I Apologize!

I just watched President Jimmy Carter on the Daily Show. And once again I have been embarrassed to admit that I voted against this man. Now, I did it because he was anti-choice and so I felt as a young-un, and one with a genuine lack of understanding of our First Past the Post electoral process, that I had to vote for John Anderson.

I have since then been personally accused of being responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Now the actual vote in 1980 belies that. But, never-the-less, I have felt embarrassed since the election of Ronald Reagan.

And so began my life of apologizing.

This kind of reminds me of all those young-uns who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000. However, by the time 2000 rolled around I fully understood our electoral system and just who the opposition was. And because I had erred in 1980 I was even more outraged at those who, with a lack of civic understanding, voted for Ralph Nader and helped elect George W. Bush. Not that I am letting the SCOTUS Five off the hook here.

Luckily for all of us, President Carter keeps on doing the good work and speaking out for all of us. His latest book, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis is up there on the Best Seller’s List. So, as he hammers away at the Bush Administration’s assault on civil liberties and human rights, his voice as a Southern Baptist Christian is authoritative and cannot be ignored in the political climate of fundamentalist Christianity embraced by Republican conservatism.

Some folks are just better Ex-Presidents, aren’t they? So, do I get credit for that?