I was in a high-end restaurant, waiting to have a meeting with a friend, when I was led to our table, which had already been reserved.'
Our table was next to one at which four white women were already sitting. They were older, maybe even elderly, looking to be in their late 70s and/or early 80s. It felt like they were engaging in a "girl's day out" kind of time. They were laughing and sharing, talking about their husbands, both dead and alive, their children and grandchildren, their charity work, and their professions, from which they had all retired.
I couldn't help but hear everything they were talking about, and found myself chuckling from time to time at some of the things they shared. Privacy was not an option or a concern for them.
So, when they started talking about politics and the current slate of GOP candidates, the fact that they were sharing their views for all to hear was not surprising. They were Republicans, committed Republicans, that was for certain, because they said so, out loud.
The GOP candidates were interesting, they said. Carly "what's her name? Is she still in the race?" Fiorina didn't impress any of them, nor did Jeb Bush. They never mentioned Ben Carson, and kind of skated through their opinions of the candidates who have now left the race, including Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul.
But then they got to the meat of their discussion: the top three candidates, according to the polls, plus Chris Christie. Trump, they said, was OK. Rubio was not; he was in favor of "bringing all those immigrants, or letting all those immigrants" come into or stay in this country. "Oh no, no immigrants," said three of the women in response to the now-emerged spokeswoman for the group. One woman weakly tried to say that the immigrants who have been working here should be allowed to become citizens, but she was shut down.
Chris Christie should not be president, said the louder-than-the-rest-of-the-women leader because "he hugged Obama. That did it for me," she said. "He hugged Obama after Hurricane Sandy." She said it in such a way which indicated she wanted everyone to know that yes, she said it, and yes, she absolutely meant it.
Obama, she said, was evil. Someone mentioned that Obama had visited a mosque, and had reported that Muslims were "good people."
"Of course," the ringleader said, "he would say that because he is a Muslim. Everyone knows that. He doesn't go to church. He...is...a...Muslim."
The women got back to the other GOP candidates. With Trump being a little too over the top, and Rubio being in favor of keeping immigrants here and letting more come in, the only viable candidate, said the ringleader, with the other three women nodding their heads in agreement, was Ted Cruz.
"He is honest and loving and believes in the Constitution," said Ringleader. "He is our only hope." And then she said, quietly, "We have lost our beloved America. Our children's children will never know the America we knew."
Ah, the "give us our country back" sentiment was said out loud. If Cruz could help bring sexism and racism back, and put those "isms" back in their places on the shelves which hold American values, then he would have to be elected president. If Cruz could get rid of Obamacare with no thought of how millions who now have health care would feel or survive, then he would have to be elected president. If Cruz could make it so that police could have free reign with arresting and brutalizing people, then he would have to be president. If Cruz could get the military up and running like a good American military should run, and "bomb the hell out of ISIS," as Donald Trump has said, then Cruz would have to be elected president.
I sat there, not surprised at what I was hearing, but a tad irritated that they talked so loudly so that everyone would have to hear their political discourses. They were bemoaning the threat being felt from forces larger than them and their remembrance of an American value system which included, front and center, permission for racism and sexism and homophobia to exist unchallenged. They were bemoaning the fact that being "politically correct" meant respecting people of different religions (Islam) and colors and nationalities and having to put up with same-sex marriages. They were appalled that Obama seems to prefer diplomacy over militarism and they were disgusted that to them, he was always apologizing for what America did and did not do. They were tired of it. They wanted the voices of white people to be heard again, the way they had always been, loudly and clearly, putting down everyone and everything that wasn't white.
I heard that in their discourse. I don't think I was wrong. I wish I were.