Getting left behind

From the people who crunch the numbers, it is very clear that progressives clearly gave Obama the victory in Iowa. But Obama just as clearly avoided giving them credit. So much for genuine influence in an Obama White House. What's the deal? Likely the idea that getting a Democrat as Prez. is most important and we do what we must to make that happen. Even if that means hiding many core Dem. values. And that implies they are values to be ashamed of, and we get candidates who don't espouse them. You may attract moderate Republicans but at the cost of being a more conservative party, not what it historically has been. The ultimate victory of the Republican Revolution is a more conservative Democratic Party. And progressives without a party.

Now look at that from the side of what is driving that revolution. Unless you're a fundie, Tim LeHaye's Left Behind series of books about the End Times are a perfect marriage of bad literature and bad theology and easily ignored. But the series has sold 65 million books (making LeHaye a top seller of all time) to people who otherwise don't like or buy books (well, maybe Reader's Digest). They are quite delighted to see their beliefs reflected in print and proclaim the books great literature. And those beliefs? The persecuted Christians "get to pass judgment on everyone who disagrees with them, and then watch God kick the living snot out of them." This is a bloody, black version on Christianity that now has mass media behind it. These are the people Bush tapped into to get to be prez. This view of life has no trouble with Bush's corruption ("He's one of us."), torture in Iraq, and hate crimes (the whole series of books are essentially depictions of hate crimes against non-believers). How can people act so nice and be so nasty? Germany is still trying to figure that one out. Here's the big problem: Democrats (and the rest of the country) haven't got a clue how to counteract this force. Some Democrats are even willing to tap into the power. The rest are too willing to take the high-road view of, "They're a bit loony and I'm above all that." Electing a Democratic government will not discredit them enough to remove their power.