Befuddled Freepers... and worth a thousand words

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok ok so I took the truck to get the groceries yeterday... now think about this truck had the following on it

Support the Troops, yep my husband was a Troop until recently and we truly want to support them.

No on 75 (local California thing)

And our Air America Station sticker... oh and yes on the front window them pesky DoD stikcers...

Now I come out of the grocery store, with food, and this guy is standing there with pal, literally scratching head.

"Is there a problem gentlemen?"

"That IS a liberal station."

"Yes."

"but, but you also have a support the troops... and an American Flag."

"Yes... is there a problem?" I opened the truck to start putting the food in.

"Well I mean... err... how do I put it?"

"What is the problem?"

"Liberals don't support the troops... they are commies."

"Hmm given hubby WAS a TROOP and recently RETIRED from the USN, I don't know why I shouldn't."

"Well then your husband is not a liberal."

I chucked

"He is?"

"Yep he is." (He is registered as an indie but he is at times far more liberal than I am... he just likes to vote for the person... not the party... and neither of us are voting for DiFi)

"But, but...."

I saw my opening. "What Rush has told you that nobody in the Armed Forces is a liberal?" They sheepishly nodded. "I see... chew on this... my husband's command, over 90% of them VOTED FOR KERRY, though they'd rather have voted for Clark."

"They... but, but... "

"You just met somebody who truly supports the troops, do me a favor, write your REPUBLICAN congress critters and ask them why are they cutting the COLA from troops and why they have yet to see the equipment they need to fulfill the mission... hell why are they still getting crappy food, as in spoiled food."

I got into my truck, and drove away... those two guys were still scratching their heads... my hope is that the exploding reality continuum will make them, better yet, force them to question what they have been told all this time.

[Arkana]

1. Sounds like you gave them something to think about.

[UrbScotty]

48. Provided they can think, which I doubt (nt)

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Bravo!!!!! Thanks for sharing.......*S* n/t

[classof56]

3. Way to go, nadinbrzezinski!

You. Did. GOOD!!

[grannylib]

4. Good for you! I have had similar looks from people who don't get

how I can have an IXTHUS (the little Christian fish symbol) on my car, and also have DFL/other progressive stickers in my back window (I have not bought a Support the Troops magnet, because I have not found a source for any where the money actually GOES to support the troops)
I always explain that reThuglicanism and Christianity are mutually exclusive.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Hehe!

That's great. :) This last election a friend of mine at church asked me who I was voting for and I said "John Kerry" proudly and you could tell she was surprised. She said he was a flipflopper and I said he wasn't and that was pretty much it (we're still friends if you're wondering). I'm proud of my faith and my politics.

[grannylib]

39. Every year at the Minnesota State Fair DFL Booth, there is a big board

where anyone can post a little post-it note telling others why they vote Democratic; every year there are more and more notes saying simply, "Because I am a Christian."
I am sure that confuses Freeptards all to hell, hee hee!!
Went to the reThug booth this year (we try to clean them out of as much crap as possible and dump it in the recycling bin) and this year, after Democratizing their on-line polls for a while, we picked up some 'literature' and some plastic bags with the little red white and blue elephants on them, and said gleefully as we left, "I love these little bags; they're just the right size for the bathroom wastebasket!!"

Man, the looks we got, hee heeeeee.....

On Edit: typo, fixed spelling

[CatholicEdHead]

40. Just the right size for the bathroom wastebasket

That is great. I just walked by the GOP booth this year at the State Fair. Those were good comebacks.

[grannylib]

42. The very first thing we do every year is go to the DFL booth and get some

new buttons and stickers and whatnot, sign the wall, check out the candidates, etc etc etc (and every year I am already rattling from all the buttons I wear from years past!) and then we go to the reThug booth...my 17-year-old likes to see if she can find someone who will give her a hard time, so she can practice her ability to debate them. She is such a die-hard liberal progressive...I am SO proud of her!!

[Chevy]

5. That is truly scary.

There should be a mandatory inlisting for stupid people like those.:banghead:

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Oh I do hope they start questioning what they are being told

that said, I did not feel like doing my recruitment shpiel... I do have with me recruitment forms.

Oh and welcome to DU

[morningglory]

7. Good for you and thanks for posting!

[proud patriot]

8. I have had similar responses to my Flags etc w/ liberal stuff

These guys from Utah just had to ask me
"don't you think republicans usually have
flags and yellow ribbons?" I told them "that
was a silly assumption to make."

Well Done

:applause:

we need to let the wingers know listening to Rush
over our troops is Not Supporting The Troops .

[shadowknows69]

11. "When zombies wake up"

Tonight on Geraldo :rofl:

[johnaries]

9. K & R

Reality is a strange concept to BushBots. Glad to see you were able to a couple a dose.

[crikkett]

10. cheers!

