Finally, some Republican honesty
I've been waiting a long time for the Republican party to come clean. They have been absolutely brilliant over the last 10+ years at identifying issues that either drive their base to the polls or resonate with the middle. This has resulted in enormous electoral success.
Taxes, abortion, spending, states rights, homeland security, faith based funding. It's a long list, and it has worked better than anyone thought possible.
Of course, those of us paying a wee bit of attention noticed early on that the Republican party cared almost nothing about the actual issues they were riding to congressional majorities, the White House and the current stranglehold on the judiciary. Everything they did was a huge contradiction.
Cut taxes but jack up spending. States rights - except when Terry Schiavo or another politically opportune issue comes about. Homeland security sounds great, but it's run by incompetent political cronies and used as a right wing slush fund.
The one issue they always stayed true on was abortion. It brought the traditionally Democratic Catholics into the fold and it mobilized millions of evangelicals. And, with Alito and Roberts situated in the big chairs, the Pro-Life time had come. South Dakota was first, with a host of others to follow.
But now that it appears they may get their way, it turns out that on their most bedrock issue, the right wing is proving that everything is political once again. This Newsweek article sums it up: now that the court may overturn Roe vs. Wade (and that laws like the one in South Dakota are profoundly offensive), it turns out the stand on "life" is not so sturdy.
GOP Chair Ken Mehlman has no comment on the cultural centerpiece of Republican politics for the last 30 years. And there is this quote:
"I'm pro-life, but you can't wear the thing out," says Clarke Reed, the legendary architect of the GOP in Mississippi. "I'm worried about it."
Why is he worried?
By a roughly two-to-one margin, polls show, people want to uphold the basic abortion right enshrined in Roe v. Wade, even if they approve of some restrictions, like parental notification.
But guys, babies are dying. If this is so, isn't it worth a little political backlash to save even one unborn child? Surely you won't abandon the cause over a few polls?
Ken? Clarke? Anyone?
I thought so.
Taxes, abortion, spending, states rights, homeland security, faith based funding. It's a long list, and it has worked better than anyone thought possible.
Of course, those of us paying a wee bit of attention noticed early on that the Republican party cared almost nothing about the actual issues they were riding to congressional majorities, the White House and the current stranglehold on the judiciary. Everything they did was a huge contradiction.
Cut taxes but jack up spending. States rights - except when Terry Schiavo or another politically opportune issue comes about. Homeland security sounds great, but it's run by incompetent political cronies and used as a right wing slush fund.
The one issue they always stayed true on was abortion. It brought the traditionally Democratic Catholics into the fold and it mobilized millions of evangelicals. And, with Alito and Roberts situated in the big chairs, the Pro-Life time had come. South Dakota was first, with a host of others to follow.
But now that it appears they may get their way, it turns out that on their most bedrock issue, the right wing is proving that everything is political once again. This Newsweek article sums it up: now that the court may overturn Roe vs. Wade (and that laws like the one in South Dakota are profoundly offensive), it turns out the stand on "life" is not so sturdy.
GOP Chair Ken Mehlman has no comment on the cultural centerpiece of Republican politics for the last 30 years. And there is this quote:
"I'm pro-life, but you can't wear the thing out," says Clarke Reed, the legendary architect of the GOP in Mississippi. "I'm worried about it."
Why is he worried?
By a roughly two-to-one margin, polls show, people want to uphold the basic abortion right enshrined in Roe v. Wade, even if they approve of some restrictions, like parental notification.
But guys, babies are dying. If this is so, isn't it worth a little political backlash to save even one unborn child? Surely you won't abandon the cause over a few polls?
Ken? Clarke? Anyone?
I thought so.
posted by John at 9:41 PM
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