A new religion
I attended Mass with my father at St. Gertrude in Madeira Sunday morning. As I approached my father’s truck, I noticed a small white slip of paper under the windshield wiper. Everyone’s windshield in fact displayed this little leaflet, published by the “Citizen Leader Coalition.”
From the front, it looked legitimate enough to be a parking ticket, with “2004 Election Voter Guide” featured prominently at the top. Must be one of those objective candidate comparisons, right? The flipside of the leaflet stated facts, but it was just ever-so-slightly tilted:
(I’m not even going to talk about how oversimplified they made a couple of Kerry’s stances. Like a soundbyte on the six o’clock news.)
It doesn’t take a conservative organization to tell me that Bush would make a conservative Congressman. But comparing his (theoretical) voting record to someone else’s is like turning an apple into an orange. Pure alchemy.
The issues themselves are almost humorous. Am I seriously going to vote someone for President based on how often he invokes God’s name? I often wonder if Bush – and most other politicians – just tack God’s blessing onto the tail-end of their speeches simply to garner the Christian vote. Say God again and we’ll all be begging you to run for Supreme Court Justice, too. Invoking God’s name in vein is against the Ten Commandments, dontcha-know.
And since when is Kerry “anti-God”? Perhaps some other faiths might like to characterize Catholics as “anti-God,” but Kerry’s no Atheist, and such a statement would have no place in the parking lot of a conservative Catholic parish.
It strikes me that the election has become so close that each side is forced into desperately tossing gobs of distorted wet dirt at the other side. (Democrats are no angels, either.)
This election season has incited us all to madness. The popular position here at St. X is now to declare boldly “I despise them both!” since you risk verbal assault when you declare support for one party or the other.
We have brought politics to the point where we are wheedled into voting in blocs, because our community leaders tell us that voting the “wrong” way = SIN. We have brought it to the point where “getting out the vote” effectively means “cornering their vote.”
We have created a new religion. Some kind of Zoroastrianism: both sides fighting for believers, neither side having moral ascendancy. True, we can no longer say that our vote doesn’t count. But, can it count… too much?
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Comments
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Sorry, Minh, I haven't seen the poster yet, but you're politicizing yourself way too much, more than you need to. I mean, don't blab out for one side, or another, or even both! There's various reasons. Has anyone asked you up front which candidate you are for or against? Is the media ever telling the truth? Isn't the fun part of presidential elections the suspense??
I'm not even going to share my opinion here. My favorite is 60-40 in my mind, but the other candidate was up 51-49 just last week. Long-term views of parties build up after time, but I don't think that even 20 years of life is enough to predispose anything, much less political parties. At least, that's me :-)
PS. You're right in that they're both evil.
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Yet another reason I hate SGS with all my heart.
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Albert, see “Swinging and Spoiling.”
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If you vote for Bush, you are in fact, voting in favor of terrorism!
He lets terrorists states like Saudi Arabia exist with no consequence. They clearly sponsor terror and have links to Al Queda. But all they get is more Haliburton oil contracts.
He lets Mushareff join NATO, a man who took over in a hostile take over of Pakistan. Much like a terrorist would!
He lets our number 1 nemesis escape at Torah Borah!
He had contracts with the Bin Laden family.
He negotiates with Al Sadr in Iraq, for peace, instead of getting him, before they got us!
Bush does more to support terror than to fight against it. A vote for Bush is a vote for a terrorist!
Bush wrong on terrorism in Saudi Arabia.
Bush wrong on Mushareff and Nato!
Bush wrong on Osama!
Bush wrong in negotiating with Al Sadr.
Bush wrong with business with Bin Laden family.
Bush wrong for America!
Bush is a friend of terrorists!
11/ 2/2004 @ 2:39 PM
Minh’s Notes
Four more years either way
St. X today had a debate between the Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs. I went there to see a discussion; what I saw was nothing more than a political spectacle.
11/19/2004 @ 8:05 PM
Minh’s Notes
In the third person
The Blueprint has broken an unbreakable record: this month’s issue is, believe it or not, more out-of-date than my own LSP
12/ 7/2004 @ 11:46 PM
Minh’s Notes
Two moons in your moccasins
Eric Meyer eloquently explains the views of all us “liberals with a homosexual agenda” still reeling from that debate more than a month ago.
3/ 6/2005 @ 12:32 AM
Minh’s Notes
Blueprint delivers timely issue
The Blueprint was issued yesterday morning, just before the “mid-Lenten prayer service.” That the paper contains timely and relevant articles constitutes such an achievement that that f...
10/19/2008 @ 3:12 PM
Minh’s Notes
Pipe dream
Harrison wanted me to write an entry about another flyer I got yesterday, so that my blog can be “fair and balanced.”
10/19/2008 @ 3:18 PM
Minh’s Notes
In a word
Edited out of Saturday Night Live’s coverage of the final presidential debate.