"I bet you worship Alinsky" said one. "She probably has an altar in her house for that" said another. Me: "Absolutely! And I bought it at the store where Rand Paul got his Aqua Buddha.
And so it went outside Page High School in Greensboro, N.C. where I voted today. For almost an hour I sparred with the men of the GOP who hit me with Limbaugh lines, Beck bullshit and standard Goper talking points.
This game was five on one and I was the one. Four were big guys, age 47 to 54. And then there was one old codger, father of a Republican candidate for State Senate, who promised to protect little ole Democrat me if anyone got out of hand and tried to replicate the Kentucky stomp down. In other words, it was all light hearted, laughs were exchanged as insults were tossed, but all of a sudden the mood changed and things were on the verge of getting downright ugly. So what was this game changer? In a word: basketball. You see, down here on Tobacco Road people go nuts over what's really important, Duke vs Carolina.
Mr. 54 year old political know-it-all and No. 1 Carolina fan, went ballistic when he discovered I'm a Duke fan. Oh boy. A Democrat and a Dukie, this cannot stand! He got loud, A head taller than me, he bent down to get his red face in my face, he disparaged everything Duke and all the refs (terrified of Coack K) who send my guys to the foul line if anyone dares brush against them, etc, etc, etc. I'm loving watching his blood pressure rise, thinking he might just explode and be one less vote againt my President in '12. I didn't say a word until he wore himself out and then I just said I hoped his team could make it out of the NIT this year. And that was that - or so I thought as he walked away to wave his sign at newcomers.
But it wasn't over. He came back. And this time it was politics and this time he had the goods. He had the real reason President Obama won't release his real birth certificate. Now some of you may have already heard this but it was all news to me. You see, his REAL birth certificate lists his race as white and the reason he wants it kept secret is that it would turn African-Americans against him.
At this point I'm laughing so hard my side hurts and I'm walking towards my car with his voice ringing in my ears: "You need to listen to Rush Limbaugh, learn something".
No real point to this story. Just sharing an hour in an election day in a district where a fellow Democrat is hard to find but if you hang out long enough you will be exposed to the insanity of at least one Republican who will remind you why you're a Democrat.