So, I sat down at the computer today to do a similar write up for the gaggle of Republicans also running for president, but I have to tell you guys, my heart just wasn’t in to it. I have a little legal pad next to my computer where I scribble notes for article ideas throughout the day, and I had the phrase what do I think about Fred Thompson? circled. Truth is guys… I don’t even think of Fred when I’m religiously watching Law and Order reruns.
In fact, if I was to create a top 10 list of Law and Order Characters I would like to be President, I think Fred would only come out ahead of the DA who looked like he was about to die of old age in every episode. Top choice? I think its obvious
So I’ll instead focus the energies of this column on the one Republican who never leaves me at a loss of words…Mitt Romney. When we (America) talk about Mitt, it’s usually either:
Mitt is a flip flopper
Holy crap America are you aware that this man is a Mormon???
This puts me in somewhat of a weird position, because I, in addition to being a Democrat, also happen to be a Mormon as well. Just like Mitt did in the 1960s (which the NYT did a really cool article on, which you can read *here*), I also knocked doors when I was 19. Only instead of going to France, dining at the US embassy, escaping the draft and running for president, I went to Sacramento, came home with a limp, and saw my girlfriend run off my with my college roommate. Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Many of my LDS peers, both young and old, are very excited about the prospect of a Mitt Romeny presidency. Part of that can be chalked up to the fact that most Mormons are pretty conservative (present company excluded). However, I also think that a lot of us in the LDS community think that having a Mormon president will give us a sense of legitimacy, and make us mainstream. How crazy could we be if the ruler of the free world agrees with us? (that’s a rhetorical question. Please don’t email me and tell me)
But do we want the public face of our religion to shift from mostly unassuming people like Steve Young and the Osmonds (or my personal favorite, Wilford Brimley, of Diabeetus fame), to a politician? Should we give him a free pass because he gets our inside jokes about Jello and Minivans? Do we even ignore some positions of his that seem to fly in the face of what we believe?
Well, I’m not going to. Mitt, I gotta ask you some questions here, brother to brother, zoobie to…er…well, normal person I guess.
Mitt on Torture: ROMNEY: I am glad [detainees] are at Guantanamo. I don’t want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don’t get the access to lawyers they get when they’re on our soil. I don’t want them in our prisons, I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo. (Fox News Debates)
Lets ignore how this flies in the face of solid policy decisions, international law, and the will of the American People. Lets talk about the church here for a second. Lets check out the 12th and 13th article of faith.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. (Joseph Smith)
Do you think that breaking international law, and then keeping is secret from relevant government oversight bodies, as Bush has done, complies with the 12th and 13th articles of faith? It doesn’t sound very Christ-like to me Mitt. You just gave a speech about how we need religion for freedom....and here you're pandering to far-right religious groups (who I don't have to remind you are not exactly friendly with our church. Joseph Smith wasn't murdered by the neighborhood chapter of the ALCU...it was people like the folks at Bob Jones University, where you trolled for votes) to suppress freedom.
Ditto with the constant position changing. Republicans flat out raked John Kerry over the coals for doing basically the same thing that Mitt is doing. This guy went from trying to out-gay Ted Kennedy to trying to out-Huckabee....Mike Huckabee. There is a reason voters seem to associate this guy with some sort of shady, snake-oil peddler. He's also been guilty of spewing some big ol' half-truths with his advertising. We believe in being honest, and a lot of folks, myself include, don't readily associate that with Mitt.
So he's a fierce advocate of pretty un-Christlike behavior, and has all the makings of a political opportunist...not to mention that I disagree with this guy on a whole litany of substantive policy issues. Its great to see a Mormon Candidate being out in the open (although I never saw this kind of LDS solidarity for Harry Reid....), but I really have to wonder if he really is an accurate representation of what we're all about...like how Catholics felt about John Kerry.
2 comments:
I have to agree. Cool as it would be to see an LDs president, a) it wouldn't really help the Church much, and b) especially not him.
Also, my roommate invited a bunch of people over to root for him in the debates last night, and then got angry when I told them to quiet down because I was trying to sleep. So that's another strike against him.
So....that was a pretty awesome picture of Sam Waterston. I think I'm going to have to make it my profile picture.
Also, I was reading a Facebook post of an LDS friend who shall remain nameless, and I was a little disturbed by it. She said she thought it was very weird that Democrats seem to have a monopoly on morals and values and the minority vote, and this was unsettling to her. She said Romney is more moral than they are.
I almost replied "The reason liberals appear to have a monopoly on all of those things is because they are the ones championing funding for social programs that benefit the poor, many of whom are minorities. Republicans just have the anti-abortion ticket." But instead, I kept my mouth. I get frustrated by the Republican ideal that everyone should be responsible to themselves and be content with whatever they get. The scriptures teach us to take care of the poor, widowed, and helpless, and by refusing universal healthcare and funding for government assistance programs, I don't see the conservatives being the "moral party."
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