Election Fever
The once-in-four year virus of election fever is now here, attacking our brains and central nervous system. What happens when a husband wants McCain and but wife wants Obama?
I can’t wait for the new year. God willing, it is going to be wonderful, a fresh start, a load off my shoulders, the negativity in the air will be noticeably diminished, there will be fewer furrowed brows and dirty looks – it can’t get here too soon.
No, this is not another essay about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And I am not even talking about the Jewish calendar. When January arrives it means that the presidential race in the United States will have been decided and your average person will have had a chance to breathe deeply for a few months, process their emotions, and let go.
I become so arrogant, along with too many other people, when the big elections come around. I pretend to know so much about myriad subjects it is really shameful. I allow myself to get caught up in the rush and all of a sudden I am a regular Renaissance woman with a deep knowledge of economics, foreign policy in the Middle East, alternative fuel development, and have a photographic memory for which candidate said what when. You will all be thanked in my acceptance speech for my Academy Award for best actress.
The once-in-four year virus of election fever is now here, attacking our brains and central nervous system. It’s a threat to marital peace too, especially when a husband wants to vote for McCain and the wife wants to vote for Obama…
When I watch the news I start groaning and rolling my eyes like a teenager being lectured about the importance of doing chores in a timely manner. I want to climb through the screen and start shaking people. I feel like I’ve taken crazy pills. I tell my husband to stop talking about politics, then I bring it up three minutes later myself. I tell my husband to stop sending me links to articles on the election and then I send him links. I ask him to turn the channel away from the election and then I turn it back. Quiz time: Last night we spent half an hour before bed arguing about what two topics:
a) Eskimos
b) tort reform
c) home finances
d) disciplining a three-year-old
e) hunting polar bears
If you answered both ‘a’ and ‘e’ you are correct. We wasted half an hour of prime adult alone time on this. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. My husband can not even vote in this country, but boy did I convince him. Just in case.
At election time when I hang out with friends who are normally delightful and interesting, I find them a little frightening. A sweet, really bright acquaintance of mine looked like she was going to require an exorcism if I didn’t agree with her about how wretchedly hypocritical Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is for not managing to keep her teenaged daughter from getting pregnant. I don’t recall even bringing up the subject, but apparently she could just tell that I have all kinds of views on the subject that even I don’t know I have. Another close friend of mine, normally suave and charming, is alienating people at break neck speed. He’s bitter- like a cumquat.
Remaining humble in the face of so much arguing and debating is difficult, but perhaps it is a way to take the edge off these discussions. Where is my humility and why does it fly out the window so quickly? I have found that I tend to argue about side issues that are not really relevant to why I even vote for a particular candidate. Why is that? Because if it is a side issue about which I feel I can argue a little bit, I want to participate and sound smart. I want to bust someone being foolish or stupid so I can feel less ignorant. And, I want to avoid doing the hard work to actually learn about boring subjects, like economics, that are really important. I don’t want to spend time looking up how people have actually voted on legislation, again incredibly important. I don’t want to follow that everyday. Too much work.
Why would I care so much about winning an argument? Is it because I actually think I am going to sway a voter? I know so few people who would be swayed in such a way, and that is not a criticism of them. I am trying to impress them. A lot of people are trying really hard to impress one another. But if we are confident about where we stand with God, that we are trying our hardest to be moral, to apologize to God and our fellow man when necessary, to be generous – why do we need to impress each other so much? If I know to the best of my ability that I am following the rules that God has given me, I don’t care so much about impressing people.
Alan Morin is in his book Everyday Holiness talks about how arrogant people are taking up more space than they should. We are colliding with one another left and right because we are so puffed up. And like an over inflated balloon, breathe on it the wrong way and it bursts. I pray that I can gain the self control to take up just the right amount of space on the bench this election year. And the next time someone shoots daggers at me out of frustration I can learn how to keep my mouth closed and let them make their point, to be kind and patient with them – something much more valuable to Hashem than my political arguments.
9/25/2008
polar bear dear all
The Rosh Yeshiva of u.s yeshiva Torah v’Da’as, Reb Shraga Feivel Mendleovitz,zatzal, said a yid in chuts l’orets is like a polar bear in a cage. it gers fed etc, but has no tachlis
9/25/2008
dear all
The Rosh Yeshiva of u.s yeshiva Torah v’Da’as, Reb Shraga Feivel Mendleovitz,zatzal, said a yid in chuts l’orets is like a polar bear in a cage. it gers fed etc, but has no tachlis