Correction

So perhaps I was a little angry last night. I don't exactly mean all of the hatred behind a lot of what I said. At first, I did. I honestly felt strong violent impulses towards McCain, but then I realized - with a bit of reflection - that it was mostly just pent up frustration.

Sometimes being an atheist sucks. Sure, one can say it's not as bad as being gay or a racial minority because I get to choose my nonbelief, and on some level, I agree. I just don't agree for the same reasons. I think being black or Hispanic or Filipino is more difficult because it's something you can see. People look at Barack Obama, make a judgment, and find themselves genuinely surprised at how "articulate" he is. Some may look at how I treat others and feel no surprise because it's assumed I'm religious. If they knew I was an atheist beforehand, sure, I think they'd feel a level of surprise at how I actually do have ethics and principles which I adhere to. But that's not the point I'm trying to make.

What I mean to say is that I feel unrepresented in American politics, even by my own candidate, and I took it all out on McCain and his "pro-abortion" bashing. The problem here is that I do respect pro-life as long as it's consistent. In other words, a pro-lifer should be against the death penalty, war, and abortion in order to stick to his or her principles. John McCain does not appear to feel that way. Of course, it's all just party pandering. He's never said anything like that that I know of about pro-choice Americans that I've read or heard.

And this is where I come to my point... I forgive McCain his hypocrisy. Heck, we all practice it. I'm still mad that he feels he can sacrifice American democratic principles in order to win an election (aka freedom of belief and equal civil rights), but I get him. He was angry too. For different reasons, sure, but he's trying to win an election. That can hardly be easy or stress-free. He just played his cards wrong and came off as an angry, conservative jerk.


So I forgive him. I'm disappointed, but I've gotten over my anger. He said things I hate, but he said it in the spirit of party politics - and fuck you, party politics. You have no place in my democracy.