Here’s the skinny on this blog post: I just wrote a four page story about being at thanksgiving, getting into a political conversation with two George W. Bush worshipers, challenging them on their current doomsday prognostications concerning Obama, and then being conveniently labeled (by them) as a wacky liberal. Ok, basically, my entire post just got deleted so I’m a little annoyed. Rather than write the whole thing again, I’m going to give an ultra brief summary of the situation. Here it is in a paraphrased dialogue format:

Them: Barack Obama is going to bankrupt this country.

Me: Ya, just like George W. Bush was doing for 8 long years.

Them: Well, he had 2 wars to fight…

Me: Not really, he didn’t have to fight those wars, but the military men and women in uniform had to. In fact, he didn’t have to fight in Iraq at all (are we finished justifying the war in Iraq yet?). Additionally, he didn’t have to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a couple of years based on his own strategy of uprooting the governments.

Them: What are you saying?

Me: I’m saying that Bush screwed our economy up too, so don’t just try to blame it on Obama and his historically high spending within the first year of his presidency. (By the way, Obama has spent more in the first year than any president has in history—but that’s beside the point.) Instead, this whole economic situation, in light of the executive branch of government, is just as dependent on Bush as it is Obama. That’s what I’m saying…

Them: (Literally said) “You’re liberal aren’t you” (sniff sniff)

Me: “Thinking to myself” ??? What on earth does that have to do with what I’ve just said?

______________________________

Tentative conclusion: For some people, Bush walks on water and can do no wrong. If you question him or the conservative platform, then you’re immediately called a liberal. This happens on the other side of the isle of course, so I think it’s really just a case of treating politics as though they are God, which is actually just idolatry.  In reality, I don’t like playing on any of the conservative or liberal teams because they are too existentially bound, i.e., tied to the here and now of our own political situations. Those teams suck, and existentialism sucks too, hehe… Instead of politics, I want to play on the Jesus team. What this means is that (1) I want to see myself first as a follower of Jesus, and (2) let that define how I view politics. I suspect that will limit my personal attacks on other people for having different political views on things. Keep in mind that Jesus too was viewed as a political threat in the first century. Why? Because he was talking about the kingdom of God… A kingdom which is contrary to the crappy political corrosiveness of this world, which is essentially corrupt, poisonous, and deceitful into perpetuity. In sum, then: without Jesus, all things will rot away because they are like sand, which when the storm comes, washes away and is scattered. We are told to build our houses on the Rock (Jesus), for when the storms come, the rock is a solid foundation.

2 Responses to “Eating turkey while being called a “liberal””

1. The Tim says:

   December 1, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   I’m not going to apologize for Bush’s crazy spending binge, but I can see the logic in someone being “okay” with Bush’s spending but “not okay” with Obama’s. (Again, I was not okay with it.)

   Check out The National Debt Road Trip over on YouTube for a brief visual explanation on why that could be at least a semi-reasonable position.

   Don’t blame me, I voted for Ron Paul. :^)
2. philhigley says:

   December 1, 2009 at 5:39 pm

   Hey Tim!

   I see your first point, but this particular person was not making that point. That’s why I included the caveat about Obama spending more in the first year than any other president in history.

   I’ll take a look at that link. I’m sure it’ll be funny.

   P.S. Ron Paul huh?