Red Cow Truck (Update)

Meet Brian, affectionately known over the CB as Red Cow Truck.  Brian is a bull-hauler, a trucker who hauls cattle.  Has been for decades.  Your typical redneck, gun-loving WASP, and devoted Bush lover.  He has also been my dear friend for eons.  I love him, but we have had some screaming matches regarding politics, especially before, during, and after the 2004 election.  With all of his built-in biases, he is an intelligent, self-educated man with an overabundance of street smarts.  A sense of humor that will keep you in stitches and a heart as big as all outdoors.  Follow me below the fold to hear more about this lovable Republican.

Long ago I terminated all my friendships with Republicans. My hatred for George Bush, and what he has done to this country and the rest of the world has gotten so extreme that I cannot stomach the sight of his supporters.  This may sound extreme, and I guess it is, but it is what it is.  

I ceased talking to Brian in a subtle way.  I just stopped calling him.  Never returned messages he left, and was able to avoid him on the road.  You see, I also was a trucker.  We both raise and ride cutting horses as well, which made his devotion to the faux cowboy that much more intolerable to me.  Brian is a man's man - respectful of women, sure of himself, and most definitely not afraid to mix it up if he feels the need.    

Last night I spoke with Brian for the first time in a year.  He had left a phone message for me last week, saying that he was heading down to southern LA for the first time since Katrina struck.  He had stops in New Orleans, Gray (which is right on the gulf) and then three stops in MS, all on the gulf.  Frankly, I was eager to hear his assessment so I answered the phone last night when I saw it was him calling.

People, we are heading for a change in this country.  Imagine my shock while listening to Brian talk:  

1.  Brian informed me the 9th Ward looks like a war zone, in complete shock of the devastation a full year after the hurricane.  Where was our government, he wanted to know.

2.  While driving, Brian passed literally thousands of FEMA trailers, just sitting in fields.  And I mean thousands.  His estimate was over 15,000.  Empty.  Why aren't these trailers being given to homeless people, he wanted to know.

3.  Brian met a man while going from warehouse to warehouse to unload.  This man lived in the 9th Ward.  This man told Brian he was staying in a garage with his daughter and grandkids in MS, the only structure they didn't lose.  The rest of his children, and his wife, were scattered all over.  Houston, Florida, Michigan.  Why?  Because when OUR government sent busses, finally, to get these people out, they were told to get on the bus with what they had on their backs, were NOT told where the busses were going, and families were just separated if the bus was full.  This man refused to get on the bus.  How could we do that, he wanted to know.

4.  Brian asked me if I had seen An Inconvenient Truth.  I told him I had.  How can we ignore this, when we can so easily fix it, he wanted to know.

5.  Brian and I are both from WI.  I mentioned to him a full 3 years ago that I was pushing hard for Russ Feingold to run for President, that we, the entire country, needed him.  Well, Brian informed me he checked him out a year ago.  Started searching Russ out, reading his website, going to listening sessions.  He wanted to vote for him.  He spends his day praising this man to other truckers on the CB. Is Russ going to run, he wanted to know.

6.  What the FUCK is going on in Iraq, he wanted to know.  

7.  When are our troops getting out of that mess, he wanted to know.

Folks, the message is getting through.  If a die-hard like Brian is convinced, we can convince anyone. *Update:* Brian has called me twice since this diary was posted. His disgust with this administration, now that he's come out with it, is almost overwhelming him. The questions are pouring out faster than my brain can search out the answers. Iraq, Israel, what did Congress do yesterday and today, the stem cell issue, Katrina - again. After giving Brian the most informed answers I could dredge up, Brian was silent for a few moments, and then said: "People don't know. They just don't know the truth. I thought Bush was a good guy. I didn't know he'd be this much of a disaster. People think the stem cells are coming from babies. They just think you want to have babies just to kill them for cells. People, this is what we are fighting. Not the Brians of this world, but these Republican messages. More than anything, the Democratic Party needs to start using plain English. Tell it like it fucking is! No word with more than 20 letters or 3 syllables. Spell it out - all of it. I am happy to report Brian also informed me he will be voting in November, and it won't be for Republicans. His bottom line? *"I will vote for any politician who says ENOUGH! To all of it."*