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03 November 2010 By
El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan
Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):
I begin with an admission. I did NOT vote
in yesterday's mid-term elections.
Despite receiving the invitation to make the pledge
("I PLEDGE TO VOTE IN THE 2010 ELECTIONS ON TUESDAY,
NOVEMEBR 2, 2010") from United Voices For America; and
despite receiving numerous other e-mails and text from
politically involved Muslims making
shrill appeals for Muslims to go to the
polls and fulfill their civic duty, I elected NOT to
vote.
I didn't take this position because I was lazy, or
because I didn't think the elections were important or
particularly relevant to my life. I decided not to
vote to make a statement (out of principle). It
was a conscious decision made with a lot of
forethought. I wanted to make a personal statement,
and then watch human/political nature take its course.
And I must admit, the morning after, it was a sight to
behold.
Early yesterday I was one of the guests for a live
talk show over Pacific Radio's WPFW (in the DC area),
"Voices With Vision." The topic of
the day was the mid-term elections. While I did not
divulge my decision to boycott the elections, I did
briefly express my disdain for what
we as a
people had on the table to choose from.
Now I can freely admit that I wanted the democrats to
"lose control of the House." Why? Because following
such a historic, breathtaking, once in a
life-time MAJOR election (the
presidential election
of 2008) - an election predicated around a collective
hunger for "CHANGE" - the democratic party has been
such a sorry and disappointing lot! That is why I
wanted them to lose BIG!
I also hoped that a significant number of deeply
entrenched incumbents (both democrats and
republicans) would lose their seats. Two of the
most corrupting elements in America's political system
are money,
and the
attitude of entitlement. Too often,
men and women occupying high
office feel entitled to remain in those
offices for as long as they choose; and then to pass
the baton off to a member of their family as if it
were a personal inheritance. Much too often the idea
of "public service" is nothing but a self-serving
sham!
And let me make something clear before I go any
further, I am not a card carrying member of any
political party, I chose long ago to be a true
"independent." I believe the late Alabama
Governor George Wallace's assessment of
the two major parties remains true to this day:
"There's not a dime's bit of difference between a
democrat and a republican!" (The only
difference is in style, the fundamental policies are
basically the same.)
The two parties are like two wings of the same bird,
flying this
potentially great,
but
deeply disturbed nation
called America in the same unsustainable direction.
It is sad to see how people who are supposed to be
people of faith (including many Muslims)
will so often gravitate in blind obeisance to
whichever party appears to be the dominant factor in
the political mainstream, when the Lord of All The
Worlds, in the final revelation to all humanity (The
Noble Qu'ran) clearly instructed:
"Do not
become an advocate for those who betray their trusts."
This is a divinely-given mandate that we all
should continually take to heart (before it's too
late).
Now, to end on a more encouraging note, it
appears that California
Attorney General
Jerry Brown (D) defeated former
eBay chief executive
Meg
Whitman (R) in the race to succeed
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). If this
prediction holds true, I welcome it as an encouraging
sign; not because I'm a supporter of Jerry Brown, but
because it obstructs one of the
unquestioned political truths of America's polluted
political mainstream: that
money in politics is everything! (Whitman
reportedly spent more than $140 million from her
own personal fortune in the campaign).
While America arguably has the best "democracy" money
can buy, nationwide results from the morning after
U.S. mid-term elections suggest that American hearts
and minds are not
always for sale....and this gives us
reason for hope. |
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