Religious Right?

I've read plenty of analyses of how the American conservative right captured the hearts and minds of the faithful. These have been mostly discussions of the tactics; appeals and alignment on social issues (abortion, women's rights, gay rights), making sure that each and every Republican candidate makes the appropriate obsequious noises to god and country, prayer breakfasts and prayer meetings. What I haven't heard adequately explained is why.

Conservatives - politicians in general - are no more or less religious than the rest of us. In fact, given the level of the compromises made to their values daily, I would argue that as a class politicians may be less religious than just about any group in the country except scientists. And citizens who profess faith to one of the major religious cults and their offshoots - supposedly based on the good deeds of some ahistorical figure - should be looking to ally themselves with the party that makes care for their fellow citizens a prime plank in their platform. To borrow one of their own phrases, "what would Jesus do?" So how did that all go so wrong?

The Republican Party has become the party of the white, wealthy elite; that is self obvious. And yet, through the tactics I mentioned above they have captured the reactionary religious factions of the deep south and in a fair bit of the rest of the country. Getting these folks to consistently vote against their own and their children's best interests. But why? Their aims are not the same - at least not the aims they both profess daily. So the Republicans have thrown on the cloak of religion to capture a pretty large voting block, but to those who observe closely, these two groups just don't fit well together. What is it about the faithful do Republicans want (besides their vote)?

Their blind faith.

If someone can believe - against all scientific evidence to the contrary - that the world was created in six days just 10,000 years ago they will believe in Trickle Down Economics. If they believe that the Koran was dictated directly into the ears of a first century man in the Levant by god they will believe that the President was born in Kenya. If they believe that they can speak in tongues with little flames dancing over their heads, they will believe - despite mountains of evidence - that anthropocentric global climate change is a hoax. If they believe that an early first century Jewish teacher - who may or may not have ever actually existed - was the literal "son of god" they'll believe that corporations are people. If they believe any or all of the above, they'll believe just about anything you tell them.

That's why the Right has courted the religious in America. Their ideas and theories have been tested and found wanting many times. They were losing voters; they could see the future and it was not all white men nodding their heads sagely at the preachings of rich white men at the head of businesses looking only to improve the bottom line. But they were not in a hurry to let go of their power or their money. Maybe other writers have come to the same conclusion but I'm sure the editors of major publications would never let this be written for public consumption. In any case, I've never read this anywhere else. But it makes perfect sense. In a twisted kind of way.

And it scares the hell out of me.

Lost in the Wilderness

It's where lots of pundits are saying the GOP will spend the next several years. And it wouldn't be a bad thing if that stretched into decades. But to me it's where I wish the media would leave Sarah Palin.

Please.

She cost McCain - if not the election - at least a lot of votes. She cost the GOP what little credibility they had left. And most of all - she's an idiot.

On Hardball last night, Chris Matthews asked a GOP guest, who had claimed Palin was ignorant of the world but not stupid, whether if you were still ignorant in your forties, weren't you, de facto, stupid? It was a brilliantly obvious question. The only answer to which is a resounding YES.

So please; I don't care if she's making moose chili back in Wasilla. I don't care about her ignorant, pregnant daughter or her pot-smoking future son-in-law and I most assuredly do not care about the first dude anymore. Her and the rest of the Wasilla Hillbillies have had their 15 minutes. In fact it was old after about five.

Don't Hope. Don't Pray. Vote!

There are hopeful signs everywhere that things are about to change. Obama remains ahead by way more than the margin of error nationally. Pundits and poll watchers are already saying the "L" word.

But the past two Presidential Elections have proved nothing if not that the Republican machine - levers firmly in the grasp of the likes of Cheney, Rove and their PNAC friends - will do anything to maintain that grasp. This win needs to be a true blow-out, a real landslide. We have to show what a true mandate looks like. So that we can send the Republican reprobates, if not off to jail, then at least scuttling back under the rocks from which they came.

Don't hope. Hope without action is only wishful thinking.

Don't pray. If you believe, it certainly won't hurt anything on its own, but without action it's only wishful thinking.

Vote. It is only action that counts now.

And between now and the time you pull the lever or press the touch-screen or make your mark on the ballot, commit to action. Call to get out the vote. Tell your neighbor or coworkers to vote. Drive someone to the polls.

Only when the election is called, only when enough Electoral votes have been amassed, then - and only then - can you relax.

I'm Undecided About Undecideds

Who, in this age of instant and pervasive information, could really - honestly - be undecided about who to vote for this year?

Even Osama bin Laden knows enough about the candidates to have decided he likes the prospects of fighting us into bankruptcy better if McCain's in office. From his famous (apocryphal) cave in Pakistan he's been able to garner enough data to make a decision. So how is it that there are still Americans who are undecided?

I thought I had made up my mind that they must be idiots. Then I decided that maybe they are what they call "low-information voters." But I sort of figured that was just another name for an idiot.

Now I can't make up my mind. What do you think?