The amorphous and omnipresent “they” advise that we should never discuss certain subjects with friends, politics included. Yesterday, I broke that rule — and I broke it not with some borderline, persuadable friends, but with three of the most hard-right, Limbaugh-like friends I know.
OK. So what possessed me to do that? What did I hope to accomplish? My goal was nothing more complex than to clear my conscience. In every prior political discussion with these friends, I had meekly defended Obama on certain points, but I never crossed the line of actually admitting that I planned to vote for him. “Coward,” my brain told me. “You can canvass for Obama, promoting him to complete strangers, but you can’t tell your closest friends, because you know they’ll ridicule you and possibly, friendship or not, think less of you. Buck up, man. If you’re gonna pull the lever, have the stones to admit it.”
So I did admit it, and then — in the bravest fashion I could muster (by email, with a self-deprecating touch) — defended my decision by attaching to it a list of conservatives/Republicans who are far more credentialed than I, but of similar mind. I even included links to the reports of these individuals’ Obama endorsements and their reasons why. That last touch was, in part, a final flash of cowardice — I could not be perceived as a lone ranger — but it was also my strongest potential defense. I even (foolishly) hoped it might make my Hannity-wannabe friends pause and question their own decisions.
So much for that. Friends or not, these men didn’t blink on their way to disparaging my decision, hurling every proverbial stone within their reach — most of which were of similar ilk to the tossed stones that Jon Swift recently and brilliantly excoriated.
Below the fold, I’ve pasted my email to these friends of mine, followed by their various replies, left in raw form with the most minimal of edits, largely to remove names and other identifiers and to insert a relevant link. After reading their replies — in particular, the two longer replies — those of you who have likewise decided to vote for Obama might wonder how I can consider these men my friends, given the disparity in our views. It’s simple, really: First, we’re free to disagree with each other on politics and still get along — that’s America, or at least, that should be America. Second, when I follow the advice of the omnipresent and amorphous “they” and avoid discussing politics, I find these guys to be decent and delightful souls. They are, all of them, loving husbands and fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons. They are also selfless givers of their time and talents to worthwhile causes. I defend them, not their words, for the same reason Obama defended the person of Rev. Wright without defending his remarks: What my friends say is not the sum of who they are.
And no, not one of them would appreciate being mentioned in the same paragraph as Rev. Wright. So be it.
TEXT OF EMAIL TO MY FRIENDS
Gentlemen,
At least two of you already know — and the other one is about to find out — that I’ve gone insane and plan to vote for Obama. I suspect you’re baffled how a lifelong Republican could make such a decision. For what it’s worth, I’m not alone. You’ve obviously heard of Colin Powell’s endorsement. Below is a list of a few other prominent conservatives and/or Republicans who are supporting Obama, with embedded links to relevant sources. Some of the names on this list are “moderate Republicans” -– so I’d understand it, if you were not impressed by them. But others on this list are not so easily discounted, including:
* Larry Hunter, who includes the following among his credentials: “a lifelong Republican — a supply-side conservative … worked in the Reagan White House … chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years … helped write the Republican Contract with America … served on Bob Dole’s presidential campaign team and was chief economist for Jack Kemp’s Empower America.”
* Ken Adelman, who is reported to have held “a key role in George Bush’s defense agency” and “senior policy positions under Reagan, Ford, and … Nixon.”
Also, I don’t want to forget what might be the most persuasive set of endorsements this political season, from Opie, Andy, and the Fonz.
Sincerely,
Pete “Yes, I’ve Lost My Mind” Abel
PARTIAL LIST OF REPUBLICANS/CONSERVATIVES SUPPORTING OBAMA
Susan Eisenhower
Christopher Buckley
Alison Goldwater Ross
C.C. Goldwater
Francis Fukuyama
Larry Hunter
William Weld
David Friedman
Charles Fried
Arne Carlson
Ken Adelman
Doug Kmiec
Wayne Gilchrest
Jim Leach
Lincoln Chafee
Lowell Weicker
Linwood Holton
Jim Whitaker
Bill Ruckelshaus
RESPONSE FROM “FRIEND A”
It just so happened I got an article from the Investors Business Daily emailed to me about the same time I got your email.
Although it was about Carter and the things he did that arguably led to our (and the worlds’) current problems in Iran and in the economy because he was naive and weak, it is a reminder of where our current problems germinated. As Margaret Thatcher said- ‘I could not help liking the man but he had no business being president’ . We could be saying the same thing about Obama in a few years.
