R.I.P George, gonna miss you

[Chris James]

Senator George McGovern died today, a sad loss for his family and supporters over the years. He was the man with the right message at the wrong time, and the first person I voted for after I turned eighteen. He was an idealist, a peace advocate, and yet he was shunned by a nation that should have been as tired of the Vietnam War as I was.

Instead Americans gave four more years to Richard Nixon, a villainous man, a hateful man as proven later, and a crook. I’m sure the good Senator McGovern felt vindicated by Watergate, but he never would have expressed any sense of glee. That was not his nature, and I admired him for that. Instead he went on urging us to feed the world, his greatest cause.

Those were my hippie radical days and I feel sad for his loss and probably my own lost youth. But many of us looked up to him since he was so unlike our parents. Finally, here was an adult who understood that war was wrong and wasn’t afraid to speak out.

If you would have told me several years ago that the people of the United States would consider electing a man whose religious ideals include a belief that the Earth was formed in alien space and transported to its current position in the universe I would have said you were nuts. Well guess what, it’s happening.

(Reference: The Book of Abraham, written by Joseph Smith, founder of the LDS Church)

Religions embrace a set of rules we call dogma, and in many cases they are not based upon provable facts but on the notion that we should just believe. L. Ron Hubbard took a slightly different approach to developing Scientology, but then he was already firmly in the realm of believing in alien gods with his science fiction writings.

Because of the strange aspects within Mormonism and Scientology I have always been surprised that the U.S. refuses to recognize Rastafarians just because they smoke a little marijuana now and again…okay, all the time, but by doing it they claim to see God. Makes you wonder what the Mormons and Scientologists were smoking in their pipes.

The U.S. is facing a hard choice in November, and with the right wing Political Action Committees spreading their poisonous brand of propaganda like Nazi storm troopers in every branch of the media (thanks to the Supreme Court) it is a wonder anyone knows what to believe.

In all fairness to the current president, his last four years at bat have been a disaster for the nation. But I will qualify that by saying he has been like a batter who stands at the plate and hits the ball only to have a grandstand full of idiots with shotguns treat the game ball like they were at a skeet shoot.

Right from the beginning of the Obama presidency it has been the politics of divisiveness that has kept the U.S. in such dire straits. If the president said the sky is blue the right wing would argue that it is red. Facts don’t matter in politics. The truth has no place in discussion when all the conservatives pledged to sabotage this presidency (ask John Bonehead). And while we are being screwed they don’t even bother to use condoms since birth control is against their religious beliefs.

Preachers and polls and pundits are yelling that the Mormon is going to win. Fifty years ago there was extreme doubt that anyone should vote for John Kennedy because he was a Catholic. I doubt if Kennedy would even recognize the Church as it stands today, mired in social engineering projects and filled with hate speech.

If the Mormon should win it won’t be because of his religious belief but because he is the best president for sale that huge amounts of money can buy. I could say the same thing about the last Bush presidency since the big players and payers this time are the same people. Karl Rove and his forked tongue devils at the American Crossroads represent the new evil in America.

So there are a few weeks left before the elections. Time enough for another bunch of political marketing phone calls to interrupt my dinner. I actually got a real person on the line the other day and promptly told them to F off. The only good thing is that if you are a television watcher then all the political ads are enough to make you turn it all off and pick up a book.

And if the Mormon should win then I think the American people are in for a big shock. Not that there will be immediate radical changes because despite the promises, Congress doesn’t work like that. They’ll all probably be off on some political junket in the Bahamas on the taxpayer’s dime.

Records show that all this politicking has spent almost a billion dollars, but the government doesn’t benefit because it is tax free. The Mormon promises to pay down the debt without raising taxes. His magic underwear must be really powerful to pull that rabbit out of the hat.

I predict the next four years will change little no matter who occupies the White House. The Mormon promises a leaner, meaner machine of state, but I think all we’ll see is the mean part. When the bullies start to have their way then the lawyers get richer.

Presidents don’t run the country, civil servants do, and they aren’t elected. But like the proverbial bus driver, you can’t piss them off or they will slow down the bus. If the wrong guy gets elected can we ask for a refund? That is an amendment I would vote for.

[Cole Parker]

Well said!

C

[TracyMN]

Right from the beginning of the Obama presidency it has been the politics of divisiveness that has kept the U.S. in such dire straits.

Well said, indeed. Thanks, Chris.

[FreeThinker]

Your entire post was one of the most eloquent descriptions of the current state of affairs I have read. Good job.

[DesDownunder]

It is heartening to read a lucid, eloquent post coming from America. Chris, I am in awe of your post and agree with you.

We who live in the shadow of the U.S. are affected by its government's policies. and are hoping with all our might that the President is returned to office.

The alternative is a horror that will delay humanity's progress. We just hope it doesn't speed up its demise in the process.

[Chris James]

A final thought:

Thanks guys, and to be honest, my little post was much longer before the edit. I wanted a tribute to the late Senator for a lot of reasons, and of course the current state of affairs intruded on my thoughts.

George McGovern was a family man with five kids and the middle child was named Terry, I went to high school with her. We were not exactly close friends, but then I was gay on the inside and didn't spend that much time around the girls. I suppose it would be fair to say I knew the Senator. Terry was in my carpool for school and her father took the time to learn all the names of her schoolmates. This was all back in the late sixties before his presidential bid.

Imagine my suprise when 3 years after my graduation the Senator ran for president. I was in college, up to my eyeballs in academia and protests over Vietnam...my radical era, but I voted for him. Nixon's win was a disappointment, but the Senator moved on, eventually retired from government and started his work on world hunger. That is the legacy I want to keep in mind.

Terry's tragic death in 1994 brought back all my feelings from that earlier time, and now he is gone. We each have our heroes, and they change as we do throughout life. George was my constant hero. A quiet, driven man who embraced the heartache of others while his own life was filled with pain.

[TracyMN]

What a lovely reminder that celebrities were, and are, people first; having a "reluctant celebrity" in my family introduced me to the concept of personal vs public, what we are vs what we do. Adoration doesn't make heros, character does.

A fine tribute, Chris, and a reminder also, that the personal is political.

T.