Pogo for President

A web log may be for self-expression, but if others read it from time to time one may be inclined to hold back at least on some topics and not so much in-your-face. Just so, seldom is there a +Time reference to party politics, just as there isn’t from the pulpit, where the idea is to be encouraging, never divisive. Also, nobody wants to read some idiot blogger’s view on news events when there’s already a super-abundance and over-sufficiency in the media. 

Self-restraint is challenging though when things like contraception are, incredibly, twisted and blown into a national political issue and termed “conservative.” It used to be that “conservative” meant minding your own business -- in the home, domestically, and nationally, and in industry and commerce, and in foreign affairs. But in Century 21, “conservative” has been twisted to mean preemptive strikes and peeping into people’s bedrooms to make sure they’re not doing something you think is nasty. Shades of 1984. We have met Big Brother and he is running for president. Thank you very much, George Orwell, Joe McCarthy and Walt Kelly. 

After World War II there was talk of running the beloved General Douglas MacArthur for president, and people expressed fears that a general for president would lead the country toward military dictatorship. Then in the late 1950s and early 1960s JFK started running for president and there was concern lest the Pope and Catholic bishops suddenly acquire influence and power in America where we have separation of church and state.

Speaking of which, one wonders where the contraception issue started and where the candidates go to church. True modern “conservatism” would demand they publish their prescriptions and the name of their pharmacy so we can check to make sure they’re on the rhythm method and we’re not paying for their pills. Next big plank in the “conservative” political platform: picket and boycott drugstores that sell condoms over the counter without a note from your pastor.

A chicken in every pot and a camera in every bedroom.


God help us. Please

TW+