brief political rant

[rm]

Telling me that you know a gay person who likes Palin and that I should therefore calm down about your voting decision that you seem to be waving in my face as some bizarre display of supposed intellectual superiority does not, in any way, make you less obnoxious or less of a bigot. Similarly, bandying about your wild and crazy past does not, in any way, make your casual desire to restrict my freedoms less sinister. And finally, while it may not be personal to you, it's personal to me.

The Republicans keep framing this election in militaristic terms, so let me spell it out for you in words you can understand. You may be in this fight because you like to fight; more power to you. Believe it or not, I really get it. I wish I could be in this fight just for the frivolities of my nature too; might be fun. But I can't.

Elections like this are a fight for my life. And if you think that's hyperbole? Congrats on the luxury.

Comments

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES.

And this is also why I'm not interested in being friends with "love the sinner, hate the sin" types, no matter how courteous they are. Because it's damn well personal for me.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I saw the news today that McCain is up in the polls over Obama. I can't figure it out, except this is the same nation that reads the Enquirer, supports professional "wrestling" and watches people fall into pits of mud for entertainment.

Stupid, stupid people.

I honestly don't know what I will do if he wins. I don't think I can bear it. I really don't.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I never thought I could feel worse after 2000 and then 2004. But here we are.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

Well, my problem with love the sinner hate the sin is that I don't see the sin. I only see the person and those who threaten him or her. Hence I seek to protect the person from those who only see sin.

[idunn.livejournal.com]

"Love the sinner, hate the sin" has struck me as snobby and elitist, like a back-handed compliment. Hey, you're great! Just, you know, I'm better than you!

I hate that saying, and that some people actually find it a good motto to live by. So judgmental, and of people who are supposedly your friends. Sure.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

Amen to all of that.

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

I was thinking EXACTLY this about the Canadian elections today. My neighbors have a Conservative sign up and, you know what, that changes the total relationship I have with these people. They don't want me to have the same rights as other people. End file. It's not histrionics, it's reality, and it fucking SUCKS. If the people on the other end don't like it, they can change, because I'm not going anywhere.

[askeladden.livejournal.com]

I know a gay person who likes Palin. On Saturday I had to try to convince him to vote for Obama in ASL. Not easy given my rudimentary knowledge of the language, but I did my damnedest, and I'll keep trying.

[rm.livejournal.com]

You, thankfully are not telling me this in the context of "And that's why I'm not a bad person for voting for McCain."

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

I don't even live in your country and I am screamingly devastated by the unmitigated evil and stupidity I see brewing. I cannot imagine what it is to live in it.

[askeladden.livejournal.com]

I think there are some people out there who honestly, in good faith, do not realize how scary these fuckers actually are. When I encounter them, I start talking, with as much reason and respect and hard fact as I can muster, and I ain't gonna shut up until November. We need them desperately.

[askeladden.livejournal.com]

I should add that there are some people who are just dicks, and your "fight for the sake of fighting" person sounds like one. Debate is not the ideal strategy in that case.

[placate-me.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are lots of self hating minorities that will vote the McCain/Palin ticket. I find it to be terrifying and offensive. Unfortunately, I take it personally enough to sever ties with those that can get behind a political party that believes in stripping people of rights.

2000 was bad. 2004 was horrible. If Obama is not elected, I don't even know...

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah. This is not a case of ignorance, at least on the positions of the Republicans.

[sethg]

Presidential candidates always go up in the polls, temporarily, after the party convention; not surprising, since the convention gives them a few days of free and mostly-unrebutted advertising.

We'll have a better sense of the race in a week or two, after that "convention bump" has faded, after the next "significant election event that everyone wants to talk about" happens, and after more individual state polls come in. (The swing states this year are apparently Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, and Virginia, and judging from the FiveThirtyEight.com chart, they haven't been polled since August.)

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

Yes, but Obama is still winning in terms of electoral votes. (http://www.electoral-vote.com/) The overall poll numbers can be interesting, but they can be quite misleading since we don't elect on a straight popularity vote. This is actually the farthest up I've seen Obama per the college. It's encouraging.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I have been trying to be so freaking understanding to people with other political views, but...it's almost impossible. And reading this, I remember that it probably should be impossible.

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

This year is worse according to a lot of indicators. At least in 2004 the log cabin republicans wouldn't endorse Bush. They just gave their blessings to McCain-Palin (http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/log_cabin_republicans_endorse.php). I don't know what crack they're smoking.

I've been a 3rd party member for my entire adult life but at this point I'm thinking of changing my registration to democrat because living in a two party system is far better than another 4 years of the Bushmen.

[coriander.livejournal.com]

Yep! I understand.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

As a Catholic who believes in original sin (and in the idea that no person is more or less sinful than another), love the sinner, hate the sin has always seemed kind of ridiculous to me. And as phrases like this are typically trotted out to disprove of one 'sin' that people think is somehow greater than greed, pride, extravagance and conceit (typically any kind of sex that isn't vanilla and hetero), they're not only redundant, but sinister and rather prideful.

[kessie.livejournal.com]

Telling me that you know a gay person who likes Palin and that I should therefore calm down about your voting decision that you seem to be waving in my face as some bizarre display of supposed intellectual superiority does not, in any way, make you less obnoxious or less of a bigot.

...seriously? Dear humanity, please don't make me hate you anymore than I already do. Ugh.

[alterjess.livejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, polls for the the week following a convention tend to be fairly meaningless - they will ALWAYS show the party who was most recently on television in the lead. (Which is depressing in and of itself, but slightly less so than thinking people will really be voting the way they say they might be the week right after the RNC.)

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

Wow. I wonder if they have any campaign information in ASL. If not, they really should.

[sethg]

Interesting comment here on the state of the race:

The McCain campaign wanted to frame this election on experience, but had to abandon that when the polls didn't move. The surge issue has likewise attracted no great interest. Although McCain continues to discuss it, as a theme, he has ditched it in favor of this murky "change/reform" theme. (By selecting Sarah Palin, the campaign has officially ceded the point.) This all works to Obama's advantage because if the discussion becomes one of change, it must necessarily shift to policy--the last place McCain wants to go. But he's backed himself into a corner.

[sethg]

Telling me that you know a gay person who likes Palin and that I should therefore calm down

"Some of my best friends...."