Heartening exchange at the gas station today

[nonconformist]

I filled up my car today, and as I replaced the nozzle I sighed in disgust at my $32.00 tab.

Well, the guy (mid 30's) beside me noticed and said, "you can thank Bush for that!". I smiled, rolled my eyes and said, "don't I know!". Then the lady (60's I'm guessing) behind me said, "and now he wants to cut our Social Security. It's disgusting."

The place was packed, and several people starting chiming in, making little comments critical of Bush, laughing and shaking their heads in disgust.

I went in and paid, and on my way out the guy that was beside me was pulling out. I noticed he had a Bush sticker on the back of his truck. I glanced over at him and he saw that I saw, and said, "that's coming off today! I tried to rip it off earlier but it's stuck on there pretty good." So we had a brief discussion on how to remove stubborn stickers, and off he went.

May not seem like a big deal, but I was blown away by it. In a red state (KY), it's definitely a positive sign.

[wicket]

1. Awesome!

:kick:

[Snotcicles]

70. Clap clap clap n/t

[Danmel]

2. Unfortunately it's about 6 months too late

[CountAllVotes]

33. there is an old saying

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

:kick:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. This may be...

A lot more important than you know. Communicate this to your local Dem leaders, as soon as you can. Really.

The third rail strikes again.

[nonconformist]

7. I'll shoot off some emails!

In an economically depressed area like where I live, Social Security and gas prices may finally be what opens up people's eyes.

[Miss Chybil]

68. Isn't it sad the only way to get through to an American is through the

wallet? "Kill all the people you want, but don't take my money!" is now the catch-phrase, where it used to be something like, "Give me liberty, or give me death."

Whatever works. I'm glad people are finally opening their greedy little eyes.

[Maat]

4. Wow, that was a little pick-me-up for ME.

Thanks for posting!

[Catherine Vincent]

5. Love that story!

The bushbots in my area aren't budging. They're some stubborn SOBs.

[nonconformist]

8. It was great to see

So totally unexpected!

[Aviation Pro]

67. Replace one word in your statement....

They're some stubborn SOBs.

They are some stupid SOBs.

[zoeb]

6. I'm off in search of cheap petrol in KY also...

maybe I will run into some more of those disgusted Red voters!!!:toast:

[Ian David]

27. See www.GasBuddy.com for gas prices. And Hess gas is 98% Democrat!

See:
http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=81

[Spiffarino]

65. Got a Hess station down the street

...from where I work. I buy there often, but now that's where I'll always go. I'll tell all my Dem pals, too.

Thanks! :D:thumbsup:

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. What state are you in?

That's a great, great story. It's things like this that give me hope. Unfortunately, it takes the sheeple to be affected by the chimp's policies before they understand what's going on. :( Better late than never!

[nonconformist]

12. I'm in southeast Kentucky.

Ironically, this county is usually blue. We were red in 2004, first time this county went for a Republican in a presidential election since 1972.

[ginnyinWI]

26. Hmmmm

Do you have electronic voting machines in KY? :eyes:

[nonconformist]

28. Yes. Our county used Shouptronic machines.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/resources_fullface.html

[ktowntennesseedem]

57. Great story! I used to live in Middlesboro myself.

Living down in Knoxville these days. Haven't heard anything like the exchange you experienced, but all the dyed-in-the-wool Repugs around here have at least had their enthusiasm dampened. Most of them that know me don't talk politics to this liberal anyway, but they seem to be keeping much quieter these days. The euphoria of the reelection is nowhere to be found.

[kentuck]

85. I used to live in Bell County...also...

:)

[tridim]

10. The BushCo house of cards fell recently

But it didn't make a huge crashing sound as we expected, and it certainly wasn't televised.

I've been hearing stories like yours almost every day. I'm expecting the "We were wrong" call from my Bush-loving parents very soon.

[Batgirl]

11. that story just made my week n/t

[rurallib]

13. I have a dream

That in 2006 we will take back the congress and the Chimp, and the Dick will be impeached and convicted. Then they will be hauled into court like any 3rd world dictators.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi will become president and the turnaround and healing will begin.

[Catherine Vincent]

15. That would be a nice dream but you have to remember....

the bushies still have Bin Laden on ice and will release him when needed.

[bobbieinok]

87. and electronic voting so they can manipulate it...can't trust any election

[sellitman]

29. You shouldn't drink so early in the day.

:beer:

[Why Syzygy]

14. Something similar happened

to me. I was traveling through a rural part of the state and stopped to get gas. There was a friendly looking guy fueling up on the other side of the pump. I walked around to look at the back of his small pick-up to check for W stickers, etc. All clear.

