Religion and Politics

Well, the best man for the job of President of the United States bowed out of the race yesterday, "for the good of the party." He gave a speech upon withdrawing from the race that, had he given it weeks ago, may have excited conservatives across the nation to realize that he was the one they had been looking for. Oh well, politics is a dirty business, and no one knows it better than the presumptive nominee of the GOP, John McCain. Combined with his toady, Mike Huckabee, they raised the issue of a Mormon running for President like it was some kind of sinister thing. The message couldn't have been clearer: "We want Mormons to vote for Republicans, but they need to remember their place as second class citizens. We don't need any uppity Mormons thinking they are our equals." And whereas I heard when I was a child that "anyone can grow up to be President of the United States," the tacit message of the GOP was that that does not apply to Mormons. Well, I heard the message, loud and clear, and yesterday I contacted the County Recorder and changed my voter registration to "No Party Preference," in other words, Independent. It is a tiny gesture, but it is the only gesture I can make. As a wise man once said, democracy is the form of government in which everybody gets what the majority deserve. And with a McCain/Hillary/Obama presidency, the majority is going to get it, good and hard.