CRS
Chandler, Arizona, United States

There's an old saying. If you don't want someone to join a crowd, you ask them, "If everyone were jumping off of a cliff, would you?" Well, I have. So my answer would be "Yes". True story.
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Voting for Ideals, Not Politics is Always Dangerous

Thursday, October 09, 2008

this entry brought to you by one day as a lion, "one day as a lion"


I was having a political discussion months ago with a girl I knew named Nicki, who I think I've probably mentioned before. She's conservative, very Christian, and she was railing about George Bush. George Bush was a travesty, she said. The worst thing to ever happen to America. She wondered how the hell he hadn't been impeached yet. She had also voted for him, and when I asked her if she regretted her vote, she said no. When I asked how the hell this would be possible despite the ranting and railing for the previous three minutes, she said "Well, I'd vote for him again, because I don't believe in abortion."

No, I said. That completely invalidates everything you say. And I mean everything you say. All opinions have been invalidated, because you've shown that your logic makes no sense. You can't say that George Bush is the worst thing to happen to America, that he should be impeached, and then say you'd vote for him again because of abortion. No conservative President, not Reagan, not Bush the first, not Bush the second, has done anything to stop abortion. None of them have nominated a super-conservative Supreme Court Justice that would have a record to show they would definitely help overturn Roe Vs. Wade. President Bush has gone out of his way to stop stem cell research, which is different, but in terms of Roe Vs. Wade, no conservative president has even made an attempt.

I got into this exact same conversation a few days ago with a girl I know named Alison. I've mentioned Alison before, and she's very conservative and religious, but I completely respect her and her opinion. I want to express that up front. But I get frustrated with this line of thinking, and it's not just because I'm pro choice.

Alison was complaining about McCain, said she hated Sarah Palin, and then said that she didn't really think he had a chance at winning. But when asked who she was voting for, and after the complaints prior to this, I'd assumed she would've said Obama. But instead she said McCain. But Alison, I said, how the heck could you say McCain after all that? "Well, because of abortion. I know they'll never get rid of Roe Vs. Wade. I'm not stupid." I held my tongue saying that I believe that they will get rid of Roe Vs. Wade in my lifetime, because that's neither here nor there. "But I can't stand the idea of any partial birth abortions."

"But Alison," I said. "The Democrats aren't running on the Pro Partial Birth Abortion Platform. Nobody is. Nobody likes Partial Birth Abortions."

She paused. "But I believe that the Democrats would never get rid of a woman's right to choose" -- this wording surprised me, considering that's our wordage-- "and that they would allow a woman to terminate her birth at any point during the pregnancy."

I told her that no Republican President has done anything to overturn Roe Vs. Wade. "Just because every President up until now hasn't doesn't mean McCain won't." This was true, but it's doubtful. Presidents talk a mean talk during their campaigns to flame up their base, and then do nothing once they get in. But she was right, that didn't necessarily mean McCain wouldn't. Although he won't.

I told her that there were more issues at stake-- in fact, this time around, much more important issues than just abortions, which is something people could get riled up about 8 years ago. There's so much more at stake. She nodded and said, "I know. I fancy myself an intelligent person, but I'm not as informed as I should be. I know I really should pay more attention to the issues, I know I should really pay more attention to politics, but I don't. And since I don't, I have to vote on the one issue I know I care about."

"But what about universal health care!" I protested. Just the day before she was telling me about an absolutely atrocious emergency room visit earlier this week where she sat in the room for six hours and didn't see a doctor. They took her vitals, gave her an MRI, but no doctor. Didn't tell her the results of anything. At three in the morning she got up and went home. What did she get from all that? A 2,000 dollar bill that she can't pay. "You were just telling me about all the money you can't pay for a doctor's visit!"

"I don't vote for just myself, though," was her reply. "I am voting for something bigger than myself."

But we weren't talking about just her, we were talking about me, we were talking about everybody she's ever met, we were talking about everybody she has never met, everyone in America, being able to just go to the hospital when things go wrong and not have to worry about that. She didn't exactly shrug, but she kind of did that frown as if to say "Yeah, that's a good point, but it means nothing."

But what about all the other issues. The economy. The war. The wars. But especially the economy. The whole world seems to be collapsing and burning, the earth salted so that nothing can grow where once there was life, and it feels, to me at least, for a growing amount of Americans, that this is even more important than the war right now. I can't imagine something that would matter more than our entire infrastructure turning to dust beneath us, and I can't imagine something more important than fixing it and making sure it doesn't happen again. She agreed that it was important, and that she needed to know more about it. But it still didn't matter to her.

I was growing increasingly frustrated with her. She said that she was sorry we didn't agree with one another, but that she was going to vote how she wanted. She didn't say it defensively at all, but she said it trying to be as objective as possible. And I told her, of course she could vote how she wanted! Of course. I respect her opinion on abortion. I fundamentally disagree with her about the issue, and I wish she didn't feel that way, and would feel the world would be better off if nobody felt the way she did, but that doesn't mean I can't respect her as an individual. I wasn't trying to get her to vote for Obama just because I like Obama. I wasn't trying to get her to vote for Obama at all. But I wanted her to know, what she was doing was voting for an ideal, and not on politics. And voting on ideals versus politics is always dangerous. She wasn't so much voting against her nose to spite her face, it was more as if she was voting against her nose oblivious of her face.

It took me a while, but I came up with what I felt was a good hypothetical analogy.

Pretend, I said, that I don't know anything about politics. All I know is, I hate guns. And this second part is true. I hate them. I wish they didn't exist. I want them all just gone. And imagine that I voted Democratic merely because they were the gun control party.

"But Chris!" you could say. "No Democratic President could ever get rid of guns!"

"I don't care," I'd say. "Some day they might."

"But no Democratic President ever has even tried to get rid of guns!"

"That doesn't mean Obama won't," I'd reply.

"But what about taxes? Chris, the Democrats are going to raise your taxes! What about growing government? Do you want government in every part of your life?"

And I shook my head saying, "The thing is, I really don't care. So long as there are no guns on the street."

I told Alison all this and she said "But what if the other party wanted to put Assault Rifles on the streets?"

"That's just it!" I protested. "To flip our analogy back from hypothetical to reality, the Democrats aren't running on a Partial Birth Abortion Platform! In our analogy, nobody would run on an 'Assault Rifles in Every Hand' platform. It would never happen!"

She hesitated and nodded. "But Chris, if you did vote for the Democrats in that hypothetical situation, you could still do that. You can vote for any reason you want to."

"Of course I can vote for any reason I want to! The person who votes for a candidate because he thinks he'd rather have a beer with that candidate can vote for that reason if he likes as well! He has that right! I just want you to see that it is flawed reasoning."

She hesitated again. "I would see how it wouldn't necessarily be the best reason to vote."

That's really all I wanted her to say.
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with love from CRS @ 11:15 AM 

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