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Extra! Extra! War in Iraq increases Terrorism!
the “american wrong”…

Posted on Sunday 24 September 2006


At a "Values Voters Summit" sponsored by leading religious conservative groups, some activists said President George W. Bush and Republican leaders showed too much pragmatism and too little concern for issues like abortion, immigration and banning gay marriage.

"There is no question people are frustrated with the Republican Party. The message it sends is: ‘We don’t care where you stand, we just want you to be a Republican,"’ said Phil Burress, president of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values.

Burress was a leader in the state’s 2004 fight for a ballot initiative banning gay marriage, credited with helping turn out conservative support for Bush. He said he was not sure religious conservatives would turn out with the same vigor in 2006.

"There is a big number who may not show up to vote," he said.

…

"In the next weeks before the election they are going to realize that if they want to mobilize the conservative social values base they are going to have to keep our issues on the agenda and not just pay lip service," said Chris Slattery, an anti-abortion activist from New York.

…

"People who are tired of K Street corruption and Wall Street greed are ready for some old-fashioned Main Street values," Huckabee said in a reference to the corridors of political and financial power in Washington and New York.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said Republican congressional leaders had rallied spirits with a summer agenda that featured issues like immigration, stem cell research and parental notification laws on abortion.

Sometimes when people say, "I don’t understand why something or another," what they mean is "I don’t like something or another" or even "You are a fool to think something or another." With the last two elections, I haven’t understood why the American voters have elected the people who currently run this country. For sure. I don’t like it, and I admit that I sometimes think that such voting is foolish and irresponsible, but there’s something else – I really just don’t get it.
  • abortion & stem cell research
  • immigration
  • gay marriage
When I read an article like the one above, It always strikes me that there’s something left out of the "values" that they mention:
  • the War in Iraq
And when I’m angry, I include:
  • torture
  • corruption
  • deceit
  • prejudice

But I’ll leave these last five out of the mix for the moment. I’ve said enough about them and stick to the stated "values." Why do they base their voting on such a narrow set of issues? And how did these things get hooked up with religion? That’s the part I just don’t get. But there it is in this article as clear as a bell – they’re saying that they might not support President Bush because he hasn’t given them enough "value" for their "vote."

Sometimes, when I read the blogs and someone is raling at the Democrats for not doing enough, or not having a program for this or that, I find myself wincing. I think what I feel is that the Democrats have done all they can do – vote "no." One of the main criticisms of our war in Iraq is that, if we were going there, we didn’t send enough troops. We wouldn’t criticize the soldiers for what’s happening. We wouldn’t criticize their commanders. We’d put stickers on our cars saying "Support Our Troops." The same is true with our Democratic Congressmen, they’re doing all they can do right now. The only program worth having is, "not what Bush says."

Likewise, in assessing blame, it seems to me that the blame needs to clearly be placed where it belongs – on the large group of voters that we call the "religious right." A better term would be the "american wrong." As mentioned above, all they think about is:
  • abortion & stem cell research
  • immigration
  • gay marriage
… which are the so-called family value issues. I think they’re simply racism, sexism, classism – some form of group prejudice being cloaked in religious terms. Ignoring the War in Iraq is the same thing – 2700 dead Americans, 45,000 dead Iraqis. Who cares about un-wed mothers, the sick, the Mexicans, homosexuals, someone else’s kids, Arabs? We need to protect our suburbs. Their leaders, James Dobson prominent among them, are tapping these xenophobic fears and destroying our country. In a great irony, they are using the teachings of Christ, a symbol of tolerance and world brotherhood, to justify the opposite. If I’m honest with myself, the thing I say I don’t get is that it’s impossible for me to accept that there really are this many clearly prejudiced voters controlling our fate by hiding behind one of the great humanitarians in the world’s history – a man who left ample documentation that he would have cried about what’s being done in his name.

"Love thy neighbor as thyself?"

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