briefly, on politics
I'm a little reluctant to post this for two reasons. First, I'd hate for anyone to rip on my dad, a longtime Republican, because while he and I do not always agree on politics, I am very grateful that he is very thoughtful in how he votes and because he has always had the grace to respect my decisions and thinking while pushing me to articulate it honestly and well. He has really modeled respecting difference. Second, because I'm bringing religion into it, and that's awkward. I don't talk much about my religious beliefs here, because I think mostly folks would find it incredibly tedious, but I think maybe not enough from this side of the line (Christian progressive) gets said. I realize there's some insider language that I'm not explaining ("kingdom of God" in particular) and I apologize if that gets in the way. I'm just going to present the emails we wrote to each other today, and hopefully, they say something useful.
Lastly, posting this does make me feel a bit exposed.
I do want to note first-off that my dad has been yearning to vote for Obama, because he believes a lot more in the sincerity of Obama's religious faith and also would be ashamed of himself for failing to vote for the first black president. He likes Obama a lot, but Obama is also really liberal for my dad's comfort. Second, I go to Regent College, not Regent University. The latter has ties to Jerry Falwell, so we're tetchy about the distinction.
My Gmail chat status messages today included links to this comic strip and that Palin debate flowchart.
Dad dropped me an email:
Hi there. Saw your away message and teh websites posted. Didn't find them particularly funny or clever, but some with a warped sense of humor may enjoy them (ha, ha). However, I did see an interview with some Fox iinterviewer which rather disgusted me. He asks her about Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with aand, now after the original question wask posed and she has been prepped she says, "I shouldn't have been so glib in my response to that question..." and then she quickly almost breathlessly rattles off three Supreme Court decisions. I thought maybe she could have cited the Supreme Court decision in the early 1800's on the establishment of the National Bank, or maybe the Dred Scot decision, or maybe Brwon v. Board of Education as activist court. Suddenly it occurred to me that I actually can vote for Obama: CA is a safe state for Obama, my vote for McCain really doesn't matter. So I can have my cake and eat it too: I can vote for the first black candidate and not worry that my vote helped the most liberal member of the senate who will nominate Supreme Court justices I will find objectionable. Glad I'm not in a state where my vote would matter.
Also, her financials were released by the McCain committee. She filed an extension, owes taxes and will pay penalty interet, and paid $7500 to charity in the last 2 years. So much for the 10% tithe.
Love,
Daddy
I replied:
Hi Daddy,
I think they're funnier when one's familiar with the general vein of humor they're coming from--also that they're as much (or more!) expressing frustration than eliciting just a giggle. I think there's a deep well of exasperation bordering on rage that they stem from, since the cartoonist and blogger responsible for the respective pieces are pretty young (I bet both are under 30), and people in that age range--particularly those using the internet as a platform for their creative endeavors--feel incredibly helpless over the future they're facing at right now. If McCain were to win, I think the despair that would result for them would totally eclipse what people felt in '04.
So that probably doesn't make them any funnier, but maybe they make a little more sense.
Read about that Palin interview, and how she griped that she was getting a "pop quiz" from Katie Couric and Couric wouldn't let Palin talk about what Palin wanted to talk about. The McCain/Palin campaign's understanding of the press's responsibilities towards a candidate probably says a lot about how the press has failed over the last eight years, with their comments about how Palin would talk to the press when they showed appropriate "respect and deference" and then this, with Palin apparently thinking an interview on national television means she gets to repeat her convention performance. Gross. Several political writers noted that a Supreme Court case she should've mentioned was the one that HUGELY reduced the penalties for the Exxon Valdez spill that Exxon was supposed to pay, a decision she apparently vociferously protested...but, eh, couldn't be bothered to remember.
Someone else noted that she undermined her own folksy, caring family woman image during the debate last night when Biden became visibly emotional talking about the death of his first wife and daughter--and her response was to prattle on about what a maverick McCain is, rather than again affirm the strong family bonds that both she and Biden prize. I don't know. I'm so tired of her. And the election is still a month away. I overheard someone saying yesterday, "I think she worked incredibly hard to become governor of Alaska. I just wish she'd stay there." Amen.
Sorry for venting. I just got an email update from a Regent friend who is now back in California, and while he's doing far better to plunge ahead in hope and faith than I'd be able to, things are tough, and a remark he made stuck with me, that sometimes he is so disheartened about how little the church looks like the kingdom of God. The comment about Palin not tithing just triggered that all over again, and I know so much of my own frustration is that a woman who has thousands, if not millions, of people praying for her seems in her own decisions seems so little to mirror the kingdom, also.
