An article in yesterday’s New York Times magazine contained a great quote from Louisiana’s then-Senator John Breaux in 2000, ostensibly in support of Al Gore’s choice of Joe Lieberman, the first Jew on a major national party ticket, as his running mate:
“I don’t think American voters care where a man goes to church on Sunday.”
What a knob.
Heh. It actually took me a second to realize what was wrong with that one.
Well, since we know that Lieberman long ago made a deal with the devil in exchange for his soul, I think we can forgive Breaux for calling any holy building of a religion a church. After all, Dick Cheney has a way of warping one’s mind.
True… though there’s also that “Sunday” thing.
It’s also just flat-out nonsense. Many Americans do care. George W. Bush won 78% of the white evangelical vote in 2000, mostly because he sold himself as one of them. (I have yet to see any evidence, aside from the empty, rhetorical catch phrases in speeches written by other people for our illiterate president to read funneticklee, that Dubya is an actual Christian, let alone of any identifiable denomination.) Romney’s Mormonism is an obstacle for this voting bloc, and so is Giuliani’s Catholicism (additionally complicated by his views on gay marriage and abortion, which make him unpalatable to other Catholics). Fred Thompson is rumored to be an Evangelical, but — like our President — has only occasionally been seen inside a church in the last decade. I know this because I’ve read about it, precisely because American’s care about religious affiliation when it comes to their commander in chief.
And yes, Breaux should be smacked upside the head for making a statement that is fucktastically wrong on two separate counts.
Oh my God, I hyphenated “American’s.” Put down the vodka, and step away slowly.
Fuck, I didn’t even hyphenate, I apostrophed. Don’t drink and blog, people. : (
I’ll have what Andy’s having.