TheAgitator.com
if he’s not — who is?
Sunday, November 23rd, 2003
After reading the piece on the Bush backlash in Time today I was excited to see a bit of predictable political dissent at the neighborhood coffee shop.
I spotted a Silver Lake hipster whose Caesar style haircut and vintage t-shirt was accessorized with a â??heâ??s not MY presidentâ? pin on the lapel of his jacket.
He looked up and smiled so I asked him about his button
Moxie:
I couldnâ??t help but notice your button.
Hipster:
Yeah, I canâ??t stand that guy.
Moxie:
If Bush isnâ??t your President who is?
Hipster:
What do you mean?
Moxie:
Well, I havenâ??t heard a thing about what YOUR Presidentâ??s administration has been doing so I thought Iâ??d ask.
Hipster:
Oh, youâ??re kidding. For a minute I thought you were a right wing bible thumper.
Moxie:
No, Iâ??m serious. What is your Presidentâ??s name? I donâ??t even know his name.
Hipster:
Umm, Al Gore I guess.
Moxie:
Oh! Al Gore! I forgot all about him. What are his approval ratings?
Hipster:
Hmm, 100% for those who wear these buttons Iâ??d imagine.
Rather than get into a â??my President could beat up your Presidentâ? discussion I got my coffee to go. On the way out I couldnâ??t help but ask him one last question.
Moxie:
Hey Iâ??m making some, â??Heâ??s not MY Michael Jacksonâ? buttons would you be interested in pre-ordering one?
Hipster:
No thanks, Iâ??ll stick to the one I have.
Moxie:
Your Michael Jackson or your button?
Hipster:
Both.
Plain black coffee $1.75 + tax
Walk to the coffee shop, -15 calories,
Conversation with the â??heâ??s not my President guy,â?
priceless.
I didn’t hire any president, nor shall I. How’s your’s working out?
Are you a US citizen?
Yes.
Who is the President of the US?
(Smile,snicker and walk away.)
Snarky Frank N.,
I am a US citizen by birth, not by choice. While Bush might be POTUS, I could get along just fine without him or anybody else as my king.
“Help! Help! I’m being repressed. Come see the violence inherent in the system!”
-sed
“I am a US citizen by birth, not by choice.”
I think you have made a choice…by staying a US citizen.
“Are you a US citizen?”
That’s a unilateral claim maded by the US, so?
seditious nick: I am a US citizen by birth, not by choice.
Okay, if you want to look at it that way, then Bush is your president (king) by birth, and not by your â??choiceâ?.
TLOP can be a harsh mistress to the unenlightened.
John Kennedy: [U.S. citizen] That’s a unilateral claim made by the US, so?
So John if they arenâ??t Your Mafia then why are you still paying them for protection? What is stopping you from hiring a â??superiorâ? private security force?
I’m glad Moxie joined the blogging. Very entertaining.
I never thought of myself as ‘snarky’….still don’t.
My Great-Grandmother used to wear a pin saying ‘He’s not my Chancellor’ AFTER she left Berlin in 1935.
Serpent,
Is a mugger your employee if you hand him your wallet at gunpoint?
John Kennedy: Is a mugger your employee if you hand him your wallet at gunpoint?
Apparently if you are unwilling or unable to hire a more effective â??private security forceâ? then the answer to this question is â??YESâ?. (of course I guess it would be equally logical to say that you are the muggerâ??s employee.)
Welcome, Moxie. It’s good to have you here.
very clever. pick on the thinnest in the herd and assert superiority. get into the same debate with john podesta and see who comes out grinning.
and to that hipster responded with?
You’d have to click on [More] to see how he responded…
Well, I’m not one of the moneyed interests who owns President Bush, so he’s not *my* President.
He’s *the* President, but he gives fuck-all about people other than his contributors.
Very brave to stand up to a hipster. Why, a dozen with such courage could defeat rhetorical straw-men across the globe.
And here I was thinking that perhaps one benficial effect of Moxie’s joining the Agitator’s crew would be less reliance on straw men to shore up her sad attempts at rational discourse. Even InstaHack doesn’t engage in this sort of “reporting”. Or did 43 suddenly morph into teh uber-Libertarian while I was having a Guinness?
I’d respond to that last comment except that I am too busy “reporting” on a new irrational discourse. Though I am sorry you didn’t find the silly conversation amusing.
I’m no reporter — never claimed to be!
Some people accused me of going after the straw man — but if all I see are straw men, who else would I ask?!
Is his refusal to acknowledge the president any different from Thoreau’s refusal to pay taxes? Not really. Ideally, citizenship would be a matter of choice: refuse the citizenship, refuse all associated benefits (property ownership, police protection, etc.)…something like a ronin.
Nothing profound; my cent and a half.