Loyalty

Last evening Barak Obama claimed victory over Hillary Clinton in the Democrat Party primary.

As I listened from my office to the blaring speech on a blaring TV in another room, my thoughts turned to the idea of loyalty; what it once meant, what it means now and what it could mean in the future.

There was a time I was a loyal democrat. I was absolutely loyal to the party when the party principles were absolutely loyal to mine. Then abortion on demand was legalized by the courts and the waters were muddied a little and my loyalty to the party weakened some. I still could not align myself, however, with Republicans. It just wasn't in my bones as my Americanism has always been more defined by Benjamin Franklin than by Thomas Jefferson. I am and am for the working person. When Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, he really meant all white men of high birth to counter the popular notion that kings were given divine rights not offered to others, not to suggest that common laborers, merchants and teachers were as privileged as was himself or others, like George Washington. When Franklin made such statements, however, he meant them to apply to everyone (with the possible exception of women - but even that is questionable), including black men and Indians.

Now I see elitists taking over the party and really losing the connection with the people. Bill Clinton might have been the last of the common men to hold the highest office in the land.

Obama pretends pretty well, but the only people he is convincing are African-Americans because, in my opinion, his race offers them a kind of hope they have never before had in the nation; but he clearly has never shared their struggles.

I am surprised there has not been more backlash from that community over his abandonment of his church. First he slightly distanced himself from the good Rev, Wright but he didn't abandon him, then, after a visiting minister grabbed the media attention, Obama flushed 20+ years of loyalty down the toilet in the name of political expediency.

Any thinking person living in Chicagoland knows Father Pfleger to be a media-grabbing nutjob who doesn't represent the majority of the Catholics in the area. His parish does a lot of good, but he is eager to shout his goodness from the street corners rather than following Christ's admonition to do good secretly.

I have a lot of respect for Rev. Wright, even if I don't agree with him on many things. Unlike Obama, Wright didn't change to expedite a politically smooth road for Obama. He didn't apologize for being who he has always been. While I don't think the pulpit is the place for much of his rhetoric, it's only because my Mormon culture makes me see such things as inappropriate. I do know one thing. I know what it's like to be abandoned by people that were thought to have been friends when my life didn't fit well into theirs.

I was thinking about one of them yesterday and I was saddened that I couldn't call him and have a "remember the good old days" chat. He was my favorite companion in the mission field and the best man at by marriage to Deb in 1972. He was always an example to me of someone who could resist temptation and make good choices all the time. I thought he was a friend, but it turned out that my definition of friendship was different from his.

I have not read anything about Rev. Wright throwing Obama under the bus. Have you?

So Wright isn't as smooth or universally appealing as is Obama, but he is loyal.

I thought then about all those super delegates who once blew the trump of victory for Hillary Clinton that were found sharpening their knives and waiting for her back to become exposed.

Truly, there is no such thing as loyalty when it comes to politics.

So, I am going to vote for John McCain who, among them all, has demonstrated his loyalty to both men and the nation in ways Obama can't even imagine.

I would have likely voted for Obama until he dumped his friends to placate bloodthirsty voters.

I would also invite my friend in, were he to show up at my door in need, even after he slammed his in my face all those years ago... but that's just me.