Because It is Late and I am Tired
Sep. 6th, 2008 03:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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sevendeadlyfun and Jack's Supreme Irritation
Rating: R
Warnings: Adult language, strident personal opinions, religion, and RPS (Real Political Smack-talk) Oh come on! You didn't seriously think I wouldn't go there, did you?
Summary: Thomas Jefferson said, "What does it bother me if my neighbor believes in no God or twenty gods? It neither breaks my leg nor picks my mother-fuckin' pocket." Emphasis mine because I'm fairly certain good ol'TJ was much more restrained in his use of the word mother-fuckin'. Can I vote against her now?
A/N: There are some things you just shouldn't read at 3 a.m. This is exactly why.
I've reached the ultimate straw. Not the penultimate, nor the antepenultimate but the actually last motherfuckin' straw. I found it on MSNBC, of all places. What a weird place to keep the ultimate straw, am I right?
But right there, in big bold black and white letters (well, they're black and white on my broswer. Your mileage may vary), I see this repulsive headline, Palin church promotes conversion of gays. Somewhere between clicking on the link and the page loading, I resolved that no matter what happened during the debates or how many brain cells Senator McCain managed to scatter between Arizona and D.C., I would not be voting for this woman.
There has been quite a bit of kerfuffle about Governor Palin as a parent. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I care about her parenting choices. After all, I'm not the one with a disabled child and a pregnant teenager. However, her parenting choices are a reflection of her public beliefs and policies. If you can't convince your own child to abstain from sex, what makes you think you'll have greater success on a national scale?
But I can look beyond the ludicrousness of her belief in an abstinence-only program of sex education (the lack thereof,actually). After all, I can educate my own child about sex (and I have) as well as impressing upon them the importance of contraception and disease prevention. Still, she has other beliefs that I find repugnant and those are less easy to dismiss:
*her publicly stated belief that abortion is a sin and should be illegal, as well as her belief that certain methods of birth control are a form of abortion.
*her stance as an ardent pro-creationist who feels that the Bible should be taught in science classes
*her membership in a church that believes the power of prayer can suborn the sexual preferences of homosexuals and "save" them.
*her public speech in which she classifies the war in Iraq as being a mission from God.
It's interesting how every single one of those issues stems from her religious beliefs. Strike that. It's not interesting, it's terrifying.
The Republican platform has become a staging ground for this hideous religious war. These zealots have co-opted both the party and the public voice of reasonable Republicans. Governor Palin may be a lovely person. She may be (though I doubt) qualified to be the next Vice-President of the United States of America. What she is for certain? A zealot.
I'm tired of having my public voice and my platform stolen by those who claim to represent "the little guy". Governor Palin does not represent me and she will not receive my vote. Her policies differ from the mullahs and ayatollahs of the Middle East only in that it is a Christian theocracy she envisions, rather than a Muslim one.
The Founding Fathers (see, you were wondering how I'd tie this to the summary, weren't you?) may or may not have approved of Governor Palin's brand of religion. Most were religious, some more than others. However, what they would not approve of is the brutish demagoguery she and other political leaders of her stripe engage in. In The Federalist #10, James Madison writes about how "...the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority." This essay about the dangers of "faction" could just as easily be referring to the religious zealots who have overtaken the Republican party as it could "a rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project...".
By proclaiming in her speeches that she is one of us, Governor Palin is inciting the flame of faction that Madison and other Founders feared would render this nation "...much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good." In her determination to impose her personal beliefs on diverse nation, Governor Palin has shown that she is not the type of leader we or the Founders to this nation require.
I'm leaving comments on because I'm not particularly concerned that this will turn into some out of control political flame session and because I welcome all opinions, even the ones I don't. That said, I'm not interested in some sort of huge "Palin for Veep" debate. Your vote is your business and my vote is mine. If you feel she is the most qualified, than obviously you will cast your vote for Senator McCain and the Governor. Don't attempt to persuade me to do likewise.
sevendeadlyfun and Jack's Supreme IrritationRating: R
Warnings: Adult language, strident personal opinions, religion, and RPS (Real Political Smack-talk) Oh come on! You didn't seriously think I wouldn't go there, did you?
Summary: Thomas Jefferson said, "What does it bother me if my neighbor believes in no God or twenty gods? It neither breaks my leg nor picks my mother-fuckin' pocket." Emphasis mine because I'm fairly certain good ol'TJ was much more restrained in his use of the word mother-fuckin'. Can I vote against her now?
A/N: There are some things you just shouldn't read at 3 a.m. This is exactly why.
