Down the Rabbit Hole

When logic and proportion

Have fallen sloppy dead

And the White Knight is talking backwards

And the Red Queen's off with her head

~~ “White Rabbit,” Jefferson Airplane

Today my friend Dan said to me, “I never thought I’d see you at a Cruz rally!”

Neither did I, Dan. Neither did I.

In an unusual and unlikely turn of events, Indiana is surprisingly important in this year’s primary race, at least the Republican one (Hillary’s got it wrapped up on the Democratic side...it’s all over but the shoutin’). With our late primary date, we usually don’t get a whole lot of attention, either from the media or from the candidates. Getting all this attention is a mixed bag. We have to deal with phone calls (yay for caller ID!) and lots of political ads, but we also get candidates actually stumping in our state. That doesn’t happen very often, and for a political junkie like me, it’s total catnip.

So when my friend Cassie posted that she got a ticket for the Cruz rally here in our town, I thought, “You know what? I’m going, too!” (Neither of us are Cruz supporters or Republicans, by the way.) I got my free ticket and headed up late this afternoon.

It was quite an experience. The first thing I saw when I walked in was that line of posters up there. It was truly a WTF moment. (I snagged one of the double-sided posters on the way out. How could I not?) It was a good-sized crowd, although not a particularly large place, and although Hoosier Nice isn’t quite at the level of Minnesota Nice, it’s pretty damn close. Everyone was polite and nice. And very pale. Seriously, I think I saw maybe two people of color at the most. Not a diverse crowd at all, although Cassie and I were surprised at the number of younger people.

I was happy to find Cassie right away and meet a long-time Facebook friend in real life! Thanks for saving me a seat, Cassie! I also found Dan pretty quickly, as he was part of the press cadre and was busy talking to people and getting some pictures. We didn’t get to talk for long, but agreed that we need to make some time to do that! He snapped a couple of pictures of me and Cassie.

The rally began with a prayer—ahem—and the pledge of allegiance. Cassie and I stood but remained silent. I find the reciting of the pledge of allegiance kind of odd, although I know it’s common in both Republican and Democratic rallies. I’m not sure why we are supposed to do that. It’s a grade school thing that I don’t really feel the need to do. I’m an American, for Pete’s sake. Why do I have to pledge my allegiance?

Anyway, it was an awkward start to a rally that grew increasingly uncomfortable. First was Carly Fiorina. She is actually a very good speaker, if you ignore her content. She is very much the “attack dog” for Cruz. I won’t make any judgments about why he chose a running mate when he is obviously losing this nomination race. Wait, I think I will! Seriously, what the fuck, man? You don’t choose a running mate until you’re the actual nominee! As the media is saying, it is very much an act of desperation.

Then it was the main attraction, if you can call Ted Cruz an “attraction.” It was basically the stump speech I’ve seen him giving as I’ve watched coverage of these primaries. Some of the same lame jokes and one-liners that I’ve already heard. Hillary’s going to jail, the Washington establishment, blah blah blah. The crowd didn’t seem that into it at first, but as the rally went on, people started getting a little more agitated. Some of the biggest applause lines were that he would “repeal Obamacare” (can’t do that on your own, man) and that on Day One, he would “tear up” the Iran nuclear deal (can’t do that, either). Probably the biggest “boo-getter” was a mention of Planned Parenthood. That just made me sad.

Cassie stuck around and got her picture with Cruz and Fiorina—she told Cruz that she likes Planned Parenthood...way to go, Cassie!—but I really needed to get out of there. It’s hard to describe what I was feeling by the end of this rally. I felt very alone, but was happy to be sitting next to Cassie for the moral support. I felt a bit of despair that so many people were eating all this up. And oh, the irony of Carly Fiorina talking about losing jobs to Mexico! She said, “I know where the jobs are going.” Yeah, so do those 30,000 people you laid off! The hatred for the Affordable Care Act, the hatred for Planned Parenthood, the hatred for Hillary Clinton...it was just a big fat Hate Fest. I felt like a Stranger in a Strange Land, and I definitely did NOT grok this.

I’m glad I went but it was a little damaging to my psyche. I’ll bounce back! I guess I’d better, because I got tickets to go see the Vulgar Talking Yam (hat tip to Charlie Pierce) himself on Monday. I feel reassured that Ken is planning on going with me. A while after I got those tickets, I found out that Bernie Sanders is also going to stop here, on Sunday. I just can’t do it, though. I need my quiet Sunday and I will spend the afternoon girding my loins for Monday. I honestly don’t know if we’ll be able to get in and I am not standing in line for hours.

We have a backup plan, though. Food and beers at Brew Werks! Victory with a capital V!

What do you call a group of hillbillies?

I don’t know, but it looks like this.

::sigh::

I’m so sick of writing about this, but I just can’t help myself. I’m sure most of you have seen this picture making the rounds on the Interwebz. My immediate reaction was laughter.

After that wore off, I was left with a feeling of what I was surprised to realize was sadness.

I’m sad that Joe Davis is so backward that he decided that his overalls and straw hat would be a dandy outfit for his photo op with a presidential candidate (albeit a rather second-rate one), a photo that would circulate nationally.

I’m sad that he is reinforcing every bad stereotype of a hilljack Kentuckian. As someone from Indiana, I’ve had to work hard to counter an image of stereotypical Hoosiers, and it hasn’t been easy. I don’t embrace the image of a hick Hoosier, and don’t try to perpetuate it. I think it’s sad and kind of weird that Mr. Kim Davis seems so proud of his farmer gear.

Finally, I find it sad that the Davises are apparently so ignorant that they don’t realize that they are being used. Used by their lawyers who are trying to gain national prominence with this case, despite surely understanding that they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Used by opportunists like Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz, who showed up to visit Davis in jail, only to have the judge release her. Kind of spoiled the heartfelt prayer across the bars of the jail cell, Judge Bunning. (I know it probably doesn't work that way, but can’t you just see the Huckster gripping Davis’s hands through the bars as they bow their heads in prayer?)

The Huckster got his photo op with Davis onstage, but poor Ted Cruz missed out and had to watch from the audience as Huckabee stole his righteous, persecuted Christian thunder. As if this whole thing weren’t bizarre enough, a Huckabee aide apparently physically blocked Cruz from joining them onstage. Man, why didn’t Cruz fight back? Now that would have been some must-see footage! Brouhaha in the Bluegrass State! Commotion in the country! Hubbub in the hills!

So while I’m laughing at this whole stupid situation and especially at this incredibly stupid picture, I’m still left with a sense of sadness. Maybe the biggest source of my sadness is all the people that are buying into the thought that this woman is on the side of what is right and just.

She is not. She is forcing her religious views on others. She is on the wrong side of history in denying every American their right to marry and to be free of discrimination. And this IS discrimination, in the name of religion. She will one day be viewed in the same light as all those people who resisted integration in schools and interracial marriages.

That really is sad.