Then I commented, "I cannot fill up my car without thinking about the Ira**s who have one of the largest oil reserves but cannot get gas." We exchanged a few friendly words. He didn't realize that they CANNOT get gas, k? He even admitted that since he is in the oil/gas industry, he has actually made more money from the current situation. But he is still disatisfied with the turn of events.

Events like these make those encounters with the gwb (at all costs) supporters bearable .. somewhat.

Thanks for posting.

[mandyky]

16. KY is more purple than red

Clinton carried KY twice (I think). Kerry had at least 40% which is no landslide. But KY _does_ have its share of fundies, but KY could be blue if we try.

[nonconformist]

18. I totally agree. nt

[Democrat 4 Ever]

61. Kentucky has a long tradition of being a Dem state, it has only

been the last several election cycles that we have shifted red. With "morans" like McConnell, Bunning and Fletcher screwing up everything they touch maybe our state will return to its roots and find some sanity with some Dem candidates. Really calls for a lot of hard work between now and November 06.

Side note - I took a journey by car to DC last week (good 12 hour drive). Just for giggles and kicks I counted bumper stickers for Kerry and Dumba$$ along the way. Nothing scientific by any means but the Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers out numbered the Chimp's three to one. I figured that the a$$wipes who sported W's before and right after the election tore their's off in shame while the Kerry bunch are proudly proclaiming to anyone who will look - don't blame me!

I wore my Democratic Underground sweatshirt and t-shirt while in DC. (Sweatshirt got a lot of use - it was 80 degrees the first couple of days, after that it dropped to 55-60 degrees - only long sleeve clothing with me.) I had at least 10 people get into conversations with me because of my DU sweatshirt and t-shirt. Did not have a single person make a negative comment about either shirt in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, or DC. but lots of positive ones.

Did have a lovely couple from England offer us Blair. Told him that we would take Blair if they would take Bush. They declined. Go figure.

[Zenlitened]

17. It's great to hear stories like that!

Sure, it would have been nice if he'd come to his senses a bit sooner... say 6 months sooner. But at this point, to me, what's scarier than any one president is the appearance that so many people have become zombies or something, unable to see the damage being done. It's encouraging to know there are still people out there able to make the connection even after being brain-washed for so long.

:)

[tigereye]

19. well people start to realize

they can't pay for food and gas with hot air. (sarc)

[Why Syzygy]

21. and this one is scary

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3570582

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-04-29/cols_ventura.html

Who is fiddling? Rome is on fire?

Do we need to focus on saving our country?
Like Now?

[blue neen]

34. So true, so true.

Good one, tigereye! :hi:

[tigereye]

37. thanks Blue Neen!

it's funny, but disturbing; I really can't understand how people can be so deluded as to not vote in their actual best interest.

:hi:

[OnionPatch]

50. My thoughts exactly

"what's scarier than any one president is the appearance that so many people have become zombies or something"

There have always been crooked politicians. That so many of our friends, co-workers and neighbors support them has been the scariest part of this whole Bush fiasco.

[signmike]

20. WD-40 - best glue solvent! Removes the stubbornest price tags.

I assume bumper stickers as well - try it - practice on Bush stickers ;-)

[Lorien]

42. I prefer Orange clean

it's cheap, environmentally friendly, and smells good!

Works like a dream-used it after the hurricanes to take duct tape off my windows. :thumbsup:

[donco6]

58. Starter fluid (ether)

Zips off everything. But very flammable.

[scarlett1]

69. Or he could take a red Sharpie

and make it a ( I hope this works)

[Selatius]

22. Pain wakes people up, apparently.

The pain of gas prices, the pain of trying to pay for medical care, the pain of unemployment, and the pain of burying your son who came home from Iraq.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

23. I also live in a Red State, and that disgruntlement hasn't reached us yet

I use an SUV for my business, and filling it costs me about $90 twice a week now. The other day at the local Shell station (which seems to be the only large chain with any sort of record of giving to dems) I was bitching about the high gas prices. Some asshole at the back of the line pipes up and essentially blamed Clinton for the high prices. Paraphrasing: "If we'd gone into Iraq under Clinton and dealt with these terrorism issues, then the Middle East wouldn't be so turbulent, and oil prices would be stable." You just can't argue with logic as fucked up as that...

[nonconformist]

24. Stupid.

If that's their logic, you'd think they'd be blaming Poppy Bush for not "finishing what he started".

