MARCH 2, 2020 – Possible topics for today: Pete ending his campaign and the effect on Democratic presidential politics; OR the coronavirus and my temporary insanity triggered by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh, and Donnie Trump, Jr., not to mention Vacant Mind himself. For readers who are out of the know, Vacant Mind, FoxGoebbels and ilk claim that the coronavirus hype is a “liberal media” plot to undo Vacant Mind. Seriously?! (If anything, it’s a Chinese, Iranian . . . or WFMMA (“Worldwide Face Mask Manufacturing Association”) plot.)
But instead, I’ve decided I’d write about politics and . . . Mom.
Mom would’ve turned 96 yesterday if she hadn’t died at 93. Her last few years weren’t easy. Given her work as a wartime aeronautical engineer, I pictured her in her old age as a tattered biplane with a sputtering engine, struggling not to clip the trees on her final approach to the airfield. She was an extraordinary woman, and we miss her.
As to her politics, she followed the example of my maternal grandfather, an active, life-long Republican. That habit was reinforced by my dad, who voted Republican and voiced strong opinions in that direction. All of that, of course, was before the Age of the Naked Emperor. (I can’t imagine my grandfather or father—let alone Mom—calling the Naked Emperor anything but—I mean, “butt”—naked.)
Along the way, however, Mom dropped hints that maybe she wasn’t a “total” Republican after all. The first sign—from my earliest years, I later realized—was her membership in the League of Women Voters. The second sign was . . . a sign.
When I was in fifth grade (1964-65), I was politically “woke,” though the term back then was simply, “aware.” Around the dinner table, my parents talked lots about politics, as did my oldest sister—a young Republican. Naturally, I followed suit.
After school one September day in ’64, my buddies and I were tossing a football around in the street in front of my house, when a car approached, forcing us to the curb. I noticed a woman behind the wheel and a big, double-sided campaign sign attached to the roof of her car. The sign said, “Re-elect CONNIE BURCHETTE – House Representative – DFL [Democratic Farmer Labor party].” As the car passed by, I led my fellow ruffians in a chant: “We want a Republican! We want a Republican!”
Overhearing us, Mom stuck her head out the front doorway and called out to me, “Were you shouting at that car?” Her tone signaled displeasure.
“No,” I lied.
“I’m glad it wasn’t you,” she lied back. “Connie is an outstanding representative, and we want to get her re-elected.”
I was surprised that Mom would cross the party line. In light of the unwavering Republican influence of my father and grandfather, her support for a Democrat revealed courage and conviction. In 2016, at 92, Mom crossed the party line again. On that occasion, however, it was simply a matter of common sense.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
