"We've been attacked by the intelligent,
educated segment of the culture."
-Reverend Ray Mummert, in the midst of the 2005 Pennsylvania public school fiasco in which he and other religious folks wanted Intelligent Design taught in public schools along with Evolution. Thank you, Erik, for sending me that article, which is actually a pretty interesting, if somewhat facetiously written, foray in to the frightening notion that religion is invading politics, and that politics-as-usual has become a test of who's better at dumbing down ideas for the masses. It's an old article, and it's from Esquire, for Christ's sake, but still, it's worth reading. And the author brings up a fact that always appalled me, namely, that
"At the end of August 2004, the Zogby people discovered that 57 percent of undecided voters would rather have a beer with George Bush than with John Kerry. Now, how many people with whom you've spent time drinking beer would you trust with the nuclear launch codes? Not only is this not a question for a nation of serious citizens, it's not even a question for a nation of serious drunkards."
People seem to like Bush because he's down to earth, he doesn't talk smart, he's one of us. Or something. But it doesn't make me feel any safer to imagine a president being just like me. I want someone a hell of a lot smarter, and a hell of a lot better educated, than myself in that Oval Office. I don't want a president wasting time drinking beer with the good old boys at the local pub, or mending fences down on the ranch, or falling off of Segways (though the pictures were fantastic). I want someone quick and brilliant and intricate, who loves to learn, who has an insatiable curiosity and desire to understand cultures and peoples and beliefs outside and alien to his or her own, someone who is beyond seeing the world in an us-against-them mentality, who doesn't see the Middle East as a modern-day Crusade, who understands and can evolve through the complexities of the age in which we live.
And I would never, ever, knowingly go out for a drink with a recovering alcoholic. What the hell is wrong with people, anyway?
educated segment of the culture."
-Reverend Ray Mummert, in the midst of the 2005 Pennsylvania public school fiasco in which he and other religious folks wanted Intelligent Design taught in public schools along with Evolution. Thank you, Erik, for sending me that article, which is actually a pretty interesting, if somewhat facetiously written, foray in to the frightening notion that religion is invading politics, and that politics-as-usual has become a test of who's better at dumbing down ideas for the masses. It's an old article, and it's from Esquire, for Christ's sake, but still, it's worth reading. And the author brings up a fact that always appalled me, namely, that
"At the end of August 2004, the Zogby people discovered that 57 percent of undecided voters would rather have a beer with George Bush than with John Kerry. Now, how many people with whom you've spent time drinking beer would you trust with the nuclear launch codes? Not only is this not a question for a nation of serious citizens, it's not even a question for a nation of serious drunkards."
People seem to like Bush because he's down to earth, he doesn't talk smart, he's one of us. Or something. But it doesn't make me feel any safer to imagine a president being just like me. I want someone a hell of a lot smarter, and a hell of a lot better educated, than myself in that Oval Office. I don't want a president wasting time drinking beer with the good old boys at the local pub, or mending fences down on the ranch, or falling off of Segways (though the pictures were fantastic). I want someone quick and brilliant and intricate, who loves to learn, who has an insatiable curiosity and desire to understand cultures and peoples and beliefs outside and alien to his or her own, someone who is beyond seeing the world in an us-against-them mentality, who doesn't see the Middle East as a modern-day Crusade, who understands and can evolve through the complexities of the age in which we live.
And I would never, ever, knowingly go out for a drink with a recovering alcoholic. What the hell is wrong with people, anyway?
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