It’s not often that I’m at a loss for (written) words, but…

…I am today. So I thought I would, instead, allow the following images to display my pride, joy, and hopefulness — feelings that I know are generously enacting upon the vast majority of Americans (and the world) on this lovely and historic post-election day.

First image: Lisa Congdon

Second: Keri Smith

Third: My personal photo album. Kidding. Babble.com

Word.

The election is coming…maybe I should suspend my blog.

eah, right.

But here are some funny/inspiring images regarding the election-in-less-than-a-week (!!!) that I just can’t seem to get enough of. And I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Cr@p. See what this election is doing to me?!?

 

UnitedChange, by Shawn Hazen

Rock the Vote, by Shepard Fairey

http://www.yeehawindustries.com

YesWeCarve.com (hee hee)

Decent Arab. Oxymoron?

t’s been all over the news already and referenced by political analysts and late night talk show hosts alike: at a recent campaign rally for the Republican Presidential nominee, a white-haired McPalinist woman by the name of Gayle Quinnell proclaimed, “He’s an Arab,” in reference to Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama. McCain swiftly stole back the microphone and corrected Quinnell in an unmistakably flustered (and stuttered) fashion:“No, ma’am,” McCain stated. “He’s a decent family man –citizen– that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about. He’s not. Thank you.” (You can watch the video of the exchange HERE)

Now, that’s all well and good, and there’s little doubt that McMuppet really did possess genuine, good intentions and truly does consider Obama a “decent family man –citizen,” but… umm… well… I suppose I just wasn’t aware that being a “decent family man –citizen” and being an Arab were mutually exclusive? I guess I’m just ill-informed.

But you know what else I found out, from one of my very dearest, most cherished friends, who just so happens to be an Arab? He was ill-informed, too!!!! He didn’t know that “decent Arab” was an oxymoron! We’re so naive and sheltered. I guess we’ve been studying at the wrong university. And I guess my friend grew up in a pseudo-Arab culture or something. Sucks to be us. I wonder if Gayle Quinnell offers online courses in cultural awareness? I’ll have to look into it.

Anyway, it’s just completely frustrating and infuriating to witness such a blatant lack of regard for any individual (let alone an entire ethnic group) that does not subscribe to the stereotypically WASPy notions of “decency.” 

Fortunately, we have CNN journalist Campbell Brown (host of CNN’s “Campbell Brown: Election Center”), who did not shrink back from addressing the ignorance (and racism) and the hatred fueled by such careless comments as the one uttered by McCain at his rally, nor did she mince words when acknowledging the media’s guilt as well. Brown states:

Now, I commend Sen. McCain for correcting that woman, for setting the record straight. But I do have one question — so what if he was? So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter?

When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical? Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there is something wrong with being an Arab-American or a Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too. 

We’ve all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur.

I feel like I am stating the obvious here, but apparently it needs to be said: There is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives like anyone else. 

We can’t tolerate this ignorance — not in the media, not on the campaign trail.

Of course, he’s not an Arab. Of course, he’s not a Muslim. But honestly, it shouldn’t matter. (Source: CNN.com)

Parental guidance is suggested. Except maybe if the parent’s an extremist.

 

ave you all heard the story about the 11-year-old Colorado boy who wore an anti-Obama t-shirt to school last week and got suspended? Yeah. So, I did a little Google searching and culled excerpts from several different articles/news outlets that treated the subject. Especially interesting is the unsurprising anti-liberal slant that the Colorado FoxNews affiliate took. Shocker. Also interesting is the information that different news sources chose to include. Associated Press articles tend to veer toward the general, get-to-the-freakin’-point type of journalism, for example, whereas some more local, less “big-business” papers included much more personal information about the boy, Daxx Dalton, and his family… particularly, the influence of Daxx’s father, Dan Dalton, who is a self-proclaimed “proud conservative” and told journalists that he’s “full of all kinds of anti-Obama cliches” and, therefore, helped Daxx with a slogan that “he could easily capsulate it on a T-shirt” (Rocky Mountain News, 9/24/08). Interesting. Oh, and if you’re wondering what the provocative slogan was, here you go:

Yeesh. So, here’s the full extent of today’s Associated Press release on the story:

School denies free-speech motive in Obama ‘terrorist’ T-shirt suspension

AURORA, CO — Aurora school officials say they suspended an 11-year-old last week because the anti-Obama slogan on his T-shirt was causing a disruption, and not because of the slogan itself.

