"Born Down In A Dead Man's Town"

There are several people I never expected to ever have a debate over politics with. It just didn't seem feasible or possible that, in the course of our usual discussions, that (1) politics would come up and (2) we'd disagree on things. I mean, I expect that I'll disagree with my parents on politics from time to time, because they're more conservative than I (middle class Protestants from middle America who are moderate-leaning-right? Perish the thought!). I mean, I'm fairly moderate in my political stance--it's one of my best characteristics, really, that I think both ends of the political spectrum are necessary but also insane--but when push comes to shove, I tend to agree more with the liberals than the conservatives, mostly because I figure people are more important than the economy, and getting on with everyone is more important than preventing people from getting married just because they're the same sex.

Really what it amounts to is that I'm more comfortable discussing historical politics--stuff that happened centuries ago. I can sit and talk for hours about the politics and policies of Tudor and Stuart England (much to the chagrin and boredom of my non-history major friends). Part of that is my non-confrontational manner--I don't like creating fights with people. The only folks who might even think about disagreeing with me on political points in the Tudor/Stuart period are going to argue about my interpretation of stuff, and then only if we are discussing one of the few disputable aspects of 17th century British politics.

But I'd always assumed there would just be people I'd never get involved in political discussions with. Scott and I will never engage in an in-depth political debate (the only thing he ever discusses in depth is a videogame). I can't see Adam and I going at it over the war in Iraq. Etc., etc. You get the picture--I always assumed my political discussions were mostly limited to Ev on the liberal/progressive end and Jess & Dom on the conservative/traditional end.

Anyway, one of the people I assumed I'd never discuss politics with was my paternal grandmother. She's one of the most demure, subdued individuals I know. I've only ever heard her say a cross word twice in life, and I've never heard her say a bad word against anyone.

But today (well, yesterday now) I went and asked her if she'd watched the Presidential Debates the other night (this is what I get for trying to make conversation). She hadn't, but she said she already knew she couldn't trust Kerry, that she thought he was dangerous. I personally think she's just bought into the propaganda put out by Bush's supporters, but it's hard to say that to the woman who just took you out to lunch and gave you ten bucks.

I always forget that my grandparents are divided on political issues. All four of them grew up during the tail end of the Depression and through World War II. My maternal grandfather has told me stories of his family travelling to California to find work, then eventually coming back to Oklahoma. He and my maternal grandmother are both Democrats. My paternal grandparents, on the other hand, are Republican. My paternal grandfather blames things on people of different races (using terms I'm not comfortable with repeating), and tends to be very old-fashioned in his opinions and values (and by "old-fashioned" I mean both that some of his opinions are highly questionable and should have been discarded a century ago, and that he tends to think a lot of today's problems are caused by people not holding to the morality of tradition...which does have a bit of validity, I guess, but it's kinda balanced in a rather negative way by the former part of the equation).

Really, I hate to break it up along these lines, but the easiest way for me to think about it is this way--my mom's parents are well-educated and attended college and are upper-middle class, while my dad's parents had a high school education and are lower-middle class. My mom's parents worked with their brains (my grandfather was an industrial engineer for Conoco), and my dad's parents worked with their hands (that grandfather was an electrician). I hate to think politics are related to anything as simple as educational level, but they are to an extent (though not entirely--I've met some folks who are very conservative but very well-educated. I think it also depends on what you study in school. As a humanities/social sciences guy, I'm almost guaranteed to be a moderate-leaning-left).

Anyway, it really did surprise me when my grandmother argued with me on politics. She said she feared Kerry would reinstitute the draft, and I said Bush was more likely to do that than Kerry. Then my grandfather and I figured that, regardless of who did it, my brother Clif and I would probably be just right for drafting (since we're both of age and all that). Scott would be exempt because of his foot...and his weak ankles...and his size...his allergies...the only way Clif and I could get off would be our eyesight (mine's like 20/525 in each eye, and Clif's is worse; plus, he has no night vision and no depth perception at night). My only hope if I did get drafted was to go for Officer's School (likely, since I'm educated), but I'd still rather not get drafted anyway. I told my grandparents that if the draft was reinstituted, I'd be applying for political asylum in Britain. Here's hoping I don't have to find out if that's possible.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Mark Knopfler, "Baloney Again"