, I guess it'll be major Step Up To The Plate time for the Iraqi's...I'd love to give them more time, but if I were them, I'd put the pedal to the fucking metal. Last call, boys...
I suspect once Democrats have actual responsibility, they'll have to act a little more responsibly on things like terror and Iran - wishful thinking, I know, but I'm hopeful. And I'm a big supporter of Bush's immigration plan, so that part of it is good news to me...
So, another two years of gridlock and strife, and another national conversation in two years. Should be interesting times...
Well, there are advantages to being out-of-power, and the Dems are about to lose them. You can hide who you really are, and let people project their hopes onto you...
I just don't want to hear those right-wing "Republicans should be punished for abandoning their principles" types do any complaining when they get Justice Alberto Gonzalez...
Posted by: John Weidner at November 7, 2006 10:11 PMYes, this isn't exactly the end of the world, and there could even be some positives that come from it. Its just that I deal much better with Democrats when I can ignore them. That's going to be harder to do now.
Posted by: Mike Plaiss at November 8, 2006 06:30 AMBut blogging may well be more fun now! Heh heh heh...
Posted by: John Weidner at November 8, 2006 08:39 AMIt's good to see some conservatives keeping a stiff upper lip. Perhaps too stiff, though. We're entering Three Conjectures territory here (which would've been true no matter who won the elections yesterday). That part of history is scary enough with the adults in charge. It's downright terrifying with the Democrats.
Mike
Posted by: Michael Kent at November 8, 2006 04:54 PMMike - no doubt, it's frightening. And I'm sure we'll start contemplating those fears, in detail, on a daily basis, starting right about now. But it doesn't hurt to remember a big perspective sometimes. As Dean Barnett observed on Tuesday:
The Republic has survived more dire threats than Speaker Pelosi. Hell, this country survived four years of one-party rule presided over by Jimmy Carter with 10,000 Soviet nukes aimed at us. We’ve been in tougher spots before.
...that's not to say Carter didn't cause problems we're still paying for today, etc., etc. - just that all is far from lost.
