What an extraordinary piece ran in yesterday's NEW YORK SUN, the world's Next Great
Newspaper.
This is really what it is to be a Republican in NY very much like living in enemy territory.
MR X AND HOW HE CAME LATE TO THE RUPUBLICAN PARTY
Five months after the election, the acrimony seems to have died down — at least on the surface. I still see the occasional poster in various apartments from Broadway to Columbus. There are the random Kerry-Edwards buttons (worn for protest or pride), but for the most part, it’s quiet. Some of it can even be humorous. I was on the subway last week when my child, who is becoming a great reader, noticed a young woman next to us wearing a button that said: “I Only Sleep With Democrats.” Of course, I was immediately asked what that meant. I explained the woman had a sleep disorder, wondering how long I can fob off this bright child with obfuscation. In our building, there’s a 4-year-old who has two large stickers on his backpack with a slash through a “W” … in the same place where other 4-yearolds have Yankees or Mets stickers. In my neighborhood, politics is a professional sport.
Of course, the constant Bush bashing that I hear in casual conversation continues, but even there it’s less strident. The Iraqi election seems to have taken the wind out of the their sails — God forbid they would ever admit they were wrong and the president may have been right on that one. I still see the rolling of the eyes, the complete dismissal of his “lack of intellect,” and the obvious digs that aren’t terribly original or funny. When reporters pressed the president on his reading list and he obliged, the reaction was so predictable: Everyone around me said they were shocked, shocked that he could read. In many ways, it outdoes the Clinton bashing during the ’90s, which I found counterproductive as well.The way I see it, George W. Bush won reelection by more than 3 million votes. For those who can’t accept this, my advice is, relax, you’ll have another shot at the White House in just 1,286 days. One more bit of advice: Maybe the folks in my neighborhood should at least try to understand where the rest of the country stands and why these people feel the way they do because the map I saw the day after the election showed a lot more red states than blue.
And I’ll take my own advice. For my part, I wonder why it is that I may be in step with much of the country and yet so clearly out of step with everyone around me. Of course, being a West Sider, there is the tendency to overanalyze myself, wondering how I came to this point. I’ve read terms like 9-11 Republicans, neo-cons, and even neo-neo cons. I’m not crazy about labels. To tell you the truth … I came late to the party …
Hat tip SC1
