CURRENT MOON

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Just Stop It!



OK, I will say this in little words and short sentences. The Democrats need to quit pandering to the religious right -- which will (are you listening?) NEVER VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT EVEN IF THAT MISGUIDED RABBI, JEBUZ OF NAZARETH, GETS DOWN OFF OF HIS CROSS AND HOLDS UP A SIGN SAYING "VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN THIS ELECTION IF YOU LOVE ME I DIED ON THE CROSS FOR YOUR SINS YOU WILL BE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB BLESS MY SOUL IN THE BOSOM OF ABRAHAM!"

I understand. Many of you, are, in fact, devout xians. You see nutjobs like Tom DeLay and Larry Craig and David Vitter and, the xian god forgive us, George W. Bush, getting elected because they appeal to xian whackjob fundies and you say to yourselves, "Self," you say, "why don't I get some of that action?"

The next time that you say that to yourself, go smack yourself in the face with a wet washcloth and get the fuck over it. Stop picking Harry Reid for Senate majority leader because you think that because he's against abortion (and, it turns out, ever doing anything even mildly effectual), he'll appeal to "value voters." He won't. Stop running devout catholics like John Kerry because you think that will inoculate the party against attacks from the little-boy-molesters in the catholic church. It won't; Razi will arrange for Bush to visit Rome and give the sitting pope a medal while releasing rumors that Kerry should be denied communion. Stop running bullshit ads, like Obama's been doing, about how you're a committed xian and are "called to serve." Just stop it.

We're seeing this week how much good it's done Obama (and, yeah, they're all guilty of it, but he's gone way out of his way to assert that he should get elected because he's such a devoted xian and he's getting pounded the hardest for it this week, so I am using him as an example) to play the xian card. He's getting hammered over the head with his xianity and this is WEEKS and WEEKS after he, supposedly, put this entire issue to bed with his "masterful" speech on race in America, which we were all told was such brilliant political ju jitsu. Not.

Religion will NEVER be anything except a hammer to use against Democrats. Democrats need to accept that fact. I am more religious, I am willing to wager, than 95% of Americans. My religion would only be a detriment to me if I decided to run for office. The best thing for Democrats to do -- and, wow, here's a benni, it's also the right thing to do -- is to insist that religion has no role to play in American politics. Refuse to answer questions about your religion because, in America, we have a separation of religion and the State. Change the topic. Assert the principle. Quote John Adams. Move on.

Look, my number one issue is the environment. I'm NEVER going to vote for a Republican, even if s/he talks about "Blue Skies" and "stewardship" and "Clean Forests," etc., etc., etc. First, I don't believe her/him, and, second, even if I did believe her/him, I don't think that she's/he's AS COMMITTED to those notions as is the Democrat. I'm not really any smarter than someone who's number one issue is the rather obscene notion that "America is a xian nation." They don't care how much a Democrat talks about "Called to Serve," etc., etc., etc. First, they don't believe the Democrat and, second, even if they do believe the Democrat, they don't think that the Democrat is AS COMMITTED to those notions as is the Republican.

So Democrats have two choices. They can concede that being a good xian is important in politics, in which case, they can keep losing. Or, they can challenge the basic premise and begin to move the debate off of their opponents' favored ground. It's unclear to me why this is such a difficult choice for them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yup. That flyer was definitely a turning point in my feelings about the candidates. I was stunned by it and felt that I couldn't trust the candidate to represent my interests while trying to cosy up to Repubs. (I'm by no means anti-religious...just not real big on public displays of it. Particularly for political reasons.)
Nice going--pandering to the religious right while alienating Dems like me. (I shouldn't be surprised, as Obama's advisors have ignored the middle-aged white women vote--hasn't done anything to ask for our support.) VERY politically naive of him to think that this pandering will win him Repub votes.

The Fabulous Kitty Glendower said...

Yes. I wish that one day the person running for POTUS would say, "I believe in no God" and be voted into office.

Oh, I just thought of that movie Bedazzled with Dudley Moore and how we may get what we wish but not in the way we wished. Okay, so he/she does not believe in God but they still love and respect the Earth and humans and all other things that many only think can be limited to God fearing people.

Anonymous said...

a fantastic and true rant, Hecate-- but if there is one thing I have finally accepted, it is that the AMerican people are not that into... thinking. There are a thousand books about the Founding Fathers being various degrees of agnostic; those who drift along looking at "In God We Trust" on the money wouldn't believe you if you physically sat them down and pointed to any unambiguous passage. Why has the US come to this? Lack of education? Overdose of comfort? Willful gullibility? True calling to the Lerd? I can foresee McCain winning in November. I can forsee banging my head into the wall repeatedly. I can foresee despair. Four years ago, you counselled to go out and Do SOmething rather than wallow in despair. I hope I will make myself do something again (last time I travelled to OHio for Election Protection). But, really, how many times can I try and reinvest in the good sense of the AMerican people when over half of them have shown NONE recently? OK... that's my rant. Not as amusing or even hopeful (somehow) as yours, but there you go...