Drive-by thought

[veronica_rich]

One of the joys of being a journalist is the press releases I get in my e-mail. /sarcasm

Today I received one from a right-wing Teabagger-type group that I frequently get things from. Their sole purpose in life seems to be decrying anything that's not right-wing for the sake of it not being conservative enough. (Seriously, I've seen them get on Obama's ass for things he's done that conservatives have lobbied for in the not-too-distant-past. It's sort of fascinating.) It's calling on editorial writers to condemn the media's politicization of Rep. Giffords's shooting on Saturday - you know, the ones who have speculated whether the shooter could've been influenced by the violent, base, emotional, nasty rhetoric of the right-wingers?

I'll be glad to do this. At the same time, I'm going to denounce the politicization of religion. I think all references to it in politics and lawmaking should be banished and condemned from consideration, argument, persuasion, and influence. We've restricted individual rights in the name of religion, marched off to war in the name of religion (and persecuted those who disagreed with that action, also in the name of religion), torn down fellow Americans in the name of religion, refused to listen to the wisdom of older countries with more experience because they didn't share our religion, voted based on religion, appointed to positions of power based on religious affiliation and influence, and looked the other way on prosecuting religious leaders of truly despicable acts of child molestation (male and female) in the name of religious "forgiveness" and legal protections under right of religion.

Whatcha think, Teabaggers? Fair trade?

Comments

[placeofinsanity.livejournal.com]

I'm not a...I can't even say that word without laughing, teabagger - but I did grow up in a republican family...in Massachusetts which is a democratic state. I get a lot of shit for what I believe in, I'm not Obama's biggest fan and I really wish that John McCain hadn't picked Palin as a primary VP because seriously, dude, no thank you. In 2012, if Obama runs again and its against Palin, I'm not voting, I'm moving to freakin' England.

However, I find myself at odds a lot of the time because of my Republican upbringing and my liberal friends/life. So from there, I can only say that people are stupid and my ability to care about politics is waning. Siigh.

[bonnie-halfelvn.livejournal.com]

I used to be a "ditto-head." Now I'm a Democrat in a Republican family and a conservative district.

Welcome to the club.

But your head might explode if you move to Socialist freakin' England. ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

My mother spent the bulk of her life as an old-school Republican. It took her many years to accept that the GOP ideal had changed from the 1950s, when she was a kid, in the half-century that followed.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It's true, not everybody can get excited about politics, and a lot of us only get excited every once in a while because it's not good for our blood pressure. I remember in my own lifetime, political discussions and debate being a lot more civilized - the kinds of things I see on serious news shows and debate forums now are the sorts of things I would've only expected in a "Spitting Image" or "D.C. Follies"-type parody show in the 1980s, for example.