I always thought the Democrats were better...

I always thought "Left Behind" was a distinctly Republican phenomenon. You know - what Obama calls those "bitter" people who "cling" to their guns and their religion and their xenophobia.

I mean, that's what happens to people when they give up. They fall. You know - to the dark side. When the faith in this life runs out, the Republican machine specializes in offering something for the hopeless. Something to believe in. You can believe in obedience to the state, you can believe in obedience to God, and the Republicans will make it easy for you to believe that by joining forces with a strong nation and a strong God, you too can be on the right side of the "left behind".

That the whole Left Behind phenomenon has nothing to do with the Democratic Party was just obvious truth to me until a guy named Barack Obama showed me that liberals, too, can use religion as a way to turn anxiety and hate into a political power source.

As a lifelong Democrat, I never saw the need to look to an afterlife for justice. I believed it was something to strive for right here on Earth. Of course, I also believed I belonged to a political party where everyone in the party shared a common goal: making the world more civilized, more equitable, more humane, a better place to live. Not just for the few who could afford the real estate, but for everyone.

I did not realize that the Democratic party dream was really, for our leaders, about taking money and effort and hard work and then embezzling the political capital and the assets.

Now it is time for the Democrats who waited for eight years until we had a real chance at beating Bush have to confront the reality of trust leading to betrayal. We have been sold out.

And I have to admit: Obama is as good as any Republican when it comes to offering comfort. Just drink the stuff in the cup and you'll see. Someday that beautiful world is gonna come. And, just like the other Messiah, Obama is nice and vague about what it will look like.

I have nothing against religion. I am personally quite convinced that choosing success over principle will never lead anyone to happiness. I am more fortunate than some in that my own religious views encourage me to at least try to shake off bitterness, rather than deliberately steeping in it.

But people do get bitter and then they can use religion as a weapon for their hate. Obama's campaign is fueled by Hillary Hate as surely as Rev. Wright's pulpit is fueled by hatred for "whitey".

What astonishes me is that Democrats would fall for this trick. Why are we throwing over the possibility of a more equitable, more civilized, more humane future here, in this life, just because some empty messiah promises that if you ally yourself with him you'll be on the right side of the "left behind" ?

I will stay and be left behind. I never liked those books - they're ugly, hateful books. And I don't like Obama for the same reason - he is the same thing, and his is the same appeal. He will throw over all that is good and all that is loving and all that is civilized and people will join him because the option is to be "left behind".

Well, being left behind sounds scary. But you know, so does spending a lifetime (or longer) with people who are excited at the thought of being on the boat when the rest of the world drowns.

And anyway, I'd rather be in Hell with the good people, than be in Heaven with a messiah that treats people the way Barack Obama has treated Hillary Clinton.