This could definitely do something,” a teen says. “And I want to be part of it.”
“
Democratic president losing honor?” The more I hear people express irri-
tation toward Glenn Beck, or what one teen called “scary” and “crazy” Tea Par- tiers “who don’t understand everything,” I wonder if these people actually know any conservatives. But I decline to argue with Woudenberg about this, as the con- versation soon shifts to his 21-month-old daughter, whom he dotes on. Before she was born, I learn, there was another pregnancy. Doctors told Woudenberg and his wife that the fetus had no heart- beat, and she was advised to abort. “Why couldn’t you have at least al-
lowed your child to live out its short life in the womb?” I ask. I have strong feelings on this, not just
For full coverage of the rally, visit
washingtonpost.com/1030rally.
ing of the government and neglect their role of citizenry. They don’t want the government to interfere, and then they want the government to do it all.” As we cross the Delaware Memorial
Bridge, I settle in for a conversation with my seatmate, Robert Woudenberg, 46, a photographer and New York State De- partment of Transportation employee from Valley Cottage, N.Y. Like Shields, he hopes his presence at the rally will translate into support for the president. “I’m very interested politically,” he says. “I volunteer for Democratic campaigns, do phone banks, things like that.” As have many on the bus, he heaps
scorn on the Beck rally. “ ‘Restoring honor’?” he scoffs.
“When did we lose honor? They’ve been tearing Obama to shreds. Is having a
because of my faith but because of a 2009 article I wrote about a Silver Spring orga- nization called Isaiah’s Promise, which encourages women with problem preg- nancies to bring their babies to term. The women I had interviewed told me that doing so was less traumatic than abort- ing the babies would have been. Woudenberg responds with a line
I often hear: that if an unborn child has some kind of abnormality, it’s best to abort him or her sooner and let the mother get on with her life. He argues that my position is a minority one; I say it’s the more compassionate one for the mother, for whom an abortion is an added trauma, and for her helpless child, for whom nine months in the womb will be the only life he or she knows. Conservatives can rail against abor-
tion all they want, he says, but if Roe v. Wade were struck down, he adds, even conservatives’ politics “would change
quite a bit.” No matter what the Supreme Court
does, I counter, many people of faith will still oppose abortion. “I wish I could say I believe in God,”
he says, almost wistfully, “but I don’t.” h
it being the day before hal- loween, many of the younger attend- ees are dressed in costumes including Uncle Sam and marijuana plants. By far the cleverest get-up on the bus belongs to a quartet of three young men and one woman from Baruch College in Man- hattan whom I’d met on Citi Field. We resume our conversation as the bus nears Baltimore. They seem to fit squarely into the stereotype of Stewart fans: young, ironic hipsters who exercise their wit from a distance and make gentle fun of people others might consider heroes. After watching video of the recent-
ly released Chilean miners — whose harrowing 69 days underground from early August to mid-October captured the world’s attention — the young men were inspired to spoof them. They shopped at Home Depot, end-
ing up with bright yellow hard hats, jeans and T-shirts under fluorescent yellow vests, along with various ac- couterments: flashlights, heavy gloves, Bono-like sunglasses and tape mea- sures dangling from their belts. Their faces are smeared with coal dust. They get laughs and thumbs up from the crowd at Citi Field when they strike poses and break into the shout: “Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!” Russian-born Danil Rudoy, 21, of
Brooklyn, a corporate communications major, is dressed as Miner 21, Yonni Rojas, who was greeted at the mine entrance not by his wife but by his mis- tress. Rudoy posts a No. 21 on the back of his hard hat and wears a shirt stating, “I spent 69 days in a mine and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” His sign says, “Is this the line for free
health care?” Dressed as Miner 33, the last one out,
Sergey Varlashkin, 20, is an international business major from the Bronx. Born in Uzbekistan, he hopes to become a citizen next year. He remembers the incessant singing of the national anthem every day
december 12, 2010 | The WashingTon PosT Magazine 25
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