83 year old grandfather tells the truth about McCain
by aintnoreason Sun Sep 28, 2008 at 09:24:47 PM PDT
My husband's grandfather is slowly dying. He's had a lot of health problems this year and I think he's going to pass before the end of the year. He's been in the hospital the past month for a plethora of reasons, but he's been made comfortable and we're trying to spend as much time with him as possible.
aintnoreason's diary :: :: This morning my husband and I stopped by to see him and he was in a pretty good mood. He doesn't talk much because he has trouble swallowing and his throat gets pretty dry, but when we first got there he asked us if we watched the debate. My husband and I exchanged an awkward glance -- with our extended families, it's a general rule that we don't discuss politics. Grandpa is a pretty staunch conservative, so we both were a little worried about where this was heading. Grandpa said, "That John McCain is a goddamned liar."
You could have heard a pin drop. My husband, who was wide-eyed, pressed him for details.
Grandpa whispered that John McCain didn't give a shit about veterans and he wanted to know who the hell McCain thought he was foolin'. See, Grandpa is a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He's undoubtedly the most patriotic man I know, and takes great pride in the time he spent serving his country.
He keeps up on veterans affairs and the outright lie from McCain about wanting to make sure the veterans are supported really got Grandpa's goat. He said he wondered how many times McCain has gone to any VA hospital to see the kinds of hoops veterans have to jump to to get their benefits and why he's never made it easier for them. And he also wondered why John McCain votes against vets so often if he cares about them so much. He said John McCain is an empty shell of a man and an embarrassment to vets everywhere. My husband and I were stunned.
I'll be honest about Grandpa, too. He's got flaws. He has used the 'N' word in front of me, and has used (and still occasionally uses) the term 'colored'. He had a much different upbringing than my husband and I had, and while that doesn't excuse his racism, his upbringing has really shaped his worldview and even in his old age, he hasn't let go of all of it. For example, my mother in law (his daughter) is recently divorced because my husband's father came out as a homosexual, and we didn't tell Grandpa. We knew it was better to just let him know the marriage ended without having to listen to his homophobic diatribes.
But Grandpa liked Obama. We talked about Obama a little bit, and to my surprise, his race never came up. Grandpa liked Obama's calm demeanor, the way he called John McCain out for being wrong on Iraq, and that Obama seemed "smart". I'm not sure if Grandpa will vote for him -- he says he's still making up his mind. But I do know this: John McCain is on his shit list. Grandpa hates political grandstanding and using veterans as a ploy. We've already requested an absentee ballot because it's unlikely he'll be released in time to vote on Election Day. All Obama has to do is what he's been doing, and I think it's likely that Grandpa will help us turn Missouri blue.
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