I used to be a Republican and a Conservative. In the election of 2004, I firmly believed that George W. Bush was the better alternative compared to John Kerry. On some level, I still do believe that. I choose to believe that in all people, there is a marked level of good and of God that cannot be denied. I am a Christian, and I guess, the traditional Christian base usually sides with the Republican-right when it comes to politics. I have come to two conclusions since 2004 and the past 4 years.
Firstly, I believe that the party of values is no more. Who cares if you say that Roe v. Wade is ungodly when you conduct yourself in a manner that not only disgraces all semblance of civilization for the past 2000 years, but stinks of dirty mudslinging. I like this line, that “John McCain is aspiring for the highest office in the nation, using the lowest possible tactics.” If there is anything I abhor more in the world, it is the inability to conduct civilized discourse without making it personal and making it disrespectful. A student at Berklee School of Music taught me that. I had the privilege of tasting that rudeness and that disrespect for the first time back in 2005, and I will never forget the horror and the bitter taste in the mouth that it left me. That there are people who are willing to lose their sense of dignity for a party or a person that they aren’t even allowed to vote for. It confused me and shattered my worldview. I stopped blogging for a good long while because of that, but I’ve never stopped reading and I’ve never stopped learning.
The Republican Party of old, is not the Grand Old Party that it was. It’s no longer wholesome, and probably never was, just that in my youth, I would assume that I never saw it. I am a moderate-conservative. I believe in small-government so to speak, but with limits. I am pro-life, but with exceptions. But those are my personal views. Traditionally, especially during the early years of W, that was where the Republican party was. Thus, I aligned myself to them. Yet, in recent times, it seems that the Democratic Party this time around seems to be the party that has taken on the centrist route. Traditionally, this route always wins the elections, and it seems to be the rational one to take. Yet, it seems that the GOP has veered off the good old centrist path and become such a hard-right party that I no longer find myself being able to align or identify myself with those values. Not only that, they have lost the thing that I love the most in civilized people which is the human characteristic of rationality. Something that I am sad to say, that even people I considered friends and leaders have lost in the face of party politics (although comically enough they aren’t members of the party). I stopped blogging about politics awhile ago because it saddened me that my friends were using vulgarities at me when I was trying to express a view. And guess what, its happening again and all over the world. At a recent Republican rally, a supporter decried Obama as a terrorist, and described an Obama presidency “as something to be feared.” Another person described her fear for Obama with a single supporting evidence, that he was an Arab. It horrified me! This red-necked and ignorant discourse is not something that I would expect from a country that “is the most blessed country in the world” as Rick Warren puts it. This post is not against either candidate or his policies. This post instead, is about the way that we as human beings allow ourselves to be so easily riled up by politics, that we no longer have the capability to sit down and talk about issues like gentlemen, not animals.
Many people have asked me, which candidate do I support, which leads me to my second point. I have come to the realization that while the U.S. Politics is a fantastic spectator sport that I really look forward to every 2 & 4 years, it really is just that. There’s no reason to declare unwavering love and support for the politician in question because he isn’t even fighting for your rights. He’s fighting for what should be right for his country and that’s the way it should be. Singaporeans are so enthralled with the politics of the U.S. election, but don’t really care either ways about their own country, and I wonder what’s wrong really. The areas that we’re entitled a view, we don’t speak up, the areas that we aren’t we do crazy things. Really.
And so, in the spirit of continued reading and understanding, I just purchased Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope. While I am sure that it will be without a doubt another political piece of reading, and may not provide the most balanced of views, or fair and balanced reporting (hey, there’s always Bill O’Reilly for that) I am assured of civilized discourse. The kind that really, I think that most human beings should start getting used to.
The Audacity of Hope
Posted by: bertrand on: October 11, 2008
Firstly, I believe that the party of values is no more. Who cares if you say that Roe v. Wade is ungodly when you conduct yourself in a manner that not only disgraces all semblance of civilization for the past 2000 years, but stinks of dirty mudslinging. I like this line, that “John McCain is aspiring for the highest office in the nation, using the lowest possible tactics.” If there is anything I abhor more in the world, it is the inability to conduct civilized discourse without making it personal and making it disrespectful. A student at Berklee School of Music taught me that. I had the privilege of tasting that rudeness and that disrespect for the first time back in 2005, and I will never forget the horror and the bitter taste in the mouth that it left me. That there are people who are willing to lose their sense of dignity for a party or a person that they aren’t even allowed to vote for. It confused me and shattered my worldview. I stopped blogging for a good long while because of that, but I’ve never stopped reading and I’ve never stopped learning.
The Republican Party of old, is not the Grand Old Party that it was. It’s no longer wholesome, and probably never was, just that in my youth, I would assume that I never saw it. I am a moderate-conservative. I believe in small-government so to speak, but with limits. I am pro-life, but with exceptions. But those are my personal views. Traditionally, especially during the early years of W, that was where the Republican party was. Thus, I aligned myself to them. Yet, in recent times, it seems that the Democratic Party this time around seems to be the party that has taken on the centrist route. Traditionally, this route always wins the elections, and it seems to be the rational one to take. Yet, it seems that the GOP has veered off the good old centrist path and become such a hard-right party that I no longer find myself being able to align or identify myself with those values. Not only that, they have lost the thing that I love the most in civilized people which is the human characteristic of rationality. Something that I am sad to say, that even people I considered friends and leaders have lost in the face of party politics (although comically enough they aren’t members of the party). I stopped blogging about politics awhile ago because it saddened me that my friends were using vulgarities at me when I was trying to express a view. And guess what, its happening again and all over the world. At a recent Republican rally, a supporter decried Obama as a terrorist, and described an Obama presidency “as something to be feared.” Another person described her fear for Obama with a single supporting evidence, that he was an Arab. It horrified me! This red-necked and ignorant discourse is not something that I would expect from a country that “is the most blessed country in the world” as Rick Warren puts it. This post is not against either candidate or his policies. This post instead, is about the way that we as human beings allow ourselves to be so easily riled up by politics, that we no longer have the capability to sit down and talk about issues like gentlemen, not animals.
Many people have asked me, which candidate do I support, which leads me to my second point. I have come to the realization that while the U.S. Politics is a fantastic spectator sport that I really look forward to every 2 & 4 years, it really is just that. There’s no reason to declare unwavering love and support for the politician in question because he isn’t even fighting for your rights. He’s fighting for what should be right for his country and that’s the way it should be. Singaporeans are so enthralled with the politics of the U.S. election, but don’t really care either ways about their own country, and I wonder what’s wrong really. The areas that we’re entitled a view, we don’t speak up, the areas that we aren’t we do crazy things. Really.
And so, in the spirit of continued reading and understanding, I just purchased Barack Obama’s Audacity of Hope. While I am sure that it will be without a doubt another political piece of reading, and may not provide the most balanced of views, or fair and balanced reporting (hey, there’s always Bill O’Reilly for that) I am assured of civilized discourse. The kind that really, I think that most human beings should start getting used to.