Bumper Stickers-

I’m not a fan of bumper stickers, this I freely admit. The idea of sticking something to my very expensive paint makes me cringe. I don’t know what kind of glue they use, perhaps if they shared it we may have better luck enduring things like natural disasters. At any rate, it never fails to make me shake my head when I get behind a vehicle that is more bumper sticker than not. Then came the invention of magnetic bumper stickers. This idea also gives me the cringe….have you seen the paint under one of those after it’s been there for a Midwestern winter? No thanks. Besides the ruined paint, why on earth would you want to spend money to stick something on your car that any one can walk off with?? They will take it, either because they like it, hate it or simply because they can. Now we have graduated to the window bumper sticker. No longer confined to the long and narrow strips, these can be as large as the window. Some are mere clings, some are as permanent as the traditional ones plastered on aged rattle traps. At any rate, what they say about the person driving the vehicle is rather telling….and honestly I can’t believe some people display their ignorance with such pride. One of my favorites is the guy driving around town with the flag and eagle, very patriotic, no? NO, the flag is backwards. Way to show the world how much you love your country! Of course only a certain percentage of the population is going to realize it IS backwards, but still…for that percent, they look at the driver and go “wth?!?!”
Then there are the classics, like the fish with Jesus in it and the fish with feet and Darwin in it. Dare I hazard to point out that both are incorrect? God said “I am the beginning and the end”. That means Jesus and Darwin are the in betweens….so guys, you are disagreeing over the stuffing instead of the turkey. Honestly, what does it really matter? We are here, in the now, perhaps we should concentrate a tad bit more on living like decent God fearing folk, rather than argue over things that when it comes right down to it, don’t mean squat. Believe what you believe, but respect the other person’s right to do the same. That’s kind of what that whole little bit in the constitution means when it says “freedom of religion”…. That means the freedom to NOT have one also, sorry you weren’t around to give the founding fathers your sage advice on that issue. This same little tidbit completely fails to mention “as long as others agree with you and are happy about it”. I suspect this was for a very good reason.
Let us not rule out the driver that is so obviously wrapped up in the moment that they have to plaster their car with some thing along the lines of “don’t blame me I voted for (insert name here)”…. Seems to me they are SO wrapped in the moment they fail to realize that this same bumper sticker is going to be SO old news in such a short time period that for years after the fact people will snicker when they get behind them. Or the recent “Had enough? Vote Democrat” Obviously they fail to understand a basic need in themselves and other humans….the need to belong. Most people that choose a party affiliation will stay the course no matter what, with the exception of the politicians themselves, at least since term limits.
The one I observed today, however, has just bugged me for hours. Since I’m up yet another night, much too painful to sleep, I figured I would unburden my brain of this irritant. This particular one was in the form of a window cling that perched upon the rear window of a Dodge Ram truck. It had the usual Ram logo, written above it was “The last of a dying breed” written below it was “Thanks Obama”. Oh boy….where to start?
The Ram logo is symbolic, of course, based on the rams whose sole claim to fame is during the rut, the males square off, rear up on their hind legs and head butt each other with gut wrenching force. The males will continue to do this until one gives up, they are exhausted or one is too severely injured to continue. So…this should give you the mind set of the driver who boldly displays this logo. Not that I have any thing against Dodge or the Ram trucks, but it is a certain mindset that takes it so literal and wears it like a badge of honor. Now, the top line “The last of a dying breed”. Yes, well, I won’t argue the obvious. Left there, it wouldn’t have bugged me in the least. But it wasn’t, no, they had to have the bottom line “Thanks Obama”. Okay, this pretty clearly sums up the above party inclusion summary, but it goes even a bit beyond that. Dodge, and its parent company Chrysler, have been working themselves into the position they are in for the last 30 odd years. Piss poor attitude, refusal to adapt, lax management and unsound fiscal policy sucked them into a downward spiral that ended with a FLUSH. I drive a Chrysler, by the way, so I’m not just a Chrysler or Dodge hater. I owned a Stratus once…Dodge… there, feel better? Chrysler was in the tank before Obama was in office. So, laying their shortcomings and eventual Nestea plunge into oblivion on his door step is rather short sited and demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of even basic fiscal and political policy. You could just as easily blame it on Bush, Jr and Sr, and Clinton. They, after all, did nothing to guide the mismanaged company. My husband drives a Ford tuck, should he display a large window cling that says “FORD-still built in America. Thanks Obama” on his rear window? No? Why? Ford is still going strong because of better management, better policy and more adaptation. Most Americans don’t even realize that Ford makes versions of its cars in other countries that are fully complaint with the higher standards required, more fuel efficient, less polluting, etc. The Ford Focus you’ll find on a dealers lot in England is NOT the same one you’ll find in the USA. The shame of it is, Ford SHOULD be building those same models here, especially with the oil prices of the last few years. They don’t want too, however, because then they would be admitting they do and have had the technology to do so. Despite that, they have still managed to maintain a fair financial foot hold. So, if Obama gets the blame for one, shouldn’t he get credit for the other? Both are based in about the same mud colored water as the other.
