Things Political

I am doing my best to stay away from things political. It is a difficult for me. I am a trained political scientist. PhD even. Not talking about things political is difficult for me, I hope you understand. Older I get the more I realize how much I don’t know. It is true that I spent most of my life reading books about politics and considering the grand questions but, truth is, I am no better informed of things political than any other citizen. What I have learned is that I am a single voice. I have an obligation to make that voice meaningful in direct proportion to the intent to which I want our society to be just and kind.

My faith in Jesus tells me that just and kind are things to be sought.

That leads me to the conclusion that I cannot hide my political feelings beneath a bushel. To shy away from difficult issues is to let chance decide fate. Do you truly believe that your vote is essential in an election? I do. Never doubted that how I voted mattered.

Voting means there is opinion. Since I vote, I have opinions. In several entries here I have expressed some of my opinions. Those opinions did not resonate well with some of my closest friends. Sadly, they are no longer friends. I miss them mucho. But, keeping my friends would have meant that I stay away from things political. And, while I am doing my best to do so, I am battling my responsibilities as a citizen to decide elections and make difficult selections. As a citizen, I have to make judgments. I was assailed once because I was judgmental. Well, yes, I am. I have opinions. Some of my opinions are particularly important to me. To betray them by renouncing what I truly believe is a big lie. It is dishonest. So, I had friends who would remain my friend if I would lie, betray my honest judgment of a politician or policy. Much to my regret, I sacrificed the friend.

So, what are some of those simple truths that I believe? Here is one that I expressed several times before: Obama is an amateur and should be defeated. He is a community organizer, nothing more. Here are more. Joe Biden is an idiot. Partitioning Iraq? Global tax? He is the crown prince of zany. The Tea-baggers are unguided missiles, the American version of the Taliban. George W was not the moron that the Left portrayed him. In fact, the democratization of Iraq will eventually be determined to be the root trigger for the Arab Spring. It will take a generation of Bush-hating historians to pass before the real history is written. Never trust the historians of the present. History is like bread. It has to proof before it is edible. Few, if any, in Congress deserve being reelected. Most ought to be declared hazards to the State. Chaney, if tried, would deserve the title war criminal.

There, that should be enough to convince what few friends I have left that I have lost my mind and deserve renunciation. Oddly, I feel better for admitting my citizenship with all the incumbent responsibilities. I am a citizen and I vote. I care deeply for our country. I will not permit tempered acceptance to dictate how I care for our democracy.