The Evangelical See / FYI and ?

The billions of dollars spent monthly to support the occupation of Iraq would go a long way toward solving America’s economic problem.

A soldier and an interpreter meet with an Iraqi sheik to discuss local activity in his tribal area. Photo by Tim King Salem-News.com

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - McCain is being touted as the candidate with the most experience, and he in turn says Sarah Palin is fully qualified to be President of the U.S. because, as he says, she was a member of the Wasilla PTA, is a reformer, and “mavericky.”

John McCain’s campaign was mired in confusion before the fecund Voice of Rove’s managers took the reins that have guided his campaign since. Sarah Palin got a crash course in the art of Right-Wing rhetoric from the same team that moved both from apparent ineptitude to being downright offensive.

The “Voice,” not the candidates, decides Party rhetoric it hopes will fertilize the credulity of the Republican base; McCain and Palin do the dirty-work of spreading it around. Colin Powell endorsed Obama in part because he objects to the ”over the top” [shameful] tactics of his Party and its candidates, including accusations and innuendo unbecoming the Party of his recollection.

“Waving the white flag of defeat” as Palin said of Joe Biden, is an example of how the Evangelical Voice twists the truth to fit its agenda. The U.N. mandate justifying the U.S. occupation of Iraq is due to expire the end of this year, but a so-called Security Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq, if approved by the end of this year, will allow for a continued U.S. military-presence in Iraq until at least 2011, and longer ”if Iraq asks the U.S. to stay.” [the ace in the hole]. Bush and McCain have said that if Iraq asks us to leave, we should leave. Iraq has asked the U.S. to leave and allow it fully to exercise its national sovereignty. But, the U.S. would deny Iraq its sovereignty over U.S. troops, and if Iraq’s Parliament objects to the condition, what then? Of this we can be sure,

Withdrawal is not the equal of “waving a white flag of surrender” in Iraq, as Palin claims.

The billions of dollars spent monthly to support the occupation would go a long way toward solving America’s economic problem. But Iraq is perceived as a stepping stone toward world-wide domination by Evangelical-Christians. Withdrawal to them refers not to Iraq, but a surrender [setback] of a grander cause. The Religious Right has taken over the Republican Party, and to avoid a lapse in pursuit of its ultimate goal, its instrument must be kept in office, but the prospect appears bleak. Desperate tactics of the sort that alienated Colin Powell are being orchestrated from the top down, much to his chagrin, and Gen. Powell will play a significant advisory role in an Obama Presidency.

When it appeared McCain might select a running-mate amenable to abortion, Evangelists threatened to withdrew their support of his candidacy, and imposed Sarah Palin onto the ticket who was chosen because of her fundamental beliefs that conform with those of the Religious Right, the true “voice” the Republican Party, its Holy See.

When Palin describes herself and John McCain as mavericks, she actually is humming a double tune. McCain is the maverick of the Party, but Sarah Palin is a maverick of McCain because she disagrees with John on issues that conform more to the philosophy of her political mentors. If the Passive Voice cannot control John McCain, it can control Sarah Palin. Therefore, a vote for the Republican-ticket really is a vote for Sarah Palin as President, another reason why Colin Powell is against it.

Evangelism, with all its sordid features, has come out of the closet to gratify its ambition for power and grandeur by controlling the minds of its followers. The choice they offer is a return to a vicious religious-past, versus Colin Powell’s vision of a better, peaceful and friendlier future for America and its friends and allies around the world.

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Kenneth G. Ramey was a 79-year old "writer without a Website" who is generating excellent, provocative articles on the subject of religion and world affairs. We are pleased that Ken's "lone wolf" presence as a writer in the world has been replaced by a spot on our team of writers at Salem-News.com. Raised in Minnesota and California during the dark years of the Great American Depression, Ken is well suited to talk about the powerful forces in the world that give all of us hope and tragedy and everything in between. You can write to Ken at: kgramey@sbcglobal.net