July 01, 2008

And Much Hilarity Ensued

This campaign may turn out to be much, much funnier than I had anticipated:
Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and - in a move sure to cause controversy - support their ability to hire and fire based on faith. [See additional comment in brackets immediately below.]

Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday at Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio.

...

But Obama's support for letting religious charities that receive federal funding consider religion in employment decisions was likely to invite a storm of protest from those who view such faith requirements as discrimination. [Hahaha! Ya think?] [This point regarding employment decisions appears to be inaccurate -- which doesn't alter the fact that this kind of program is terrible for numerous reasons, just as it does not alter any of my other points below.]

David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003 and later became a critic of Bush's commitment to the cause, said Obama's position has the potential to be a major "Sister Souljah moment" for his campaign.

...

Obama proposes to elevate the program to a "moral center" of his administration, by renaming it the Office of Community and Faith-Based Partnerships, and changing training from occasional huge conferences to empowering larger religious charities to mentor smaller ones in their communities.
A "moral center" of his administration.

Well, fuck me. Gosh, I'm sorry. Did that slip out?

More to the point: Obama will obviously screw every single person and constituency that has ever supported him, that supports him now or that will ever support him -- and he will do so in an especially blatant, in-your-face manner -- if he believes it will be to his political advantage. And he knows they'll continue to support him anyway: "So what're you gonna do, vote Republican? Come on! Come on, you're not gonna vote Republican!" Still worse: I have no doubt at all that he sincerely believes all the religious crap he's peddling. If that doesn't worry you, especially after the Bush years of God and Glory America, I doubt that anything will make you question The Faith According to Barack.

Without forgetting my much more serious concerns, I think there might be a lot of entertainment to be found in this campaign. Who's Obama going to screw next, and just how badly will he humiliate them? Maybe a new slogan, to replace the already exhausted hopey, changey thing: "Barack will fuck you over -- and he'll make you LOVE it!"

It definitely has possibilities.

Good stuff! Thanks, you jerk.