September 8, 2006
Katherine Harris, part of today's American revolution
One of my favorite topics for blog posts is the idiocy of individuals running for or holding public office. This is obviously a topic for which there is no shortage of subjects. But one person who keeps popping up on the radar again and again is Katherine Harris. (You may remember her as the Florida Secretary of State - and co-chair of W's Florida election campaign - during the Bush vs. Gore fiasco.)
Last year, I mentioned how she supported spending the state's money on investigating how something akin to Kabbalah Water could help prevent citrus canker from destroying trees. It didn't work. (Incidentally, Madonna is lobbying to save the world through the use of Kabbalah Water as a treatment for nuclear waste. You never know... maybe it works better on nuclear waste than citrus canker?)
Anyway, Harris continues to amuse. She's been in the news quite a bit lately (mostly for her mismanaged, fiasco-ridden campaign). What I most enjoyed were the nuggets of wisdom found in her interview with the Florida Baptist Witness. Like this:
The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.
Hmmm... Lots to say about that, but mostly I'm just dying to know how God is choosing our rulers. And if He is, why are our rulers doing such a terrible job? And is He choosing rulers of other countries? Anyway, moving on... let's look at some of her other comments from that interview...
On rights for homosexuals:
Civil rights have to do with individual rights and I don’t think they apply to the gay issues. I have not supported gay marriage and I do not support any civil rights actions with regard to homosexuality.
Gays are not individuals. Duh. Are they even humans? (Sarcasm aside, check out this clip of Jon Stewart and Bill "The Gambler" Bennett. I could quibble with a couple of Stewart's arguments, but I love the parts where he explains to Bill that gay people are 'part of the human condition' and that divorce is not caused because 50% end in 'gayness'.)
When asked if abortion is "a moral evil":
Yes. Because it’s a life, it’s a life. Life begins at conception.
Of all the good and bad arguments against abortion, "life begins at conception" is possibly the worst. What about the countless numbers of human zygotes and embryos (and fetuses) that are spontaneously aborted every day by women's bodies? Is that a moral evil? Think of all the lost souls! (Also, I suspect Katherine eats meat, as I do. What does she think of the 'morality' of killing and devouring a fully-developed, sentient mammal?) I don't want to delve into the issue of abortion because there's so much to say. But it's just worth pointing out that her particular argument is one of the silliest.
Since she has already told us that church-state separation is a "lie," and that our rule of law derives from the 10 Commandments, her views on electing Christian candidates should come as no surprise:
If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin.
Wow. Perhaps it should be added that if you are electing her, then in essence you don't give a shit about the long-forgotten notion that U.S. senators should have some ability to think. And apparently Republican voters in Florida don't give a shit (or the competition was even worse): Harris easily wins GOP Senate primary in Florida.
Interestingly, "state GOP leaders tried to talk Harris out of running for the Senate, citing fears she would lose to Nelson while spurring a large November turnout by Democrats, which would hurt the entire Republican ticket."
An interesting article about her is up at Salon.com.
Katherine Harris, thank you for amusing (and enraging) me today.
08 Sep 0:20 | Link | Category: Current Events, Opinion & Thoughts