Category Archives: Political culture

Oh, irony of ironies…

That alleged liberal stronghold, PBS, has an online poll which asks whether Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as vice-president. I just voted (you have to vote in order to see the results of the poll, and as of a few minutes ago, Palin was receiving a 51% positive vote. So the liberal PBS is going to report that a majority of their Web site visitors think favorably of the conservative Palin. That’s the first irony.

My cousin, Abbie F., let me know about this poll, and suggested that perhaps the Republican base has mobilized their constituency in order to vote in favor of Palin. No doubt she’s right, so they have sent perhaps thousands of their conservative constituents to the PBS Web site. This will cause the number of unique visitors to the PBS site to spike. I would imagine an increase in unique visitors will help PBS demonstrate to grant-making foundations that they deserve additional funding. It will also allow them to charge more for the banner ads that appear in places on their site. That’s the second irony –these conservative folks (who probably hate PBS) are helping to support it.

If you want to vote, too, here’s the link to the poll.

Minor presidential candidate news

If you’re still interested in voting for a third-party candidate, the following news factoids might be of interest to you…

Paris Hilton, who is apparently running a write-in campaign for president, has come out in favor of ratifying Kyoto. She also states that the official presidential vehicle (should she get elected) will be a pink hybrid SUV. She also says that “if you’re going to put lipstick on a pig, make sure it matches her skin tone.” I have to say that Paris is conducting her campaign at a higher level than some Main Stream Candidates. Alas, according to Wikipedia, Paris was born in 1981, and so is nearly twenty years too young to meet the constitutional age requirements for president. Let’s hope she runs again in 2028. [Thanks, Jean, for the link to the video.]

In other minor candidate news, the Elder God Party has announced a comprehensive plan for preventing the kind of financial crisis that is now engulfing the world. In a recent press release, C’thulhu and Shoggoth state that they will personally devour presidents and other executives of banks that have failed since the crisis began. According to their press release, Shoggoth has stated, “Richard Fuld doesn’t expect us to feel sorry for him, so we will eat him.” Fuld is the former president of the failed Lehman Borthers bank, who testified before Congress this fall that he didn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for him.

*gloom*

So here’s my gloomy scenario for the presidential election: Barack Obama loses by a slim margin. Immediately, the whispers begin: “The only reason Obama lost was because he was black.” “The only reason Obama lost was because McCain used racial innuendo, called Obama a Muslim.” The country becomes more divided; the racial divide widens more than anything else. Everything gets really ugly.

Since I am (ethnically speaking) half New England Yankee, and half Pennsylvania Dutch, I am by nature a very gloomy person (this is why I’m a Universalist, I need to know that things will get better after I die). I had convinced myself that a slim loss by Obama would be what would happen. A win by Obama would be just as bad, due to the assassination attempts (being gloomy, I know there would be assassination attempts). Now I am trying to convince myself that McCain will win by a wide margin, since it is the least gloomy scenario for me.

Man, I hate presidential election season. It’s almost as bad as watching the Red Sox lose postseason games. The only thing keeping me from total gloom is that the Yankees aren’t in the World Series.

*gloom*

Can we talk about the issues? Please? Pretty please?…

Rolling Stone magazine is not known for the depth of their political insight, but they are pretty good on cultural commentary. In an October 2, 2008, article, Stone writer Matt Taibbi has this insight about the cultural implications of choosing presidential and vice-presidential candidates:

“The great insight of the Palin VP choice is that huge chunks of American voters no longer even demand that their candidates actually have policy positions; they simply consume them as media entertainment, rooting for or against them according to the reflexive prejudices of their demographic, as they would for reality-show contestants or sitcom characters. [Link]”

U.S. national political discourse now has essentially no relation to issues. It’s all about manipulating the polls. It’s like TV shows which get put on the air, not because they’re good, but because they’ll get good Neilsen ratings and sell ads. It’s like the “recording artists” who get Grammy awards for musically-poor recordings that get aggressively marketed.

The sorry state of U.S. politics goes hand-in-hand with what’s going on in our larger culture. Consumerist greed has combined with anti-intellectualism in the U.S., which is why the presidential race has been degraded to nothing more than a crummy TV show, another episode of “Survivor.” For someone like me whose religious convictions condemn greed and honor the use of reason, all this consumerist greed and anti-intellectualism is, well, sinful. I wish my man Isaiah (you know, the prophet Isaiah) were alive today…

  “Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
   Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: they all loveth lobbyists’ gifts, and followeth after rewards: they defend not the orphan, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
   Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
   And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
   And I will restore thy honest judges as at the first, and thy true statesmen as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
   Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her people with righteousness.
   And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that sin shall be consumed.”

[Isaiah 1.22-28, KJV, slightly modified]

Gotta love those old prophets.

Good neighbors

Here in Massachusetts, come election day we’re going to vote on Question 1, a ballot initiative that proposes to eliminate the state income tax. Opponents include everyone from business people like the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce (“it’s irresponsible”) and union leaders, cops and hippies, the Republican leaders in the Massachusetts House and Senate (“it goes too far”) and Democratic lawmakers. Even so, it could pass. The same ballot initiative appeared in 2002, and got 45% of the vote.

Tonight, I went to a meeting here in New Bedford to begin to organize against Question 1. It was a real mix of people: people of all skin colors from dark brown to pale white like me; people of all ages from self-professed elders to teenagers; people dressed in everything from suits to baggy hiphop pants. I said hi to the people I know, and then the speakers started up. Nurses, cops, teachers, the county DA, people in the non-profit world, human services people, all spoke at this meeting, telling us to vote against Question 1. Some of them spoke well, but basically all they were all preaching to the choir.

