Friday, January 04, 2008

Fool me twice

Alcides Moreno and his brother fell 47 stories when a scaffold collapsed December 7th in New York. Alcides survived somehow and has regained consciousness. He's expected to recover and even to be able to walk again despite having broken everything.

"You're not going back to work there," says his wife and I'll bet she means it. Republicans in Iowa should be so smart. The economic news is gloomy, foreign companies are buying up all our assets, we're in massive debt to people who don't have our best interests at heart. The specters of recession and inflation are starting to seem real and our wars grind on and on and on. Corruption is rampant, funneling of public funds into private hands is standard procedure, our rights have been trampled on, but Iowa Republicans, at least a plurality of them, seem to want more of the same.

By voting for another Bible Belt Believer with the cognitive inadequacy to reject science and logic, with a preference for the authority of preachers over the law; a guy who shares their hysteria about Mexicans, their fear of "terrorists" and who seems just as much of a small town, foot shuffling mediocrity as they are, they're getting set to go back to work there.

Mike Huckabee? What about somebody who knows economics and finance.? What about somebody who knows the military from the inside, who has had lots of experience with foreign affairs, a background in science and technology? What about someone who can discuss history with the best of them -- what about someone who is the best of them?

We don't need someone to teach Sunday School to 5 year olds. We don't need someone to sit on the bench and discuss this years crops with or have a beer with or quote mistranslated Bible passages with; we don't need Mike Huckabee running or representing this country to the world. If we survive Bush, we don't need to tempt fate by getting back on that same scaffold with the same worn ropes and expect to survive again.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sigh, so true. To me, it was unbelievable when Huckabee and two others denied the process of evolution in order to insure the ultra right christian vote. That one instance told me that all three of them were ignorant or stupid at best or misguided manipulaters.
I can't imagine the "greatest country on earth" electing a leader who is so obviously unqualified, at least not a second time in a row.

Anonymous said...

although i tend to stay out of politics because it is confusing i agree fully with what was stated. Bush is a complete moron and only sees him self and the money he can get through the war and oil. The oil industry doesn't give a damn about the common population as long as they can get money from us not realizing that money doesn't grow on trees. So as you said, it bugs me deeply as a pastors son (im not really that religious though) that we have a even dumber person coming into office. i hope that some time this cycle will end. what has happened to rebellious people, people who will stand up against this crap i for one would do what it would take to end it but i fear that one person alone would vanish all to quickly into todays society. i fear that the US may lose the title greatest country on earth rather quickly if continue down this path
Gavin, 14 years old, Washington

Capt. Fogg said...

I can easily imagine this country doing the same thing again and again. I think the urge for a log cabin born man of the people ( a man as confused and prejudiced as we are) is part of our national psyche. I think we always have been an anti-intellectual country and always will be.

Interesting comments Gavin. I lost my incohate religious feelings when I was a little bit older than you are. I think we lost the right to call ourselves the greatest country on earth a long time ago, if indeed we ever had the right. The more I learn about history, the more I doubt that our past greatness was anything more than bragging.

We have always made life miserable for immigrants and Indians, we have always had viciously racist laws and we have always used our religious phoniness and hypocrisy to justify it. Yes, we have done great things, but that doesn't make us great. In fact we might be a bit greater if we would lose the self-righteousness we have always had.