Thursday evening, The Pink Flamingo was visiting with a friend, Gordon Anderson, who owns the Larian Motel in Tombstone. (FYI, it is the best place to stay in Tombstone – The Pink Flamingo gives it ten stars). Gordon is the only person I have yet to encounter who is voting for Mitt Romney who has a sense of humor about it.
“So, what would it take for you to vote for Mitt? If he chose Newt for VP, you are telling me you wouldn’t vote for him?
I was forced to admit I would vote for Newt.
He listed just about everyone else, ending with Hillary. Yes, I would vote for Hillary if she were the VP pick.
That’s it.
He was hilarious about the whole thing. If Romney would take John McCain, would I vote for him? I told him I would rather see the GOP kick Romney out on his tushie and re-nominate John McCain. He’d WIN this time.
That was the fantasy baseball discussion on Thursday. The GOP should dump Mitt, who is proving to be more and more a disaster, and give John McCain a second chance. He’d win, big, this time. Gordon thought Donald Trump as VP choice would be fun, for the sake of a well-watched VP debate.
The Pink Flamingo is sick and tired of being contacted, emailed, Tweeted, called, etc about why I’m not voting for Mitt Romney and why I don’t care about the fate of the country. I’m sick of it. I’m so sick of it, I told someone the other day I may just vote for Obama if this keeps up. I’m tired of being called a communist because my favorite opera singer comes from Russia and I’m not voting for Obama. I’m tired of being told what an evil person Newt Gingrich is. I’m tired of being called a socialist because I find Romney’s version of “capitalism” to be distasteful.
I’ve just reached the point where I’ve had it.
I don’t see the point in constantly discussing a person’s vote with them. Then again, I’ve always had a problem going after a person who wasn’t the same faith as am I. I find it distasteful. I find those who are constantly after me about the way I am voting to be as distasteful as some religious zealot camping on my front step and leaving literature I’m going to toss.
I am hearing from more and more people about this same subject. I’ve had two people, in the past two days, tell me if anyone else tries to guilt them into voting for Romney, they WILL vote for Obama. I’m rapidly reaching that point, myself.
It’s a secret ballot people. It’s a secret ballot for just this reason – to keep people from being harassed about their free vote. I do find it ironic that Republicans, conservatives who demand a secret ballot for unions, refuse to allow me to have the same right, as a voting American citizen. Go figure.
I want no more emails about my choice. I don’t want comments about it. I don’t want phone calls about it. I don’t want to be contacted via Twitter about it, nor on Facebook. It’s over. It’s a bit like Wyatt Earp when he takes off on his Vendetta Ride. It all ends now.
If my political choices are causing you to withdraw your friendship, then you weren’t much of a friend to begin with. The way I feel today, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. If you feel you can no longer read The Pink Flamingo, fine. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. If you are concerned about being related to me, fine, disown me. Right now I don’t give a damn.
Get a grip. This is the United States of America. You are not to harass a person about how they are voting, demand retractions, or require apologies because I dare disagree with you. It’s a free country with alleged freedom of speech. I gather those of us who are not voting for Romney don’t have the same rights. Our speech is not as free as yours. Our votes are not as sacred as yours. Because we refuse to bow to increasing pressure, there is something wrong with us.
I am not voting for Mitt Romney.
Get it?
I’m not voting for Mitt Romney.
I am voting for Gary Johnson.
If you think I am throwing my vote away and enabling Barack Obama with my vote for Johnson, please, keep it to yourself. It’s none of your blasted business. I don’t mind saying who I am voting for, because, if I had a Republicans for Johnson bumper-sticker it would be on my Durango.