Then a firefighter stood up. “I’ve lived in New Bedford for 55 years,” he said. He spoke briefly about why Question 1 would be bad for the fire department. Then he went off in a different vein. “Over the years, in my house up at —— St. — it’s a matter of public record where I live, you can look it up because I’m registered to vote [laughter] — over the years, I’ve put up lawn signs every once in a while. But not much, not often. Then a couple of years ago, I put up a lawn sign in front of my house for my friend Scott Lang, when he was running for mayor. And people, neighbors, they came up to me — are you really going to vote for Scott Lang? — I’d be out in front of my house — tell me why you’re going to vote for him? All these people asking me. And you can do the same thing. The people in this room tonight, you’re the kind of people who are out there picking up trash, being good neighbors, shoveling snow off the sidewalk so the elderly woman down the street can walk — you’re the kind of people who your neighbors respect. When you put a lawn sign outside your house, people are going to pay attention to it.” Then he pointed out the lawn signs at the back of the room, and he was done.

I was standing next to Jose. We turned and looked at each other. “He was good,” said Jose. “Yeah,” I said. Then it was pretty much over. People began to drift out. Lots of people picked up lawn signs; those of us who are apartment dwellers got smaller signs we can put in windows. As I picked up my sign for our front window (“Protect Education. Vote No on Question 1. It’s a reckless idea.”) and headed back home to eat a late dinner, I decided the firefighter was right — the people at that meeting are the kind of people who shovel sidewalks and pick up trash and understand that tax money goes towards helping other people — in short, they’re good neighbors, the kind of people you want to live next door to.

Why I hate talking about politics

I talk with my dad every Sunday evening. Usually we talk about computers, birding, family members, our respective churches, photography, books we’re reading, courses we’re taking — things like that. Tonight we somehow got to talking about politics. It’s not good for us to talk about politics, for while we basically hold similar political views, part of our shared political outlook is that we don’t like the political direction of the United States. Finally dad said, “I’m getting all worked up. Let’s talk about something else.” But by this time it was after ten, and time for me to get ready for bed so I can go to work tomorrow. “I’m not going to sleep well tonight,” said dad. “Neither am I,” I said. “I’m going to make a hot cup of Ovaltine to calm down,” said dad. I’m going to go down and make some nice chamomile tea.

I hate talking about politics. I don’t understand it, I know I’m being manipulated, and it all makes me feel powerless and hopeless. So there’s going to be a politics ban in effect on this blog for the next few weeks, or maybe longer.

Palin and the religious right

Turns out Sarah Palin is aligned with a church that is affiliated with the “Third Wave,” a religious movement so far to the right it was declared heretical by the religious right:

The pastor [of Wasilla Assembly of God], Ed Kalnins, and Masters Commission students have traveled to South Carolina to participate in a “prophetic conference” at Morningstar Ministries, one of the major ministries of the Third Wave movement. Becky Fischer was a pastor at Morningstar prior to being featured in the movie “Jesus Camp.” The head of prophecy at Morningstar, Steve Thompson, is currently scheduled to do a prophecy seminar at the Wasilla Assembly of God. Other major leaders in the movement have also traveled to Wasilla to visit and speak at the church.

The Third Wave is a revival of the theology of the Latter Rain tent revivals of the 1950s and 1960s led by William Branham and others. It is based on the idea that in the end times there will be an outpouring of supernatural powers on a group of Christians that will take authority over the existing church and the world. The believing Christians of the world will be reorganized under the Fivefold Ministry and the church restructured under the authority of Prophets and Apostles and others anointed by God. The young generation will form “Joel’s Army” to rise up and battle evil and retake the earth for God.

While segments of this belief system have been a part of Pentecostalism and charismatic beliefs for decades, the excesses of this movement were declared a heresy in 1949 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and again condemned through Resolution 16 in 2000.

The beliefs and manifestations of the movement include the use of ‘strategic level spiritual warfare’ to expel territorial demons from American and world cities….

Full article.

Well, at least we can say that Sarah Palin isn’t a Biblical literalist. “Strategic-level spiritual warfare” and “Joel’s army” and “Fivefold Ministry” — none of this is in the Bible. They just made this stuff up. I know that as a religious liberal, I’m supposed to be religiously tolerant and all, but this is utter crap. Dangerous crap, too — this is the woman who could be one heartbeat away from the American presidency. God (or someone) help us.

Via.

Third party candidates (mostly right wing, mostly authoritarian)

Even though I hate politics, I thought you might be interested in learning about the third-party candidates running for U.S. president. You’ll find five of them listed below. (Thanks to Melissa for this idea.)

The figures in parentheses are the percentage of the popular vote each party will get according to this August 7-10, 2008, poll. My cynical summary of the political stances of the candidates, which uses the Political Compass scheme, follows the poll numbers. (For comparison, Obama comes out as mildly right wing and mildly authoritarian, while McCain is right wing and authoritarian.)

As you’d expect in American presidential politics, there are no far left candidates, and no extremely libertarian candidates; — rather, the candidates cluster towards right wing and authoritarian. In other words, if you are truly leftist or truly libertarian, you don’t even have a third party candidate you can voter for.

Cynical? Who, me?

How to sell mass market consumer goods in the United States:– Ignore real consumer needs. Create a need that people didn’t know they had. Find a good-looking woman (or a man, but honestly women work better) to pose in videos and photos. Use overheated rhetoric to bring home your half-truths via mass media. Use dishonesty to overcome your competition.

How to sell presidential candidates win elections in the United States: Follow above steps.

The farcical democracy we endure in this country during presidential elections does not strive after goodness, nor does it aim to provide the best life for the populace. It is amoral;– it has no moral content. All that can be said of it is that at its best our democracy has entertainment value; at worst, it is cheap hucksterism trying to sell us a useless commodity.

And no, I don’t think this is a cynical post. I rewrote it several times so as to remove most of the cynicism.