[lbo-talk] Frontiers of destigmatization

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Thu Jan 19 07:00:55 PST 2006


[From Sam Smith's Undernews. The comment at the end is also fun]

MINNESOTA POLITICS GETS INTERESTING

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2006/01/intervyew_with.asp

CITY PAGES, MINNEAPOLIS - There's a new face in the Minnesota governor's race as of last Friday. Jonathon Sharkey of Princeton has entered the fray as the standard-bearer of the fledgling Vampyres, Witches, and Pagans Party. In addition to heading the VWP and serving as co-owner of two witches' covens, Sharkey is (according to his website) a military vet and former professional boxer and wrestler who went over to the Dark Side once and for all in 2001, following a bad breakup. Yesterday morning we caught up with Minnesota's latest third-party candidate by phone at his office in Princeton. . .

CP: Are you sure Minnesota's ready for a vampire in the governor's mansion, or that Americans are ready for one in the White House?

Sharkey: Once they understand what I'm about, I think they will. I think they will accept me. I've had people email me and curse me out. But once I've responded to them, many times people wind up apologizing and saying they totally misunderstood me.

What I think is an obstacle, and I'll admit it, is that I hate God the Father. However, I have no animosity toward Jesus. I fully believe he died on the cross and was a sacrificial lamb. My problem is with his father, because as a parent, I would never allow my child to be brutally crucified the way Jesus was. I love my children. If they get a boo-boo, I'll always be very sympathetic toward them. I pick them up if they're crying. I don't think it's right to worship a God who would allow his son to endure such harsh punishment for anybody.

CP: There's a passage on your website in which you write, "My sister has a saying, 'Evil Begets Evil!' Well, starting in 2007, it will be the criminals who realize first hand, that there is someone more evil than they are, who cares about the safety and well-being of the innocent!" How do you answer critics who might object that if you were really that evil, you'd be an ally of President Bush's?

Sharkey: Let me put it this way. I wrote this on my [Iraq] war page. When I become president, Bush will be charged, tried, and if convicted of murder, I will impale Bush at the White House and enjoy impaling him as much I will [enjoy impaling] bin Laden when we get a hold of him. . .

CP: You know, most people are going to lack a frame of reference for a candidate who calls him or herself a vampire. Are there any film vampires you particularly admire, or whose style reflects the kind of governor you'd like to be?

Sharkey: Underworld. Even though it's a woman, Selene, and you don't see her flying, she doesn't turn into a bat, you do kind of see that she feeds, and that she's a fighter for people and what she believes in. I personally think women should be treated as goddesses. Though it takes a man and a woman to conceive life, it is the woman who bears life.

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2006/01/intervyew_with.asp

[The above article produced a number of comments including this one]

RAVYN - I think its absolutely preposterous that someone can use a name like Vampyre Witch and Pagan for their own personal gain such as this. This man implies that all Pagans and Witches share his beliefs, and thereby disparaging them. I am a Wiccan Pagan, and I take offense at this high-handed use of my chosen religion to further this man's political goals. . . Most people do not know the difference between a Witch, a Pagan, a Wiccan, and a Vampyre. And by his lumping them all together as he has done, he is furthering such ignorance. People will hear the name of his political party, and make snap judgements. I know this is not what this country is founded upon, but it is what will happen.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list