Yeah, all that peace and prosperity under Clinton was a nightmare... :sarcasm:

[EvolveOrConvolve]

25. It's beyond stupid

Stupid by definition means that these people are unable intellectually to understand the issue and formulate a reasonable, logical opinion of the debate.

Unfortunately, many many smart people believe this way. Ignorance is a more apt description. And it pisses me off that people choose to be that ignorant.

[blue neen]

35. Some people will NEVER admit they're wrong.

Someone actually told me last week that Richard Nixon was the best president we ever had! :eyes:

[Why Syzygy]

46. I'm glad to hear that about Shell

I recently switched to that brand because my car gets better gas mileage.

I hope you're right about their contributions to Dems.

[elwoodblues6986]

74. Shell

Go to buyblue.org. While Shell is pretty good, the best gas company as far as giving money to the Dems is Hess. Fortunatly in Southeast MA, where I live, Hess usually has pretty good prices compared to the competition. Also, you see far more Kerry stickers than W stickers in MA (no duh). Even better ratio in Boston, where I go to school.

[Starfury]

79. Shell....not so good according to BuyBlue....

http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=35

"BuyBlue.org's Position:

Shell Oil Company currently has a 17% BuyBlue rating due to political contributions for the 2003-2004 election cycle. Shell is a joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell and Shell Transport and Trading, both based overseas. The executives of these corporations did not make any individual contributions to politicians in the 2003-2004 election cycle that we could determine. However, Shell Oil does have a PAC which contributed the majority of its funds to conservative candidates."

Edit: "In 2004 the company reported that it had overestimated its reserves by 24%."
How could they possibly be so far off???? Yeah, no hanky-panky there... :eyes:

Maybe buyblue can get some info on other gasoline stations. Right now, they effectively have 3 stations (Hess, BP-related, and Shell). They recommend Bp/Arco/Amoco/etc. over Shell, FYI.

[Maru Kitteh]

30. A little freakin' late for the country to be waking up out of it's coma

but I guess we'll take it! If we can translate this into some house and senate seats and humiliate his ass that would be FANTASTIC.

[wryter2000]

31. Fantastic!

:bounce:

[ignatius 2]

32. I am happy to hear that however isn't it pathetic that so many of

these people didn't give a rat's ass that we began a war based on lies, shocked and awed thousnds of innocents to their deaths and have spent $300 Billion for this fucked up new world order so far?

Logic and reason,compassion and truth mean nothing,only their pocket books.But now that they are all getting so pissed,let's hear some impeachment talk for war crimes,mass murders and raping of the treasury.

[ailsagirl]

36. Thanks for sharing that-- those things do matter

And they strengthen our morale.

I and my Dem co-workers were having a good laugh today over the "Thank you for your answers" comment made by * last night.

:rofl:

[yorkiemommie1]

38. somewhat same happened to me at work

co-worker who voted for *, was railing about why * can find money for the war but not for medicaid. yesterday she was railing about how the anti-filibuster rule would be a bad thing.

[tallahasseedem]

39. I love hearing stories like this!!!

It seems as if the dialog may be beginning to change!

[AgadorSparticus]

40. I sure wish some of that would spread to my neck of the woods.

I still see W bumperstickers and I can't believe the ignorance in people. I just don't understand the fierce attachment to this cabal of crooks.

[onager]

43. Happened to me at work...

...and I work in aerospace, allegedly one of the most conservative, Bu$h-loving professions in existence. (That's a GROSS overgeneralization, of course. In my little cube farm alone we have two Dems, an alleged Libertarian, and an oldtime conservative Republican who hates The Bu$h Regime nearly as much as I do.)

Anyway, we had to do a dog-and-pony show for some potential customers. All of them also worked for a Mega-Demonic Aerospace/Defense Cartel. :P

I almost fell out of my chair when I overheard one of them say: "Well, of course, it depends on what that idiot in the White House decides to do..."

[AgadorSparticus]

45. well,,,,if you're trying to make me jealous....

....it's working. :P dammit. what the hell is wrong with people here? with this population explosion here, i was hoping for a nice blue tilt. so far, I'm not getting my wish. We are getting the Orange county repukes.

[Stainless]

63. I also work in aerospace........

For the largest private employer in the second most Red State in the Country. At work, I must watch what I say and whom I say it to, but I have met quite a few Progressives and Liberals who are fed up with the criminal GOP bastards that are corrupting both the country and this state.

[OnionPatch]

51. It's the tax breaks

When it all boils down, it's the tax breaks that keeps most of the hard-core supporters on his side. They can justify anything the GOP does as long as they think they'll get some tax breaks.

