Many of you will know this feeling. Your father, an otherwise intelligent and thrifty man, will vote for the silver haired gent who owns 11 houses and thinks 5 million barely breaks middle class. McCain may seem the least responsible steward of the economy you could imagine, and yet, your father will vote for him. Your mother, respectful, tactful, generally wise, will offer her franchise to a woman who likens herself to a pitbull with lipstick. Your sister and brother in law, though in principal against war and violence in the abstract, will vote for war in violence in the here and now to encourage, in the abstract, the distant possibility of a Supreme Court appointment that will overturn Roe V. Wade, sending thousands of mothers with unwanted pregnancies to bloody back alleys again.
It's not like these are stupid or uninformed people. Perhaps even they've seriously considered the consequences of their actions. But have they thought about the future they are voting in? Do they understand that Sarah Palin doesn't think that global warming is necessarily a man made phenomena, and thinks that 'drill here, drill now' is a swell rallying cry, and hasn't met a wolf she hasn't tried to shoot? Do they know her nearly hysterical fundamentalist attitudes toward gay rights, her efforts to ban books written by and about homosexuals? Do they know that a conclusive committee of 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats said that she abused her power in trying to a have son-in-law fired from the Alaskan police force and in firing a police supervisor who courageously carried out the letter of the law in refusing her petty dictatorial desires? Do they know about John McCain's previous 'pro-choice' stance? Do they think he is now truly a principled carrier of the 'pro-life' aspidistra and not just one more political opportunist, working their heart strings for an easy 'Catholic' vote. Do they know that his chief foreign policy aide, Randy Scheunemann, was a major neoconservative, a founder of the hawkish Committee for the Liberation of Iraq and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Iraqi exile and Pentagon favorite, Ahmad Chalabi. In short, one of the chief architects of the Iraqi war? Did they not hear the bellicose cries of John McCain condemning Obama for wanting to negotiate with 'enemies' and instead singing half heartedly that we might 'bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran?'
Did they think it was really a joke when Sarah Palin suggested that we are --at this very moment -- actually at war with Iran? You could almost hear Randy Scheunemann cheering from the peanut gallery. War with Iran, after all, is part and parcel of the neoconservative 'global strategy'.
But they will be good, pious Catholics, voting 'pro-lfe', it seems. Their piousness is worn out at this late stage. Is it really possible that they don't understand their principle of 'life' is being played like a fiddle by liars in high places,and has been for the last two decades? Do they care so much about their assertions and so little for everything else in our society that they would destroy distant cities and nations--for the sake of constitutionally forcing a woman to bear an unwanted child?
I hope not. God help them to vote with a clear mind and a clear heart.
Maybe they could take a hint from this ardent conservative --Jonathan Curley-- who ended up canvasing for Obama and wrote about his experience for the Christian Science Monitor...
(from http://www.csmonitor.com/...
Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.
I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.
Curly, who is white, went on to describe canvasing for Obama in some of the poorest black areas of Charlotte, North Carolina. He described announcing the surprise of those who answered the doors and then announcing that... "We're from the Obama campaign,"
And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.
Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.
Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted
Here is his conclusion.
I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.
My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.
Amen.