The past... and future

This blog post is a result of mixing various news articles, falling asleep to Casey Hendrickson, and Ny-Quil.  Please excuse spelling and grammar mistakes, run-on sentences, and thought threads that might not get fully tied.

Waking up to Hendrickson trying to explain why it is that some people want you to believe we "lost" Vietnam instead of seeking the truth ( that we won the war, and Congress lost the peace) got me thinking about this nation and God's involvement in politics.  (Just go with it, okay?)  And it seems to me, that God gets involved in human politics about as often as He gets involved in the Super Bowl or The Chase.

Think about this:  when mankind comes to a point where God wants the United States to make a difference, He puts a great man in the White House.  When God wanted "to bring forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty", He gave us George Washington.  When it was time to end the curse of "acceptable" slavery, He brought forth the improbable Abraham Lincoln.  When it was time to free the world of the chains of Fascism, He brought us the cool inflappability of Franklin Rooseveldt.  And when it was time to bring down the godless empire of Communism in Europe, He gave us Ronald Reagan.


But God, I don't think He cares about macroeconomics or income taxes.  I know that a lot of us were seriously disappointed that God allowed the election results we got.  But y'know, Jesus didn't judge Samaria, He called the woman at the well to look at her OWN conscience.  Judas Iscariot may have joined Jesus because he thought Jesus was going to overthrow Rome- and may have betrayed Him when he realized it wasn't going to happen.

Now the next question is, does the GOP realize this?  I have a feeling that one of the three big things that the GOP will take away from this election is that they will not win on social issues.  When the Catholic Church in the US of A, supposedly the biggest player on the pro-life side of the abortion issue, can only deliver 6 out of 10 for Romney, it is obvious that appealing to this demographic will win them nothing.  Look for the GOP to avoid the social issues like the plague from here on.  Which means they will probably lose the caring support of that large part of their support.

Second, the GOP will more than likely realize that the reason why men like Richard Mourdock got beat is because they were ready to dig in their heels and not compromise.  Principled opposition is good, but sending a thousand versions of "repeal Obamacare" to a Senate that was not going to listen was a lot like Win Moses and his buddies running off to Illinois instead of voting on the education bill this spring in Indiana.  (BTW Win, how's that retirement coming?  Be sure to take notes to give GiaQuinta when he gets his papers next election.)  I suspect that either the GOP will be a lot more willing to compromise now- which means expect higher taxes and further erosion of your civil liberties- or watch them take a back seat in hopes that the Dems totally screw things up (ref: Jimmy Carter) and they can run any bozo next time and win.  Which means another hunk of conservative support will desert.

Third, like any fossilized knee-jerk bureaucracy, the RNC will look at Obama all over the media and figure out that America gets her political opinions from Oprah now and will try to cuddle up with the entertainment world as well.  But being a fossilized, knee-jerk bureaucracy, they'll be insincere, look insincere, and not only gain nothing, but become an even bigger laughingstock than they are.  (Mind you, I'm not calling the party that, just the RNC- but as long as the current RNC runs the campaigns... Fort Wayne readers, to put this in local terms, how many Republican Mayors have we had since Steve Shine took control of the county GOP?  Just sayin'). 

All of which means that, IMHO, look for Hillary to win in 2016 by the biggest margin since Nixon whupped McGovern in '72.  And look for the GOP to sell off its soul to try to arrest that, only to make things worse.  Because if this election proved nothing else, it proved that this has become a nation who will close its collective eyes to what is best for everyone to vote for what is best FOR ME.  And as long as the GOP stands for the best for the NATION, and for mankind as a whole, it cannot compete.  And when it changes to fit the times, there isn't really much of a point in having a democracy, is there?

Tell me I'm wrong, but let me give one more example.  Here in Indiana, Republican incumbent Tony Bennett got beat in his race for Supervisor of Education despite GOP wins throughout the state (with the exception of Mourdock).  The Journal ran an article pointing out that the GOP victories elsewhere in the state leads the party to believe that it was just Bennett who was turned down by the voters, not his program of reform.  The Democrat side says that that is hogwash, that a vote against Bennett was a vote against his policies.  But I think that it was actually a third factor that led to his loss.  Follow:  a man in favor of reform must needs state that the system he's trying to reform is broken.  Follow:  presented with a campaign that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the man in office was incompetant of his duties versus a campaign that featured The View, Bruce Springsteen, and David Letterman, this electorate chose the entertainers.  Conclusion:  A lot of voters, who were presented with an unrelenting chorus of "the education system is broken", but had no real guidance on local issues from Letterman, Oprah, et al, reasoned "system is broken"+ "Bennett is incumbent" = "vote for the other one".  Thus, Bennett contributed to his own defeat by standing up for what he believed, because he failed to see, as did Romney, just how underinformed, misinformed, and "I want mine" his electorate is.

So many people I listen to say, "well, Congress has its share of blame, the President can't do everything."  That's true.  But think about it.  How many of you who voted looked past your hot-button issue and actually looked at what was good for the country?  They say the country won't improve until the system is changed.  You say you want change, but you ignore everything and vote for what fills your belly and to hell with the other guy.  How many of the 99% who voted for Obama in Philly ( the black districts being questioned) voted for him for any other reason than he was the black guy?  How many women who voted for Obama voted for any other reason than "he'll protect my abortion rights"?  How many of you Latinos who gave Obama a 44% margin did so just because "Romney's a racist"- despite the fact the country most of YOU came here from makes it a hell of a lot harder to get in than even Romney wanted to make the US of A?  How many voted against Obama because "he's black", "he's a muslim", "he kills babies?"

We get the government we deserve when we put our personal selves over the well being of the country.  You want the system to change, THAT'S where it's got to start.  And don't expect the political parties to help change that.  They heard what you told them this election, loud and clear.