Politics

I have tried writing about the election several times over the last week, but each time I am held back by the question of how much to disclose my own political leanings. It is a complicated question that I have tried to answer several times. I have wrestled heavily with the notions of objectivity and bias, with my own political history and that of my family, and with what my own political philosophy and policy positions actually are. Each time my writings descend into incoherence and finally end with the merciful application of the delete button. I think this is in part due to the fact that my political thinking is really all over the map.

I come from a long line of blue-collar, blue-dog, conservative Christian, FDR Democrats. Though I am less blue-collar than my grandparents were (my parents managed to bring us into the ranks of what Marx referred to as the petit-bourgeoisie), that description still fits in many ways. The problem is that conservative Christian FDR Democrats aren't supposed to exist any more, and I find myself increasingly isolated. I'm pro-life but think it's an incredibly difficult issue to legislate. I think organized labor has gone off the rails, but that unions are essentially good. I am an environmentalist, but I still love to drive my old clunker around the state, and I am concerned about undue burdens on property owners. I love the spotted owl; I also love things made out of redwood. I think that Communism was a massive failure, based on good intentions but fatally flawed. I think Capitalism has been a great success, but it tends to leave people out and promotes a culture of greed and self-interest. I am not convinced that supply side economics helps anyone but the most wealthy. I don't see why a sensible balance of free market and regulation can't work. I never knew what to think of the Iraq war, and frankly I don't now. I think it is an absolute scandal that bin Laden is at large seven years later, but I'm grateful we haven't been successfully attacked again. I think that the Democrats have too often maligned and misunderstood the Christian faith, but that the Republicans have too often thought they owned it and have co-opted it for their own purposes. I have never been fond of George. I am quite fond of Laura. I believe the U.S. is the greatest country in the world, but that we should celebrate it with honor and humility.

Some consider all of this schizophrenic. At least one of my mentors thinks I'm a conservative Republican in the making. But I think I'd never be more than a hated RINO. I don't think either party really has what I'm looking for. But in a two-party system being an "independent" doesn't make much sense to me. Sure it sends a message that party system is broken, which it certainly is, but I'd like to vote in the primaries and keep tabs on what the party of my forebears is up to. So for the moment I'm content to remain a hated Blue-Dog.

The irony as I write this is that it reminds me of the position I am in with the Episcopal Church. I don't like what has gone on in TEC, but I'm also suspicious of the Network in general and the secession movement in particular. So until my diocese goes totally overboard, or God calls me to another ecclesiastical body, I'm content to remain in Church of my forebears. And believe me, Anglican partisans think this is schizophrenia, too.