Rumors are flying around that Johnny McSame will announce his running mate this week. One of those rumors revolves around Louisiana exorcist Governor Bobby Jindal. With that, check out the above video and just imagine this guy in the White House. And you thought it couldn't get worse than the Dumbya and Deadeye Dick show?
Maybe McCain thinks the juju of Jindal will protect him and win over the evangelicsal base McCain so desperately needs.
Republicans hold lots of insane thoughts, like supply-side economics. But if someone, Democrat or Republican, wants to participate in an exorcism and believes in it, who am I to judge. As long as they don't make it a part of their public policy platform, I think I'll judge leaders on more relevant factors.
Any religious belief can be lampooned to seem absurd, because such beliefs by their very nature run contrary to our natural experience in the world.
Unless they're a little crazy.
Look, the guy thought his friend (or potential girl-friend...it's weird, you have to read his essay) was possessed because she was quiet and left a choir early.
It comes down to this: I really don't like the idea of this guy representing us across the globe.
Sean, I admit exorcism is not my cup of tea. And I'm not saying that religious beliefs are off the table in evaluating a candidate.
Yes, I think exorcism is a bit extreme -- I don't even think the Catholic Church is particularly into it. And yes, if Jindal is the VP nominee, it would make me nervous knowing that someone who thinks this exorcism is an acceptable course of action in response to skin cancer could be the President.
So I think it is fair to ask him, "Can you explain how your use of exorcism to, in your view, successfully address a medical problem in the past, would inform decisions you would make as President of the United States?"
or
"Would you consider prayer a religious ritual alone, with nothing else, to be an adequate response to phyiscal danger or actual problems experienced by Americans? If no, why was this an adequate response for your friend? "
The problem is when an extreme case like Jindel becomes a broad brush with which all religious belief becomes an object of scorn and satire. For most people, religion is a positive force that benefits both them and their communities.
The McSame campaign is just throwing out something, anything to distract the media in order to protect some small parcel of relevance. It's a lost cause for the Republicans, and this bit of a rumor just shows how truly desperate they are.
*** Shiny metal object time: Yesterday, citing sources close to the campaign, Bob Novak reported that McCain might make his VP pick this week. Soon after, McCain sources told the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza that McCain would be meeting with Bobby Jindal on Wednesday when he travels to the state. Are the McCain folks throwing shiny metal objects into the air as the political world fixates on Obama? That probably makes sense if you look at McCain's schedule. Today, he's in New Hampshire; tomorrow, it's Pennsylvania before heading to meet with Jindal, who's no longer considered a top-tier pick after the state legislator-pay controversy. Thursday takes him to Ohio, but would McCain want to compete with Obama's Berlin speech that day? And on Friday, he goes to California, hardly an ideal state or day to make a veep selection. What's more, as NBC's Kelly O'Donnell notes, Cindy McCain is out of the country this week, and it would be surprising for McCain to make his pick while his wife is away.
No matter what the polls have been saying, Virginia is Reddish-Purple and Obama is still the underdog in our commonwealth. Nationally he's polling even better, but there's that whole Electoral College thing to deal with. More votes doesn't mean jack - just ask Gore.