I Had to Walk Away

I had just got done golfing Friday and went into the club house to get my post round Budweiser. On the TV, the news was blowing up with latest Donald Trump atrocity.  Which one?  They one where he got caught on tape bragging about assaulting women sexually.

The gentleman behind the counter was a fellow my age.  We have had several nice conversations together.  They are however, generally of the innocuous nature of small talk involving cars, golf or the Cardinals.

After watching the TV for a couple minutes I made the comment, “I’m sick of this election.”

He replies, “Yeah, we have two bad choices.”

I think to myself, “I’m not wild about Hillary, but compared to Trump she is a saint.”  But I keep it to myself.

The barkeep goes on to say, “They have known about that sort of thing with him all along, what is the big deal now?”

Internally I am screaming, but I reply in a reasonable tone of voice, “Yeah, and that is not the sort of individual that should be President of this country.”

I decide it is good time to leave so that I keep the relationship on its superficial, friendly plane.

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’” – Isaac Asimov