I’m surrounded, apparently, by people who feel trod upon. I base this observation on the number of Don’t Tread on Me license plates I’ve seen lately.
Now, consider that I live in the reddest of red areas in this divided-loyalties country. The Augusta County-Staunton-Waynesboro area went 63.9 percent for Donald Trump in the recent election.
Which makes this license plate thing interesting, because if anybody is being trod upon, it would seem that progressives like me, outnumbered two to one here, might be more likely to feel that way, right?
I mean, it’s not as if anybody I actually want to vote for has a chance of ever getting elected to anything significant.
The best the 30.6 percent of us here who voted Hillary Clinton in the election can hope for in local elections is voting for the lesser of the many, many conservative Republican options.
The Don’t Tread on Me people feel threatened by how we still get to do that.
You know, vote.
Or even do things like … putting bumper stickers on our cars.
We have one on each of our VW Bugs a sticker proclaiming, “My dog is a Democrat.”
It’s mass-produced: the shop where we bought them also offered as an option a “My dog is a Republican” sticker.
Which is to say, cute, but hardly a take-that kind of statement being offered in slapping the sticker on the back of the car.
I’d bet if you looked really hard, you could find a “My dog is a Green” or “My dog wanted to #LetGaryDebate” stickers to send those messages out to fellow drivers.
So when the driver of a service vehicle for a local company honked his horn at me while driving by to get my attention, and once I turned to see what he wanted, gave me the finger, what was that all about?
My mass-produced bumper sticker was treading, no doubt.
My apologies, I guess. Sorry to intrude with my run of nonsense about the value of public education, female/minorities/LGBTQ inclusivity, the environment and adoration for Broadway musicals.
I jest. It’s actually to a point for me that I’m thinking about getting one of those Don’t Tread on Me license plates for my Bug.
It only seems fair.
Column by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
