Sanctimonious
I have a new criterion for voting – Sanctimony. The dictionary tells me that means morally superior.
A little back story . . . I left the voting process a number of years ago with no interest in elections. Prior to that, I mostly voted out of duty, not interest.
I became reinterested in politics about 6 years ago and this time I made it more of a study than I had in the past.
I had let my experience with politicians get in the way of me making my way to the polls. When I was in broadcastng, I got to meet and interview political candidates of all stripes. Whether it was someone running for the town council or Governor or President, I usually wanted to wash after the interaction.
The answers I received were well rehearsed and rarely did they ever answer the question asked. But just about all of them answered that way, so it was hard to make a choice based on that criterion. That lead me to a period where I made no choice at all.
Fast forward to now. I have adopted a new voting rule. It’s independent of political party or ideology. Here it is: If you appear morally superior to me, I will vote for your opponent.
In a nutshell: If you are a sack of sanctimony, you’re full of baloney.
The sad news is that I expect the candidates to lie because shading the truth seems to me what campaigns consist of. So I used to vote for the one who lied less; now I have a different rule.
The studies on voting all come to the same conclusion – most people vote their emotions, not issues. Quoting Winston Churchill: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
I’m now more than the average voter and I still vote with my emotions. The difference is I now have a new filter to put my emotions through that won’t let me vote for you – Sanctimony.
If I were in 6th grade, I would probably say, “If you are morally superior, go jump in Lake Superior.” But I’m more adult than that now. Here’s what I would say today:
Your sanctimony causes me acrimony, so shove it up your ass.
All the best,
John
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