So there was Mitt, the
supposedly "moderate" one of the GOTP candidates, last Fall addressing the
cadets and faculty at The Citadel, in Charleston, SC. You know, that
Charleston, the capitol of the first state to secede from the Union, on
December 20, 1860. Why those South Carolinians were so concerned that the
spread of slavery into the territories might be slowed or even stopped that
they couldn't even give Lincoln the courtesy of waiting until he was
inaugurated the following March before seceding. You know, that Charleston,
which celebrated the 150th anniversary of that day just last year, as if it
were a national holiday, not a mark of the start of a rebellion. You know, that
Charleston, from whence in the 2000 Presidential GOP primaries Karl Rove spread
the rumor that Sen. McCain had fathered a black (ohmygosh) baby. You know, that
Charleston, where the debate as to whether to fly the rebel battle flag over
the State capitol is still ongoing. That's where "the moderate" Mitt took the
opportunity to tell the world, that "God created the United States,"
has in the past led the world, and that under his presidency, in the 21st
century, the US was going to continue to lead it, whether "the world"
liked it or not.
He would do this by, in his
first hundred days, among other things "review" the timetable for
withdrawal from Afghanistan (and it would not appear that for him shortening it
would be a considered option), restore cuts in missile defense, permanently
deploy carrier groups off the coast of Iran, increase military spending over
all, and increase the armed forces by 100,000 men. (He apparently didn't
mention how he would go about financing these measures or how he would recruit
the additional troops, but that's another story.) And he told the assembled
throng that yes indeed, God created the United States, to be a world leader,
not a follower. It is on these latter two points that one might in particular
raise some questions.
First as to God creating
the U.S., if that were the case he/she must have done so behind the backs the
Founding Fathers. For almost to a man (no women involved back then) they were
either deists or atheists. But if God did so nevertheless, he was really
clever, making sure that he/she was not mentioned by name in the Constitution,
and neither was either Christianity or any of its specific variants existing at
the time. And then, one might say, he/she was fiendishly clever (if one can use
that term about God) to determine that the references to religion in the
document, say in article VI and amendment I, provide for keeping it out of the
affairs of state, not including it. But, as they say, God does move in
mysterious ways! Second, as to God creating the US to lead the world, that
surely would have come as a surprise to Pres. George Washington, no less a
Founding Father than first president of the United States, from whose Farewell
Address the most referenced part is the one warning against "foreign
entanglements."
Third, one must go on to
ask just which God is Romney talking about. The founding account to which he
adheres as a Mormon is rather different from the one that the non-Mormon
Christians at The Citadel adhere to. In fact, one might fairly assume that at
least some of them would agree with the Perry-supporter Pastor Jeffress that
Mormonism is a "cult." (Gov./Rev. Perry [1] disassociated himself
from that position. Were he to get the GOTP nomination in the end, guess who
his most likely pick for VP would be.) So we've got a few problems here. But
let's say all of the above could be sorted out. According to Romney, just what
sort of a USA would God be in favor of, or at least, through Romney as
president, be associating him/herself with?
Well, first of all, God,
according to Romney, would be entirely against the "Occupy Wall
Street" movement, which Romney has described as "class warfare."
Then God would be entirely for "cutting the budget," which of course
means cutting the budget for everything the GOTP does not like while,
presumably, under Romney ramping up military spending significantly. God would
likely support the recommendation of at least some Romney advisors to launch an
article-51-of-the-UN-charter-violating and therefore
Article-VI-of-the-US-Constitution-violating preemptive war on Iran (2).
Romney's God would approve of the ever-widening gap in the US between the
ultra-rich and the rest of us which spawned Occupy Wall Street. God would
approve of the increasing dependence on fossil fuels which, through climate
change, threatens the very existence of an increasing number of the species
God, as Romney et al, cultists or not, tell us, created, including ours.
Romney's God would presumably approve of letting the US infrastructure continue
to crumble. Romney's God would approve of destroying Social Security and
letting the US health care delivery system continue to go to hell in a
hand-basket. Finally, Romney's God, according to Romney, has established a
"unique destiny" for America, in that "the 21st century should
be an American century, in which America has the strongest economy and the
strongest military" (3).
Ah well, there you have it.
It's all in perception. The US is strong, the US should lead the world whether
the rest of the nations like it or not and will willingly follow or not, whether
the US has the personnel, political, and financial resources to this or not, and
God had somehow or other told Romney that this is the case. And this man could
be the next president of the United States. God's honest truth.
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References:
1."Ask Governor
Perry," Published on BuzzFlash@Truthout on Fri, 08/12/2011, URL: http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12934
2. http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/10/07/338979/romney-advisers-war-iran/#.To9Vzl6sN84.email
3. Cornwell, R., "Robust Romney says
"unique US' should be ready to act alone," The Independent (UK), Oct. 8,
2011, p. 33.