Constitutional Crisis at the Carwash

I live in a fairly conservative neighborhood in the northern part of Dallas. In the last presidential election the number of Bush stickers far outnumbered our meager Kerry-Edwards bumper stickers. Because of this I rarely discuss politics with my neighbors. That changed this Sunday at the car wash just up the street.

Another customer was waiting in the lounge for his car, dressed in shorts and sandals, looking like a typical North Dallas man. The TV was tuned to CNN and a story about Iran providing weapons to Iraq came on the screen. Without any prompting, he remarked, “they are trying to scare us again.”

I took a chance and replied, “That seems to be the only trick Bush knows.”

He turned and I expected to be bombasted with Republican rhetoric, instead he shook his head.

“Saber rattling is their stock and trade,” he said. “What they have done to our constitution is pitiful.”

I agreed and added a few choice comments and was greeted with a smile and a nod.

Why is this so important? Well a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to make that kind of remark in public in our neighborhood. Now unsolicited, people are feeling not only free to speak, but compelled to do so. That in itself speaks volumes for the dissatisfaction and downright disgust people have for Bush and his policies.

Now if we could only convince Congress of that!