A FAREWELL TO SANTORUM...

... and a hello, once more, to the politics of division, rage, and hatred. (Cross posted to The Buddha Diaries.)

Well, I'm going to say it... metta to him, but I'm happy not to have to be listening to his right-wings mantras any more. Santorum spoke to the true believers of the far right, and his views on social issues were evidently catnip to extremists in the Christian world, whether evangelical or Catholic. I wish him well, particularly in his touching devotion to his infirm little daughter... but I'm glad to see him gone from the presidential race. He promises to continue the fight, so we can safely assume that this is not the end of his brand of radicalism, but we won't be hearing it quite so loudly as before. It now remains for Newt Gingrich to keep the far right's banner waving--and for the beleaguered Mitt Romney to attempt to back out of the corner of mean-spirited conservatism in which the rightists have managed to entrap him.

In the meantime, our President maintains a voice that sounds--to this listener, at least--like that of sweet reason. He'll need to be prepared for an onslaught of the kind that Romney and his surrogates have used--with murderous efficiency, be it said--against his Republican opponents. Backed by vast resources of unrestricted money, these people will flood the airwaves and the television screens with lies and propaganda in the desperate attempt to protect their interests against those of the vast majority of Americans. They will use every swift-boat tactic they can imagine to attract uncritical minds to their cause. They will not be ashamed to stoop to the appeal to irrational prejudice, ignorance, even hatred. We know that there is literally nothing they will not do in order to have their way.

I have always believed that Obama has an excellent sense of timing. He is remarkably cool under pressure. An agile political fighter, he has the skill of the martial arts expert to use the weight and power of the opponent to his advantage. He will need those assets in the coming months, against the onslaught fueled by the Republican obsession with his removal from the White House. And he will need the consistent backing those of us who find his vision and policies more palatable than those of his opponents.

In the meantime, between now and the Republican convention, may we hear a little less of the sulphorously hot air coming from the far reaches of the right? Please...