Liberal Hypocrisy

I go to a local gym to work out. A lot of the people who also go to the gym are "granola-types" who work for either the Federal government (there are two National Forests, a National Park, and a lot of BLM-managed public lands in this County) or for a alternative recovery program for at-risk teenagers. A couple folks who work out when I do have moved here from California. I've learned, mostly by listening but also by reading the bumper-stickers, that most of the gym-patrons tend to be a lot more liberal that the rest of the locals in the County and certainly a lot more liberal in their politics than me.

So it surprised me today when one of the more outspoken of the liberal granola-types came in the door of the gym and asked one of the male gym patrons if he was the Colonel who owned the truck parked outside. (You see, my truck has a DoD sticker on the front window, with a Colonel's eagle above it.) The male patron denied being the Colonel, so I spoke up and told the granola-type that I was a retired Air Force Colonel, and that it was my truck. I wish I could have captured the look of surprise on the granola-type's face. It was classic! I could tell exactly what he was thinking...."a woman Colonel? Really?" It was also classic how hard he backpedaled to try and cover up his surprise at the woman Colonel.

It's interesting that a purportedly liberal-minded person is the first person in a long time that has acted as if a being a woman would somehow prevent a person from attaining one of the higher ranks in the service. In my opinion, that little vignette showed liberal hypocrisy at its best.