I've reached the ultimate straw. Not the penultimate, nor the antepenultimate but the actually last motherfuckin' straw. I found it on MSNBC, of all places. What a weird place to keep the ultimate straw, am I right?
But right there, in big bold black and white letters (well, they're black and white on my broswer. Your mileage may vary), I see this repulsive headline, Palin church promotes conversion of gays. Somewhere between clicking on the link and the page loading, I resolved that no matter what happened during the debates or how many brain cells Senator McCain managed to scatter between Arizona and D.C., I would not be voting for this woman.
There has been quite a bit of kerfuffle about Governor Palin as a parent. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I care about her parenting choices. After all, I'm not the one with a disabled child and a pregnant teenager. However, her parenting choices are a reflection of her public beliefs and policies. If you can't convince your own child to abstain from sex, what makes you think you'll have greater success on a national scale?
But I can look beyond the ludicrousness of her belief in an abstinence-only program of sex education (the lack thereof,actually). After all, I can educate my own child about sex (and I have) as well as impressing upon them the importance of contraception and disease prevention. Still, she has other beliefs that I find repugnant and those are less easy to dismiss:
*her publicly stated belief that abortion is a sin and should be illegal, as well as her belief that certain methods of birth control are a form of abortion.
*her stance as an ardent pro-creationist who feels that the Bible should be taught in science classes
*her membership in a church that believes the power of prayer can suborn the sexual preferences of homosexuals and "save" them.
*her public speech in which she classifies the war in Iraq as being a mission from God.
It's interesting how every single one of those issues stems from her religious beliefs. Strike that. It's not interesting, it's terrifying.
The Republican platform has become a staging ground for this hideous religious war. These zealots have co-opted both the party and the public voice of reasonable Republicans. Governor Palin may be a lovely person. She may be (though I doubt) qualified to be the next Vice-President of the United States of America. What she is for certain? A zealot.
I'm tired of having my public voice and my platform stolen by those who claim to represent "the little guy". Governor Palin does not represent me and she will not receive my vote. Her policies differ from the mullahs and ayatollahs of the Middle East only in that it is a Christian theocracy she envisions, rather than a Muslim one.
The Founding Fathers (see, you were wondering how I'd tie this to the summary, weren't you?) may or may not have approved of Governor Palin's brand of religion. Most were religious, some more than others. However, what they would not approve of is the brutish demagoguery she and other political leaders of her stripe engage in. In The Federalist #10, James Madison writes about how "...the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority." This essay about the dangers of "faction" could just as easily be referring to the religious zealots who have overtaken the Republican party as it could "a rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project...".
By proclaiming in her speeches that she is one of us, Governor Palin is inciting the flame of faction that Madison and other Founders feared would render this nation "...much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good." In her determination to impose her personal beliefs on diverse nation, Governor Palin has shown that she is not the type of leader we or the Founders to this nation require.
I'm leaving comments on because I'm not particularly concerned that this will turn into some out of control political flame session and because I welcome all opinions, even the ones I don't. That said, I'm not interested in some sort of huge "Palin for Veep" debate. Your vote is your business and my vote is mine. If you feel she is the most qualified, than obviously you will cast your vote for Senator McCain and the Governor. Don't attempt to persuade me to do likewise.
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no subject
on 2008-09-06 07:18 pm (UTC)Birth control is a form of abortion? Yikes.
That TJ quote would make a great bumper sticker. *ponders*
no subject
on 2008-09-07 07:22 am (UTC)Oh, yeah, irrelevant...
I'm with you. And most historical documents give, at least to me, a pretty clear inkling that Jefferson and some of his political peers were as non-believing of a deity as it was possible to be in that day and age. They were rational men, men of reason, and that's why they were able to see beyond religion in an era where a great religious fervor gripped much of the nation (remember the Salem witch hunts?). But of course they were politicians and so they knew they had to at least sound as religious as the next guy. Palin, now, appears to me to be a true believer, and when you mix that with not with moderation but instead with zealotry, well then you've got me worried if you're a regular citizen and especially worried if you're one of our country's leaders. We don't need the another crusade on our hands to route the infidels, any more than we ourselves need to be routed by other zealots, whatever their religious stamp. Zealots = loony tunes, imo.
You got me started... ;>
no subject
on 2008-09-09 01:01 pm (UTC)Everything you said, given a scientific voice.
Richard Dawkins
He believes religion is a dangerous abberation.
He says only religion can get good people to do bad things.
That woman seriously scares me, and if elected, she's just a heartbeat from the most powerful job in the world.