[Lorien]

41. Excellent!

I love stories like this. maybe the tide is finally turning?

[seabeyond]

44. i just put five stickers on my car tonight

will see how they are received by the community. nothing too offensive. diversity is our strength. peace sign. god bless the freaks. in time of war dissent is the greatest patriotism. and another long one about until power of love instead of love of power no peace.

my husband took a couple too. surprised me

then again, a couple days ago in barnes and noble, ann coulter book there. 12 yr old niece read her name i said oh she is the worst. she lies so. woman popped her head around and said, she is good, listen to her, she tells the truth

so?

i like your story. thanks for sharing. creates hope

[90-percent]

47. bumper stickers

I like them as an art form and proudly wear my billionaires for bush stickers on the back of my little ford ranger.

Here in central CT I've noticed that Bush/Cheney stickers seem to be vaporizing, but the Kerry dem stickers are still in usage.

Also noticing the "support our troops" stickers are getting sun bleached totally white from age.

on another du thread theres some info about "my sticker supports more troops than your sticker" I got to get me a few of those and pass them out to my friends. (a link to the source would be appreciated)

-85%

[howmad1]

60. Bumper Stickers

I spend a lot of time on the road here in Arizona. It appears, I am the only car in this state that carries a bumper sticker that says: IMPEACH BUSH. I'll feel a lot better about this alleged change in repugnant attitude when every other car on the road has the same bumper sticker. Remember, 50% of the muricun people did not vote for the idiot. So where's the outrage? I feel like a voice in the wilderness in this state populated by assholes. :*

[Democracy White]

83. I just bought two

bumper stickers a couple of weeks ago and I didn't want to actually stick them on my car so I had the idea to buy business card sized magnets at Michaels, an art store, and place them on the back of the bumper stickers. Anyways one reads: "If going to church makes you a Christian, does going to the garage make you a car?" and the other one read: "Jesus is a Liberal"

So that Saturday I went to visit my mother in Hudsonville, MI (I live in Grand Rapids) and I went on the highway. Both of my stickers survied the trip. Then the next day, Sunday, I went to see her again. Well I stopped at the gas station and bought a sub from the Subway there and proceed to go to her house. Later that evening when I was getting ready to leave I happened to look at my bumper stickers and noticed that the "Jesus is a Liberal" one was missing. At first I thought it had flown off while I was on the highway but then the other one would have come off to so, I deduced that in this very Christian Reformed, Red county, Republican town of Hudsonville, someone had taken it off.

Oh wells, I can always buy another one, more magnets and get it on my car.

BTW, my mother says I should be careful of what I put on my car as someone could damage it, is this true?

Dee

[sendero]

48. I'm telling ya..

... the worm has turned. We've finally reached the tipping point. The free ride is over for Bush** and his band of merry fuckups.

[Roland99]

49. I love seeing Kerry-Edwards stickers here in Louisville

And I'm noticing more and more daggers-from-the-eyes looks from those w/*-Cheney stickers. They know they're supporting a lie but they don't have the courage to accept injury to their pride.

[morffin]

52. selfish pricks

they didnt mind Bush until it hit them in the pocket book. All the war crimes...the fraud, the lies, the stolen elections and the abuse of powers was ok with these idiots....but making their SUV juice even more expensive was what put them over the top.......sickening.

[oldgrowth]

53. there are a ton of bush voters that are saying they didn't now???

[femme.democratique]

54. They may hate Bu$hitler now, but will they continue to vote Repuke?

Its easy to blame Dubya. But the rest of the Republifascist party is just as much to blame and they need to be destroyed.

[Pab Sungenis]

55. Sounds like one experience of mine.

Rolling down the window, I handed the attendant at the Wawa my credit card and said "I will live to regret this, but...fill it, regular." He laughed as he took my card.

After fueling, he handed me my receipt and said "Thank you, and Bush thanks you, too." I chuckled, and drove away.

[ucmike]

56. sort of a similar story here

i did some work for friends of my girlfriend. they're nice people but were vocal bush supporters. i have pretty much avoided them since before the election for that reason. i like them enough to avoid getting into political debates.

anyway, i was doing some work for them and the wife mentioned something about gas prices and how asshole promised they would go down and how we have money to drag out the war but good luck if you need medical care in this country and don't have insurance. i could hear that she was not such a vocal supporter anymore. i pressed the conversation and got her to admit that they voted for him under false pretenses and he's not done anything to satisfy them. i was really surprised to hear it from her.

later her husband came home and mentioned that the press conference has ruined his tivo schedule. he started mf'in bush and complaining about all sorts of things and how bush isn't what he claimed to be.

i was floored. of course, i fired a few good anti-bush "talking points" at him and got him even more agitated at bush before i left.
it was a pleasant surprise.

