The Politics of Hypocrisy

Well, the Democrats are beating the fluff out of every venue here in South Carolina that is available to them. If there is a TV spot, a radio ad, a newspaper column, a patch of dirt which can hold a sign, there is a political message plastered thereon.

The Big Two in the Democratic field, Hillary The Meek and Obama the Humble, have spent the last weeks trading punches and blows with each other. Sometimes they are downright nasty, but there was a stretch there when they were doing their best to pretend to be nice to each other. Just like two kids, hauled into the Principal's office for fighting in school, they have put on a false let's-be-friends facade... and then ignored it and went back to fighting.

When they are not saying what a horrible person the other is, they are telling everyone in the state how much better life would be for South Carolina is we would but wise up and install them in office. The term "patronizing" comes to mind...

The Other Guy in the Democrat field is good 'ol John Edwards. He is actually a nice guy, he's just being ignored by the Big Two and all the major media. It's a shame, too, as Edwards actually has some really good ideas and sound thoughts on how to actually lead the country. If I had to vote for a Democrat this year, I'd vote for Edwards. He's just getting ignored because he isn't as news-sexy as the Big Two. I mean, a white Southern guy? Boring... been done by Jimmy Carter already, so the media doesn't need or want him.

The hypocrisy comes in when you listen to the Big Two, about all they're gonna do for lil' 'ol South Carolina. They're going to bring us jobs and money and candy and free health care and no taxes and lower gas prices and everything! Where the heck were they when Marion County almost went bankrupt, losing thousands of jobs, factories, shops, and businesses? Or when the same thing happened in Dillon County? Or Andrews? Or Georgetown, when the steel mill shut down? Nowhere, because back then, this was an unimportant backwater, a place you fly over on your way to Florida.

At least Edwards knows how to pronounce the names of the places around here correctly, as he's the only one who has even been to any of them. Visiting Columbia, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach once or twice does not a Carolinian make.

When the primary is over, and the state's Democratic delegates have been committed to either Hillary or Obama (probably Obama, if I'm reading the tea leaves correctly), that's the last we'll hear of either of them again for four more years. They'll be busy making the same empty promises to people in other states, how they'll get everything for nothing and they are so very important. Then they will be forgotten too.

What we have all forgotten and continue to overlook, is the simple fact that selecting the nation's next CEO is not something you can do based on one or two attributes about the candidate. So Hillary is female, she was the First Lady. Big deal, what does that actually mean? What is she made of? Does she have the stuff it takes to be President? Please provide evidence if you think she does, as I don't see it.

What about Obama, what is he all about? Sure, he's a Senator and all. Big deal. He looks young, does not rant and rave like Ross Perot, and oh yeah, lest it not be mentioned every thirty seconds, he happens to be Black. So what? What is the nature of the person, who is he, what qualities does he exhibit that demonstrates supreme leadership capabilities? I don't see it there, either.

Voting requires thought, folks. It's not just making a statement, or joining a cause. What for too many people in the country are doing in the ballot booth is selecting someone who will do the thinking for them for the next four years. That's not inherently wrong, because in large part, it's true. But that does not relieve the voter of the responsibility and duty to THINK before pushing that button. Think hard. Study. Know what you are doing. This is not an issue that should be decided by the amount of melanin in a person's skin, or by which bathroom they prefer to use, nor by where they are from. These are the times that try men's souls, and it is into the soul and character of each candidate every voter must look, and look deeply. To do any less is to abdicate the stern duty and privilege which comes with being American, a privilege dearly purchased and hard-fought.

Go vote, but vote with your whole mind, and heart, and strength. Don't waste the sacrifice made for you which gave you that freedom.