This won’t be popular with some folks, but
the truth tends to hurt
As
the dust settles, it seems abundantly clear that Mitt Romney, lost on November
6th, 2012 for TWO primary
reasons; first, and most
importantly, he was unable to convince enough Americans to trust him after flip-flopping
as much as John Kerry did in 2004. Conservatives, Independents and Moderates
were all left to wonder, “Which Mitt Romney would they get,” – the reliably
liberal former Governor of Massachusetts or the “Born Again” and self-professed "severely
Conservative" Romney of the GOP Primaries...
Second and just as damning was social/religious
Conservatives apparent refusal to recognize that the electorate will no longer
tolerate reflexively anti-gay and anti-abortion rhetoric, especially talk of “women’s bodies shutting down in the wake of
a legitimate rape,” or referring to rape related pregnancy as “just another form of conception,” or to
rape as, "something that God
intended to happen" – those views marginalize not only the kooks who
utter them, but the Party they represent! And that is intolerable and untenable
going forward.
Moreover,
in the wake of November 6th, 2012 the GOP’s monied interests, it’s
socially liberal “Moderate-wing" will almost certainly look to rein in and clamp
down on these “marginal extremists.”
I’ve
said forever that (1) Roe v Wade was
“bad law,” as that issue should be decided state-by-state, same as the Supreme
Court’s Capital Punishment ban was an egregious over-reach that ultimately was
undone, BUT even I acknowledge that (2) I believe and fervently HOPE that not a single state in the USA
would even make abortions harder for poor women to get, let alone barbarically banning
abortion outright.
Look,
bottom-line, an UNWILLING parent is also an UNFIT parent (at least at that
point in time) and bringing an unwanted child into a chaotic, often
dysfunctional environment is tantamount to child abuse! Universal access to
contraception for ALL women, and preferably MANDATORY contraception for the
dependent poor is the only path that is truly consistent with the humanitarian
nature of our Founder’s Design.
It
is the same with “gay rights” (equal protections for homosexuals). Given that NO
ONE “chooses to become gay,” there is no logical rationale to excuse treating
gays any better or worse than any other group of Americans. While that doesn’t
preclude religions from teaching that homosexuality is a “sin,” nor from Marrying
gays in their churches, temples, synagogues, etc., as the 1st
Amendment guarantees, homosexuals must be accorded the SAME rights and
privileges as every other citizen by the government in ALL transactions.
Consider
that Maine, hardly a “wildly liberal state,” and one that voted down same-sex
Marriage a few years back, passed a same-sex marriage provisions THIS year! The
anti-gay forces must accept that they “fought the good fight,” but lost on this
issue – that ship, as they say, has sailed and the Republic will survive just
fine.
For
better or worse, the Moderate-wing of the GOP functionally “owns” that Party -
they fund its elections and they set most of the core agenda behind the scenes. For years
they allowed Christian Evangelical Conservatives a piece of their platform, but
after this latest rash of humiliating outbursts by extremists, that’s almost certainly
going to change...and it SHOULD!
The
problem up until now has been an apparent lack of communication on both those sides. The Rockefeller-wing of
the GOP wants the votes of the “Christian-Right,” but never has had ANY intention
of “overturning Roe,” or “banning homosexuality,” etc. But they foolishly paid
lip-service to the most extreme elements of that group and the “Religious-Right” foolishly ignored
what was painfully and hilariously obvious to everyone else – that they were being played by their savvier,
better educated and better-heeled partners. Neither side seemed to ever really want
to talk to each other - the Religious-Right, out of their skepticism for the “Rockefeller-wing
Republicans" (and rightly so) and on their part, the Moderate Republicans
antipathy for even being in the same room with a group they consider little
more than gullible rubes.
In
successive elections a collection of fringe extremists from Christine
O'Donnell and Sharon Angle in 2010 to Richard Mourdock and
Todd Akin in 2012, eradicated any hopes the GOP had of re-taking the Senate! In the end, these
folks couldn’t have helped out the far-Left cause any more, if they'd been “liberal
plants” sent in to undermine Conservative success. Could it be that?...Nah.
But seriously, what were these
kooks thinking?!
Worse
still, in numerous locales, when the GOP took over legislatures on promises of
fiscal discipline, they moved instead to FIRST put forth a draconian social
agenda that allowed the Democrats to label such extremists “The American
Taliban.”
Where
there has been a tenuous truce, enabled by a mutual avoidance of each other, in
the wake of the 2012 debacle, I expect the GOP to confront and make clear that
such extremist views will be silenced going forward within that Party.
If
there remain those who insist on seeking to push that failed agenda, they’ll
have to do so from a 3rd Party...probably one that could effectively
hold its meetings in a phone booth. There’s simply no way the GOP can move forward
with a anti-abortion, anti-gay social agenda that would’ve been controversial
even in 1950 America!
This
is NOT to say that religious conservatives must give up their views, they must
only give up the idea of having them included in any mainstream agenda.
WOW! Small internet! I've wondered if you were OK after Sandy, and if you were working 40 hours a DAY on the recovery. Glad to see you are well, and appear to have power. Clicked on a link on 'My Voice On The Wings of Change' and voila! Will now follow you here rather than Aleksandria!
ReplyDeleteGreat post - we are definitely on the same page!
ReplyDelete