Enough with the Candidates
The Times reports that Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich is also running for president. So is Sam Brownback. So is Dick Armey.
None of these people has a chance in hell of being nominated, though Brownback, who is something of a Jesus freak, may think he has a chance in heaven. So why are they doing it? For a reason that has become increasingly common in recent elections: to remain politically relevant, boost their profile, and get attention. (Pat Buchanan generally ran to increase the attention paid to his ideas and to increase his speaking fees.)
Armey's not in Congress any more. He's probably bored. Kucinich is in Congress...so he's probably bored.
Brownback is just an awful person, so who knows why he's running—to make the state of the country even more awful than it is now. I see in the Houston Chronicle that he's blocking a judicial nomination because the woman in question, who is heterosexual, once attended the wedding of a lesbian couple, one of which was her neighbor. Hmmm. Someone should invite him to an event with Mary Cheney, and see what he does.....
Brownback recently told Fox News that "Our motto of our land is 'In God We Trust.'" Is it? Or is that just a phrase stamped upon coins (for the first time) during the Civil War, as a reminder to the faithful to stay strong in support of the war?
And, of course, once those words are on our currency, what politician is going to vote to remove them? (And a vote is required.) Though Teddy Roosevelt, God bless him, argued for removing the words because it was sacrilegious to put God's name on money. It is, however, reflective of American values in ways that Senator Brownback probably hasn't considered.
Then, later, in 1956, Eisenhower signed a law declaring "In God We Trust" to be our national motto, possibly as a rebuke to the official atheism of the USSR.
Regardless, the phrase clearly doesn't represent the views of millions of Americans and is not reflected in national policy (nor should it be).
In any case, I can't help but think that, after a president whose faith has inspired him to make such awful decisions, the American public will be reluctant to support a man who argues for an even greater role for (Christian) religion in policy-making.
Besides, the way things are going, Brownback's Christianism is probably a sign that he's gay....
