BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

October 30, 2004

CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES  

Why Christians Should Not Vote for George Bush

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Kevin McCarthy

First things first: I don't hate George Bush.

No, my situation is I'm extremely disappointed in far too many of George Bush's actions. Disappointed in his refusal to acknowledge reality, whether it is the present reality his bungled Iraq policies have created, our economic condition his lack of budgetary discipline has created and the social and environmental problems blossoming from his disavowal of scientific evidence.

His adherence to ideology-driven decision-making has engendered incompetent outcomes that have further divided this country and inflamed rivalries between the State Department and the civilian sector of the Department of Defense (DOD), the CIA and the DOD, Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate---all in a time where it is babbled that our nation's safety is proclaimed as Job One.

This is not a way to lead a country of the global importance enjoyed by the United States. A bully pulpit inhabited by such is a disaster waiting to happen.

But my greatest disappointment is reserved for George Bush's religious hypocrisy and lack of personal integrity while ironically, he polls highest with voters in the categories of devoutness and honesty.

Upon taking office in 2000, President Bush vowed to restore honor and integrity to the Oval office and to work to change the culture in this country to one of responsibility.

Paradoxically, for a man who so publicly and enthusiastically pronounces the presence of Jesus in his heart, there is scant evidence that he is actually guided by the bedrock principles of Christianity.

For far too often, he chooses the antithetical option.

His staff:

* outs a CIA agent

* lies to Congress about the true costs of a Medicare reform bill

* his Education Secretary labels the National Education Association a terrorist organization

* his Acting FDA Commissioner lies about terrorists planning to contaminate imported drugs

Nary a concern is voiced about any of these actions by our compassionate Christian leader.

He did manage to employ his 'Higher Father's' terrible swift sword to fire:

* National Economic Council Director Larry Lindsay because Lindsay spoke the truth about the real costs of the Iraq War

* U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers when she spoke about the budget problems making our nation's parks less safe

* his own appointee Professor Elizabeth Blackburn from the Council on Bioethics because her views on stem-cell research weren't cloned from the Republican Party platform.

Yes, I am old enough to know that politicians lie.

But not every politician has so exuberantly described Jesus as his favorite philosopher and the one who so dramatically changed his heart, as George Bush has proudly and gratefully done.

This raises the ante.

In 2000, after losing the critical New Hampshire primary to Arizona Senator John McCain, George Bush made a desperate rush into the open arms of Bob Jones, the president of Bob Jones University in South Carolina, where the next primary was to take place.

After making goo-goo eyes with Jones, who is most notorious for assailing the Pope as the Anti-Christ and whose school policies included a prohibition on interracial dating, a back-channel effort of Rovian proportions took place to get the word out to South Carolina Republicans that McCain was unstable as a result of his time as a North Vietnam POW, that McCain's wife was a drug addict and, to complete the trifecta, that McCain had fathered a black, out-of-wedlock child.

When Bush was pressed by the media afterwards about his tête-à-tête with Jones, he staunchly responded: "I wasn't very aware of the interracial dating policy."

Ah, the scourge of one's convictions.

It appears George Bush is a supreme master at compartmentalizing his life and that this changed-heart president has traveled a very curious road to Damascus.

Texans have a saying to skewer imitation cowboys: "big hat, no cattle."

President Bush carries a gleaming public cross but exhibits a countervailing personal history.

That is why Christians should look elsewhere on November 2.

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION