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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe difference between me and Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell is married to an Asian woman. So am I. My wife is a Filipina immigrant. I am 71 years old; she is 68. We've been married over 20 years.
I also ran for office and won. I held a series of union positions, and I was eventually appointed as a full time Business Agent of a large Boston local.
I always represented my members, no matter whether or not they supported me or my appointing authority. I did this, not because I'm such a great person, but because that's a sound political position. And I loved my job, elected or appointed. Also, the federal government allows members to file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) against a union official who does not live up to his responsibilities. But I always went the extra mile because of what I believed in. That doesn't mean I wanted to go out for a beer with anyone who insulted me. However, I understand politics.
Now, to the point. Outside of work, in social settings with non-members, I was different. As I said, my adorable wife is brown and an immigrant. In 2008, at a family Christmas party, my cousin's husband started talking racist shit. N-Word Obama. N-Word Duval Patrick (Mass. Gov.). I was sickened by his bullshit, so I went to another room. Then, he started on immigrants and the "great replacement theory" and said "we should send them all back". I took my wife home, and she told me that she would never go to another event with my family, and she didn't. No showers, baptisms, weddings, parties. Nothing. And I couldn't blame her. You see, a person can insult me, and I could get over it. Especially in my line of work (handling union grievances and contract negotiations). But insulting my wife is unforgivable. Especially a racist rant.
Well, back to the racist man married to my cousin. For some reason, he didn't know how I felt. Naturally, he became an ardent Trump supporter. MAGA hat. Bumper sticker. Facebook posts. The whole bit. A few years went by, and he called and asked for a favor. A friend of his had a son who wanted to get into the apprentice program at my union. I could sponsor one or two kids a year, as long as they passed the entrance exam. He reminded me that I had done it for another cousin, and I told him, "Ya, but he's not a racist. As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't lift a finger to help you. If your car was broken down on the side of the road and you were by yourself, I'd keep driving. The only way I'd pull over is if you were with my cousin."
A couple of years after that, this same person, who is a financial manager, applied for a job as the financial manager at a non-profit in which I was a board member, by virtue of my union position. The irony is that the non-profit was an organization to help the poor, including immigrants (documented and undocumented). I spoke in private to the Executive Director and told him that the applicant was married to my cousin, and he should not be hired and related the firsthand bigoted incidents that I had witnessed. Needless to say, he never got that job.
In closing, I can't believe that Mitch McConnell can support, endorse and vote for anyone who insults his wife. It's incomprehensible to me. I will hold a lifetime grudge against anyone who insults my wife, especially if that insult is about her race.
TwilightZone
(25,505 posts)McConnell puts party and political power above everything. He believes - correctly, I might add - that the party needs the presidency to most efficiently push its agenda.
Who that nominee is is irrelevant to him. To him, the ends justify the means, always. Trump was just a tool to him and it got him what he wanted -- a GOP-loaded judiciary.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)I would not compromise or forget a racist insult to my wife. Other than physical violence against her, I can't think of a more egregious thing. I don't care what was at stake. I couldn't look myself in the mirror and retain my self-respect.
Response to Pototan (Reply #2)
Wifes husband This message was self-deleted by its author.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)The saying is, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
Response to Pototan (Reply #8)
Wifes husband This message was self-deleted by its author.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)Response to Pototan (Reply #22)
Wifes husband This message was self-deleted by its author.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)Last edited Sat Mar 16, 2024, 11:11 PM - Edit history (1)
is give you information that you may not be aware of.
When people do that for me, either on this site or elsewhere, I appreciate it.
It's too bad you feel otherwise.
TSExile
(2,503 posts)Your wife is truly blessed to have you. Thank you for standing up for all women by standing up for her.
brush
(53,925 posts)when possible. I'm so glad you told that racist family member your stance against helping him secure an apprenticeship for the friend's kid.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)I am an immigrant. My wife's family has a huge tract of residential and farmland just outside of Iloilo City. Hence, my forum name, Pototan, my new home.
My wife and I moved here permanently 2 years ago. I am one of only a handful of Caucasians in a city of 77,000.
brush
(53,925 posts)JoseBalow
(2,517 posts)Pototan
(1,215 posts)Also, Prescott Bush, Jeb's son, kissed the huge orange ass of Adolf Trump after insulting his Mexican American mother.
I did not include these examples, as awful as they are, because I never experienced anything similar.
I was trying to make a point of my personal experience.
JoseBalow
(2,517 posts)I just like taking the opportunities to remind how hypocritical all these derelicts really are. I wasn't specifically directing my comment to you as any sort of criticism.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)I was just explaining the more similar situation between me and McConnell, both of us having Asian wives who were insulted to their face, by pieces of shit.
McConnell kissed the insulter's ass; I hold a lifetime grudge.
FormerOstrich
(2,703 posts)Mitch and wife Elaine don't have the same sort of marriage you and your wife do. Or, probably not like most peoples marriage.
I can't think of any other two people that seem more cold and remote and untouchable and vile and..well you get the point.
orleans
(34,086 posts)orleans
(34,086 posts)wondering how your relationship with the cousin was after you and your wife left that christmas party. did the family know why your wife never came with you again to various events?
Pototan
(1,215 posts)we had to sit at the same table for my Neice's wedding. My wife was in the Philippines. The asshole was sitting with my cousin. Toward the end of the evening, he said some stupid political remark and my cousin said to him, "I told you not to mention any politics tonight." I replied, "You know these cultists, they just can't help themselves"".
With that I went to my Neice, my brother and the Groom, thanked them for a lovely evening and left. Not just the wedding, but the country.
orleans
(34,086 posts)that was really nice of you to go to the wedding. especially if you flew in specifically for the reason of attending.
i'm a bitch. i would have sent a gift.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)I just had to sit at the table with my cousins. Some like me a lot and I like them. The cousin who's married to the asshole has a sister, which, naturally, is another cousin of mine. It was her longtime partner whose son I got into the apprentice program 5 years ago. She is a Blue Angel who hates Trump. She also doesn't like her brother-in-law (the asshole) who made horrible remarks about her when she dated a black man many years ago.
I mean, if I have to be in the presence of 10 people, and two or three are racists, that's not a reflection on the other 7 or 8. Most people don't speak up when racist remarks like that are made. I do. It's too bad that I have to forego the company of the normal people in order to avoid the cultist assholes, but life's too short.
I now live in a country in which I never encounter racism. I'm not saying it doesn't exist here. It's just that I am surrounded by Filipinos, so I know my wife won't have to experience it ever again.
Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)Elaine Chow is as corrupt as he is.
Pototan
(1,215 posts)...there is no excuse for Trump to make a racist insult.
Any person has the right to disagree with my wife's opinion (she is the opposite of corrupt, so I use "opinion" as my hypothetical) but no one has the right to insult her because of her race.