Harry Potter and the Enormous Pile of Political Cash

At the railway station of national politics there appear to be just two trains one can catch---the Republican Zephyr and the Democrat Local.

But unknown to the regular muggle passengers (many of whom seem to pick the wrong train, no matter what) there is another, invisible platform where sits a train waiting patiently to transport those with the gift to see it, to a place of mystery and wonder.

I am of course talking about the Hogwash Express which leaves Platform 9-3/4 % every four years, destination: The Third-Party School Of Magical Politics.

Every four years the school spontaneously burns to the ground and then, Phoenix-like rises from the ashes, re-invigorated, and sets out to challenge political reality with spells and incantations and promises of a new broomstick that will sweep away the cobwebs and dust-bunnies of complacency and banish the soul-stealing status quo to some prison tower, never to be released again.

But rather than increase enrollment with the usual parlor tricks, this semester The Third-Party School Of Magical Politics has created a muggle version of the Mirror of Erised with a new website mysteriously named Unity08 (I’m pretty sure if you jumble the letters and numbers you get to see a unicorn or something).

At this mystic portal ordinary muggles can “vote” for a presidential “ticket” compromising one Democrat and one Republican that will form their desired “dream team” for unity, one destined to confound the traditional party system and usher in a new era where for once politics won’t give you a pounding headache.

As Jim VandeHei of the Washington Post reports, the founders of Unity08 don’t want to create a “Third Party” but instead want to “force Democrats and Republicans to revamp themselves by becoming more issue-focused, responsive and candid.”

"What we are trying to do is to create a forum for people who are in the middle who have been left out of politics."

To accomplish these goals Untity08 is inviting disaffected ‘centrist’ voters, especially the “young”, to bypass the traditional party structures and selection process and choose their own Presidential and Vice-Presidential ticket via an internet ‘ballot’ with the only nod to reality being that one should be a Democrat and one a Republican.

Their theory is that most Americans are fed up with both parties, a belief backed by recent polling data, and are eager to shake up the political process if they can find an outlet.

Noting that about 85 percent of Americans use the Internet, Rafshoon [a Unity08 founder] said that "they can't all be extremists. There has got to be room out there for us."

These old political consultants running Unity08 can’t be this stupid and clueless about how presidential elections actually work.

I think they are just cynically trying to siphon- off cash from what will be a record season for public discontent and political spending. They only need to persuade 2-3% of the electorate to donate to score a few million dollars for themselves.

The Harry Potter fantasy is an original work of entertainment that has provided an unexpected and broad benefit.

The fantasy these Unity08 jokers are offering appears to me to be an unoriginal exploitation of reality with absolutely no benefit to anyone except its founders.

Check out their site here and judge for yourselves.

The GOP God Squad

" When a person says, "My faith doesn't affect my decision- making," I would say that the person is saying their faith is not significant to impact their decision process.”
(Governor Mike Huckabee, GOP Presidential Candidate Debate. May 3 2007)

As the GOP has so-decidedly become “God’s Own Party” I think the moderators of the debates should include the “faith factor” in every single question they ask the candidates, so that we can all gain some deeper understanding of how their religious convictions might affect their policies.

Such as:

Given that the 7th Commandment is “thou shalt not commit adultery”, and that the biblical punishment for adultery is death by stoning, how would you apply these to current laws concerning marriage and divorce?

As the 2nd Commandment states that “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,” and that we know from the Bible that Jesus sits at the right hand of God in Heaven” would you seek ban the sculpted depictions of Christ’s crucifixion, or would simply no longer recognize the tax-exempt status of religious organizations who continued their use because as they would be violating God’s law they wouldn’t be practicing a legitimate faith?

As we are all God’s children and as He is a loving God who watches over all of us, would you eliminate all health and safety regulations, or would there simply be an exemption for regular church-going Christians?

“Homosexuals are an abomination unto the lord and any man that lieth with another man shall be stoned to death.” Do you agree with that statement, and if so would you set up a separate government department devoted to that task—and how would you pay for that—or would that responsibility be tasked to the DHS?

When it comes the safety our brave men and women serving in Iraq would you support regular burnt offerings to the Lord our God accompanied by prayers, or do you think $100 billion a year in appropriations is sufficient?

A traditional concern of Conservatives in particular is excessive government, government waste and the environment. As President would you consider, for example, replacing the presidential armored limousines with in-line skates or removing the engines from Air Force One and just fly on the power of faith, or what?