Daxx Dalton wore a hand-lettered shirt to Frontier School that read “Obama — A terrorist’s best friend.” He was suspended for three days when he refused to turn the shirt inside-out or wear a different one.

Daxx and his father, Dann Dalton, say his First Amendment rights were violated.

Aurora Superintendent of Schools John Barry denied that Tuesday. He says Daxx was disciplined because the shirt was causing some shouting and yelling.

Barry says Daxx’s sister wore a shirt that had the word “Obama” with a bar through it and a pro-McCain slogan, and she wasn’t suspended.  (Source: Daily Camera, 9/24/08)

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Short, to the point, focuses on the administration’s motivation for suspending Daxx, acknowledging that they DID allow other anti-Obama shirts (uh, Daxx’s sister was wearing), yada yada. Great. 

Now, let’s check out what the FoxNews affiliate has to tell us that’s new and different and Foxy-with-moxie:

5th Grader Suspended For Anti-Obama Shirt

AURORA (MyFOXColorado.com) – An 11-year-old in Aurora says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.”

The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.

The boy’s father Dann Dalton describes himself as a “proud conservative” who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt.

    

“It’s the public school system,” Dalton says. “Let’s be honest, it’s full of liberal loons.” 

According the the boy’s father, the school district told the student, Daxx Dalton, that he had the choice of changing his shirt, turning his shirt inside out or being suspended.

Daxx chose suspension.

“They’re taking away my right of freedom of speech,” he says. “If I have the right to wear this shirt I’m going to use it. And if the only way to use it is get suspended, then I’m going to get suspended.”

Daxx’s dad agrees with him and is encouraging his son to stand his ground.  “The facts are his rights were violated. Period.”

Aurora Public Schools would not talk about the case but said the district “Respects a student’s right to free speech, such as the right to wear specific clothing,” but administrators say they review any situation that interrupts the learning environment.

Paperwork submitted by the school district says Daxx Dalton was not suspended for wearing the shirt, but for willful disobedience and defiance. 

The boy’s father says he intends to pursue a lawsuit against the district. (Source: FoxNews, 9/23/08)

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Liberal loons!!!! That’s totally my favorite part. It deserved more than just the typical bolding, but… I didn’t want to mess too much with the flow of this very serious pog. (pfffffffffff) Anyway, that’s a photo of a loon up above. But it’s facing right rather than left… so I think it’s conservative rather than liberal. Crap.

OK, now let’s get a little more detail on the subject. How did the “disruption” begin? How severe was it? TELL ME MORE, DALTON DUDE!!!

Aurora school defends censure of student’s T-shirt
Aurora officials say disruption, not politics, key

AURORA, Colo. – Aurora, Colo. school officials said that it was the disruption that an 11-year-old’s anti-Barack Obama T-shirt sparked – not its political content – that got him suspended from school last week. (PauvrePlume comment: what up with the freakin’ hyphenophilia?!)

But the boy and his father, who designed a shirt that read “Obama — A terrorist’s best friend,” said the youngster’s free-speech rights were violated when Aurora school officials suspended him for three days. The father said he’s considering a lawsuit.

Daxx Dalton was sent home from his sixth-grade classes at Aurora’s Frontier School after he refused to either turn the shirt inside out or wear another shirt. The student and his dad, Dann Dalton, contend school officials would not have disciplined the youngster if the T-shirt had skewered Obama’s opponent, Republican John McCain. (PP: the word “skewer” makes me want a hotdog.)

“If I said ‘McCain is a terrorist’s best friend’ it wouldn’t have gotten me into trouble,” the boy said outside the school Tuesday afternoon as he and his father waited to pick up his 10-year-old sister.

However, Aurora Superintendent of Schools John Barry said the sister also donned an anti-Obama T-shirt that she was allowed to wear because she caused no disruption during her classes. Her shirt had the word Obama with a bar through it and a pro-McCain slogan on the back.

“This student was not suspended because of a shirt,” Barry said of the boy. “He was suspended because of an issue of disruption.” Barry said Aurora students wear hundreds of shirt designs, including some with political slogans, without any incident. However, that was not the case with Daxx Dalton’s shirt.

“It was a problem when it started being disruptive,” said Barry, who was at the school that day. “A number of kids came to a number of teachers expressing that they were upset. There was shouting and yelling.” The turmoil spilled over from the school yard to a math class, he said. ”When you have a math class, obviously you don’t have political science debates,” he said.

Barry said students may have also been sensitive to the word “terrorist” on that day, coming a week after the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The school’s dress code prohibits dress or appearance that “cause or are likely to cause a material and substantial disruption to the educational process or school-related activities.” (PP: Please define “material disruption.” Like, if the material self-combusts or a moth flies into it and gnaws a hole in the pit or something? gross.)

Dalton was suspended Thursday after wearing the red, white and blue-decorated T-shirt on a day when students were encouraged to wear the patriotic colors in honor of a Vietnam-era military veteran who won the Medal of Honor. First Lieutenant Brian Thacker with the U.S. Army made stops at Aurora Frontier K-8 and Gateway High School.

Daxx Dalton said his father had the idea for the shirt and did most of the design. (PP: giving new meaning to “PG”) The father, who calls himself a “proud conservative,” said: “I’m full of all kinds of anti-Obama cliches” and acknowledged helping his son with a slogan so “he could easily capsulate it on a T-shirt.”

Daxx Dalton said the anti-Obama slam was popular with his “Republican” buddies, who gave him a high-five and said: “sweet, dude.” (PP: what, “way to go mother-f*cker” isn’t a part of their repertoire?)

But the younger Dalton also said an African-American classmate shouted that he was a racist on the playground. ”He said: ‘You just don’t want a black president,”‘ Dalton recounted. ”I agreed with that because that would be the only thing that made him shut up,” Dalton said. “But I’m not racist. Yeah, it was a disruptive in the school, but not enough to get suspended,” the boy added.

A New York civil liberties lawyer said the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a student can be suspended only if the message on his clothing or his conduct “could cause a risk of material disruption at the school. Students have a constitutional right to express their opinions about politics, and this T-shirt was not vulgar or anything other than a political statement,” said E. Christopher Murray, who had handled several student free speech cases.

Dann Dalton is no newcomer to free-speech controversies. The father took his two children in a stroller to a 2000 anti-abortion protest outside the Arapahoe County home of a doctor who provided abortions, according to a Rocky Mountain News story.

Neighbors in the normally quiet cul-de-sac at the time complained about weekly protests with abortion foes waving signs declaring “Don’t Kill Kids” and calling the doctor “murderer.”

Arapahoe County commissioners passed a law limiting demonstrations in residential neighborhoods – requiring protesters to keep moving and restricting the size of their signs.

Dann Dalton said the restrictions had only boosted the protest crowd. (PP: what’s with all the double final consonants? I wonder if Daxx’s sister’s name is Debb or Dill or Dumm or something. Ok, that was mean, I apologize — these Dalton kids are innocent. The father… that’s another story. If only you could suspend the father.)

“Hopefully we’ll have Greyhound bus tours through the area before long,” he said at the time. (PP: oh cool, they can wave to the Greyhound going to Jon-Benet Ramsay’s parents’ place!) (Source: Rocky Mountain News, 9/24/08)

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So, there you go. A few different takes/informational tidbits on the great big political t-shirt censorship debacle of the 2008 campaign.

Hey, if nothing else, at least adults can’t yell at kids for not giving a sh*t and/or being involved in politics. (do you like how I kind of distance myself from that scary term “adults”?)

Comments or anything? Bring it.

Republican exploitation of Americans’ attention deficit…

his campaign season is wrecking me. Completely and (I fear) irrevocably wrecking me. Now, it would be one thing if it were only wrecking me. That I could handle — I’m used to it. But, as it turns out, everyone I talk to seems similarly disenchanted about how all of this is evolving — or devolving, as the case may be. It’s not just me. It’s EVERYONE. So, the fact that the two presidential contenders are in a virtual dead-heat only knocks my head against the wall even harder. 

I wasn’t going to write anymore about politics — at least until the debates started — because I am so incredibly outraged and disappointed with the exploitation of utter absurdities that have absolutely no business gaining even 1/100th of the media coverage that they’ve managed to garner. And it’s no secret that all of these absurdities — ALL OF THEM — surround John McCain’s vice presidential pick.

Prior to the announcement of “Sarah Palin for Vice President,” McCain was giving press conferences in front of sausage “haus”es and supermarkets. Now, let’s juxtapose McCain’s “sausage haus” speech with Barack Obama’s speech to a German audience of 200,000 people. Umm… hello? Granted, yes, the Republicans are obviously  clamoring for the small-town-blue-collar-hockey-mom vote. I get it. But, come on. If Obama’s campaign trail made a stop at a sausage haus, you can bet that thousands would show by word-of-mouth alone. The turnout for a McCain speech was positively dismal. And with good reason, I’d say. Objectively speaking, McCain’s forte lies NOT in his oration, “my friends.” He is awkward and uninspiring and sterile. Not to mention repetitive, “my friends.”

But now… ooooohhhhh, but NOW… SP has entered the game. And her entry has highlighted exactly that: the game-ness of it. The competition. The pitbull nature (with or without lipstick, I don’t give a rat’s A) of the Republican spindoctors who, rather than speak to Americans’ intellects and best interests, instead focus on the media- and technology-inflicted A.D.D. that now runs rampant in our culture. I’ll hand it to the Republicans: they are d@mn good at “strategery.” And they often get away with it. Which, unfortunately, doesn’t say a whole hell of a lot about us as Americans, because it means that we fall for their evasive (and divisive) drivel. So, realizing that Johnny Mac can’t hold the attention of 15 people in front of a sausage haus, his campaign managers understand that he needs some type of electric boost. A distraction, if you will, to transfer Americans’ attention OFF of the near-death, monotone Presidential candidate and ONTO something attractive and time-consuming. Because, let’s face it, McCain could definitely use some borrowed time. In a lot of areas. 

So the self-proclaimed maverick, Johnny Mac, surprises us all (and even surprises his own staff) by selecting a little-known conservative, female governor from Alaska, named Sarah Palin. Emphasis on “conservative,” and double the emphasis on “female.” And let’s not forget young-ish and attractive, which shouldn’t matter, but both campaigns and the media keep shoving it in our faces. And, ooh, what a small-town family unit, those Palins. They attend church and don’t get abortions and they even hunt together! Exactly the complement McCain was looking for. Except I don’t even think he (or his advisors) could have predicted the snowball effect that his VP pick has had. What’s the saying? “There’s no such thing as bad publicity?” Well… I wish that could be proven untrue in this case. But, if anything, the obsessive coverage of all things Palin has only proven that it is unfailingly true.

The American public’s attention is drawn to the sensational. The very morning after a celebrity’s politician’s picture is leaked, a phrase is uttered, a testimonial from a hometown member is received, the VERY NEXT MORNING, we can find it on a thousand blogs and plastered on the cover of all of the pop-culture and political magazines, whether in print or televised media. The Republican camp knows that, if it’s in our face, we’ll consume it. And Sarah Palin is nowhere BUT in our face. Which is just how McCain wants it. Because we certainly weren’t interested in HIM staring us down all over the place. And he knows that. And he saw those earlier polls where Obama had a distinct lead. And he saw the electricity and inspiration fostered by an Obama speech. And he (and his campaign staff) knew he couldn’t stand a chance next to Obama… unless something brighter and shinier entered stage left. 

Enter Sarah Palin. And now we’re feeding off of that entry and everything that could possibly come along with it. Her daughter’s a pregnant teenager? SHOW ME THE PICTURE! Her youngest son has Down Syndrome? TELL ME THE STORY! She’s a hockey mom? HOLY HELL, SHE’S ONE OF US! She lied about earmarks and supporting the “Bridge to Nowhere?” TELL ME MORE CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENTS ABOUT THIS WOMAN WE KNOW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT! She tried to ban books when she was mayor of a town of 8,000 people? WHAT ELSE CAN YOU FEED ME? She thinks gays can/should be converted by Christian education? YES, THIS IS THE EXACT JUICE I NEEDED!!!!!

But, I’m sorry, what? What was that? We know nothing about her stance on foreign affairs or the economy or the war in Iraq or THE ECONOMY or THE WAR IN IRAQ or THE ECONOMY or THE WAR IN IRAQ or…?!?!?!?!? Oh yeeeaaaah… I forgot that the majority of the world now detests the U.S.A. due to the fact that our President for the past 8 years managed to make possibly every wrong decision he could, thereby turning us into imperialistic occupiers that many people now despise. Lovely. Oh, and we’re on the verge of a recession. Fabulous. Oh yeah, and millions of Americans have no health insurance. Stupendous. I could keep going, but my personal wreckage is already overwhelming…

I wish everyone would just stop. JUST STOP. Pause. Take a breath. Refocus. Dilate your eyes. Do whatever you need to observe the landscape logically, cautiously, slowly, and with a keen eye on the future of our country and where we are currently headed. This has nothing to do with hockey or pitbulls or, for crying out loud, LIPSTICK. This has nothing to do with Joe Biden coming from Scranton or Sarah Palin coming from Wasilla. It has to do with the PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES first and foremost. And it also has to do with credentials, convictions, practical solutions to current problems and the prioritization of those problems, how decisions are made (*ahem* including Vice Presidential picks), etc. etc.. This is the meat we SHOULD be consuming. And if we could just sit still and look straight ahead rather than sideways, up and down, and backward at all of the glittering fluff that so often (strategically) causes our attention deficit… the dead-heat would cool down and the most positive, self-possessed leader would emerge, determined to make this country, our lives, and the world a better place. The leader, not the vice-leader. 

And lipstick has nothing to do with it.

My apologies for the ranting/venting nature of this pog… my frustration runneth’ed (?!) over and I just had to let it out for the sake of my health. And the sake of my slumber. Now I think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Happy Thursday.

Opposite Day. And the “C word,” again.

eriously, can’t she just stop? Because I really Really REALLY was hoping that the Palinator wouldn’t be taking up anymore of my precious pog space for a looooonnnnng long time.

But then she had to go and favorably refer to herself as a “pitbull with lipstick.” As if that’s a good thing?

And then she had to go and belittle Barack Obama for having been a community organizer. As if that’s a bad thing?

She's as sweet as a lipstick-wearin' pitbull.

Pitbull = doesn’t get along with people. Community organizer = bringing people together. I’m sorry, which is the preferred quality for a national leader? Or was yesterday Opposite Day and I just didn’t get the memo? Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure our country and its pathetically dwindling reputation have gone swiftly down the sh*tter due to too much of the former, and too little of the latter.

And then she had to go and, yet again, pander to her GOP Parents of Athletic Children Fanbase (PACF) by proudly touting herself as “a hockey mom.” As if that EVEN FREAKIN’ MATTERS?!?  Can someone please explain to me how “hockey mom” has become synonymous with VP preparedness?!?!? And it’s not a sexism thing AT ALL… if some potential VP dude was touting that he was a “hockey dad” and a “pitbull with a beard,” I’d be arguing the exact same thing.

I just don’t get how the GOP can have everything so backwards. Nor am I able to comprehend why/how so many people are congratulating SP for being the “new political rockstar” and for having hit “a grand-slam home run” with her speech, which, from where I was sitting, could only be characterized by negativity, divisiveness, mockery, and petty high-school-student-body-president ugliness. 

I figured I’d feel better after getting a good night’s sleep. I was wrong. As I listened to NPR today, I unfortunately became more frustrated and increasingly disheartened that the GOP delegates not only support but encourage that brand of politics. The DNC was respectfully run, focusing on the democratic candidates’ strengths rather than their opponents’ alleged weaknesses. But the GOP convention has done precisely the contrary and, as a result, has left me with a vomit-inducing, heinous taste in my mouth. And it makes me sad.

And then I had to go and read this little gem:

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor. (source: Time online, 9/02/08).

As if I already wasn’t falling into a pitbull-induced catatonic state, but now I have to find out that SP is also an advocate of the dreaded “C word” (and no, I don’t mean the one that rhymes with “stunt”)?!?!?

You mess with books, you mess with me. Now it’s personal, you frothing-at-the-lipsticked-mouth hockey mom!

Day of dreams…

n this day 45 years ago, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., symbolically gave his historic “I have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C.. There, MLK, Jr., painted a harmonious portrait of his idyllic dream of liberty, justice, and equality for all, regardless of race, creed, social class, etc.. Much media attention has been given to the fact that Barack Obama will accept his nomination as the first African-American presidential nominee on the very anniversary of Reverend King’s momentous declarations. Less than half a century later, Reverend King’s dream is being realized. Sure, there are some unfortunate souls who are protesting the democratic presidential candidate exclusively because of his race. There are still some adamant American conservatives who are clinging to their confederate flag and disavowing anyone that doesn’t conform to their idea of a “true American.” But that’s what makes our country so beautiful… it’s part of the diversity. Perhaps not our favorite part, or even one that we care to acknowledge sometimes, but it exists. And has the right to exist. As do our views. And so we remain grateful for our liberties, and even more appreciative.

In my opinion, no one has been more inspirational and influential to American progress in civil rights and HUMANITY than Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.. Barack Obama kindles a similar flame that has been lying dormant since the Clinton Presidency. Though I have to say that Obama stirs something even more beautiful and hopeful and HUMAN inside me… And for someone who has been so devoid of hope in the past year, I have to say that, for me, this renaissance de l’espoir is a monumental testament to Obama’s ability to cut down restrictive barriers, whether in ourselves, in our nation, or among foreign lands. 

What I’m left to wonder these days, is how much time will pass before other certain restrictive barriers are torn down? Specifically, the religious barrier. While I certainly am more politically involved now than I ever have been before, I have been continuously amazed at the prevalence of religion thus far throughout the campaign trails of each party. For me, this perhaps culminated in the “Faith Forum” conducted by pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church a couple of weeks ago, where both Obama and McCain took turns in the “hot seat,” fielding heavy-hitting questions from pastor Rick. Here, they were asked if they believe in evil, and, if so, how one should react when confronted with it. They were asked what religion means to them. They were asked about their stances on abortion, stem-cell research, the definition of “marriage,” etc.. No holds-barred. IN A PLACE OF A CHRISTIAN GOD. How could the religious component NOT color their responses to such questions?

We live in a time when politicians (and even celebrities) are chastised for a lack of a lapel pin, judged for the church they attend and the pastor they befriend. It seems almost impossible for an American politician to give a speech and expect any significant amount of cheers and applause unless they include the final imperative of “God bless America.” God seems to be everywhere. On our currency, in our pledges of allegiance to the flag, in courts of law… and yet the “separation of church and state” supposedly exists. Even the beloved and life-altering speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed: ”Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” Well, but what about those for whom no “god” exists? What about those people (whether American or not) who have never felt the presence or knowledge of a “god” in their lives? What about those who, quite simply, don’t believe? We are to have justice as well. And, at this point in time, I can’t help but find it VERY hard (and sad) to believe that we could ever have a presidential candidate who openly professed a significant lack of faith, who declared that s/he belonged to NO organized religion. What about those people who wish to contribute to the progress of our country who are not simply non-Christian, but non-RELIGIOUS at all?

Sadly, I can’t imagine any such person succeeding in the public sphere. Whether agnostic or atheist.

What do you think?