Patriotism at the End of the Road — UpCreek Without a Paddle
We got an election tomorrow, oh boy! Money’s been rolling in like gasoline on a tire fire. The airwaves are full of stench and smoke. The lies and insults and accusations and blame have left a charred landscape. Nice to know in this democracy we all mostly hate government. Nothing like burnout and cynicism to give the young folks hope for the future.
Fox News Channel runs 24/7 at the End of the Road Tavern where we’ll watch the returns come in. Donny, the owner, says he doesn’t believe half of what the Talking Heads pontificate about, he just likes their animosity to the present ‘regime’. Donny fought in Viet Nam, left a lot of buddies in paddies at Khe Sahn, lost a leg below the knee to a mortar round and came home to a country he claims spit on him. A lot of the regulars at the End of the Road served in Nam. They’re bitter all over again every time they see the vets honored now. They think they could’ve won the war if the country had supported them, just the way we won Iraq. Well, the first Iraq. Now they’re not so sure after the 2nd one and Afghanistan.
Up here in UpCreek, patriotism runs strong, which is odd considering how far from the Reach of Rome we are. Course we also got folks like myself who burrowed in up the river to get as far away from flagwaving as we could get. It’s taken a lot of years to gain even a meager acceptance from these people, but I guess we grudgingly respect the other for toughing it out up here, a place few stick with, a place others vacation at, or trout fish or hunt for deer and maybe bear. Those of us who stay are mostly loners and losers, refugees from America, wanderers who tired of wandering. We’re throwbacks to the early settlers, hard living, hard livered, hard headed honchos searching for a homestead thought lost long ago but still here up river at the foot of the Cascades’ northern wilderness for those willing to endure the hardships.
Most of this crew here tonight at the End of the Road didn’t cast a vote. They don’t like any of the candidates, wouldn’t trust em if they handed out free ammo at Dirty Larry’s Gun Shop. But they love the USA, the red white and blue, and on Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day, more than a few have cried in their beers and beards. All I can figure is, it’s a free country, room for all of us and there’s no law yet that says you have to vote or that you’re required to love it.
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