[driver8]

77. Not to be an ass, but if your friends voted for Shrub they have no one

to blame but themselves.

"Oh, we didn't know the bad things that Bush was going to do..."

Then you weren't paying attention the past four years, were you?

Unbefuckinglievable how all of these Bushies are now realizing that they voted for an idiot who doesn't give a shit about them.

[arkie dem]

59. I had the opposite reation when filling my tank.

The station owner and a customer were blaming high gas prices on hippies and tree huggers. I'm going to start buying gas elsewhere. The owner is a Middle Easterner you'd think he'd be pissed at the * admin. The customer was of the three toothed variety corncob cracker driving an old Chevy Suburban that most likely averaged about 6MPG.
I told the corncob cracker that I like trees, he was stunned that someone disagreed with him. I was waiting for the "Wanna fight" line but he didn't. I was getting pretty steamed and I haven't been in a good rumble in years.

[bush_is_wacko]

62. MUSIC TO MY EARS! I wish I could say the same for Coloradoans!

I still se those damn stickers everywhere! Go Ketucky!

[YusefHawkins]

64. How do parents explain to their kids that they voted for

Monkey Boy because they were too stubborn to admit they were wrong? Too stubborn to swallow their pride and eat an "I told you so".

[sakabatou]

66. Wow...

[bunny planet]

71. I've actually seen alot of * stickers scratched off of the bumpers of cars

You can still see what they once were originally and the efforts that have been made to get them off. Seems as if more and more people are ashamed to have them on their cars like 'What was I thinking?'(or not thinking).

Time to put on my 'Don't blame me I voted for Kerry' sticker I guess.

[FreedomAngel82]

72. Wow

Everyday it seems I'm hearing (or reading) more and more stories like this. Wow. I don't see as many W stickers anymore myself either. :shrug:
Nice to hear from Kentucky!

[EC]

73. I'm beginning to see changes too

Several customers in my office have said they don't know what they were thinking when they voted Bush. (of course all the regulars know I'm a Dem, they see the stickers on my car and hear it from me every time they are in)

[Generic Guy]

75. I am seeing the same thing,

more and more people are coming out just blasting bush. I used to get the middle finger for my impeach bush bumper sticker now I get mostly thumbs up. And I have noticed a lot more people are open to MIHOP now. Before they just labeled me as a kook but, now people are thinking there is something to MIHOP and LIHOP.

[mahina]

76. Please tell me this really happened.

I need some good news today.

[MontageOfFreedom]

78. Yeah its obvious from this state of affairs.

Fox news is preaching to a minority of disturbed persons.

[9thkvius]

80. Happening here in Alabama too

I see a lot more people around here that are critical of Bush and I find it significant that many of them are former supporters. Even at my work, which is a bastion of conservatism (I am one of the token liberals at my company) I have heard a lot more people criticize Bush for all sorts of things.

It's still encouraging to hear that it's happening in Kentucky though. I might go to graduate school there and so it's nice to think that I won't stick out like a sore thumb any more than I do here.

[mopaul]

81. a hair dryer removes bumper stickers quite handily

simply blow hot air over the whole sticker for about 4 or 5 minutes and it'll just peel off.

[erpowers]

82. Reasons

Do you ever ask any of these former Bush supporters why they did not support Kerry? Were some of these people looking for more of an alternative? Did they think he would do more than what he has done?

[winga222]

84. Excellent news to hear

Hey Noncom - where in SE KY? My family is all from Letcher and Johnson Counties. Ardent Republicans, unfortunately, but still I know the area well.

I'm another Kentuckian (northern KY, actually suburban Cincinnati). While I've not had that experience, the last few weeks I've had several people compliment my bumper stickers ("I Don't Have to Like Bush to Love My Country" and "If You Aren't Completely Appalled, You Haven't Been Paying Attention"). I've also seen fewer "W" and "Bush/Cheney" stickers, though they do still outnumber old "Kerry/Edwards" stickers. Cincinnati is a bedrock of Republicans but I've heard more and more people commenting on gas prices, social security, Terri Schiavo, etc. Maybe they have finally, finally, overplayed their hand.

[KCDoug]

86. Reminds me of something a couple of weeks ago in MO

I pulled into my local Quick Trip (KCMO) a couple of weeks ago for gas...and right above the $2.35 price someone had put a little Avery sticker that said "Thank you for Voting Republican"....went back several days later and it was still there!!!!!