I. Hate. Politics.

The Roman Catholic Church holds that abortion is the deliberate killing of a human being. Catholic liberal politicians since Mario Cuomo have said they personally accept the doctrine of their church but nevertheless believe in a woman's right to choose. This is silly. There is no right to choose murder. Either these politicians are lying to their church, or they are lying to us. (Emphasis mine)

Michael Kinsey, liberal journalist. H/T Diogenes

I don't usually talk about politics. Actually, I never talk about politics except to mention how much I loath politics. This is quite intentional -- I find the style and tenor of contemporary American politicking to be truly and instantly nauseating, so I avoid the subject whenever possible. I confess it to be a view at best myopic and at worst hypocritical, but when I hear politicians and pundits of whatever party blather on for any length of time, my mind tends to turn to that part in the Bible where Jesus slaps the Pharisees around and says, "Hypocrites!"

I cannot convince myself, though I have tried, that any more than a tenth of people in politics really and truly have the best interests of the people at heart (that is, the politicians themselves, not he good folks who work for/with them). This is not because my views on most things differ from the views of most politicians. I have many, many friends whose views differ from mine, but they are sincere and honest in their beliefs, and for that I regard them highly. Politicians, on the other hand, churn out chum like that described above. This is why I don't trust politicians and really, really don't like politics.

Politics is a game of putting on the best possible face to as many groups of voters as possible for the sake of your party and of your election. The result is utterly impossible sayings like, "As a Catholic, I personally am opposed to abortion, but support a woman's right to choose."

B and in b. S as in s. Impossible, as a Catholic. But it's such a convenient opinion to have, why fuss over the unbelievably of it?

I wouldn't mind this particular matter so much if Catholic politicians didn't push their religion as part of their image. I can conceive how a person not morally opposed to abortion could, rationally, personally choose not to have one. That's like me saying, "I'd never jump out of a plane, but there's nothing wrong with it." For the record, I still think that view is wrong (yeah, I said it), but it is at least sincere.

Do not. Tell me. You believe something. Then stomp on one of its most sacred tenants. That makes you a liar, and it makes me angry. Have enough integrity to actually stand up for what you claim to believe -- or to claim what you actually believe.

The "personal opposition to abortion" trick is just one shining example of the things I detest about politics, but its scores of second cousins have filled up Congress. This is not at all the sort of thing that I have tended to talk about here, but I felt compelled, I guess, to publicly denounce the shenanigans that have already begun in the lead-up to the 2008 election.

Away with you, then, shenanigans. I shall ignore thee whilst I spend my days with people who actually work for the well being of others... and work on prying the beam from my eye.