side by side

ah, yes, the gracious kindness of the christian right, as embodied by the god-fearing alan keyes. from the associated press, as printed in the los angeles times (everything in boldface, emphasis added by moi):

Keyes Blames Media, GOP for Loss

DATELINE: CHICAGO

Alan Keyes blamed the media and fellow Republicans on Thursday for his lopsided loss to Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate race in Illinois.

Keyes also said he did not congratulate Obama after the race was called, a tradition among politicians, because doing so would have been a "false gesture" because he believed Obama's views on issues such as abortion were wicked.

"I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for and will stand for a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country," Keyes said. "I can't do this, and I will not make a false gesture."

The former diplomat and two-time presidential candidate, who lost to Obama by 43 percentage points Tuesday, gave his first post-election interview Thursday to a Christian talk-show host.

Keyes said that despite the loss, he thought he did a good job spreading his message of moral values.

He said he was disappointed in what he called the number of "Republicans in name only" in Illinois. An Associated Press exit poll showed that four in 10 Republicans voted for Obama.

Keyes said a major difficulty in his campaign was overcoming the "stranglehold" the media had on trying to define the issues of importance in political campaigns.

"I refused to accept their authority, and I still do," he said.
-30-

... me again. uh, yeah, right -- it was the evil media and the traitorous republicans, not the fact that you entered a race you had no business running. you slagged hillary clinton hard for running for senate in new york b/c she was an outsider, motivated purely by politics. but you did the same fucking thing!! the exact same thing! even though, at the time you criticized clinton, you specifically said you would never do something like what she had done. but, hurray!, the people of illinois weren't stupid enough to fall for your divisive, hateful shtick. please go away, intolerant goofball.

then there's this, from the op-ed page of today's l.a. times (again, emphasis added by moi):

Christian Conservatives Must Not Compromise;
Voters reject liberalism, an evil ideology.

BYLINE: Frank Pastore, Former major league pitcher Frank Pastore is the afternoon host on the Christian talk-radio station KKLA, 99.5 FM.

Christians, in politics as in evangelism, are not against people or the world. But we are against false ideas that hold good people captive. On Tuesday, this nation rejected liberalism, primarily because liberalism has been taken captive by the left. Since 1968, the left has taken millions captive, and we must help those Democrats who truly want to be free to actually break free of this evil ideology.

In the weeks and months to come, we will hear the voices of well-meaning people beseeching the victor to compromise with the vanquished. This would be a mistake. Conservatives must not compromise with the left. Good people holding false ideas are won over only if we defeat what is false with the truth.

The left must be defeated in the realm of ideas, just as it was on Tuesday at the ballot box. The left hates the ballot box and loves its courtrooms, which is why it hopes to continue to advance its agenda through the courts. This must end.

The left bewitches with its potions and elixirs, served daily in its strongholds of academe, Hollywood and old media. It vomits upon the morals, values and traditions we hold sacred: God, family and country. As we learned Tuesday, it is clear the left holds the majority of Americans, the majority of us, in contempt.

Simply, a majority of Americans have rejected John Kerry and John Edwards and the left because they are wrong. They are wrong because there are not two Americas. We are one nation under a God they reject. We remain indivisible despite their attempts to divide Americans through their relentless warfare against class, ethnic and religious unity.

We still believe that liberty and justice is for all. In 1946, there were those on the left who believed the Germans and the Japanese were incapable of democracy and liberty. Today, many doubt democracy can be birthed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Like their forebears, they too will be proved wrong.

The nation has now resoundingly rejected the left and its agenda. We do not want to become European. We do not want to become socialist. We do not want to become secular. We are exceptional. We are unique. And we are the greatest force for good in the world, despite what the left, the terrorists or the United Nations may claim. It is for these reasons that we remain the last great hope in the world for freedom.

