Politically Fatalistic Optimism

Talk radio is ablaze with condemnation of Barack Obama, and rightfully so. What he said was pathetically stupid and elitist, and it ought to be condemned. I just don’t care enough to condemn it.

Really, does it come as any surprise that a Democrat would slam religious people and gun owners? What’s really disgusting is watching Hillary Clinton pretend to be aghast, when you know she’s loving every minute of it. What, she’s the God and Guns candidate now? And why does everyone, especially Clinton, seem to think that the Second Amendment is somehow about the right to hunt ducks?

All of this should have pushed me into the McCain fold by now, but, sorry, folks, I’m still not there yet. John McCain reminds me of Captain Bob Morris, a rich loon up in Jackson Hole who pays for everything in two dollar bills and buys airtime on Jackson Hole television to call for the legalization of drugs. Captain Bob runs for office every few years as a Republican, not to advance Republican ideals but rather to “destroy the Republican Party from the inside.”

The only real difference between Captain Bob and John McCain is one of rank, not substance.

Right now, listening to these people shoot of their mouths, the most conservative person in the race is Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton! The most reprehensible human being ever to run for the office, with the possible exception of her husband, who George Will famously noted was not the worst president ever, but rather the worst man ever to be president.

I’m so deeply disengaged from this political season that it’s startling to me. I’m not working on a campaign for the first time in several election cycles, and I have no interest in working on a campaign. I’m not a state or a county delegate. I’m pretty much out of it. I’m just a guy who turns the station every time politics comes up on the radio or television. I still drift past the odd political blog and catch a few comments on the radio now and then, but I can only take it in small doses. I know that whatever the outcome this November, I’m not going to like it.

Part of what’s pulling me through is sort of a politically fatalistic optimism. I know that, politically, the Federal Government will continue to expand rapaciously no matter who’s in office. I know that the Supreme Court is not going to get any more conservative than it already is. I know that taxes are going to go up. I know that our military will end up abandoned to one degree or another. All these things are awful, but they’re foregone conclusions. So I have to look beyond government and find solace in my faith.

And things on that front have never looked brighter. The promise is that as the world gets darker, the faithful will continue to grow stronger. The divide between the people of faith and the people of the world will grow ever larger, and my job now is to stay on the right side of that divide. All indications are that it’s going to get darkest before the dawn. So I hunker down, focus on what’s really important, and know that eventually, the dawn will come.