Windy Sydney

I get frustrated when I talk politics with people in Utah.  Everyone is usually in the same mindset:

Vote Republican, Vote Mitt Romney, Obama = bad, McCain = hero.

The other day I was talking with a co-worker in the break room about politics.  I didn't start the conversation... the other girl did.  She was sitting across the table with a copy of the Ensign in front of her and she started asking me questions.  She knows I don't "care" for the church, and she was one of the first to notice the CTL ring on my left hand.  I don't think she was trying to pick a fight, but I do think she was eager to debate with me.

She asked me who I was going to vote for.

I told her I was voting for Obama.

She asked why I was voting for "Osama."

I HATE THAT!

Why in the world can't you just get his last name right.  He isn't Osama Bin Laden, terrorist in need of kidney transplant... he is Barak Obama, presidential candidate.  

After correcting her on the name, I told her that I agree more with Obama's policy than McCain, and the fact that Sarah Palin made rape victims pay for their own rape kits at the hospitals (this is a rumor I heard, and I have no evidence of it... when I had a couple days off I plan on researching it further) really pissed me off.  I am a femminist, and she isn't.  I don't care for the woman.  At all.

I want the troops home, and she wants them guarding the safety of Iraq.  I get that Iraq needs help, and we should have never been there to begin with.  When I mentioned that, she looked at me like I had grown a third eye or something.  She couldn't believe that I said it.

"We are there to help those poor people!"

"We went there because there were supposedly weapons of mass destruction... they were never found... this was about weapons.  There were no weapons."

"They destroyed the evidence!"

"Yeah, sure they did."

"How do you know there were no weapons?"

"How do you know there were weapons?"

"I listen to the radio! Where do you get your information."

"I watch CNN, Headline news, MSNBC and others constantly when I am home.  I am constantly on my computer..."

"You can't trust the news! They hate republicans! You need to listen to AM Radio! Why don't you like Bush?"

"Why would I like him?  He shouldn't even be president in the first place!  He didn't win the popular vote, and it just so happened that his little brother was governor of the state he needed help from?  Shady much?  Oh, and don't even get me started on the economy..."

"The economy isn't Bush's fault.  It's that black guy!"

I walked out.

Here is the thing.  I hate talking religion and politics at work unless I know it's with someone who can handle it.  There are only a couple people that I can have meaningful conversations with, and I treasure those moments... trust me.  I can't believe that most of the people I come into contact with have no problem calling Obama "Osama."  They think nothing of it.  Not just at work, either... I heard an older couple at Wal-Mart (Gawd, I hate Wal-Mart) talking about Obama being a terrorist in disguise.

This story was 100% true, not made up, and I have the ulcer to prove it.

Andee