Monday Morning Rant 62

So what has been the cost of the presidential campaign? I don’t mean the dollars which have reached absolutely ridiculous heights. So high in fact, that alone, it could provide the spending impetus which the economy needs to bring us back to normal. My back of the envelope figures suggest a figure in total of well over a billion dollars. Given the projections for each candidate at the moment, I’m rather pleased that so much of it has come from foreign entities. They obviously see some advantage to the candidate which they endorse which escapes me. Assuming an electorate of 160,000,000 it would come to about $6.25 per voter.. That of course does not include the expenditures for state and local office seekers.

The real loss has come from a collection of other matters which I believe are more important than the money. The first casualty has been “truth.” We use euphemisms like “spin” and “shading” to occlude the facts and then toss in a huge dose of critical thinking to produce outright lies. To avoid relating positive aspects of a candidate is as much a lie as striving to conceal one’s own favorite’s bad associations and stated plans. It is a matter of morality and one’s religion to measure each man’s willingness to bend the truth to his own ends. People of faith have little doubt about that which is and that which isn’t. Any failure to embrace honesty is first of all an offense against God inasmuch as He has commanded that we not bear false witness.

The second serious casualty of the campaign has been “civility.” I fully realize the importance of what is on the line in this race but that is no excuse to deeply penetrate the personal lives of spouses, children, and other innocent bystanders. The biggest target has been Sarah Palin and her family. They are admittedly, an imperfect family, just like yours and mine. What it has to do with one’s ability to govern escapes me. We have discarded any sense of decorum to advance political goals. Some of us find that admission of imperfection an endearing quality; others, just one more opportunity to manufacture false truths.

Another victim of the election efforts is transparency. The rule appears to be more in favor of concealing records and data than sharing it with the American people. Would you, as a future employer, consider hiring anyone to a sensitive position who would be reluctant to share information about his academic history, circumstances of his birth, his full military record, health records, his voting record in various assemblies or full information on his associates? We are asked to blindly accept as fact a multitude of claims which could be easily verified if the candidate were willing to have the data released.

So, past the money, we have sacrificed truth, civility and transparency for the opportunity to follow our own selfish reaction to promises and pie-in-the-sky programs which are inconsistent with the Constitution and common sense. God help us all.

The Presidents Speak

I found this thing and decided to share it with you in the interest of keeping a sense of light-heartedness. Click here and you will be up to date on the doings at Mount Rushmore. Go ahead, it would be funnier if it were not so true.

Someone Gets It

Regular readers are aware that I have nearly boundless admiration for Thomas Sowell and his cryptic commentary. The man is a genius in addition to having a perspective which I could never aspire to. Take the time to read his observations; you won’t be disappointed.

Aunt Zeituni

I know the Obama campaign is beyond embarrassment, but this little jewel is too precious to let go. Mark Steyn for the Corner at National Review has some remarks about the emergence of the fugitive aunt.
“Re: Different party, different rules [Mark Steyn]

Mark Levin is right. The Undocumented Auntie isn't even one of the 12, 15, 30, whatever million run-of-the-mill Undocumented-Americans who just wander into the country and decide to stay. She's one of the far more select number—half a million or so—who've been served a deportation order. She is, in law, not merely an illegal immigrant but what ICE call a "fugitive alien".

So when John Conyers gets huffy about "leaks", is it even possible to "leak" that someone's a "fugitive"? When regular boring US citizens are fugitives, they get pasted up on Post Office walls and written up in the papers. And, in the event that someone discovers that the guy on the lam is holed up at 27b Elm Street, there's not usually a wave of outrage on the appalling breach of the fugitive's privacy rights.

If I were Joe the Plumber, I'd ask Aunt Zeituni if I could move in. It's his best chance of a quiet life.”

And Finally

This is it! The hew and cry is nearly over and it’s our turn. We’ve heard it all; the promises, the platitudes, the twisting and the turning and now it’s up to us to sort it out and make a decision. There is much on the line which will have ramifications far beyond the results tomorrow. The future of the republic hangs in the balance and we have the choice of two men. By definition, they are men and as a consequence, have imperfections which we must either embrace or ignore. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, neither one is a “Messiah.”
As I rank those things which I feel are most important, I have made a clear cut decision. In consideration of the unborn and a desire to offer them the protection which God would have me insist on; to continue the war on terror for the benefit of my grandchildren; to protect my rights for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment; and the furtherance of the enjoyment of liberty; I have no other choice but to vote for McCain/Palin.

If the above issues are important to you as well, I would encourage you to do the same. Either way, it is important that you be counted for whatever attitudes you hold.. Please join me tomorrow and—VOTE!

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon