Tag: Culture War (Page 6 of 6)

GOP losing support . . . even in Kansas

October 13, 2006 / Gerardo Orlando

The Republican Party has been taken over by the religious right. This is not a controversial statement when speaking to Democrats, but most Republicans would have strenously argued this point in the past. Not so much any more.

This editorial from a Kansas newspaper’s editorial board is fascinating. In it the writer explains why the paper is reversing over 100 years of supporting mostly Republican candidates.

The Republican Party has changed, and it has changed monumentally.
You almost cannot be a victorious traditional Republican candidate with mainstream values in Johnson County or in Kansas anymore, because these candidates never get on the ballot in the general election. They lose in low turnout primaries, where the far right shows up to vote in disproportionate numbers.
To win a Republican primary, the candidate must move to the right.
What does to-the-right mean?
It means anti-public education, though claiming to support it.
It means weak support of our universities, while praising them.
It means anti-stem cell research.
It means ridiculing global warming.
It means gay bashing. Not so much gay marriage, but just bashing gays.
It means immigrant bashing. I’m talking about the viciousness.
It means putting religion in public schools. Not just prayer.
It means mocking evolution and claiming it is not science.
It means denigrating even abstinence-based sex education.
Note, I did not say it means “anti-abortion,” because I do not find that position repugnant, at all. I respect that position.
But everything else adds up to priorities that have nothing to do with the Republican Party I once knew.
That’s why, in the absence of so-called traditional Republican candidates, the choice comes down to right-wing Republicans or conservative Democrats.
And now you know why we have been forced to move left.

Hat tip to mcjoan at DailyKos.

Moderates are fleeing the Republican Party and are finding a welcome home in the Democratic Party. Fiscal conservatives and libertarian conservatives tolerated the religious right for years because they helped them form a winning coalition in the GOP. Moderate Republicans went along for the ride, even if moderate Republicans stopped getting on the ballot. Hopefully this unholy alliance is coming to an end.

Conservatives, Culture War, Moderates, Republicans

Frist sneaks gambling provision into military bill

September 14, 2006 / Gerardo Orlando

Do we really need the government to ban online gambling? We’re in the middle of a war, and this is what the GOP leadership has decided to push as a priority.

Senator Bill Frist is trying to sneak the provision to prohibit people from using credit cards to settle Internet gambling debts.

Is anyone in Congress willing to protect our liberties? Certianly not the GOP. The religious right would ban everything fun if they had their way. The Democrats aren’t much better. They don’t want to ban this stuff, but they’re gutless and afraid to stand up to the religious nuts in this country. Just look at the Terry Schiavo fiasco.

Culture War, Republicans

Culture War Republicans

Give me liberty . . . .

May 16, 2006 / Gerardo Orlando

Conservatives have completely abondoned the concept of liberty. Forces like the religious right, big-government conservatives and the fears generated by 9/11 have led many conservatives to argue that the government needs to regulate our moral lives, and it’s getting hard to find any conservatives who will champion the concept of freedom. Many conservatives like David Brooks are welcoming this new concept of “moral guardrails.”

Many of us are getting sick of the government, the GOP and the religious right telling us how to live our lives. Fortunately, some conservatives are still willing to fight for the concept of liberty. Radley Barko obliterates Brooks’ argument that we need the government watching over us on moral issues. He points out how almost every indicator, from teen pregnecy, to divorce rates, crime and abortion rates are down and heading lower. These trends began in the early to mid 90’s (under Clinton, who Barko does not mention). Meanwhile, this has also happened while our society has become much more liberal about things like homosexuality and our pop culture has become more course. He ends with the following, which should be a punch in the gut to all conservatives who have tolerated th moral nanny state:

So what gives? Seems to me that technology, relaxed public attitudes, and consumer choice have given Americans more lifestyle freedom over the last 15 years than we’ve ever had before. Yet not only is our national moral fabric not unraveling, it appears to be as durable and fibrous as it’s ever been.
So why exactly do we need more moral guardrails from the government aimed at restricting behavior?
(Interestingly, the one trend that hasn’t significantly declined over the last 15 years — or at least hasn’t receded as quickly as the others — is drug use. And that’s the one vice the government has been most aggressive about policing.)
Frankly, I think these statistics speak for themselves. We handle our liberty just fine, thanks. The vast majority of Americans don’t need government-imposed “guardrails.” Family, friends, churches, and other support networks more than suffice.

Twenty years after Ronald Reagan declared government to be the problem, today’s conservatives want to use government to cure every social ill imaginable.

The questions is whether Democrats and liberals will fight for our freedoms. Democrats are so afraid to speak their mind because they don’t want to piss off the morals crowd, yet they keep losing elections because nobody believes them anymore.

Speak up. Stand up for liberty. It’s the right thing to do, and it might actually be good politics as well.

Culture War, Drug War

Culture War Drug War