“I’m Your Accuser, And I Approve This Message”

I’ve tried to avoid political ads. Honest, I’ve really tried.

But living in a swing state means the message are coming at my neighbors and me at an amazing pace. The mail is a jumble of colors, full of flags and staged family photos, mixed with sinister Photoshopped images of opponents. When the ads come on the radio, I turn the volume down for exactly two and 1/2 minutes.
If I watch television, I use the DVR’s “skip 30 seconds” function to roll right past them.

But I was watching my San Francisco Giants inundate the Cardinals last night and since it was live television, I couldn’t skip the ads. Some of them got through. I was struck at how patently unfair some of the charges were — and they came from both sides. There was guilt by association, friendships with shady characters held together by the thinnest of lines. There was support of dastardly deeds because a bill wasn’t signed. Numbers were twisted, and facts turned every which way.

I have to wonder, Do they think I’m really that clueless?

It’s sad to see how far some go back to dredge up the past. A woman running for a state house seat once posed for a men’s magazine. She was 20 then, but today she’s a mom and a Sunday School teacher. A man had a DUI on his record, pulled over after drinking too much 30 years ago. Another man running for office was in a bar fight in college. All of those were supposed reasons to vote for the other candidate, who’s probably just as flawed, but somehow kept their sin from the newspaper’s glare. All sides are equally guilty here.

These kinds of ads sound like the accusations the Enemy uses against me.

He loves to find guilt where ever he can. And he doesn’t have to look far. I’ve cheated. I’ve lied. I’ve committed reprehensible things. I’ve ruined relationships and hurt my testimony. And the ads he creates play upon my emotions, telling me that I don’t deserve this Office of Child of the King. He tries to tell me that Redemption and Grace are really only necessary for the Losers.

“I’m the accuser, and I approve this message”

I can listen to the ads, or I can tune them out, throw them away, and ignore them.

I’m victorious, but only because He choose to pay the price, look the other way, and see me in a whole new light. This is my Decision 2012, and I’m exercising my right to be free.