Oh, sometimes I feel like that Lily Tomlin line--no matter how cynical I get, it's impossible to keep up! So I am rereading poetry by RS Thomas, because I think he struggled greatly with cynicism too, and reminded himself we're called to another way to be.
Love you. Hope I get to talk to you this weekend.
Love,
Elizabeth
Lastly, posting this does make me feel a bit exposed.
I do want to note first-off that my dad has been yearning to vote for Obama, because he believes a lot more in the sincerity of Obama's religious faith and also would be ashamed of himself for failing to vote for the first black president. He likes Obama a lot, but Obama is also really liberal for my dad's comfort. Second, I go to Regent College, not Regent University. The latter has ties to Jerry Falwell, so we're tetchy about the distinction.
My Gmail chat status messages today included links to this comic strip and that Palin debate flowchart.
Dad dropped me an email:
Hi there. Saw your away message and teh websites posted. Didn't find them particularly funny or clever, but some with a warped sense of humor may enjoy them (ha, ha). However, I did see an interview with some Fox iinterviewer which rather disgusted me. He asks her about Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with aand, now after the original question wask posed and she has been prepped she says, "I shouldn't have been so glib in my response to that question..." and then she quickly almost breathlessly rattles off three Supreme Court decisions. I thought maybe she could have cited the Supreme Court decision in the early 1800's on the establishment of the National Bank, or maybe the Dred Scot decision, or maybe Brwon v. Board of Education as activist court. Suddenly it occurred to me that I actually can vote for Obama: CA is a safe state for Obama, my vote for McCain really doesn't matter. So I can have my cake and eat it too: I can vote for the first black candidate and not worry that my vote helped the most liberal member of the senate who will nominate Supreme Court justices I will find objectionable. Glad I'm not in a state where my vote would matter.
Also, her financials were released by the McCain committee. She filed an extension, owes taxes and will pay penalty interet, and paid $7500 to charity in the last 2 years. So much for the 10% tithe.
Love,
Daddy
I replied:
Hi Daddy,
I think they're funnier when one's familiar with the general vein of humor they're coming from--also that they're as much (or more!) expressing frustration than eliciting just a giggle. I think there's a deep well of exasperation bordering on rage that they stem from, since the cartoonist and blogger responsible for the respective pieces are pretty young (I bet both are under 30), and people in that age range--particularly those using the internet as a platform for their creative endeavors--feel incredibly helpless over the future they're facing at right now. If McCain were to win, I think the despair that would result for them would totally eclipse what people felt in '04.
So that probably doesn't make them any funnier, but maybe they make a little more sense.
Read about that Palin interview, and how she griped that she was getting a "pop quiz" from Katie Couric and Couric wouldn't let Palin talk about what Palin wanted to talk about. The McCain/Palin campaign's understanding of the press's responsibilities towards a candidate probably says a lot about how the press has failed over the last eight years, with their comments about how Palin would talk to the press when they showed appropriate "respect and deference" and then this, with Palin apparently thinking an interview on national television means she gets to repeat her convention performance. Gross. Several political writers noted that a Supreme Court case she should've mentioned was the one that HUGELY reduced the penalties for the Exxon Valdez spill that Exxon was supposed to pay, a decision she apparently vociferously protested...but, eh, couldn't be bothered to remember.
Someone else noted that she undermined her own folksy, caring family woman image during the debate last night when Biden became visibly emotional talking about the death of his first wife and daughter--and her response was to prattle on about what a maverick McCain is, rather than again affirm the strong family bonds that both she and Biden prize. I don't know. I'm so tired of her. And the election is still a month away. I overheard someone saying yesterday, "I think she worked incredibly hard to become governor of Alaska. I just wish she'd stay there." Amen.
Sorry for venting. I just got an email update from a Regent friend who is now back in California, and while he's doing far better to plunge ahead in hope and faith than I'd be able to, things are tough, and a remark he made stuck with me, that sometimes he is so disheartened about how little the church looks like the kingdom of God. The comment about Palin not tithing just triggered that all over again, and I know so much of my own frustration is that a woman who has thousands, if not millions, of people praying for her seems in her own decisions seems so little to mirror the kingdom, also.
Oh, sometimes I feel like that Lily Tomlin line--no matter how cynical I get, it's impossible to keep up! So I am rereading poetry by RS Thomas, because I think he struggled greatly with cynicism too, and reminded himself we're called to another way to be.
Love you. Hope I get to talk to you this weekend.
Love,
Elizabeth