I try not to dislike anyone, but some people simply make my skin crawl. It’s not just that I disagree with their ideas; it’s more than that. I dislike them personally. I try not to wish them ill but I would shed no tears if they accidentally stepped in front of a train some dark night.
Rand Paul, for example. I can’t stand the man. His sourpuss face makes the acid rise in my throat. His voice is like chalk squeaking on a blackboard. And everything he says makes me want to punch him in his bulbous nose.
It’s not just his toxic Ayn Rand philosophy. It’s not just his libertarian stance. I can normally listen to that kind of sophistry without retching. I can even stand to hear his dad, the cartoonish Ron Pal, devoutly profess his love of freedom while denying a woman’s right to reject motherhood.
I really couldn’t tell you what it is about Rand Paul that raises my hackles. His smugness, perhaps? His hypocrisy? His intellectual dishonesty? His bland rationalization of racism? His rejection of compassion and decency – and everything else I hold precious?
All of the above, I guess. And more.
The fact that this guy got through medical school is an indictment of the American education system. He would probably be OK as a grave digger, but a doctor -even an eye doctor? With that heartless bedside manner? Give me a break!
Yet this is the kind of representative voters in Kentucky seem to favor. Look at Mitch McConnell. If he is not the creepiest critter you’ve seen lately I don’t know what is.
Those Kentucky voters must be indulging in too much of that corn whiskey their state’s famous for. Or maybe they’re just – how do I say this politely – intellectually challenged. It might be all that inbreeding I’ve read about. But what do I know? I’ve never lived in Kentucky. I’ve driven through the state traveling between Canada and Florida but I’ve never even thought of stopping for a cold one. I understand most of the state’s counties are dry, anyway – thanks to the political power of the bootleggers.
So why am I even mentioning Paul and his old Kentucky home?
Because – hold on to your hat – I keep hearing on TV that he is a presidential prospect for 2016!
Imagine Rand Paul as the face America would be presenting to the world. Imagine this mean spirited, defiantly unlovable Grinch as the leader of the free world. Simon Legree would be a better choice. Ebenezer Scrooge. Rumplestiltskin. The Wicked Witch of the North. The troll that lived under the bridge. Rasputin…
Surely the pundits are mistaken? Surely there’s no chance of Rand Paul becoming president?
And yet… Stranger things have happened… Remember that guy who tried to convince us he wasn’t a crook? Remember Tricky Dick?
I studied escatology (the study of the end times) in Bible College. We questioned why no country that could be identified as America, appears to be extant. Wonder why that is??