Peanut Gallery: Before going any further, please read Public Catholic’s “Stop Slogan-Voting…. Part 1.”  My comments address Rebecca Hamilton’s (Public Catholic) post.

COMMENTS: Lying Snakes, Kabuki Dancers and Useful Idiots

I’m an old guy who is new to the public political arena (4 yrs) but well versed in the arena of church politics (35 yrs). I am not a newcomer to the “culture wars.”

My relatively recent foray into the public political arena began as a Tea Party activist after the election of Barack Obama; I had recently retired from active ordained ministry in a mainline protestant denomination. As a church pastor, I limited my public political activities to the Pro-Life movement, but was an intrepid culture warrior within the church – to little or no avail. (In retrospect, I was like the little Dutch boy trying to plug the holes in the dike with his fingers. Eventually I ran out of fingers.)

I’ve retired from both my local Tea Party and my denomination and now I’m free to express my opinion from the “cheap seats” in The Peanut Gallery – hence this blog.

That’s why I’ve found Rebecca Hamilton’s blog – Public Catholic – so refreshing. The parallels between our personal experiences, although worlds apart, are remarkable. The purpose of this brief introduction is simply to provide some context for my comments on Hamilton’s blog – Stop Slogan-Voting… Pt 1.

1. Lying Snakes –

“Politics is about power. The two political parties are not political parties as we once knew them. They are consortiums of special interests. They operate on behalf of these interests for one purpose: to get and keep power…. Power is what they want, and they will tell you anything it takes to get you to give it to them.” – Public Catholic

A friend of mine recently called one of our local politicians “a lying snake.” She couldn’t have been more accurate – the guy had just promised to vote one way in our local City Council Meeting and then did just the opposite. Another recently told my wife, with a straight face, that he never made any money off his position as City Councilman – when his construction firm had its sign outside a city rehab project only a few hundred yards away. Continue reading “Public Catholic Comment: Lying Snakes, Kabuki Dancers and Useful Idiots” →