by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
I mentioned in this space a few days ago that I had seen a local press report of an upcoming "Trump Train" of festooned vehicles that planned on snaking its way through the Ozarks this weekend, a train that would culminate in West Plains on Saturday afternoon. I thought the notion of a train of cars was interesting, but I certainly had no intention of going to town and getting caught up in the local political fervor.
But I'm old and I tend to forget things - like I did yesterday afternoon when I made q quick rip to town to pick up a few groceries. As I pulled into one of the local grocery stores, I noticed a pick-up truck out on the street with two large "Trump" flags flapping in the breeze. The vehicle and its driver, an older guy who was decked out in cammo, pulled into the grocery store parking lot and made a big production of circling widely and then parking. The fellow left his truck to go inside and shop, but before he entered the store he thought better of his plan and returned to his truck where he took his flags down and locked them in the cab.
Nobody was going to steal his large, obnoxious, made-in-China Trump flags! At that point he and I both entered the store and began our shopping.
I was reminded of a phone call that I had with my Kansas City son a few days earlier. Tim has a neighbor who was featured in the Kansas City Star four years ago because of all of the Trump signage that he had covering his house and yard. This year the guy was once again trashing the quiet neighborhood with patriotic printed paranoia and had a large billboard-sized Trump sign in his yard, a sign that had promptly gotten stolen. Tim said his neighbor had replaced the stolen sign with another that featured a drawing fo a gun and words of warning for would-be thrives.
Whether his sign was stolen by another Trump supporter out of envy, or by a Biden supporter out of a sense of public decency is yet to be determined. The Kansas City area homeowner will undoubtedly be more vigilant 9and possibly more dangerous) in the future. The pick-up driver in West Plains was also not taking any unnecessary risks with his Trump flags.
So I went grocery shopping and still did not remember that there was supposed to be a "Trump Train" through town that same afternoon. My memory was jogged, however, when I was pushing my full grocery cart from the store and toward my car. Suddenly I heard honking and saw an approaching commotion heading toward the store from a side street. It was the parade - or at least a chunk of it. I watched from a discrete distance as thirty or so large vehicles - pick-up trucks and their large-car cousins - drove by, each with a minimum of two "Trump" flags waving in the wind as they passed. Some were also displaying American flags.
The parade was embarrassingly small, more of a distraction than a public inconvenience, but the drivers and their passengers - old white men and women - seemed to be having a grand time. I was happy for them, and I was also happy for Ivanka Trump who undoubtedly made a few bucks importing all of those flags from China and then selling them at a profit to members of her daddy's cult!
I heard this morning that Trump is now polling below 40% nationally - in the Herbert Hoover range - so I can afford to be charitable toward his supporters. Honk on, you pathetic old farts, honk on - and God bless your Chinese flags!
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