A Knight behind enemy lines

Sir Banagor at Shining Full Plate relates a trip he made today into the Castro district of San Francisco: bq. Ahhh�I feel great. I know some people will be absolutely shocked at my going off the edge, but damnit, after years of being in this city�I just can�t help myself. bq. I just had to run an errand in the Castro district. So I drove around with all my windows down, and NPR was updating about the Kerry concession speech�and I laughed. I laughed so hard. My smile was bursting out in maniacal and cruel and sweet happy laughter of joy and derision. He then goes into the store: bq. I couldn�t even contain myself when I went into the store. I was beaming. The girl behind the counter asked me what was so great, and I just said to her �It�s a beautiful day, isn�t it?� (It�s actually a really, really, beautiful weather day here in SF). bq. And then she said �But didn�t you hear? Kerry conceded. We lost.� bq. And I couldn�t even hide my smile. I swear, it wouldn�t go away. Try as I may, I couldn�t make it go away. I�ve never, ever, experienced this before. I couldn�t stop smiling even for that minute. bq. And I just said �I know.� bq. The look of horror and absolute terror on her face didn�t help with my smile either. I kept smiling; I kept beaming. That hippie girl was in a state of shock to see that somebody she could talk to was actually a Bush supporter, there in the den of hippie liberalism � in their very sanctuary itself. bq. God, what a sight it was. Imagine it � imagine the terror she must have felt. She probably thought I was going to pull out a gun and a whip and send her off to the Uranium mines in Fallujah for slave labor under Halliburton�s good name. bq. Really, there was complete and utter dismay on her face. bq. And then, she turned away. You could feel the despair. You could sense it in the air. You can actually taste the breakdown of hope in the air. bq. It�s a beautiful banquet out there today for those who can enjoy the feast. If you�re in the Bay Area, I suggest you do the same. I�ve never felt so deliciously full on sheer pleasure before. bq. I laughed all the way home. Heh...