Motto for Today
Archive for November, 2020
Religious Pomposity
Thoughts from Nick Carraway.
A former coworker threw up one of those posts on social media that I would simply label religious pomposity. Essentially, these folks (I know you’ve seen them before) assert that the virus is real, but their faith will protect them from harm. They will continue to live their life because God will protect them.
This is where we see some variance. Some will be respectful of others and wear masks in public. This is because they can at least understand the notion that masks are more about protecting others than protecting themselves. Others are more selfish. They are bulletproof from the virus because they have a great relationship with the almighty.
If you haven’t figured it, these are the people that anger me the most. It isn’t the denial of covid that bothers me. It bothers me sure, but it is understandable on some level. The religious folks bother me more because they are misunderstanding the virus and they are misunderstanding religion. That’s quite a combination.
They are using what I would call an Old Testament understanding of religion. It goes something like this. If I’m good enough and obedient enough then God will protect me from harm. This sounds good, but we can take this to its logical conclusion. In other words, if I’m continually safe then I am continually in God’s favor. If I’m infected or somehow worried about being infected then your faith is superior to my faith.
Now, for those that have studied their Bible, they remember the story of Job. God and Satan had this bet going that Job would continue to praise God even when you took away his stuff, his health, and his family. Those from Old Testament times believe both halves of that equation. If you are fortunate then God favors you. If you are not then he doesn’t.
People that post this kind of thing are continuing to perpetuate this idea. They are doing so in a very selfish and arrogant way. They have God’s favor. They are obviously good and obedient people. They will take advantage of his largesse, so they don’t need to protect himself and others. Unfortunately for them, evidence shows this is not case. Churches have held services in defiance of public safety and numerous members have paid the price.
I won’t go into specifics, but these folks are usually far from virtuous. This is why these kinds of pronouncements anger me. It’s the arrogance involved. We are called to be humble. Those that are first will be last and those that are last will be first. Belief doesn’t give me super powers and it doesn’t make me any safer than anyone else. Furthermore, if I’m willing to put someone else in danger because of my faith then I have surrendered any moral high ground I thought I had in the first place.
Treating Election Anxiety Disease
This was written by a friend of mine, George Dillingham, the county chair of Washington County, Texas. It helped me a lot yesterday so I decided to share it with you.
I have received calls from many Democrats who are suffering from what I call election anxiety disease. This disease has no biological basis but has infected many good Democrats as a result of the memory of the disappointment and shock felt on election night in 2016. If Democrats gather together with or without masks and begin to obsess about the 2020 election, election anxiety becomes highly infectious.
I suggest that one remedy for calming frayed nerves and anxiety is to refrain from comparing the election in 2016 to 2020. Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, is much different from Hillary Clinton. He is a respected white male who represents an acceptable alternative to swing voters and disaffected Republicans who don’t want to vote for Donald Trump. While the polls were favorable to Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden has much larger leads than Clinton and in many states is above the margin of error. Finally, it appears that there will be a record turnout in battleground states which has historically benefited Democrats.
My view and that of many knowledgeable political pundits is that the “Blue Wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin will be resurrected for Biden/Harris. But I caution that there may be some anxious moments for Democrats on election night as all three states take some time to count absentee ballots.
The odds of Trump’s re-election are very long when you look at the election map. He can’t afford to lose any two of the states he narrowly won in 2016 and he must win Florida and Texas with both of these rated very close contests. The election math is very much against him.
In addition to general election anxiety, I have been questioned by Democrats about the reality of actually turning Texas Blue. My opinion is that the huge increase in voter turnout in Texas moves a win by Biden in Texas from unlikely to possible. We have known that for a long time that low turnout in Texas has greatly favored Republicans. With the dramatic increase in voter participation, we could also see Democrats take control of the Texas House of Representatives and elect several new Democrats to congress like our own, Mike Siegel. Finally, the trend is favorable to turning Texas Blue. In 2012 Mitt Romney won Texas by 16 points. In 2016 Trump won Texas by 9 points. In 2018 Ted Cruz won Texas by 3 points. The trend here is definitely our friend.
I hope that some of this information is helpful in dealing with you election anxiety. As for myself, I already have a bottle of Champaign on ice, but I realize that I might not pop the cork until November 4th or 5th.
Poopie Del Pollo
We have a decision on the drive-through voting.
The legal term for this is Poopie del Pollo. The judge heard all the evidence this morning, said he would have a ruling in 15 – 20 minutes. Left the courtroom and didn’t come back for over a hour. I guess Bill Barr wasn’t picking up the phone in a timely manner.
(The following was corrected in the comments. I was 100% wrong. I have too many damn writ twits looking over my shoulder. LOL.)
We Win. For Now.
Bush appointee Andrew Hanen, a federal judge in the 5th circuit, just threw out the lawsuit filed by GOP activists and shitbags to dis-enfranchise 127,000 Harris County voters, including yo, who voted at a drive through location. Had we lost, the 10 drive through locations in Harris County would have been shut down AND all 127,000 of us would have had to stand in line tomorrow and VOTE AGAIN. The only surprise here is that Hanen, known as one of the most knee jerk extreme conservatives on the bench, actually followed the law and ruled correctly against this outrageous tactic to sow chaos into our right to vote.
Harris County
The Harris County Democratic Headquarters was attacked last night.
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Superglue was poured into all the locks.
And we are still waiting on the federal judge’s ruling on the drive-though voting. He said he’d have a ruling in 15 minutes – it’s been almost an hour.