In Response to a Former Coworker

A former coworker sends me material about her new venture. Occasionally she sends job opportunities (Yay!), but most of the email contains references to her quasi-professional, quasi-personal blog. This time she alluded to a political stance, and I got curious.

You can read her original post in its entirety here.

Full disclosure: she is a nice woman, and was, in her short tenure, an obviously capable team player. Though she capitalizes adjectives with alacrity:

"Loyalty needs to reside within the American people. During the past several years we have watched several of our elected officials make decisions that benefit themselves, instead of voting and fighting for the people who elected them. They take actions that advance their aspirations, instead of the aspirations of our great nation. Ensnarement with individuals who are disloyal to America only to disassociate when brought to light or damage to ones own political aspirations arise.

Loyalty is demonstrated in ones desire to protect our nation and stand up to those who attempt to defile it in words, actions and associations.

There is only one Presidential candidate in our upcoming election, who has demonstrated Loyalty to America - at all cost, who has never defiled America or her people through words and associations, and who will continue to be Loyal to America and her people.

I believe they are and have been Loyal to America and her people. I believe they will cross party lines, do the necessary shaking Washington needs, and serve the people of America. They will create change and inspire Loyalty.

John McCain, thank you for being a Loyal American. Thank you for demonstrating strong ethics. Thank you for your leadership. And thank you for choosing Governor Sarah Palin as your Vice President. "

My response:

First let me say I admire your courage in seeking a way to intertwine your political views with your business practices; while I pride myself on being willing to roll the dice on occasion - even in professional settings, I'm not sure even I'd have that kind of moxie. Since you sent an unsolicited email to me, however, I don't feel the need to exercise a corresponding amount of moderation.

While I agree that John McCain is a "Loyal American," I struggle to attach much actionable meaning to it, which necessarily discounts it as differentiating election evaluation criteria, for me. I mean, saying McCain is loyal is much like saying my friend Lisbeth is awesome; someone else may not think so, and no one is right or wrong. I might say McCain is a political opportunist, or that religious extremists have hijacked the otherwise reasonable republican party and weakened it - perhaps irreversibly, or that the new right's short-sighted economic policy has bought hypnotized Americans off with cheap toys and dubious ploys to moral superiority, at the expense of a rich, diverse culture and dynamic, global economy. I could say those things, but those may (or may not) just be my own opinions. Your mileage may vary.

What is not a matter of opinion, however, are the candidates' positions on issues: McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time (the Obama campaign was generous: the actual number is 95% in 2007 according to mediamatters.org); he was at one time a maverick republican bastion of pro-choice, and now is pro-life; he stated in his nomination acceptance speech that he wants to make Bush's tax cuts to the rich permanent (the wealth gap is widening in this country, at alarming rates - I'd be happy to share a barrage of data with you on this particular point. Suffice it to say the richest 1% of Americans control 50% of the assets).

What is also not a matter of opinion is that Palin's Alaska receives 10x MORE per capita in federal funding than any other state in the U.S, even while she waxes poetic about frivolous government spending and earmarks and brags about killing a bridge project she initially supported (note: she kept the funds). Nor is it a matter of debate that Palin openly believes in the rights of the rape-created fetus and fights to support it, yet sees no moral quandary with shooting big game from aircraft simply for sport. Nor is it a matter of opinion that Palin supports teaching creationism in school (note: it does not matter if you believe it, it is not science).

I could go on, but I think you get the point.