We're Having None of It

Picture this...

I've been writing all morning and, like Van Gogh, have been "hard at it...with the enthusiasm of a Marseillaise eating bouillabaisse". 

I make a cup of the luscious Big Red Robe oolong I'm lately enamored of. Steamed asparagus and arugula rolled in thinly sliced roasted turkey - delicately peppered - waits for my lips. And Fritos.

I now plant myself, legs outstretched, in front of the television. I'm alone so I can flip through channels to my heart's content. 

And then, just as the intoxicating bouquet of Big Red Robe discovers my nose, Julian Bond, Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, begins talking.

Referring to the Tea Party he says, "They are the American wing of the Taliban."

The asparagus-arugula-turkey-roll falls from my hand into the Fritos, Fritos dive into my Big Red Robe lobbing Big Red Robe drops pretty much everywhere.

I am saucer-less! Actually that's another story...

I am speech-less! And now restless with discontent. No, that's not quite right. I'm %{(*&@!<+% white hot, storm-producing enraged. 

And yet, blowing up something or beheading someone never occurs to me.
 
As a matter of fact, I pause to consider why I would waste lunch, a lovely cup of tea and outrage worthy of an audience on a man whose speech renders him worthy of nothing but my ridicule. 

History for starters. At this moment, specifically suffrage. 

It's long been a strategy of those in opposition to vilify a grass roots movement gaining recognition. When unruly suffragists would not behave as expected - refusing to stop picketing the White House, for instance - they were spoken of as Bolsheviks, dangerous to national security, unpatriotic, unnatural...women who might eat their own children given the chance. They were also beaten and jailed and, as we know...

Although pleased with my critical thinking and ability to make historical correlations, my ire is fueled by Bond's blatant manipulation. At the risk of the truth to be sure, but the offense goes beyond that. 

Those who manipulate - for whatever reason - see themselves as smarter than you, as knowing better. They see you as...less. Collectively, you and humanity are controllable. Like a vast herd of sheep.

And that? Well, we're having none of it. We're not beginning a hunger strike or anything but...we're having none of it.