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Our Other National Passtime |
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Written by Aaron Cynic
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It's about damned time that we stop jabbering about what various "supporters" or "endorsers" or pastors or former teachers, roommates, friends, associates, well wishers, and anyone else that might back this candidate or that. The Jeremiah Wright business was probably the biggest waste of time since Bill Clinton's blowjob. What the man said wasn't even terribly controversial, if you ask me. More importantly, he's not the one running for office. Now McCain has his own problems and though I loathe to take sides with a mouthpiece for the right wing conservatives in this country, I can empathize.
John McCain received an endorsement from Pastor John Hagee, an evangelical Pentecostal preacher who founded the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Hagee is a run of the mill Christian conservative, who's said plenty of things we'd at the very least call anti-semetic, anti-catholic, homophobic, racist, and more. Hagee endorsed McCain and McCain told the world he was glad to receive it. Then a few people pointed out that Hagee, like many of his conservative counterparts, usually spends his time shouting to the rooftops that God hates America and all of our problems stem from the fact that we allow people of other faiths, races, and sexual orientation to roam free. McCain needed to backpeddle a bit and distance himself slightly in the same way that Senator Obama did with Jeremiah Wright.
While Hagee and the late Jerry Falwell may have had a spat or two over semantics (can Jews go to Heaven without accepting Christ?), they buried the hatchet at some point and still agreed on the finer points of Christian evangelicanism (Jews aren't going to Heaven without the help of Christians and homosexuality brought on hurricane Katrina). Reverend John shares similar views with Pat Robertson as well and there's no shortage of red blooded God fearing patriotic Americans willing to back whatever candidate their pastors tell them to. In a system of electioneering where almost everything is scripted, it shouldn't come as a surprise that a candidate (any candidate, for that matter) has no idea that one of their endorsers blamed the Jews themselves for the holocaust in a book. In fact, someone in the McCain campaign did in fact, blame it on short staffing when they were seeking endorsers.
The entire situation is about as novel as a corrupt politican.
Now that McCain is the default republican frontrunner, most conservatives and republicans will have no choice but to back him, just like at the end of the day, democrats and liberals will have no choice but to back Obama or Hilary. Let's cut to the chase - the lines draw themselves clearer every day. I'm surprised both parties (along with the media) haven't already decided where the largest pockets of the coveted "swing votes" are. After all, can anyone honestly believe there's more than a handful of congregates in Jeremiah Wright's parish who will vote Republican? Can anyone honestly believe there's more than a handful of congregates in Hagee's congregation who will vote Democrat? Both camps spent at least 8 years doing their best to polarize voters.
I found a book the other day called "The Dumbest Generation." In the book description, among other complaints such as overuse of technology and lack of book reading, the author laments the fact that young people don't vote and don't care about politics. That's about as novel of an idea as red states supporting republicans and blue states supporting Democrats. Given the "choices" voters have before them and given the information we get from the candidates, should it come as a suprise? American elections have become just another national passtime, with the superbowl once every four years instead of every February.
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