We continue to be that shining city set on a hill. And we fully accept the responsibility; we are proud to be the envy of the world.
-30-

there you have it folks, all official-like: liberalism is evil. right there in black and white, and published in a major metropolitan daily! the bloody newspaper of record. (i will rant another day about the cowardice of the mainstream media, the capitulation and abdication of its responsibility that is part of the reason the country is in this fucking mess...oh, wait. i think i already did that.) see how the left is equated with witches and terrorists? see how it is accused of rejecting god? (excuse me? i think kerry and edwards are both christians.) see how it is slagged as being anti-family and anti-country? see how it is slandered as being the one promoting division?

let's be clear. liberals are tolerant. it is the christian right that is not. this is america. dissent is built into the equation. simply disagreeing -- no matter how forcefully (uh, stopping short of violence, obviously) -- with another's beliefs does not constitute intolerance. THEY are the ones who want to outlaw abortion, subjugate women to their will, and force gays into OFFICIAL second-class citizenship. what the fuck should some church lady care if i have an abortion? nobody's making her watch. nobody's making her have one. i ain't dragging her off her fucking knees out of the pew, forcing her to stare at gay porn. i don't give a fuck what a christian (or anyone) does or how they live their lives. as angry as i get, and as many names as i call these people and curse them hideously -- i don't care to stop them from doing whatever voodoo they wanna do do. THEY are the ones who don't live and let live.

and so many times you hear this bullshit line about how christians are persecuted here. like, huh? every sunday, millions and millions of them attend the church of their choosing. they aren't shot at, spit upon, or even screamed at. they don't have to go through checkpoints or endure menace of any sort. furthermore, our fucking MONEY mentions god. there's a bible in practically every hotel room in america. the type of christian who would say that christians are persecuted in this country -- and i am well aware that not all christians are so intolerant, and actually i still believe that MOST of them are not so intolerant -- is the type who would complain about being confronted while waving posters of cut-up fetuses at women entering abortion clinics. uh, asshole? that's not persecution, that's freedom of speech. which you, being at the abortion clinic with your propaganda, are so blithely taking advantage of, yourself.

doublespeak. they portray us as intolerant, when they're the ones who try to outlaw things they don't believe should exist. they label us intolerant b/c we don't believe what they believe. (and i ain't talking about believing or not believing in jesus.) furthermore, even if i hate someone, it doesn't mean i want to outlaw their beliefs, wipe them off the map, or take away their lives. i may wish them mayhem often. so what? i'm not trying to get a constitutional amendment passed that wouldn't let them worship god. and i'm not trying to take away their rights.

so, it would seem to be time to fight, or plan, or something. it seems like, as we flounder and recoil, they move forward. i could make a chess analogy here, if i knew anything about chess. except, how can we galvanize the opposition? the democrats, despite the hideous shape this country is in, could not do that. isn't another part of the problem that we failed to mobilize as well as they did? i'm not ruling out voter fraud, but let's leave that possibility aside for now. i think it is dangerous to not be able to admit that we are or might be wrong. not wrong in our principles, but in our approach. that it's not about cooking the books, but that indeed too much of america has swallowed the bush line totally -- not realizing that they are just the pawn-dupes he needs to further his mandate. i mean, we are all fucked. the people who voted for bush just don't realize it yet. with the exception, of course, of the tiny minority of those who stand to gain from his presidency.

but i just can't feel too sorry for the dupes. in part b/c i think they were only fooled on some levels, not on all levels. it's the meanspiritedness that gives that away, and it's the meanness that makes it hard for me to care about their soon-to-come rude awakening. particularly the enthusiastic embracing of the idea that "liberal" equals "evil." the tarring of john kerry's service in vietnam, just b/c he had the temerity to, afterward, tell the truth about and oppose the unjust war. the blind identification with the elite coupled with the persistent slagging of the left as "elitist." the dupes will be so shocked when the gates slam shut -- and they're on the outside, just like us. i can't wait to see the look on their faces.