Aftermath
I will try to avoid posting about politics or religion, but here's my two cents' worth three days removed from the election. I live in California, so you can probably guess who was my choice for President. I'm not so out of touch that I just can't possibly understand why folks would want to vote for George Bush and not for John Kerry. But I am baffled by some of the responses from conservatives about what this all means.
Some Christian conservatives truly believe that liberalism is an evil ideology, and they don't hesitate to spout it. They believe that liberalism "vomits upon the morals, values, and traditions we hold sacred: God, family, and country...(liberals) attempt to divide Americans through their relentless warfare against class, ethnic, and religious unity..." on and on ad infinitum. I know a fair number of Christian conservatives, but I don't know anyone who truly believes this stuff. "Morality" played a significant role in this election -- more than any in my memory. And Mr. Bush came across with his image of being a moral man, a guy whose morals and ideals are the same as the people who voted for him, as manufactured and cultivated and cynical as this image really was.
Other people who might not have bought into the whole conservative package nonetheless just couldn't bring themselves to vote for John Kerry with all of his baggage. A fair amount of this baggage was, of course, sliced and diced and served up by the Swift Boaters and the Karl Rovians who distorted facts and just plain lied. A fair amount of this baggage was also reflected in Kerry's voting record in the Senate and his own sometimes convoluted words.
All of what I'm trying to say here has, of course, been said better and more succinctly elsewhere. Maybe Bush does have a mandate. Maybe he does really reflect the morals and values of a majority of people in the country. Maybe Bush and his cronies will truly turn us into a more moral people, turn us all into small business owners, make us all ignore the ridiculous posturing of Hollywood actors and musicians and Michael Moore, and spread democracy throughout the world. I'm not sure if I believe that we've just made the world and our country vastly more dangerous than it has been for the last three years. I'm not sure how history will assess the eight years of George Bush; I won't be around long enough. Frankly, I'm more concerned that people like Sean Hannity, Robert Novak, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and their ilk will be all the more in our faces, believing their own bullshit and convincing more and more people that liberals are evil.
Okay. I'm done now.
Some Christian conservatives truly believe that liberalism is an evil ideology, and they don't hesitate to spout it. They believe that liberalism "vomits upon the morals, values, and traditions we hold sacred: God, family, and country...(liberals) attempt to divide Americans through their relentless warfare against class, ethnic, and religious unity..." on and on ad infinitum. I know a fair number of Christian conservatives, but I don't know anyone who truly believes this stuff. "Morality" played a significant role in this election -- more than any in my memory. And Mr. Bush came across with his image of being a moral man, a guy whose morals and ideals are the same as the people who voted for him, as manufactured and cultivated and cynical as this image really was.
Other people who might not have bought into the whole conservative package nonetheless just couldn't bring themselves to vote for John Kerry with all of his baggage. A fair amount of this baggage was, of course, sliced and diced and served up by the Swift Boaters and the Karl Rovians who distorted facts and just plain lied. A fair amount of this baggage was also reflected in Kerry's voting record in the Senate and his own sometimes convoluted words.
All of what I'm trying to say here has, of course, been said better and more succinctly elsewhere. Maybe Bush does have a mandate. Maybe he does really reflect the morals and values of a majority of people in the country. Maybe Bush and his cronies will truly turn us into a more moral people, turn us all into small business owners, make us all ignore the ridiculous posturing of Hollywood actors and musicians and Michael Moore, and spread democracy throughout the world. I'm not sure if I believe that we've just made the world and our country vastly more dangerous than it has been for the last three years. I'm not sure how history will assess the eight years of George Bush; I won't be around long enough. Frankly, I'm more concerned that people like Sean Hannity, Robert Novak, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and their ilk will be all the more in our faces, believing their own bullshit and convincing more and more people that liberals are evil.
Okay. I'm done now.
posted by Shnookylangston at 10:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home