
I cringed through a few of the speeches in the Republican National Convention. Speech after speech talked about how bad Hillary Clinton is, how terrible ISIS is, how Obama has betrayed us and failed us, and other warm fuzzy stuff like that. They make me sick to my stomach with fear.

Was there anything to like about the RNC in Cleveland? Well, their logo was nice.
I could complain about the plagiarism thing, the Ted Cruz booing thing (although that actually made me smile), or Donald’s deep, dark speech of the coming apocalypse. But I would rather do like the Democrats seem to be doing this week. I would rather talk about the good things they can and will do if only we are smart enough to give them the chance.


They contrasted their policies in favor of ending discrimination based on race, gender, and orientation with the anti-crime and anti-terrorism howls of the Republicans. Instead of talking about how satisfying it would be to throw the other side’s candidate in jail for imagined crimes, they told us about Hillary’s record of standing up for women, children, and the handicapped. They gave us specifics about what she has done and who she has helped and what she has learned from Bernie Sanders. Sanders graciously made her the unanimous choice by throwing all of his delegates behind her. There was peace and harmony (beyond a few former Bernie supporters who were so mad about the DNC email leak that they may vote Trump out of spite). Cory Booker’s speech suggested that instead of talking about what we are afraid of, we should be talking about working together in a spirit of love and friendship in order to do great things. Trump, of course, had an angry tweet in response to that, suggesting he knew things about Booker that could shame him. Booker replied that he loved Donald Trump and felt honored that the orange one considered him worthy of an angry tweeting.
Now, I am not saying that Democrats are perfect and Republicans are evil… am I? I don’t believe that when I am rational and not dreaming up nightmares… do I? But loving one another is what I think the default position should always be for Christians. So why are the nominally Christian conservatives so much more keen on the righteous wrath of God stuff and punishing those they hate? Shouldn’t it be the opposite of that? And my severely Republican friends are always suspicious of just how Christian the godless communist heathens in the Democratic party really are. If the Democrats are so totally wrong, shouldn’t the facts line up against them?
But it all boils down to facts versus feelings, doesn’t it. Republicans have reason to be angry, especially the poor ones, because of the raw economic deal they have been given. Their righteous indignation deserves redress. But is that best served by punishing Democrats in the more liberal party that more generally favors less income inequality? What about the capitalist billionaires who drive the Republican agenda? Are they really saints and deserving of everything they have taken for themselves?
I am smart, but not smart enough to have ultimate answers to the biggest questions. I have Republican friends who agree whole-heartedly with that last sentence, especially words five, six, and seven. But I know the DNC made me feel good while watching, and the RNC made me ill. I definitely choose love over hatred and politics.


Sometimes all you want to do is doodle-bop!… To draw in pen and ink and post your derfiest doofenwacky doodles so you can just make your way through another danged day.





















