I'm Madder 'n Hell, and I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore (or something like that)

I haven't been a political person since some time around the third grade, when I plastered a George Wallace for President bumper sticker on my notebook. We had an All the Way with LBJ bumper sticker ripped off our car, and I thought that was probably the worse thing a hateful person could do during a political campaign.

A couple of years ago, the power of an individual voter hit home in a local school board election, when a candidate (fortunately, one of the good guys) won by 31 votes. And I believe that people will do the right thing, especially when their local interests are at stake. Last year, a previously non-existent group of voters in North Fort Worth derailed an 'old-time' political machine in the school board election, and the board took a positive 180-degree turn in its direction.

Unfortunately, I'm waiting for the right sound bite to sway my decision on presidential candidates. I took a survey a few months ago that said I was most closely tied with the guy from North Carolina with the nice head of hair. Wish I could remember his name. Last week, I was a Hillary fan, until I heard her stumping on TV and she sounded like a New York yankee (no, not one of the baseball players). So my vote's still pretty much up for grabs.

What I'm REALLY not liking is the fear that many are showing as they lambaste Barack Obama and try to associate him with everyone from Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein to the snake in the Garden of Eden. Yep, I think it's driven by fear of 'them' and not by any sound political judgment. Ditto re: Hillary and those other 'thems.'

Did you know that there's documented proofed that Obama hid his Muslim heritage behind his Catholic-school upbringing? Or that there are movies of Hillary and her 'friend?' Give me a break!

In 2005, my daughter was selected homecoming queen at her high school, the first in the new school's history. She's never been one to seek that kind of recognition, but she is very nice, well-known and 'will give the time of day' to anyone . . . a fact proven by the freshman/sophomore voting block that said she acknowledged their presence. I was very proud of her and knew that she has a valuable life skill in meeting and remembering people.

Ironically, I thought of a childhood friend from Port Arthur, who couldn't have more defined whatever our word might've been for nerd, geek or just plain bizarre. His older sister and mine were friends. I believe our dads worked together, and I knew him and his older brother through Boy Scouts and school.

My strongest vision of him is from high school, although he never changed much in comparison to the time or his environment, sporting high-water pants pulled up at the waist, wearing thick glasses and topped by a shock of squirrelly blond hair. My memory may be tainted related to the actual specifics, but you get the idea.

But he had what I would now consider an incredible life skill: he would walk through the hall between class periods and would greet everyone by name. It was in an irritable machine-gun style, but he knew everyone.

Most of us change from high school (although someone told my wife and daughter #1, when asked if I was really a nerd in high school, that I was exactly the same as I am now). So I thought, 'Man, this guy has probably thrived since he left school. What a gift, to have some kind of relationship with so many people!'

Because of daughter #1's success, I looked him up online, found him on the Port Arthur ISD alumni Web page, and sent him an e-mail. We exchanged some e-mails, and I could tell that he'd gone through some difficult times.

He and his brother both married what I would call 'mail-order brides' because 'American women just didn't know how to treat men.' He'd expressed a huge amount of pride in his young son, but was looking for another teaching job (apparently he's worked in school districts around the state and had a problem with another supervisor, 'teachers just aren't allowed to teach').

I'd just moved from an 'uncomfortable' job situation to the job I have now (and I love it!), so I thought I'd share some of my Pollyanna-ish encouragement. He continued to exchange e-mails with me anyway.

Then, after Hurricane Katrina obliterated New Orleans --when you couldn't turn on the TV without hurting for displaced families or get angry over horrible personal abuses, or fume over an unresponsive, hopelessly non-empathetic federal government -- I was part of a distribution list for an e-mail he distributed.

After a rant about New Orleans Blacks bringing the Katrina disaster on themselves, the e-mail ended with 'Watch out, Whitey!' I don't remember the exacting wording of my Reply All, but the intent was 'Take me off your f***ing e-mail list!!!' I guess the All in Reply All were 'watching out' because they promptly shared their disagreement with my stance on the post-Katrina re-socialization.

And then I thought: here's a man who grew up in a nearly mirror image of my home, slightly more nerdy than me, but loves his family and has some valuable life skills.

And I asked myself then and continue to ask: When do people get so bitter? How do they become so unhappy? What the hell happened!?

God, I love my life.

So don't tell my that you've seen Obama riding a camel or Hillary strolling arm-in-arm with Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres. Tell me how your candidate's going to bring young people home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and how he/she will balance the budget, address immigration, eradicate hunger, get people off the streets, and help me pay for my kids' college.

Whew! I feel better now.

P.S. If you think I'm naively loving a cushy life, let's chat.