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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
That's what I was thinking--is his first wife dead or something? Or, as is so often the case, has pride and ambition kept him from ever seriously looking back at such trivialities as that whole "first marriage" thing?
Better to move on with a new, younger wife, and then ruminate about it all later, in front of a huge national audience (that included the new wife.)
What a dick.
Obama wasn't going to dominate this one going in. Evangelicals are a mixed crowd, but plenty of them have a Republican fixation that no mere incompetance, lies or foolishness can shake. They are also organized and activist, and that makes them dangerous enemies. Obama had to show them that he wasn't the antiChrist or a Black Panther, and I think he did that. Some of the audience are certain to be as rabidly anti-Obama as the PUMA freaks, but if he managed to reassure others, then these reachable ones may not feel the need to drag themselves out of bed at 4 am to battle the forces of evil. If so, it's a win.
As for McCain, he won too. Slogans and macho posturing pass for decisiveness and manly virtue among many, and those sorts got an ear full of what they wanted. Likewise, his self-serving, exhaustively practised tales from the war proved themselves (long, long ago) able to produce a blush of pleasure and awe among folks with duller lives.
It is widely noted that McCain does best in front of a live audience. It wasn't too obvious last night, perhaps because it mostly comes out when the audience is less in thrall, but he seems to me like a weakling in constant need of validation. Sometimes he delivers his tales of wartime heroism while his eyes wander pleadingly around the audience, desperate for approval. I'd predict that if he makes president, we're all in for some pretty weird stuff.
In order to be a christian in the eyes of republicans you have to hate gays, stick your nose into other people's bedrooms, and...well...not much else.
I don't think Jesus had a whole lot to say about either one of those things but he sure had a lot to say about poverty and helping the poor. How exactly did a religion that was basically set up to root for the underdogs and teach respect for others become the weapon of rich elitists to get power by using hate? That has to be the biggest inverse of a philosophy since...well...since the Roman church turned all those pagan holidays into christian ones.
Since the article is about him, I'm not a huge fan of Warren either. I still beleive he is a hack for the republican party who is just trying to deflect some of the rightful criticism the evangelical movement has gained the past few years. If he smiles enough and talks about the environment (depending on who he backs this year should show you how much of a priority that actually is to him) and poverty you might be willing to overlook the fact that he still thinks gays should be treated as second class citizens and giving tax breaks to the rich (of which he is one) will benefit the economy.
The past decade I have lost my faith, literally, because of the corrupt marraige of church and state that this country has had to endure for the past eight years but even before then I saw that the religoius right were taking over and the definition of freedom itself was in great jeporady. This has to end. We cannot allow the litmus test for office be what magic sky daddy someone hopes is up there.
So...are neckties officially dead now ? The photo on Salon's article shows McCain, Warren and Obama all going for the business casual look. I didn't watch the actual program, but from what I hear this seems like it was intended to be a rather decorous affair.
I've heard whispers about the necktie imminently going the way of the brim-hat...and I have to say, I don't like it one bit.
As a balding man, I still consider JFK's greatest moral failing to be nailing the coffin shut on classy men's hats. I guess with his thick, rich head of Irish-American hair, he never thought of the impact on us porcupines.
Judging by some of these letters, there are some judgmental atheists out there!
What's wrong with Obama appearing before a large Christian group? So most of the evangelicals won't vote for him. Maybe he'll convince ten per cent of them; that's millions of votes!
Likewise, most white men aren't going to choose Obama (white men haven't voted for a Democratic candidate since 1964). But if 44 per cent of them cast ballots for Obama, he's in. Should Obama not make an effort for those votes?
Unfortunately, presidential politics is all about making appeals to various interest groups, especially in "battleground" states, and hoping to patch together an electoral majority. No one is geting a landslide this year, and Obama's campaign isn't going to write off a big chunk of the electorate. (Evangelical Christians are given much credit for electing one of their own, Jimmy Carter, in the close 1976 election, before Reagan pulled them to the Republicans.)
All evangelicals are not alike. Abortion is not the only issue on Christians' minds, and 35 years after Roe, many can accept the status quo. Millions of evangelicals are unhappy with the Iraq war, and the younger ones are closer to the Democrats on environmental issues.
I thought Obama did fine, and I bet he changed more than a few hearts and minds.
Right-wingers themselves have observed that McCain's story about the Christian guard in the POW camp is not really about McCain's faith, but about his guard's faith. In this story, the guard takes the risk in identifying his beliefs and living by his principles. What has McCain's faith actually done for him? How did it help him when or after he tried to commit suicide, when or after he signed a confession to crimes he didn't commit? He. Will. Not. Say.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