Cheers to you and your husband and your truck's proclamations! May you continue to educate the befuddled masses!
:toast:
Cheers to the 90% of your husband's last command! My Navy buddies grew up to be scary Repubs and this gives me hope!
        :toast:
Cheers to the mystified freepers, may they see the light!
                :toast:
Cheers to DU, and DUers, you comfort my beleaguered soul!
                        :toast:

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. my brother in law has the following observation

in peace time military vets tend to become Pukes, after the fact, during wartime, the pugs do such a poor job, that the indoctrination breaks down, especially in the ranks... now the officer corp, especially high up, that is another story

Oh and my brother in law did 20, starting wiht Nam and retiring witn Desert Storm

[crikkett]

35. re: your in-law's observation,

in peace time military vets tend to become Pukes,

Why does he think that is? Why do you think that is? *I* think it's machismo, or the need to belong, or justify your past or something.

(don't flame me please - risky confession here) I was a republican when I was in the Navy but I never knew why I should be. I was told that it was good and so I nodded along. It was a political thing I did to get along, like the Prez. of Viacom saying he votes for Viacom, not for his conscience.

But, I feel much better now.
:7

[FreedomAngel82]

23. Not all navy's are scary republicans

My grandfather was in the navy and even though he was a republican he didn't like Bush at all (thought he was a moron) and voted for Kerry. :D

[crikkett]

34. you're right

and it has a lot to do with indoctrination and escape from indoctrination. My guys became junior officers and then left after their time was up to chase the American dream dollar. Ask your granddad, he'll agree, it takes time to wake up.
:hangover:

[Zynx]

12. But.. no..troops..liberal.. commies...support.. president...liberals..war.

*EXPLODES*

That's how freepers respond to any kind of stressful thinking.

[Charlie Brown]

14. can't stand people like that

for the record, even if people are "commies," that by no means precludes them from supporting servicemen and seeing to their needs.

[dorktv]

28. Commies had a military too.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Good job.

[KingFlorez]

16. What stupid asshats

This warped logic of their's is beyond belief

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Yes but to a point I can't blame them

they have been trained to have their heads explode when they see a 4X4 decked like this....

Remember, propaganda is quite strong... and this is a dose of reality that might, just might, get them thinking. No I am not holding my breath... but it just amy... especially if they see more vehicles with liberal stickers and DoD stickers... which in this town is happening

[FreedomAngel82]

24. I do blame them

I do blame them. The information and truth is out there if they want it but they choose to believe the shit Rush and his ilk spill out. They have freewill and make the choice to believe it. And I wonder if they even know what the heck a communist is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. No they don't but knowing a little about the nature

of the true believer, yes you can blame them, the trick is working round all the programing, and it is intense... why do you think the Germans had to be denasified? We should need a similar process here

[newswolf56]

18. When I lived out in the country (rural Western Washington)...

you often saw vehicles with National Rifle Association window decals and Democratic Party bumper stickers -- especially if the vehicles also had labor union ID somewhere (typically a "Union Yes" bumper sticker). Also have seen a few vehicles with NRA decals and the "Goddess Is Coming and She Is Pissed" bumper sticker.

Apart from the JesuNazis, Real America is not -- I say again NOT -- anywhere nearly as monolithic as the oligarchy and their jerk-string Limbonoid puppets would have us believe.

[FreedomAngel82]

25. I don't think so either

From my experience with talking with people on both sides of the political isle we're more a like then different on issues that really matter. People like Karl Rove like to use silly issues like abortion to divide us and play word games.

[Child_Of_Isis]

19. "Liberals don't support the troops... they are commies.

He meant to say that Communist China was supporting our troops, because we are plumb out of money.

[Maestro]

20. Oh how I love watching freeper heads explode

When forced to think, they don't like it.

[FreedomAngel82]

21. LOL!

That's great! I love that story! LOL! Too bad he couldn't see a clip from Moore's F911. There's a solider there who's talking about everything at the hospital in DC and he said how he used to be a republican but now he's back he was going to work his hardest to elect the democrats. :D I love when they're so dumbfounded like that! Maybe they'll question other things too.

[Nictuku]

26. Great Story

It made me think about how the only talk radio the GIs get is Rush, until now... Soon Ed Shultz will also be aired. I'm not a huge fan of Ed, but compared to Rush.... it will be good for our men and women over there to have an alternative source of information.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

27. Oh, poor guy

did his head explode?

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. If it did, I was way too far away from the kill zone

[mcscajun]

31. I don't see heads exploding here...I see a marvelous ripple effect.

Those scratching heads will tell their friends, in an effort to make sense of it.

And they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on.

Well, I can DREAM, can't I?

:)

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. That IS my hope

they were truly confused, young and confused, rather young and confused... prime material for the recruiters... and they just met a military family who is... gasp, liberal... going against all they have been hearng

[demgurl]

32. Great work, now if we could only reach more people. eom

[renate]

36. I went to an antique store that had one car out front,

the owner's, and it had a "Support the Troops" yellow ribbon on it. Around here, as elsewhere (especially until a few months ago), that generally means "Support Bush."