The corrupt and unaccountable UN will be empowered by him as well as the liberal ideologues which will dominate the Supreme Court and rewrite the constitution from the bench to fit their ideology, which may not matter anyway since we will be subservient to the UN rules and taxes. The opposing point of view will be muffled by the equal time laws Nancy Pelosi is already pushing for, supported by her other left wing friends.
If Obama was president instead of Bush, we would be out of Iraq- we never would have gone there, they would have completed their nuclear weapons and other WMD programs by now, no telling what they would have done with them, particularly to the people who made him look bad over the last 10 years. I guess you heard about the yellow cake stockpile sent to Canada from Iraq a few months ago, or the parts for their nuclear program buried in someone’s yard. There would be at least one less democracy in the middle east, thousands of more people would be tortured or killed in the area, and any hope of Mideast peace with Israel in existence would be once again postponed indefinitely, and Uday and Qusay would be waiting in the wings torturing and raping people ready to take over. As you may recall, the UN was attempting to end the embargo against Hussein since it was ‘hurting his people but not him’.
If the middle east is a peaceful place in 20 years, history will likely show the stability began with the introduction of democracy via the Iraq war, not with the Jimmy Carter starry-eyed dreams that unleashed a monster in Iran that has terrorized the middle east with Hezbollah, Hamas, Quds and others since Carter empowered them with his ineptitude.
If you vote for him you vote to empower Nancy Pelosi’s left wing ideology, which is way too similar to Obamas. Remember- you will know them by their friends and supporters. George Soros is a major supporter of Obama, Reverend Wright, Bill Ayres and others, as are many other socialist ideologues. Keep in mind too that he is endorsed by the American Communist party.
From the Chicago Sun Times 4/18/08—- “Obama made it seem at the debate (v Clinton) he hardly knew Ayers. Besides serving on the Woods Fund board, in 1997 he and Ayers were to be on a University of Chicago panel organized by Michelle Obama, then an associate dean. And Ayers could reinforce Obama as an elitist: In 2002, Obama and Ayers were scheduled to be on a UIC panel with this lampoon-able title: “Intellectuals in Times of Crisis.”— Obama called him ‘some guy in my neighborhood’.
RESPONSE FROM “FRIEND B”
Funny, exactly what I said to Pete earlier. Think Jimmy Carter when you make that vote. My recollection is that he had crossover support as well…he was an unknown.
RESPONSE FROM “FRIEND C”
… I see this as just one more opportunity to have some fun with my great friend … Pete Abel, who is now exposed as manipulable and targeted as a tool to facilitate BO’s new master race. Pete’s next step is to convince his followers that he is actually a poor bi-racial black man, community organizer/anarchist who overtly speaks of Change but covets his covert mission to inspire a friendly form of facism to the world through Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barry Obama. Pete, Harry and Nancy luxuriate in the thought of BO as Commander-in-Chief as he is the necessary RUBBER STAMP for their cause. Soon, Pete will join Ted Kennedy and Tom Dashle on their annual fund raising dive (drive) for the victims of Chappaquiddick drownings caused by the inept leadership of George W Bush.
I know you Pete and I know you are aren’t so delusional that you believe BO ISN’T anything other than the POSTER CHILD for the same old Social Facsim Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden have been promoting for decades (all WHITE and EXTREMELY RICH WASHINGTON INSIDERS).
I also don’t believe you are sharing your true agenda behind your so called moderate approach. The consequences of legitimizing and emboldening the enemies of combat soldiers … (MOVEON.ORG) and Social Fascists like Pelosi and Reid will devastate everyone you love. We (collectively) aren’t naive to the counter-culture’s strategy, tactics and messaging. We have lived through Mussolini, Hitler, and Castro AND we’ve experienced the counter-revolution that began in the 1960’s. Everything you are justifying has been justified before.
The list of Republicans who have jumped ship are inconsequential to the list of those who have been front and center in this war against America as we know it. You aren’t simply promoting BO; I hope you realize WE know this. Anyone who votes for BO is complicit in bring even more power to HARRY REID and NANCY PELOSI and all those HATE groups that will do ANYTHING IT TAKES to CRIPPLE OUR SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT.
You aren’t so a fool. You know that without McCain in the White House, the Pelosi/Reid agenda is UNSTOPPABLE and our Nation will eventually suffer through the violent repercussions history has shown necessary to eradicate Fascist regimes. To their own demise, Germany’s Catholics and Jews supported Hitler for the same reasons you support BO. You have the opportunity to study the history and help all of us to reverse this alarming trend. “It can’t happen here” is happening here. Revisit your decision to support this untested, unknown, agenda-ridden enigma of a candidate and realize what an awful decision you are making.
Don’t make yourself the fool of the tool. Wise up Brother!