Politics shmolitics
The Republican party must have some of the most brilliant strategists to ever walk the earth. They have managed to adjust the political scene in this country such that if you aren’t Christian, you are wrong, if you aren’t supportive of the war-du-jour, you are un-American, and if you oppose any action labeled ‘anti-terror’, then you are obviously an Al-Qaeda operative. And here is the part that absolutely astounds me – people bought it! America bought it hook, line and sinker because it is so much easier to blindly follow than to think for yourself. So now, in order to have a fighting chance, a politician, even an intelligent, well intentioned one, has to form themselves to this model of a ‘true American’ who can’t say anything less than praising about the church or our military endeavors lest they be burned at the political stake. We can’t actually be that easy to manipulate, can we?
I am perhaps the most liberal (not progressive – I’m liberal and proud of it) person I know. I believe our taxes should be doubled and education and retirement made a federally funded absolute; I am for free and unfettered access to abortions; I believe all religious endorsements should be removed from federally funded programs including schools, money and congress ; I believe the second amendment should be enforced as it was written: the military needs guns – you don’t; I believe the fight to legalize gay marriage is equivalent to the civil rights movement of the sixties and fifty years from now, we will look back on those who opposed it with shame; I believe the assumption that your brand of government must be the best one out there and should be imposed on those who don’t have it represents the height of hypocrisy; I believe all drugs should be legalized and regulated like alcohol – the government should not be in the business of keeping adults from doing stupid things to themselves unless you want to outlaw fatty foods and cigarettes as well; I believe the idea that a 3600 year old book should form the basis for government because some people have faith but no proof that it is divinely inspired is no less ludicrous than the idea of a government based on the works of Charles Dickens. I believe all these things not because someone told me to or because I read it in a book but because I am intelligent enough to form my own opinions and come to my own conclusions – and so is everyone else out there. Why don’t they? Take care to note I am not suggesting only Republicans blindly follow their party wherever it goes – most Democrats do it too.
Politics is the art of convincing people you’re right without telling them they’re wrong. I would make a horrible politician – not because I tell people they’re wrong (I do, but I’m working on that) but because I’m not certain I’m right. I think I’m right, but I would never stand up and suggest that what I believe must be the absolute truth…absolute truths have a funny way of changing*. So why are our politicians so afraid of standing up and saying “I think this is the way it should be, and my opponent believes differently, so I’ll tell you why I prefer mine and they’ll tell you why they prefer theirs and you can make up your minds by listening to us.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful – instead of “you should vote for me because my opponent beats puppies” politics, we could have “you should vote for me because of my ideas” politics. At the end of the day, we are all on the same side, right?
My name is Nicholas Saadah, and I approved this blog entry.
*see: any history book
I am perhaps the most liberal (not progressive – I’m liberal and proud of it) person I know. I believe our taxes should be doubled and education and retirement made a federally funded absolute; I am for free and unfettered access to abortions; I believe all religious endorsements should be removed from federally funded programs including schools, money and congress ; I believe the second amendment should be enforced as it was written: the military needs guns – you don’t; I believe the fight to legalize gay marriage is equivalent to the civil rights movement of the sixties and fifty years from now, we will look back on those who opposed it with shame; I believe the assumption that your brand of government must be the best one out there and should be imposed on those who don’t have it represents the height of hypocrisy; I believe all drugs should be legalized and regulated like alcohol – the government should not be in the business of keeping adults from doing stupid things to themselves unless you want to outlaw fatty foods and cigarettes as well; I believe the idea that a 3600 year old book should form the basis for government because some people have faith but no proof that it is divinely inspired is no less ludicrous than the idea of a government based on the works of Charles Dickens. I believe all these things not because someone told me to or because I read it in a book but because I am intelligent enough to form my own opinions and come to my own conclusions – and so is everyone else out there. Why don’t they? Take care to note I am not suggesting only Republicans blindly follow their party wherever it goes – most Democrats do it too.
Politics is the art of convincing people you’re right without telling them they’re wrong. I would make a horrible politician – not because I tell people they’re wrong (I do, but I’m working on that) but because I’m not certain I’m right. I think I’m right, but I would never stand up and suggest that what I believe must be the absolute truth…absolute truths have a funny way of changing*. So why are our politicians so afraid of standing up and saying “I think this is the way it should be, and my opponent believes differently, so I’ll tell you why I prefer mine and they’ll tell you why they prefer theirs and you can make up your minds by listening to us.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful – instead of “you should vote for me because my opponent beats puppies” politics, we could have “you should vote for me because of my ideas” politics. At the end of the day, we are all on the same side, right?
My name is Nicholas Saadah, and I approved this blog entry.
*see: any history book
posted by Nicholas at 3:22 PM
5 Comments:
A liberal is a person who believes that water can be made to run uphill. A conservative is someone who believes everybody should pay for his water. I'm somewhere in between: I believe water should be free, but that water flows downhill.
Hello anonymous,
I enjoy Theodor White quotations as well - another great one is "Politics in America is the binding secular religion." In the future though, let's make sure to pay credit where credit is due and list the source of wit that is not our own. Thanks!
-Nicholas
"'you should vote for me because my opponent beats puppies' politics"
Too funny!
Yes, the "puppies" line was a classic, and so true. I wish the focus was more on lining out each issue and how the pols would really vote.
Interestingly, some conservatives agree with you on the legalized drugs topic (you must have missed the articles/ads in your copy of the National Review).
Maybe I misunderstood your "hypocrisy" comment, but in a democracy how do you get away from "imposing" your brand of government on others? If you could vote in favor of all the issues you outlined and convince others to do the same, wouldn't your majority be imposing their will? If there is no foundation for the law, does whatever the majority says become the rule?
We'll have to talk about the "no proof" comment when we get some time.
Looking forward to the next entry in your "shm___" series ("Nutcracker, shmutcracker?")
Hi Neil,
For some reason my copy of the National Review keeps getting lost in the mail ;-)
Actually, my comment about hipocracy was referring to the idea of spreading democracy to other countries. I don't believe that democracy is always the best form of government - of course, that is a subject for an entirely different blog entry likely to be titled "democracy shemocracy." :-)
See you soon!
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