Please do not contact me about the following:
- The world coming to an end
- I am destroying the country
- I don’t know anything about history
- I’m lying about things
- I’m going against what I’ve always said
- I’m not putting things into perspective
- I’ll regret my vote four years from now
- I don’t realize what is at stake this time
- Our country is hanging by a thread
- I’m not reading the right sources
- I’m not listening to the right talking heads
- I’m not worshiping at the feet of Hugh Hewitt, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh
- I don’t know what I’m doing
- I’ll change my mind
- I’m intellectually dishonest
- I need to apologize to PF readers for my past actions
- I must be terribly upset about the world
- I must be depressed
- I’m a socialist
- My personal favorite – I’m irrational about things
I am being told that I have lied to my readers because I am not supporting Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. That – I lied to PF readers in 2008 when I said what I did about Obama. Dear Lord Have Mercy! How can I get through to people that I THINK MITT ROMNEY IS WORSE THAN BARACK OBAMA. I have never changed my opinion of Mitt Romney. I have, though, as well my regular readers know, moderated my visceral hatred of Barack Obama, because I a ashamed of feeling that way about anyone. I quit listening to Rush, FOX, Sean, Bill, Laura, Michael, and Mark. Once that happens, you learn how to think for yourself and realize that they are only promoting their opinions for money.
I have changed my opinion of Michelle Obama. I have admitted this many times. I was wrong about her. I think she is a class act, an iconic fashion figure, and is not deserving of the racist bile spewed at her. When I saw how she and Laura Bush related to one another, and learned of the growing friendship between Barack Obama and George W. Bush, that was enough for me. I have more respect for GWB than anyone, ever, in politics. If he and Barack Obama can find common ground and be kind to one another, then I will not look upon Obama with hatred, dislike, nor vitriol.
If I have ever strong-armed or harassed anyone into voting for someone I apologize. I refuse to apologize for my actions when I was in high school and slammed the locker into the had of the student body president of the Young Democrats. I was president of the Young Republicans. He never apologized for dropping his books on my toes when I slammed his head with the locker.
That was high school. Actions like that are fine in high school. Nasty arguments are fine in high school. They are NOT acceptable any time after that.
People supporting Romney,People who hate Obama need to grow up and get their minds and campaign skills out of high school. They need to realize that they are acting like a bunch of religious zealots ringing doorbells, harassing people who don’t want to be harassed.
NO MAS!
As for The Pink Flamingo, I will continue to write what I want to write and support who I want to support. My goal in this blog is to try and hold conservatives and the Republican Party to the standards they pretend to have. My goal is not to tell you how to vote. I don’t give a damn how you vote, and I expect the same treatment from my readers.
I promise never to demand to know how you are voting. I won’t campaign for your vote. I will express my opinion and you take it for what it is worth. You pay nothing to read my blog, so that’s about what my opinion is worth.
One thing I have learned out of all of this is that I will never ever tell anyone how to vote for a political issue. Expressing my opinion on my blog is not telling someone how to vote. It is saying what I feel. I still have that right – I think.
I will not put up with my reputation as a writer being slandered, slurred, or questioned because you feel I’ve not done what you want me to do. The Pink Flamingo is opinion. There is no right or wrong with opinion – just opinion. I stand by my facts and sourcing. If I am wrong about the accuracy of something, I make sure I change it. I am very careful about my sourcing because it can reflect ill on my real world historical writing. Yes, I do have a life beyond this blasted blog. I wrote books about history. I pride myself on my sourcing. I will not tolerate anyone maligning my reputation because they aren’t happy about something I wrote on this blog.
Because of the field in which I write, I cannot allow my reputation to be tarnished in any way. You are only as good as your footnotes and your sources. I pride myself in my accuracy and my painstaking details and documentation. I have an excellent reputation. I cannot allow anyone who is simply annoyed with me, because of the way I am voting, to cast an sort of doubt on my work. The Pink Flamingo blog is not my “real work”, writing about the American West and history is. One thing I’ve learned from my work, and from Wyatt Earp (Republican) is you say what you think and do what is right, and take the consequences like an adult.
The only time you will ever see me promoting you to vote for something is some really important thing like baritones being hunkier and sexier than tenors. ANYONE knows that. I’ll also lobby hard for you to vote for either Dmitri Hvorostovsky or Simon Keenlyside as the world’s sexiest opera singer.
Come on people, get a grip on reality!
I am loath to admit this, but he is even better in Traviata than the great, legendary Sherrill Milnes (as in I am a former groupie of his). This is just amazing.
Elegant
