Fortunate Son

"Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays hail to the chief,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord
...
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give?
Ooh, they only answer more! more! more!"

I know, I know, everyone is talking about the election. Well, I'm gonna get my tuppence in the old man's hat, so deal with it.

A lot of my Catholic friends are just appalled that Obama won. They're angry, and with good reason. Obama's stance on abortion goes against an issue that they hold to be of paramount importance (and rightly so, I might add - I certainly do not mean to equivocate on the issue of abortion). What mildly frustrates me is that most of them think McCain would have been better. Of course we can't know for sure, but in all my admittedly limited understanding, I cannot imagine that McCain would have done anything to stop or even curtail abortion in this country. He was for embryonic stem cell research, which is no more justifiable than abortion. Bush threw the pro-life movement a bone by signing the partial birth abortion ban the year before he was up for re-election, but we would have been lucky to get even such a gesture from McCain. McCain, like almost every other Republican politician (at least at the national level) merely pays lip-service to being pro-life in order to hold onto his "constitchency". He might - might - have nominated supreme court justices who opposed Roe, but I find it hard to believe. The Republican party, on the pro-life issue, has a history of doing just enough to fail, while still convincing people that they actually want to make a difference. You see, they need the pro-life votes to stay in power.

Both candidates were war-mongers. Both candidates were wrong for the pro-life movement. Both candidates supported the bailout. Both candidates were statists of the highest ilk. Both candidates held to the fundamental belief that The State is the thing. Therefore, while I am appalled at Obama's election, I would have been barely less appalled by McCain's. Abortion will remain an issue that comes out only at election time when politicians are scampering for votes, and the American people continue to lose whatever remnants of liberty they hold, while our brothers and sisters die in wars started by our government, for our government's benefit.

Now, devotion to the state and patriotism are two entirely different things, though politicians like to pass off devotion to the state as if it were patriotism. They've done it so successfully for so long that I am half-inclined to let them have their word, and simply to declare myself no patriot. If patriotism means a love of one's country, a love of one's home, a love of one's countrymen, then you might call me a patriot... you might. Then again, you might not. I've no special love for Americans over other nationalities. I mistrust all people equally, and love meeting people regardless of where they are from. If my countrymen are unjust to those who are not my countrymen, it pisses me off, just as it pisses me off when Europeans thumb their nose at Americans and spit on my countrymen, and spew their endless crap about American "cultural imperialism" (please, quit bitching about America - you're the one who decided to wear blue jeans and sandals, we didn't make you, so shut up, wear your blue jeans, stop wearing socks with your sandals, and MYOFB). Therefore, if you must call me a patriot or not-a-patriot, please call me not-a-patriot, to avoid any possible confusion. (Note: I like Europe; I like the Europeans I've met; some Europeans complain not about "cultural imperialism" but about America's tendency to not MIOFB and instead go around playing world police; I have no beef (dead or otherwise) with those complaints).

I have said this before, my loyalties are threefold: God and Church, family and friends, neighbors and the innocent. Beyond this, as Talia said, "This is not our home." And as Riddick said, "Me? I'm just passing through."

And so my reaction to the election is this - I voted my conscience, not the lesser of two evils, therefore my conscience is clear. I pray for God's mercy on myself, my family, my friends, my country, and the world, regardless of who is president. And I know that, regardless of who is president, of what oppression, violence, or horror we face, my duty is to serve God, and in that I find joy.

On the cynical side of things:

A politician's job is to convince you that you are going to like it when he screws you. Because power is about "who does what to whom." People in government like very much to be the "who", but they must first convince you that being the "whom" is a good thing. They do convince you, and so you vote for them, and then they screw you, and like a good scientist, you wonder "will they screw me every time?" And so you vote... again.

The Difference