Well, shame on me for making assumptions. I ended up talking to her for an hour past closing time about the war. Her beloved son-in-law had been killed in Iraq--she had a picture of him on the wall, which was how we started talking about him--and she knew perfectly well he'd died for a lie. She cried most of the time we were talking.

I already knew that liberals support the troops more than Republicans do, in the sense that we would rather keep them safe than let them die for rich men's greed, but I made the same mistake those two men outside the grocery store made--thinking that most people with those ribbons on their cars support the war.

I'm sorry....

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. That's ok, I usually look around

yellow ribbon goes back to the days of the frontier and means sombody is deployued, so I usually look for that cute DoD Sticker as well... now if I don't find any... I knwo what it means and they are confused when they get ripped a new one over that one. I am sure that woman also has a gold star somewhere and taht is not a club any of us wants to belong too.

Here if they have DoD stickers, I will give them no trouble... DoD stickers... and by the way it was not a ribbon, again I know better. It was just a flag I got after 9.11 with the We Suport the Troops on it.

[young_at_heart]

38. "Liberals don't support the troops"

An example of the GOP think tank strategy of saying a lie over and over and it becomes "the truth". Just ask Rush if it works.

[sakabatou]

41. You'd think their heads were set up to self-destruct ...

when bombarded by truth.

[tamtam]

43. I noticed something

Whenever I go to a military outing I hear the same phrase when politics is brought up, "Republicans will raise your pay Democrats will cut your pay". I've never understood this because Republicans tend to shit on veterans.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

44. Love your response! Kudo's!

I said after the march in DC we need to carry more flags in the rallies to add a visual to the freeptards who believe Rush. Yes, I am not proud of our flag at all these days, but I do support our troops. Waving the flag will detonate most of the damage done to us by the right wing commies lol

[FizzFuzz]

45. yay!!! Good going, nadinbrzezinski!

:applause:

:D

[chknltl]

46. Freedom Cookies

(I have been looking for a place to suggest this, I think it is relevant here)
I have a friend, a gulf war vet, who has had to move in with his mom down in California. He has no strong opinions on politics she on the other hand is a republican activist. She attends rallies and mans an information booth. She has asked her son to help her man the booth next time, not to pass out pamphlets but to defend her from Democrats. Apparently she has been accosted by those who do not agree with her, they have shouted and screamed at her, they have overturned her tables scattering all her brochures and propaganda and they have even spit on her. She claims that this is common.
If my friend shows up and sees this do you suppose he will be willing to vote for any Dem's after that?
I believe that we as Americans are quick to vilify our adversaries and we tend to do so with a broad brush. For example what is your first reaction to seeing a vehicle all adorned with repuke stickers?
Do you want to wave at them with only one finger? Would the thought of saluting them EVER enter your mind?
Back to my friends mom, she is doing what she believes is right for her country. She has taken the time to get off her butt and participate in the Democratic process. In her heart she feels the need to defend our Democracy in her way. The fact that you or I feel that she is backing the wrong horse should be irrelevant when you consider that she feels as strongly as you or I about saving OUR country.
I feel that an informed electorate is key to a strong country. Just as you or I feel that this lady is misinformed I am sure she feels the same way about us. Do you suppose anyone accepts information when it is shouted at them in anger? What if we could create opportunities for open calm dialog with those who feel differently than us? I believe that by and large we Democrats hold the education high ground here and that we should fare well in those situations. (A survey which compares education level to political persuasion would be interesting I suspect, for instance those "blue" areas should have a higher average level of education then those "red" areas).
Here is my suggestion: When possible show some support for our opposition, let them know that we as Dem's are NOT their enemies.
The whole idea here is to unvilify us Dem's in the eyes of some of these republican supporters. Perhaps this could lead to calm dialog and with any luck gain us some votes. My ulterior motive here is gaining those votes. There is an election right around the corner, every republican vote we can get is one less for the bad guys. I would love to see a Dem show up at my friends moms booth with a plate of homemade cookies. Boy would that throw a monkey wrench into her world view!

btw: I am not suggesting being nice to freeper trolls here, there is just too much fun to be had bashing those fools, besides it is practically a sporting event here in the big DU.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

47. Ask them if troops get spoiled food, where does the food money go?

Ask them if troops get spoiled food, where does the food money go?

Their tax dollars at work.

Do Rumsfeld or Cheney suffer from spoiled food?

[jzodda]

49. Good read, funny

I am constantly amazed by the sheer amount of idiots living in this country

[Tace]

50. exploding reality continuum

That's good!

[_ed_]

51. I've had several experiences like that

I've got several anti-war stickers on my car, along with:

"Combat Veteran Against Bush"

and

"Iraq Veterans Against the War"

I live in a really red area of Colorado. I love stopping at red lights and checking out people in the rear view. The look on their face often begins with anger when they see anti-war and anti-Bush stuff, and it's hilarious when I see them finally figure out that I'm an Iraq Vet. The way their faces go from pissed off to really confused is priceless.

I've also had several encounters with pro-war folks in parking lots. They usually happen like yours did.