Monday, February 18, 2008

Finding My Mom

I really started to believe my mom turned republican. I mean it was really starting to scare me.

I guess with age comes a stronger conservative leaning, but she was about to fall over the edge. I first noticed it when she expressed how much she despised Al Gore. I disregarded it as a personal issue. Well as we all know, he lost the 2000 election and I really suspected she voted for Bush, but I'll let her go to her grave, and mine, with that bit of info. I forgive her, as I have forgiven the 10 bijillion other Americans for their momentary lapse of reason in electing the idiot. Twice. Anyway, she never really would admit why she hated Gore so much. She just did.

My mom then began to hate the Clintons. I mean straight up hatin. I had always admired the fact that my mother had survived the deep south segregation with a realistic perspective of the harshness of racism and a fairly liberal outlook on life. Racism was the one thing she NEVER tolerated in our home. She did, after all, marry a radical Mexican. My aunt, on the other hand, did not. She still actually believes blacks were better off as slaves because they were taken care of, and they apparently cannot take care of themselves. Seriously, she believes it.

So here my mom was, 2008, telling me she would move to England if Hillary wins. And never admitting whether she liked Obama or not, truly keeping me in suspense. Now granted, I support Obama, but it has nothing to do with the Clintons themselves, who after all didn't have the worse of terms. It comes down to leadership. And I'm afraid with all of Clinton's touting of being the most experienced, she participated, in my opinion, in the most irrevocable mistake in US history- the Iraq War. I tend to believe that when you fuck up that bad, there is no redemption. Obama, on the other hand, with his young, inexperienced "head in the clouds" perspective chose not to partake in Bush's war game. I call that foresight and I will forever respect him for it.

Enough about me.

So its primary day in New Mexico and the suspense is killing me. I want to ask her if she needs a ride to the polls but I'm terrified of what the answer might be. How is this happening? I talk to my mom about everything!!! (In New Mexico only registered Dems can vote in the democratic primary.) So I decided to call her and let her know I'm leaving work early to vote. What if the one person I'm closest to has swapped values? She watches over my children! I feel on the verge of an identity crisis, as if I just lost my mom in a crowd of mediocrity. Really, I just didn't want to know.

"Hey can you take me with you?" She says, "I haven't made it to the polls yet today and I hate to get out in the traffic."

I peek over her shoulder at the polls and see she has marked a big X next to Obama.

I found my mom. All is well.

  • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ~Hunter S. Thompson