OMG

So I meant to post this on Sunday, but my internet connection has been totally on the fritz. Sorry for the delay.

After a grueling 12-hr day of tech rehearsal Saturday, I found it quite refreshing Sunday morning, on my day off, to leisurely ride my bike to the laundromat. It was a gorgeous day, and as I rode through my neighborhood, I enjoyed noticing the political signs people had on their lawns. I felt a surge of happiness each time I passed one of the many Obama-Biden signs, but every time I passed a McCain-Palin sign, I just felt like saying, Boooo!, and I wondered about the people living in these houses.

So I don't know what rock I've been living under but I only recently learned about the reports of McCain-Palin supporters shouting "Kill him" and "Terrorist" at rallies, which totally floored me. (see Frank Rich's article in the New York Times this weekend for a great analysis about that) But then I discovered something even more bizarre.

The Pray for Sarah Palin website includes a prayer map that records the number of people praying for Sarah Palin- currently up to 4864 in 3113 different zip codes throughout every single state. There is a pledge at the bottom that says, "I pledge to pray for peace, protection, and wisdom for Sarah Palin and her family." Okay, the wisdom part, yeah, I guess she could use some of that, but under Why You Should Pray is a quote from Ephesians stating "put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil." Hmm, I wonder who the evil enemy is this scenario? I know that I shouldn't really be shocked by this, but I find this tactic of pandering to people's fears and breaking everything into a good vs. evil dichotomy to be incredibly repellent. The most disturbing part is that is works- history has shown that in times of instability, the general public is very vulnerable to scare tactics- it's more comforting to identify a source of "evil" that you can fight against than to grapple with a much more complex issue that lacks any easy answers.

I'm still working on seeing whether or not I can vote in Ohio. Three weeks left! Wow.