No, the window cling in question is more about misplaced blame because it’s easier, than real facts. Why someone would be so proud to display something that screams stereotype so very loudly is a bit beyond me. Come on…Midwestern town, jacked up 4 wheel drive pick up truck with a window sticker that says that? I think anyone could jump to the conclusion that the person driving this vehicle is a HICK. Male or female, doesn’t matter. They may be a well dressed hick, with a fancy job…but the mentality is pure hick. There, I said it, I’m guilty of profiling based on limited information. Everyone is, and if you say your not, you are either lying or one of the people to whom the phrase “ignorance is bliss” applies to.
Why would a person display it if they didn’t WANT you to assume certain things about them? The person with the Jesus fish wants you to assume that means he’s a follower of Christ. The person with the Darwin fish wants you to assume he’s a follower of evolutionism. The “don’t blame me I voted ****” wants you to assume they are of that party. That’s part of the appeal of bumper stickers. It’s a “who I am” statement. So, why would you want to advertise that you are a narrow minded, lead by the nose ring, lacking the desire or ability to understand certain things kind of person? I mean, really? It’s rather like the whole stupid abortion issue. Politicians are not going to change it, it’s too easy for them to use it as a “hot button” issue in every damn election….why get rid of the cherry in the pie? But to hear some people talk, Obama is going to single handedly have the government pay for abortions, spread abortion as a viable form of birth control, etc, etc, etc. Do they really lack the ability to understand how their own government functions? Obama can’t just DO anything….it has to go through congress…and if it goes through congress well then guess what? That means people in your party had to vote for it also…. I mean wow…come on…if a sitting president could just say “change this now”…. He wouldn’t BE a sitting president, he’d be a dictator. Obama cannot take away gun rights. He can try to get congress to pass a bill to limit them, but the “right to bear arms” is kind of set….he can’t just take his Sharpie and mark through the ones he doesn’t like. So why on earth do people get so worked up about it? So worked up that it’s hard to even purchase bullets for the more common guns at the moment, and even finding a gun to purchase isn’t as easy as it used to be. People have gone out and fanatically purchased and stockpiled guns and ammunition. “Why?” I ask them, and very nearly get the same regurgitated babble that isn’t based in any sound logic. He’s going to restrict my ability to buy it….okay, when? He will, you wait and see! Sheesh. I own a gun and I own ammunition for it…been putting back a little money here and there over the last several years to buy a rifle or two, probably another hand gun also. These people in panic have driven up the market prices on so many of the guns that I just laughed and walked away. Not happening. I’ll wait a bit until there is no longer an artificial price increase holding on and then get what I want. Not because I think any president is going to “take away my rights” or “restrict my freedom”, but because I want to. I do think that eventually things have the potential to get pretty nasty. Not because of Obama, but because things are going down hill in general. Pandemics, water is becoming a precious commodity, natural disasters, population levels we can’t support, financial markets in turmoil…. Kind of obvious, if you stop to think about it.
But I damn well am not going to ride around with a bumper sticker that says “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”….