John Cole, conservative commentator/blogger who broke with his
party over the Schiavo affair has been considering the state of the GOP and
the conservative movement recently, to cries of "traitor" from some of his former supporters.
Tonight, in a post about the Republican Schiavo memo and the conservatives
behind it he asks the basic and real question,. "What are their (our) goals?"
; going directly to the heart of what many fear is the direction of the
"conservative" movement.
(more)
Growing up in the WVa coal fields and later moving to the Va/NC textile mill towns, I think I have a good idea what their goals are; on a smaller scale. It is heartening to see some thinking Republicans wake up, look around and ask, "Is this the country I want?"
R
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(see page for complete entry and links)
http://www.balloon-juice.com/archives/004937.html
....What I see going on around me is that my party is in power. We control
the Presidency. We control the House and the Senate. Republican appointees
outnumber Democratic ones on the Supreme Court, and we are poised to add
more. We own talk radio. Cable news tends to be neutral to conservative (it
certainly is not liberal or progressive- some outfits may have
anti-Republican reflexes). We have all but eliminated partisan debate in
congress, playing by rules much tougher than anything that was in place.
Where there were once no conservative (or few) newspapers, there are now
several. We have numerous conservative online journals. Hundreds of
publications that all push the same point and pass on the same message.
And it still isn't enough. Everything is under attack if it does not toe the
same hard-right line. The university, the institution of marriage, journalism
as an enterprise, the medical community, the legal community, every foreign
institution, the United Nations- anything, that doesn't cater to the
conservative need for instant gratification in the form of message adherence
and submission to the new doctronaire must be destroyed. Look at the recent
behavior of Republicans in Congress towards REPUBLICAN APPOINTED CONSERVATIVE
JUDGES. Forget 'screw me once, shame on you.' This new breed of fanatacism is
"Slight me in any discernable way, even a mild disagreement, and I will
publicly destroy you."
And for what?
- So Tom DeLay can stuff his pockets with PAC money?
- So the banking interests that bankroll Washington can get their bankruptcy
bill, ensuring higher and higher profits and usurious interest rates?
- So Jim Sensennbrenner can put people in jail for broadcasting things he
finds obscene?
- So that Congress can insert itself into your marriage, change your
end-of-life decisions, because they don't like them?
- So we can make sure gays don't get married?
- To make sure something like evolution and other nasty science things aren't
taught in school?
What, exactly are we trying to accomplish, and why, exactly, should I be in
favor of it? Other than Iraq and Afghanistan, which are going well and are a
success (yet still works in progress), what have we accomplished? I'm
serious. Remind me what we are trying to do here- why this is a good thing.