{"id":2348,"date":"2023-10-24T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2348"},"modified":"2023-09-16T15:32:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T15:32:06","slug":"chap-30-getting-it-straight-about-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2348","title":{"rendered":"Chap. 30 – Getting It Straight about Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 30<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting It Straight About Politics<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Poolside the next morning, just about everybody had something to say.  The weather warmer.  The vista tremendous behind us \u2013 a mountainside; not so great the other way \u2013 just the side of The Arlington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The women on the bus reported that Hot Springs is filled with great places to eat.  \u201cNew Orleans style cooking \u2013 beignets, the whole bit,\u201d Sally said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The men on the bus had been to the Quapaw Bathhouse, but Steve said it was disappointing, \u201c. . . like going to a sanatorium, lots of old people, lots of ailments, everybody in white robes, nothing to look at, nothing worth paying $25 an hour for.\u201d      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Sunshine and Peaches said it was a nice camp ground in the Quachita Forest not far out of town, but were hoping to crash in Huck\u2019s room tonight.  \u201cAnd yeah,\u201d Sunshine added, \u201cAustin and Tex \u2013 those guys we met at the RV park \u2013 well, they\u2019re on Facebook.  They\u2019ve got a photo of the Land Yacht saying it\u2019ll be a kick moving you guys to the right.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Steve had the most to say, \u201cRumpkins and Trumpeters \u2013 two wings of the same plane.  We\u2019ve been on the road ten weeks; met a ton of people \u2013 some, I think, we were too quick to label right-wingers, or worse, racists, just \u2018cuz they latched on to Trump.  Those cowboys in Montana, those Texas dudes at the RV park, even Big Sam right here, all they want is for the friggin\u2019 plane to fly straight – looking-out for ordinary Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWhere\u2019s the political party that blends moderate right-wing conservatism on business matters, good paying jobs for all, and letting folks lead their own private lives without government interference?  And now\u2019s the perfect time to find common cause fighting terrorism.  In my humble opinion, it takes two wings to fly an airplane.  If they want to call their wing the right wing, that\u2019s fine.  As long as we\u2019re flying in the direction of democracy, of the people, by the people, for the people, one equally weighted vote per person, we should welcome them as co-pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWow, Patty said, say that again for the movie, start with \u2018Here\u2019s what we want to trumpet.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOkay,\u201d Steve said, rising like a lawyer, \u201cHere\u2019s what we want to trumpet<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-the idea that immigrants are an asset, not a liability;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-that freedom of speech is also for those whose ideas we loathe;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-that America\u2019s power needs to be used to protect democracies from dictators;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-that we are richer by freely trading goods abroad;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-that nothing is more sacred than democracy and the rule of law;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-that patriotism is criticizing a country we love while loving the country we criticize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Pool side, there was no report from Sally and Jack \u2013 presumably they were sleeping late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOkay, how\u2019s this for a plan . . .\u201d Skip finally spoke, \u201c. . . no plan.  Just keep doin\u2019 what we\u2019re doin\u2019.  Get back on the road, lookin\u2019 to meet people, bloggin\u2019 what we\u2019re up to . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . . \u201cand by the way, talked with Susie yesterday, Eloise is having a victory party and the cowboys \u2013 who Steve just better referred to as \u2018Trumpet-ers\u2019 – will likely be there.  Let\u2019s skype again, and Steve, get into that airplane with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Huck brought the conversation back to the present, said he saw a flyer for something called Valley of the Vapors Music Festival, \u201cIt\u2019s free, right here on the street in front of the bath houses, starts tonight.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Then, everybody relaxed and enjoyed their last day at The Arlington.  Everybody, that is, except Skip and Rocky who took off by themselves somewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 30 Getting It Straight About Politics      Poolside the next morning, just about everybody had something to say.  The weather warmer.  The vista tremendous behind us \u2013 a mountainside; not so great the other way \u2013 just the side … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions\/2351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}