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Most of us are familiar with the famous quote from the philosopher George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". The key word there is "condemned".
Sarah Palin is apparently another devout follower of "triumphalist" Christianity,as opposed to the far more progressive "penitent" Christianity so often associated with the actual life and pastoral teachings of Jesus. Triumphalists seem to be trapped in Manichean absolutes of Good vs. Evil, see the world as Black and White, with no Grays allowed, portray Christ as a God who helps football players score touchdowns, poor people get super-rich, one nation kick the crap out of another nation, and keeps homosexuals in the closet for life, or risk humiliation, stoning or worse. Their Christ seems to love global corporations, gas-guzzling SUV's, rampant American materialism and mindless consumption ("The American Way of Life"), endless billions of taxpayer treasure spent on obsolete weapons systems, but NOT on body armor or "hardened" Humvees, and the immoral conundrum of ending abortions and executing criminals, "pro-life" and "pro-death"...a twofer. They're gung ho for The Rapture, which will take place in Israel, where all of us demon Jews who don't get saved in time will go down to the fires of Hell while they, the true chosen ones, will float up to Heaven. THIS is what Sarah Palin and her ilk believe in. "Jerry Falwell in a dress" is a great image, and she has the added power of not looking remotely like Falwell.
We've seen, heard and read about this all before, deconstructed ad infinitum during the Bush administration, especially around the time he banned stem cell research and during the Terry Schiavo ordeal. Here it is AGAIN! McCain is either the ultimate bone-headed fool in this farce, because he didn't take the time to vet this woman and fully understand her extreme regressivism, or he's the ultimate cynic, because he did in fact know what he was getting, and he went and got it anway, and sold it to the electorate as a "brilliant choice"!
Despite a mountain of previous reporting and disclosure on the virulent tendencies and extremism of Christian triumphalism, despite Bush pledging allegiance to this worldview for 8 years, despite his disastrous record underscoring his historic unpopularity, despite McCain's documented status as his political buttboy, despite all this, a significant segment of the electorate is going "gaga" over Falwell-In-A-Dress, a female candidate who believes abortion should be prohibited even after rape or incest! "White women" are up 13% for McCain. Who, in God's name, are these white women? God only knows, and we are all condemned.
