Mockery and Derision

Do the proverbial ends justify the proverbial means?

It’s an age old question, and I’d like to know for sure. Of course it wont change my ever evolving opinion on the matter, but I’d at least like the know whether I’m a bastard or not.

Personally, I think they do and they don’t. Clearly what Palin and her supporters did, calling for the death of an opponent, should be out of bounds. See also: voodoo, witchcraft, fisticuffs, flimflammery, tomfoolery, hornswoggling, and giving the stink eye.

But what IS the line? Is distorting the truth alright, if you really believe your side is right? Is smearing someone?

What if something is true, but in poor taste. Is it alright to say your opponent used cocaine? Or cheated on their wife? Or had an abortion?

 It’s a strange question. But it is the darker side of politics, and it’s an interesting moral question I’ve been asking myself. I’ve been reading a book on the Kennedys, and right now JFK is running for President. The Kennedys are throwing cash around like nobody’s business, some of it even legally. Is that right?

I don’t know. What if Nixon had been elected and we had 8 years of him. Gore ran a relatively positive campaign, and we’ve had 8 years of the worst Presidency in our history. What if he had done some smear, run a more negative campaign and won it? Would it have been worth it?

On the surface you might say no, it’s CLEARLY not worth it. Your integrity is more important. But most people on the left thought Bush was an idiot in ‘99, and they turned out to be right. And we’ve lost a lot of lives because of it. Of course if Gore had won we wouldn’t be in Iraq, the Department of Defense would be disbanded, and the Pentagon turned into a carbon nuetral hospital for Dogs. But that’s neither here nor there.

The point is that elections matter, and people’s lives depend on it. But what moral liscence does that allow? I don’t know. I’ll never know for sure. But I do know that McCain cheated all over his first wife, and has a gay dinosaur for an uncle. That last part is untrue. The first part isn’t. And he’s a warmonger who will in all likelihood get more Americans killed than Bush.

I know I don’t feel bad about saying that. Should I? You tell me.

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