Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Disgrace of an Election Cycle? I think so.

Today's Wall Street Journal Article by Jeffery Scott Shapiro marks my own feelings better than I can describe. From both the left and the right this has been the worst electoral campaign I have seen in my life. With the exception of McCain's acceptance and concession speeches everything has smacked of partisan bickering, and exaggerated fear tactics. Unfortunately most of it has been leveled at Bush. I have been ashamed at times of my own Christian brethren who have joined the rancerous banter of Bush bashing. Should we all be ashamed of ourselves? Read the article here. Could it be that those who behave in this manner are part of the problem in American politics - not part of the answer?

7 comments:

Bruce said...

Yes, you are right about Bush-bashing.

Hail to the Chief. Congratulations to Barak Obama and his supporters. I look forward to the soon day when every young black man can believe that even *he* could grow up to be president.

g13 said...

there has been a lot of bush bashing, but i don't think it surpasses the nastiness that republicans promulgated during the clinton presidency. no body has accused the bushes of murdering a member of their government (i.e., ron brown) yet.

i'm not defending the nasty tone. i've just heard it from all directions for as long as i can remember.

Pastor Phil said...

Hey G,

Are you sure you are not defending it? ;-)

Yes, murder has been on the dock of leveled accusations - of thousands of young men in the military, and that's even more ridiculous.

I have seen the bashing before also, but not to the same nationally acceptable level, and this is unequivocally evident by popularity ratings, and the political posturing throughout the election cycle.

The bashing from the left has far exceeded any bashing from the right for some time now. It comes in primetime TV programming, money from George Soros, and exaggerators like Michael Moore who are made acceptable by a culture which thinks bashing is cool.

Do below 30% positive ratings make bashers correct, or give them the justification to behave unseemly - methinks not.

It may be that Shapiro's editorial is prophetic about Bush. If he has been a man cursed by the season he served in, and the people he served, or by what has been commonly touted as "stupidity" by people who pretend to know him will only be seen by God, but history may still bear him out as a good man as it did for Truman.

Steve Hayes said...

From the bits we saw broadcast on TC, and the debates in cyberspace, the level of debate after the party congresses finalised the nominations of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates was about the lowest it could get.

There was virtually no substance, and petty puerile insults aimed at the other side. Occasionally the candidates themselves rose above it -- an example that comes to mind is when a woman was telling McCain that Obama was "an Arab", and he put her right. But their "campaigns" didn't seem to do that, and the "campagns" seemed to develop a life of their own, apart from the candidates. Perhaps they are egregors, and demonic ones at that.

Unknown said...

i would say i would have made most decisions g.w. made, just like Hilary and Obama did (basically, except Obama on the war) and, like Greenspan and the rest of congress, failed to see the loan-sharking of dropping the interest rate, but that would make people hate me and dispise my "insanity" even more than they already do...

They'd probably call me uncompassionate and unsacrificial too...

Unknown said...

Oh - I forgot - they, like Boston Legal, would call me stupid too. Which I am. To a degree...

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