A New Church

I was flipping around TV channels the other day, and believe I came across a new idol. There were thousands of people gathered in a stadium screaming hysterically at what they apparently perceived as some sort of messianic figure onstage speaking to them. Acts included spastic gyration is the aisles, uncontrollable sobbing, and most disturbingly some women rushing the stage and throwing themselves at him as if he was John Lennon reincarnated (1960's model). By now, I'm guessing the reader thinks the channel was on TBN while either Benny Hinn or Rod Parsley perform b-level hypnosis on their followers. Or perhaps I was watching the likes of David Archuleta or a Backstreet Boys reunion on MTV. Anyone thinking either of these scenarios would be mistaken. I was watching a Barack Obama rally.





As many people have pointed out, these rally's are beginning to take on a life of their own. In addition to being fanatical group of worshipers presently residing in this country, they are also the most difficult to deal with. I didn't understand why the Hillary supporters were having such a difficult time jumping on board Senator Obama's campaign once he had the nomination locked up until I started interacting with some of them. Having a rational conversation with an Obama supporter is like trying to read War and Peace to a Guantanamo detainee who is undergoing his 83rd hour without sleep. In other words, it's impossible. Trying to reason with them is about as easy as it is with the fanatics mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog.





What's even more frightening about this is that I've made it clear in this blog that given the primary choices of presidential candidates in this election, I think Obama is the best candidate. Of course there is no way I'd vote for him (I've already written in Ron Paul's name on my ballot). My support of Obama is more a result of the Republican party showing their incompetence by nominating Senator McCain as their candidate. Later, McCain confirmed their suspected incompetence by choosing Governor Palin as his running mate. FWIW, I've predicted that whoever the next president is, that they will go down as the worst in this country's history. I believe either one of them will be equally inept, and both of there economic plans will have us $50 trillion in debt by the year 2030.





Getting back to the Obama fanaticism, his support transcends any known logic I can comprehend. For example, I'm a teamster (because my job requires it) and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that many of Obama's positions are, at the root, anti-union relative to some of the other candidates. This is confirmed when the list of his campaign contributers is revealed (pro-labor accounts for very little of his nearly $600 million in contributions) and the socialistic bailout that he lobbied so hard for. Incidently, it comes as no surprise that Wall Street firms make up the majority of his contributions. Given these facts, you'll never guess who was on the cover of the most recent Teamster magazine. In fact, teamster President Jimmy hoffa says in the latest article, "... the unprecedented $700 billion (actually closer to $850 billion) bailout of Wall Street has left many on Main Street without help. Guess who was one of the biggest proponents of the bailout, Jimmy? Makes about as much sense as them endorsing Al Gore. Oh wait...





This isn't to say that the other side isn't without it's own hypocracy. Christian churches and ministries all over the country are struggling in today's economic climate. Given those facts, one of the things that is being preached is financial responsibility. This is not only sound biblical advice, but it also helps these people get their 10% of Joe the Plumber's paycheck. Given this, it would seem logical these groups would endorse a candidate that embodies this value. Amazingly, they mostly endorse Senator John "I love the Wall Street bailout as much as Obama" McCain. Without going too far down this rabbit trail, I could go on and on about the numerous sellouts in this country jumping onboard with either Obama or McCain not because they like them, but because they are terrified of being left in the cold when one of them wins. The bottom line is that when their contributions are analyzed along with their voting record, it's pretty obvious that neither of these guys gives a rip about the people on Main Street or Joe the Plumber. They are both loyal to $, and none of it is coming from either of these sources.





As for the election coming up this Tuesday, I'm anticipating a couple possible scenario's. Zogby (the most reputable poll, IMO) currently shows Obama with an 8 point lead in a nationwide poll. Part of me is wondering how accurate that poll really is given the presence of the less than pleasant Obama supporters out there. For me personally, I am unwilling to tell someone how I will (or have) voted in this election unless I can be certain that it can be followed by a logical and rational conversation. In other words, I wouldn't be a bit surprised that many of the people who say they are voting for Obama or are undecided are possibly trying to save themselves a potential headache. It certainly beats having to listen to Matt Damon, Bill Maher, or any of his other worshipers telling me how stupid I am for not voting for him. I'd rather Matt started pre production on The Talented Mr. Ripley 2: Electric Boogaloo. Bill Maher has confined himself to a lifestyle dope smoking and hot tubbing. More power to him, but it would an understatement to say that neither one of these guys speaks for me. If living Maher's lifestyle and giving Obama my endorsement makes me intelligent, then I want to be dumb.





Of course there is a possibility that this election will share elements of Bobby Jindal's first bid to become Governor of Louisiana. For anyone who isn't aware of what happened, Jindal had a comfortable lead heading into the election only to lose it. Among the reasons given for this upset was the possibility of voter's not being voting for someone whose parents were both Native Punjabi Indians. In other words, racism could be a factor in what I perceive will be final popular vote as much closer than 8 points.





Regardless of what happens November 4th, a new megachurch has been born. Obama's followers have elevated him to a status on par with TBN celebrity or American Idol. Unfortunately for either of these candidates, it's going to take some substance to fix this mess. We might have to wait until 2012 for that.