Stub 7.9: Politics on the other side of the aisle

The prouder members of Raymond's own party had dug in their heels and weren't going to vote for the new refrigerant.

Kenny Lane called the knuckleheads to a special meeting. Raymond was sitting in the back of the room.

"Why should we vote for this law?" "Frenchie" Toast asked. "All they have ever done is to stir up shit and make our lives miserable."

Kenny, in his plain-spoken way addressed the question. "Well, Frenchie, you need to think of it as a C. F."

Frenchie frowned. "What the heck is a C. F.?" It wasn't an acronym he was familiar with.

Kenny said, "You know, a charity f--k."

"Look, it ain't gonna hurt you to vote for this proposal. It don't cost you nothing. And the other side will be as grateful as hell." Kenny said.

"I still ain't gonna vote for it." Frenchie said. Nobody had ever accused Frenchie of being bright. "I still don't see what is in it for us."

"Well, for one thing, if you don't vote for it you probably won't get re-elected." Kenny observed.

Coming back around to his original beef, Frenchie said "I still don't see why we are letting them get the credit?"

Kenny responded, "You know we have an election coming up, right? Who do you think is going to win their seats if they don't have something flashy to show the folks back home?"

"Hell! We would win those seats!" Frenchie practically shouted.

"Nope. You think the current bunch of liberals are retards, you should see who our wonks think will take those seats if they lose their re-election bids. At least most of the current bunch will pretend to listen to your arguments." Kenny said.

"And besides, like I told you. Stop thinking about what other people will say and think of it as a charity f__k. Relax. You might even enjoy it." Kenny soothed him.

The vote was 97-3 in favor of the resolution. Frenchie and the boys voted "Yes". The district of one of the "Nay" voters was in the high Sierras and she won re-election. The other two "Nay" voters were hard-core environmentalists in urban areas and they lost their re-election bids.

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