I know here at Joe-Mammy.com I've often stayed away from substantive posts about politics, right and wrong and the myriad of things that make this world frustrating. Granted I make fun of a lot of stuff, (which is similar, but not quite the same...) but seldom sit down and do a "this is how it oughta be" kinda thing.

This is one of those posts. Bear with me.

This week is the GOP national convention. It's essentially a gloating party four years in the making. The odd thing is that the GOP seems to be like the 40 year-old dating a pretty 20 year-old. He's got what everyone wants, but desperately keeps trying to find out if everyone else thinks he's still cool, or just old with a soon-to-be-ex girlfriend. It's representative of where we are as a nation and as human beings, I think.

We don't want to step on toes--or more to the point we want to ensure no one will step on ours. Now instead of going about it in a high-road kind of way (like, doing unto others as we would want done to us...) we legislate, negotiate and build structures to try and keep people from saying things we don't like. Or if they do, we make sure that there's a supervisor, agency or lawyer around to make sure they pay whatever personal or commercial price we can extract. A pound of flesh. No more, no less.

Instead of actually talking to someone about what they say, we back-door it and run to tattle that someone hurt our oh-so-precious feelings. We do it, so we say, not because we were in the right, but that it might be misconstrued by someone not as level-headed as ourselves, or just reflects badly.

You know, the great thing about America is that people have the right to be as wrong and as ignorant as they like. There is no "lowest common denominator" that we are allowed to appeal to (at least in theory) and as moronic, wrong-headed or demonstrably false something is, I'm not going to try and change your mind if you don't want it changed. I'll make fun of you. I'll critique your argument. I'll tell others I think you're full of crap, but I won't go crying to your mom, your boss, your priest or anyone else to make you stop. If I want you to stop, I'll ask you to stop.

We like to fight without actually fighting. We show that we have no respect for others by the fact we don't dare face them and instead send ominous threats by proxy. I'm not perfect, but I like to think that if it comes down to it, if you piss me off I'll tell you... personally. I'm not scared of you. I'm not scared of much of anything, honestly. In "Animal Farm" George Orwell's allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution, there's a donkey named Benjamin who is ambivalent about the great moral crusade and progress of "Animal Farm." When prompted about why, his response is "Donkeys live a long time." That's more or less my stance: if you haven't seen all this before, you haven't been paying attention. Look at history, look at your own experience and use your head--there's nothing new under the sun, no matter how bad you think it is, there's been worse.

This was prompted by an individual I'll identify as A.B. (as well any number of things I see at work--which is a story for another time) who, in this case, took pot shots and then hid behind a larger structure/protocol. It's easier to say something and then hide behind something and say that they can't fire back, but in the end it's like picking a fight with Gandhi. Sure you can hit him. You can probably beat the crap out of him, but do you really feel like a man for beating down someone who you know isn't/can't fight back? Yeah, you show him, tough guy.

Which leads me into (hopefully) my only post about politics... ever. Those involved in politics whether you're Michael Moore, George W., Ralph Nader, or folks closer to home--you are all insane. This election has taken on a strange life of its own characterized by conflicting "moral crusades." It's us against them and God is on our side.

This idea of morally driven government was usually the stomping ground of the GOP who through around their traditionally based values (you know, like the corporation being treated like a person...) as an angry defiance of the soulless, Godless onslaught of anyone who wasn't them. It made them cartoonish and able to circle the wagons of people who would be otherwise horrified about, for instance, our brutal infant mortality rate or the continued disparity between the wages earned by women compared to men. Instead they got on the wagon of anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and pro-"family values" (whatever that means, or would entail in enforcement is mercifully left out).

Now I've voted Republican in the past, and may again. Ultimately it's not because I think that they represent my moral interests but because historically they haven't been too interested in legislating good Samaritanism. I'm not a fan of additional mandated bureaucracy because its for my own good. I don't like being told what my own good is. Especially by someone who's never been to my state.

This year, however, the usual platforms for Democrats (health care, education, etc...) has been largely cast aside in favor of their own moral crusade. Hating George W Bush has taken a near-religious level of fervor by some because... well, in some cases, just because. Often the complaints are based on the standard "he lies, he doesn't care, he doesn't care when he lies" kind of political gripes. To which I'd only like to say Welcome to Real Politik.

Are we in denial that such Machiavellian schemes have been in operation since the dawn of time? Do we actually think that Bush is the only one who's done it, or that he's even the worst? More to the point, what planet are you from that would suggest that anyone else is going to be any better. It's a moral crusade that's solely descriptive while pretending to be prescriptive. The only answer is "get rid of Bush" although I haven't seen anyone state that any possible replacement is going to be any better.

If you've got Bush figured out, then here's my advice: don't be fooled any more. You might not like "business as usual" in Washington, but it's going to continue regardless of who's there. Donkeys live a long time.

So next time you're inclined to yell at someone for being "one of them" remember, the only person saying that they're one of "them" is you. It's easier to group folks in a pile than to actually think, "hey, there are people all over the spectrum and by grouping every last soul who doesn't agree with me into that other category makes me a Nazi." Yup, nothing like the happy roots of fascism jumping up inside your "progressive" world view, is there? Trust me, we've all been there. Next time you're looking to morally condemn someone for not agreeing with you (unless it's along the lines of disagreeing with "torturing babies is bad") take a deep breath and repeat after me:
Donkeys live a long time.

-Joe