Dirty politics!

So anyone who cares about such things may have noticed that I’ve been absent these last couple months…no…?  No one noticed?  Ok, whatever.

So I decided, with the encouragement of my fellow AM writers, to talk about something other than politics, and, failing that, I decided to take a little break.  I did, however, sit back, observe, and celebrate Obama’s victory.  I did so with dismay, though, because this election was not a pretty one.  It was not always fought cleanly and was one of the most disgusting displays of propaganda and dirty pool I’ve seen in some time.

I’ve been mulling this entry for some time…trying to figure out who we are to blame for the mudslinging, blatantly partisan politics that we saw on display in this recent campaign.  Do we blame one party or the other?  Are both to blame, or can we just fall back on the standby of blaming the media?  I personally believe that all of them are to blame.

In my own views, I find more faults with the Right’s approach to trying to bring down Obama than the Dem’s attacks on McCain, but that’s my slant.  I’m not asking to debate this, as it is simply my opinion.  While Obama continually hit McCain on his record, with varying degrees of effectiveness and sometimes some misdirection, the Right stooped to attempting to make parallels to a presidential candidate and terrorism.  They attempted to make people believe that Obama is Muslim, which isn’t true, but who honestly cares?  In a country that was founded by people seeking freedom of religion and  escaping persecution, what if, (insert your derivation of heaven here) forbid, he was actually Muslim?  Of course, this would disqualify him, much as being an African American should, right?  Hell no!  The fact that he is indeed a Christian aside, the last time I checked this is not a patently Christian country.  The Constitution does not specify what God they are talking about, and do you know why?  Because it’s not important!

Even more worrisome to me is how the climate of this campaign will affect the next generation of would-be politicians.  Is it now acceptable to use someone’s very human flaws to disqualify them from the auspices of any political office?  Even more, is it acceptable to make up lies to try to sway people to vote for you?  I’m not even talking about public office here!  How do we tell our children that they should run honorably for student council when the presidential campaigns are sullied by such garbage??

Even now that Obama’s been elected, the propaganda continues.  Check out this church in Kansas…it’s just ignorance, people, and it’s gotta stop!