Randi Kreiss

Americana sampler ’round the old fire pit

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I broke out of my liberal East Coast cocoon last week, and it was an intellectual trifecta: enlightening, disheartening and shocking. Apparently, I have been cosseted too long in our Long Island bubble. OK, my Long Island bubble.

We were in Northern California, at a mountain hotel that features a fire pit set out in a meadow. We’ve been there before, chatting with other guests, roasting marshmallows and wrapping ourselves in shawls against the chill night air.

On our second night, after dinner, we wandered out to the fire pit, anticipating a relaxing evening of stargazing and quiet talk.

Another couple joined the circle, Bill and Audrey from Auburn, Calif. He’s a rice farmer. She’s a stay-at-home mom.

Next to arrive was Jim, a techie from New Jersey. He was pretty toasted, and “very big” in app development.

Strolling down to the fire next were Judy and Jim, from Chicago. Judy decided to own the night. Turns out she works for the Chicago Tribune. We talked about how unlikely it was to find two newspaperwomen around the same fire pit in the California mountain country.

Chitchat, chitchat about this and that — how we all came to be at the hotel, what our hometowns were like and such. Then, zap, the conversation struck the third rail.

Judy said that no one has any idea what’s going on in Chicago vis a vis gun violence if we listen to the “liberal media.” To quote her, “It’s only gang-bangers killing gang-bangers.” A disturbing observation, especially from a journalist in a major U.S. city plagued by shootings and extraordinary racial tension.

Then she moved on to politics, claiming that the media are in the bag for Hillary, persecuting Donald Trump, twisting his words and mocking his policies.

“Yeah,” New Jersey tech guy said. “He’s shaking things up and the establishment can’t stand it.”

“Right,” Jim from Chicago said. “Hillary is pure evil, and they’re pushing her into the presidency.” They hit all the right-wing GOP talking points.

All this time I was debating with myself, let it ride or join the fray? Toast some marshmallows or aggravate myself. Finally I said, “I’m voting for Hillary, not without some reservations, and your comments are making me want to throw myself into the fire pit.”

They looked at me as if that were a perfectly reasonable idea. They weren’t surprised, since they had already pegged us as liberal New Yorkers.

“Even if you aren’t thrilled with the Democratic nominee,” I said, “how can you support a candidate who has defamed Muslim Americans, disrespected veterans, lied about his business accomplishments and made foreign policy statements that impel four-star generals to call him out as incompetent and intemperate?”

“He just says what everyone else is thinking but afraid to say because of political correctness,” Jim said.

Then New Jersey guy got really loud, and the rice farmer looked embarrassed by all the sharp talk and cussing. His wife said it was “all up to God” anyway. She had said earlier that her heart broke for the Muslim girls she sees on TV who have to wear headscarves. When I suggested that the girls might be just fine with their religious observances, she shook her head sadly, as if she felt sorry for me.

One of them said, and then all of them agreed, that the economy had never been worse, and in particular, race relations had never been worse, and they fully, enthusiastically and absolutely blame President Obama.

Jim from Chicago said, “Obama has done nothing for blacks. There has never been so much racial hatred, going both ways.”

“I think the president has done a good job," I said.

They looked as if they might combust. We observed the same facts and saw different things. We heard speeches and processed the words differently. We read news and watched TV and experienced them in wildly different ways.

I know Hillary is way ahead, and I support her, but I’m also thinking, “Not so fast.” There are voters who see Trump and embrace the bad-boy, anti-establishment, outsider persona he presents and ignore the racist, misogynistic, possibly unbalanced narcissist he actually is.

Hillary will probably win, but our country is still in trouble. Millions of marginalized people must be drawn into the circle.

As we sat around the fire last week, I wondered how we have come to this junction in our nation’s evolution as a democracy. The concept of “progress” has always been a given for America, implying better days ahead, but a Trump presidency does not reconcile with my notion of progress.

Copyright © 2016 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at
randik3@aol.com.