I think I finally understand the Republican electorate... and, well, maybe it's not what I thought it was.

I want to post this poem, in it's entirety because it just about blew my mind today.

Evolution is a thing

By Will Femia

  - Adapted from the Rachel Maddow Show 11/7/12

Ohio really did go to the president last night.

And he really did win.
And he really was born in Hawaii.
And he really is -legitimately- President of the United States.
Again.

And the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not make-up a fake unemployment rate last month.
And the Congressional Research Service really can find no evidence
That cutting taxes on rich people grows the economy.

And the polls were not skewed to over-sample Democrats.
And Nate Silver was not making up fake projections about the election
To make conservatives feel bad.
He was doing math.

And climate change is real.
And rape really does cause pregnancy sometimes.
And evolution is a thing.
And Benghazi was an attack on us.
It was not a scandal by us.

And no one is taking away anyone's guns.
And taxes haven't gone up.
And the deficit is dropping, actually.
And Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction.

And the moon landing was real.
And FEMA isn't building concentration camps.
And UN election observers aren't taking over Texas.
And moderate reforms of the regulations on the insurance industry
And the financial services industry
Are not the same thing as communism.

Listen

... People really believe all of that... People, smart, capable people, some of whom I love BELIEVE things have or have not happened that are blatantly false. I'm not big into Truth, with a capital T - I'm all about everyone honoring their personal experience, but this? This? Yeah "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics" but... there's a reason why we use math - it works. There is a reason why we use the scientific process - it works. 

I don't consider myself a "Democrat" and I think that our government functions best with multiple opposing viewpoints getting a place at the debate. To me, that's Democracy. But, how can I take someone seriously, even consider voting for them, if they believe (or at least are beholden to folks who believe) that science is some Liberal plot? That's not even getting started on the people who want to debate my personhood, my menstrual cycle, or who think that politicians have any say in what goes in my vagina. 

There's a lot that I don't agree with in the status quo and a lot that I don't know exactly what I think is the right way to do things, and I want to see a debate on those issues. The issues that matter and that are subject to discussion. What I do with my body, whether or not children go hungry, or who I love, or who "deserves" healthcare or whether or not science works... those things are just not up for debate. Instead can we talk about how to feed those hungry children or how to ensure that all bodies get good quality health care or the role of the US in the world? 

I really really hope that what I'm seeing as one party of moderate-left folks who don't always think things through and one party with some rich guys who like power and a bunch of crazy-pants conspiracy theorists and religious zealots who are under the impression that their God hates thinking. Conspiracy theorists CANNOT be the ones tasked with holding the government accountable. I am praying for a seachange within the GOP so that I can one day consider voting for them.