A Heartbeat too Close

I am inclined to call myself an independent when it comes to political issues. Though most of my choices in the last four years have had Democrat on their party label, a sign for a Republican Candidate for Regional School Superintendent is displayed proudly in our front yard at the moment. The Democratic governor of Illinois is one of my least favorite politicos and if the Republicans put up a decent candidate for his job next time, I would be more than willing to vote for him or her.

My magnanimity ends, however, with the current Republican ticket for President and VP. The addition of Palin to an already suspect self described "maverick" makes me surer than ever that we stand a better chance of getting intelligent, considered governance from the Obama/Biden ticket. I have no desire to fight with ultra right wing conservatives as long as they are happy to confine their beliefs to their own converts. I don't even mind if they attempt to persuade me to support their positions on reproductive choice, sex education, off-shore drilling, gay rights, etc. But when they begin to sound like folks who believe that their God's voice speaks for me and all other citizens, I begin to get uneasy. I get even more unahppy when they then start trying to legislate their values and impose them on others.

It is also hard to understand why the folks who rightly made an issue of Obama's pastor and church membership history should cry fowl when someone else makes an issue of their candidate's religious affiliations. I offer below a view that makes this point as well as a few others.

t r u t h o u t | 09.09

Steve Weissman | Sarah Palin: "A Gidget for God's Truth"
http://www.truthout.org/article/sarah-palin-a-gidget-gods-truth