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Edited on Wed Nov-03-04 05:29 PM by louis c
My grandfather was an Italian Immigrant who voted for the first time in his adopted country in 1928.
Being a proud Italian Catholic and a laborer, he naturally voted for Al Smith. His side lost.
He had to take some ribbing, as the story he once told me goes.
However, being a frugal man, he saved all his money in a mattress, since he didn't trust others, even a bank, with his money. All his new friends ribbed him about this, too.
They, you see, were much "smarter" than my foreign born grampy, they were in on something great in the stock market, and all on board with the Republican candidate for President, who promised more of the same prosperity that the Republicans had delivered for the previous 8 years.
Then came October, 1929, and guess who had the last laugh. My grandfather took his few thousand dollars and bought up land that had been put on the market cheap and became quite prosperous as a builder over the next three decades. He made sure all his asshole Friends remembered all the jokes about his backing the "losing" side just 10 months earlier. You see, all those front running assholes supported Hoover and went broke during the crash, and my Granddad didn't let them forget it until his dying day (1975).
He told me this story in 1972, when I was just 20 years old, and a strong McGovern supporter. I spoke to crowds, raised money, and went door to door. I would argue with anyone who didn't see what a scumbag Nixon was, and what folly the Viet-Nam War was. As an aside, being from Massachusetts, I admired John Kerry decades ago.
On that fateful night, in 1972, when McGovern lost every state but my home state of Mass. and D.C. my grandfather saw how heartbroken I was. He knew I was about to get some needling from my gloating Friends. He told me his story.
Little did we know how similar our stories would be. First, Agnew was indicted, then Halderman, Mitchel, and Dean. Finally, President Nixon was facing impeachment, and all my asshole Friends that ridiculed me like I had rooted for the wrong side in a football game, were denying that they ever voted for Nixon.
However, I never let them forget. To this day, I remind them of how humiliated they must feel for being Nixon supporters at the time. I got the last laugh.
I post these two stories, because that's what I feel is going to happen to this country again. I don't know if Iraq will turn into Viet-Nam, the Economy will turn into a 1929 depression, a Watergate like scandal will rock the White House, or all three.
Even if we have to suffer through these difficult times ourselves with our fellow countrymen, just as My Grandfather and I did generations ago, we will get the last laugh. I just hope being correct will be enough this time.
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