Blog the Vote
Some thoughts on the election

I'm finding it hard to get excited or upset about the results. There are a few that I am happy about.

1) Tom Daschle is gone. Some personalities in Congress have, in my view, perpetuated the cancerous divisiveness that has characterized the last decade and a half. Daschle is one of them. Now if we could just get rid of Tom Delay.
2) Oklahoma passed it's Tobacco tax, although I'm amazed that it had the slimmest margin of any of the other state questions. Give us gambling! Give us a lottery! But don't tax our cigarettes!
3) It didn't drag on for three weeks. A little bit of excitement is nice, and I didn't want the whole thing to be over at 9pm, but I had to admit relief when Kerry conceded today.

A lot of other stuff just confuses me, and I'd like some input on this:

1) Why exactly is it that people get so indignant about the war in Iraq, either for it or against it. I mean, how many of us voters really know what went on, what the President knew and when he knew it? I've done some research, but not much, and the conclusion I came to is that it wasn't a great idea (but I NEVER thought it was a great idea, because I'm really cautious of nation building operations), but with what information it LOOKS LIKE the President had, I can't be too sure I wouldn't have made a similar decision. So what does everyone else know about the war that I don't, for it or against it?
2) Why do people assume that either candidate is a devil/man of God? I got an email the other day. Here's an excerpt:

I believe anyone that does not vote on Tuesday is sinning and anyone that votes for Kerry is committing an even greater sin! We not only need President Bush but we need members of the U.S. House and Senate that will support those he will appoint to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court.

This election is a worldview battle, a battle between good and evil....it is a spiritual battle. This is it folks.....if Kerry wins and
he appoints Judges to the U.S. Supreme Court; America is lost.

I got on a discussion board to discuss these thoughts, and the response was "Kerry's not the devil, Bush is!" This mentality absolutely scares the crap out of me. It's not only irrational, but it's destructive. Do we not learn anything just by being alive? When was the last time a political party brought us to ruin? When was the last time a political party led us to the gates of utopia? It doesn't happen. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Some policies will enhance our economy, others will detract from it, but no political party will be responsible for making us either a Godly nation or bringing our nation to destruction. Both parties are reflections of necessary elements to our republic, and the conflict between them has been programmed into our system from day one. And demonizing individuals in those parties doesn't help anything. Obviously, if a person is corrupt, then they should be tossed out, but being a Republican/Democrat does not make one corrupt in and of itself!

3) It doesn't bother me that one party controls both houses and the Presidency, although I must admit that I'm traditionally a Republican voter. But I will say that, if you are a staunch Republican, the pressure is on. You'd better make it count, because if things get jacked up, you won't have anyone to blame but yourselves now. If you don't like Republicans, I encourage you to not start acting like the world is coming to an end, and thus give in to the same irrationalism as our evangelical friend quoted above. Rather, realize that there is the possibility, however slim, that things MIGHT get better, and if they don't, and enough of the rest of the country agrees with you, you can vote the rats out in two years. I'll help you.

That's enough for now, although I reserve the right to say more later. I know that we don't often get political. I thought it'd be fun to have a political discussion, especially considering the climate right now. Some come on, you liberals! You conservatives! Let's have a clean, good, old-fashioned argument.

By the way, if anyone would like to drop a friendly, constructively-critical email to our evangelical friend quoted above, here is his email address: brannon@worldviewweekend.com
posted by Stephen at 4:00 PM | |