The Nappy Cat Chronicles

I see that Obama has chosen Rick Warren to lead a prayer at his inauguration. Most Americans don’t know that Warren is, in reality, a giant douchebag. Warren presents as a mild-mannered and soulful Christian man; the type of man to whom all White Christian housewives are attracted.

I am unsure as to the amount of love Damon Linker receives from Christian women. He appears to be a socio-political blogger for The New Republic who becomes high strung when criticized:

But the fact that Warren holds these views is precisely what places him on “other side of the cultural/religious divide.” So liberals are in fact angry about Obama’s choice because it’s reaching out to someone on the other side. Conversely, if he had picked a pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage preacher to give the invocation, then this would have been someone from the liberal side of the culture war and so liberals would have cheered it.

Let me make this as clear as possible: If you, a Christian like Warren, believe that homosexuality is akin to pedophilia; if you, a Christian like Warren, espouse paranoia and a persecution complex; or, if you, a Christian like Warren, claim that you have “many gay friends”, you are a liar (and I suppose that means you should be delivering the invocation at a presidential inauguration in America).

As for Linker’s “side-taking,” white versus black and red versus blue are examples of sides. Though folks like Linker may appreciate your intense efforts to masturbate in the dark, because you are not constrained by the same principle as non-liars, you do not have a “side.” Regardless of what Warren tells you, the end that you’ve chosen to puruse is a meaningless and pathetic denial of reality.

I agree that the two major political parties are, more or less, “two sides of the same coin”. I’m aware that the bases of both parties are apt to exaggerate the importance of their preferred issues. I believe that the two-party system is a byproduct of thought reduction and profit potential.

Frankly, I don’t care about any of that.

I consider myself both nihilist and existentialist. I have full knowledge that meaning manifests from within and that meaning from without is forcibly injected and robs an individual of his agency. But at this stage of my life, if I am mentally and physically prepared to create life, I must be equally willing to create meaning.

And the fairest way to create meaning for another is to remove from daily life those forces that seek to strip all of humanity of independence, reason, accountability, and dignity. Even if my action, voting Obama, is ultimately a symbolic gesture, influence is won through argument informed by intelligence and experience. Apathy attracts no one.

These soul-stifling forces represent a pernicious infection that has rotted the already decomposing core of the Republican party. Off the top of my head, there are four:

• The first force is American exceptionalism. In short, American exceptionalism is the belief that, because American intention is fundamentally good and part of God’s destiny for all, all any action taken on behalf of America is fundamentally good. Incidentally, this sort of exceptionalism is, by and large, not unique to America. This pernicious belief facilitates, perpetuates, and expands economic and battlefield warfare. Though by nature of the position Obama may make the same decisions as McCain, Obama at least acknowledges that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
• The second force is Christian Dominionism. Seeing the world through us-verses-them lenses, Dominionists intend to take over all federal and societal institutions. They received a huge boost from Bush II:  In exchange for access, the fundamentalists who beat the Dominionist drums, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Tony Perkins, convinced their flocks to forgive and forget the atrocities committed in the name of American exceptionalism. Their march will continue unabated during a McCain presidency.
• The third force is anti-intellectualism. What began as resentment towards the liberal-bourgeoisie and the effete elite inevitably became a lifestyle of anti-intellectualism championed by the populist vein of the McCain platform and the fervid proletarian right. This is evidenced by the absurd promotion of the “Joe the Plumber” stereotype and a vice-presidential candidate who, in all probability, has read neither an essay nor an article pertaining to the First Amendment since high school.
• The fourth force is the easy production of manufactured and contradictory character assassinations. The blog, The Toot, cleverly summarizes the charges leveled against Obama:  “Obama is a Marxist Muslim Arab Jesus Black White Terrorist Technocrat Racist Do-Gooder Liberal FDR Stalin Hilter Commie Fascist Gay Womanizing Naive Cynical Insider Noob Boring Radical Unaccomplished Elite Slick Gaffe-Prone Pedophile Pedophile-Seducing Liberation Theology Atheist Etc. & Anti-Etc. with a bunch of scary friends from – wait for it! – the Nineteen Hundred And Sixties.” Also, “a chicken shit”. I am under no illusion that an Obama presidency will put an end to as ad hominem fallacy; I believe that, when confronted by an abundance of absurd accusations, future candidates will be able to defend themselves with a reference to the Obama success.

Marc Ambinder:

Well, now McCain is part of that discussion. And it’s a dangerous place for him to be, what with Rev. John Hagee’s anti-gay remarks (curiously unremarked upon by anyone in the McCain campaign — is the McCain campaign afraid to repudiate anti-gay remarks?), his anti-Catholic remarks (once condemned by McCain, but now McCain wants to give Hagee the benefit of the doubt)?, his millennialism (which means, as some honest McCain adviser must have explained to the candidate by now, the death of millions of innocent Muslims)… also: Jerry Falwell, and his casual association of 9/11 with the sins of homosexuality, and Rod Parsley, a man who McCain has called a “spiritual guide,” a man who has also called Islam a “false religion” and has advocated war against it and various other bad things.

Why are these folks entitled to these opinions and Wright isn’t entitled to his?

Dear Marc,

Because important White Christians hate fagots, towel-heads, and fiery niggers.

Try thinking harder next time,

Will

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Quick quiz: Is this man “clinging to” his religion or is he expressing his faith? Is he exhibiting “antipathy toward” those who aren’t like himself or is he simply indicating his unhappiness with how other people conduct their business?

I see a man who is clinging to his religion and expressing antipathy toward everyone and everything not like himself. This is the type of individual about which Obama was referring. This type of individual may make public declarations of hate. Usually though, this type of individual hates privately. He hates liberals and clings to a gun collection to stick it to the Democrats. He hates Mexicanos and clings to his belief that they are bringing down the White middle class. He hates everyone not like himself and clings to a religion to justify his hate.

Unfortunately, the media’s unquestioning coverage of this sort of thing should make a sane politico want to punch himself in the face rather than point this out. Anyone with an ax to grind will jump on this and claim that the quote was made in reference to each and every one of their small-town constituents. Already, Hillary has stated that rural folk are the greatest folk on the planet. The McCain campaign has referred to it as breathtaking “elitism and condescension.”

Since the only way to turn the quote against Obama is to claim that he was referring to all small-town blue-collar White Americans, there is a tacit admission that fundamentalists and wacko gun-hoarders are viewed as representative of the larger social orders of Christians and Second Amendment enthusiasts. Though I do find this sort of admission hilarious, I wish Republicans and opportunistic Democrats would refrain from clouding the issue with buzzwords like “elitism” when the discussion isn’t framed in a way that kisses the collective asses of their constituents.