I never wanted to go here on my blog. Really. But due to my addiction to comedic pundits on Comedy Central, a $10 surcharge on my phone bill because I exceeded my month’s texting limit from too many text discussions over healthcare, and a pointed finger with the condemning exclamation “You’re a democrat!?” directed at me in the middle of church, I figured the subject of politics might be worthy of a blog post.
Politics. It’s one of two things they say you should never discuss with other people—at least when you’re young and single and trying to make a good impression on other young, single people who are better looking than you. Or is it? It’s actually been useful on some boring dates where I wanted to go home early. I just say something like “don’t you feel Obama was called by God?” and I’m usually home in 15 minutes (only really works here in Utah).
But I felt I shouldn’t feign political indifference anymore. Actually, I haven’t really been feigning anything. I honestly don’t know where I stand on a lot of issues. I could just continue to follow the Mormon ducks in front of me and stick a “Romney 2012” sign on my front lawn and call it good, or I could figure out how I really felt myself.
So I decided to jump in the mosh pit of political madness—watching cable news networks instead of E! News Daily, throwing out my Self magazines and subscribing to Newsweek, and simply asking smart people what they thought about the issues.
And where did I come up? A little left, and people don’t think I’m serious. First, I’m accused of being a “pretend liberal” and that I support Obama because he had cool campaign graphics and that I probably harbor fantasies of dating a black dude (guilty, but not why I like Obama).
Second, I think Glenn Beck is a friggin’ idiot. That guy is a nutcase. His fake tears and blumberings can send anyone running from wanting to associate with anything labeled “conservative.” Last week I overheard a conversation at church about Glenn Beck’s conversion story (He’s Mormon. Please don’t judge Mormons for that) and how cool it was. It actually is a cool conversion story, but I somehow slipped and said he was still an idiot, and the guy looked at me with a scowl that I feared would cause a permanent wrinkle between his eyebrows. Too bad, I thought he was pretty cute.
So I face a major decision: do I continue to put my politics above my personal needs, or do I stick a “Yes to Prop 8” sign next to the Romney one outside my home? I think I might be single for a while.
**Jenny has no problems dating anyone of any particular racial, religious, or political affiliation—except if you support Glenn Beck. Without a doubt, liking that man is a dealbreaker in any potential relationship.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Hmm. I wonder if Jesus would have been a Republican or Democrat? Would he have supported a basic level of health care for even the poor and uninsured? Would he have supported the great work and value that the health industry executives and investment bankers provide?
October 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
The value of Beck,Limbaugh,Jackson and Sharpton is that they polarize us and cause us to think about the issues.Maybe we are smart enough to pick a position a little more practical somewhere in the middle. Their religious beliefs should not buy any credence to their political beliefs. Keep your mind working and don’t compromise it for any GQ mindless robot whose idea of introspection is hours in front of a mirror squeezing zits and mousing his hair!! Have a nice day!
October 26th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Without politics or religion there is absolutely nothing interesting about me. Oh, and I can’t stand Glen Beck.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Up until last week I didn’t even know who Glenn Beck is. I had an underlying sense… an intuition that he was just another one of those conservative talk show nut job blabbering gas bags, but I’ve never heard him talk so what did I know?
Last week I was in St. George looking for another Malcolm Gladwell book to read and I saw several books by Glenn Book. One was on the best seller list. In the spirit of keeping an open mind, I bought it. After all I was pretty far from Park City and I was sure nobody would recognize me. And because I was in Utah I assumed that anybody that saw me would think better of me anyway.
I started trying to read it that night and immediately realized that I’d wasted my money. It reminded me of a comic joke book and I kept wondering, is this guy serious? How did this ever get published, let alone make it to the NY Times bestseller list. Who buys this crap? Did Mr. Beck personally buy a million copies?
Fortunately, I had Gladwell’s “Blink” to fall back on.
November 1st, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I love Glenn Beck. He tends to make the saner conservatives vote for the candidate I want to win. Same with all the hysterical idiots who didn’t want Obama to tell their children to stay in school. The more people show how insane the right wing nut jobs are the more people will actually vote rationally and hopefully in their own interests.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Mark has a good point, but I think right wing programming has the power to stir up conservative red-necks and get them to vote. Not sure how much they stir up the left because I assume that most bleeding hearts like myself are just listening to NPR and worrying about our carbon footprints.
A follow up to my Glenn Beck book purchase:
Nearly as soon as I got home with it, I received a text from my daughter scolding me. It turns out that my wife was so stunned seeing the book in my luggage that she called my daughter who immediately felt compelled to get on my case about it. I feel a little like the General Authority that said it was impossible for him to sin because every time he ordered a Coke, people would recognize him and bring him root beer.
My daughter could never figure out if she was a Democrat or a Republican. It seems that living in an apartment at school with 4 or 5 left wing roommates has helped her make up her mind.