Posted on 11/26/2015 6:48:19 AM PST by Kaslin
Conservatives are supposed to be against big government and opposed to the left's belief that problems can and should be solved by Washington.
Which is why Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich's proposal to create a new government agency to promote "Judeo-Christian values" is a really bad idea.
Put aside for a moment that the federal government does few things well, or within budget, and consider also how preposterous and unworkable such an idea would be.
In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington last week, Kasich, who grew up Catholic and remains a man of Christian faith, said he thinks the U.S. needs such an agency to help the country be "more forceful in the battle of ideas." He added, "U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting have lost their focus on the case for Western values and ideals and effectively countering your opponents' propaganda and disinformation."
Here is a short list of the many problems with such a proposal.
Problem No. 1: Who would represent the "Judeos" and the "Christians"? Would it be an Orthodox or reformed Jew? Would a Jewish mystic from the Kabbalah sect be included? There are numerous Christian denominations and sects, so how would Kasich select one as representative of Christianity? Would those left out protest? Would there be lawsuits, not only from excluded religious groups, but from the ACLU? Church-state separation, you know.
Problem No. 2: What "values" would be promoted? Certainly not, one would hope, cultural values, as displayed in many Hollywood films and on television. Are the "traditional values" Kasich supports even practiced by a majority of Americans in an age when we seem to tolerate everything (except traditional values) and when the Kardashians take up far too much brain space? Who would be the ultimate decider on which "values" to promote? And what about people who seek to promote values different from Kasich's?
Problem No. 3: Do we really want to turn over what ought to be the responsibility and privilege of individual religious believers to the federal government, which can't even save dollars taken from taxpayers, much less the souls of individual citizens? Too many churches, especially, have retreated from their responsibility to apply their faith to those who are hungry, homeless and imprisoned. Tax-exempt ministries now do the work individuals have been commanded to do.
Problem No. 4: How do you promote American "values" to secular and Islamic societies, which mostly do not share them? Who has the credibility to speak for and represent such values, even if they could be agreed upon?
A president can promote values by talking about them and endorsing individuals and programs that practice them. The Voice of America and Radio Liberty used to broadcast American values to the world during the Cold War, but in the Internet age, broadcasting, which can be easily jammed, is probably not as effective as the web.
In order for a country to promote something, it must first practice it. A better idea would be to allow school choice so that poor children especially can be liberated from failing public schools and given a chance for a better life. A good education is a value that can be enhanced by the federal government getting out of the way and busting the last major monopoly in the country: public education.
Kasich rightly laments the loss of some core values most Americans once embraced. It wasn't the federal government that got rid of most of them -- though the Supreme Court played a role. Rather, it is we the people who have chosen to live by different values to our detriment and shame. If they are to return, it will take the work of those "Judeo-Christians" and not the dysfunctional federal government.
The idea of John Kasich as President is a really, really, REALLY bad idea.
From what I’ve seen from Kasich since his Contract with America days, he’s just another politician scamming for votes. I don’t trust him for a New York minute.
They already exist Johnny Boy
they are called Churches and Synagogues
Good thing he is running less than 5% in the polls. At some point his financiers will realize that he is below the margin of error and pull the plug. Hopefully that day will come soon.
His really bad idea was to run for president. He has had a lot of other really bad ideas before and after that so it is hard to say what his first really bad idea really was.
Kasich is a putz from the past.
Hopefully his backers have more sense than he does because he will ride the gravy boat for as long as he can.
I’m sure he has made some “shrewd” investments. He will be fine so he needs to just go away and soon.
But his father was a mailman.
A ‘religion czar’?
Sounds to me like he didn’t really think this one through, and was (is) simply pandering to what he perceives as the evangelical base.
I don’t see how establishing an office, by executive fiat or legislative approval, which names any religion or religious grouping, doesn’t violate the establishment clause.
Governor “twitchy” sealed his fate with his antics at the last debate. His foot-stompy, liberal-like behavior showed his true demeanor and desperation.
To use his well-worn phrase, “at the end of the day”, he’ll never be president.
Stop putting words in the author's fingers that he did not write!!!
I never said the author or Kasich used such a term.
That’s my summation.
Hence the use of apostrophes versus quotation marks.
I might have used italics, but I didn’t feel like formatting.
And it’s not only a bad idea, it’s most likely unconstitutional.
What do you mean? He took a break from the gov payroll to work for Lehman Brothers.
Until Kasich ran for pres, no one believed us OH folks when we tried to describe just how awful he is.
Stay out of our religion and out of our churches . America was formed by Christian who did not want the government deciding how they would worship the God of the bible.
Got that “the God of the bible “ and that isn’t the goon of islam with a different constitution.
Do what you were elected to do and protect the American people and stand up for our Constitution .
Can’t do that ? We will KICK YOU OUT .
No more refugees from muslim countries that bring in strife , terror and antisemitism . You call yourself a “Christian” ? Well it isn’t Christian to bring in people who want to murder your citizens .
It’s almost pitiable to watch these career politicians mis-read and misinterpret what is motivating the 50% plus in polls of Republican voters supporting either Trump or Cruz, who so far are behaving like a tag team. “Oh, pander to the church going vote? I can do that! We’ll just create a new agency.” “Hey, I was on TV for awhile, between government gigs. Why can’t you ignoramuses understand that this Republican nominating system has rules and the main one is don’t rock the C of C boat and politely wait your turn? Don’t you people know who we are??!”
Roger Stone: ‘John Kasich Fired from Reagan’s Staff for Selling Drugs’
By Michael van der Galien November 1, 2015
During Wednesday’s Republican debate, Ohio Governor John Kasich presented himself as the guy who’s toughest on drugs; yes, he’s more serious about prolonging the war on drugs than anyone else. Unlike some people up there — see Rand Paul, for instance — he believes drugs are bad and have to stay illegal.
Shortly after he made these statements, former Reagan campaign operative Roger Stone took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Kasich’s stance. His response was shocking: he accused Kasich of being kicked off Reagan’s campaign because he was accused of selling marijuana to fellow foot soldiers.
Last Thursday — the day after the debate — Stone appeared on Dana Loesch’s radio show where he repeated his claim. He explained that — as a libertarian — he’s actually in favor of the legalization of marijuana, but that’s beside the point. He is, Stone said, just shocked by Kasich’s “hypocrisy”: the Ohio governor pretends to be the drug fighter par excellence while he was actually a (minor) drug dealer himself back in the day.
“It is a stone-cold fact,” Stone said, “that I dismissed him from our field operation because of complaints that he was selling pot to other field men. I don’t really care whether he used pot — I really don’t. My issue here is the hypocrisy.”
He went on to say that “the drug war has been an ... abysmal failure. It hasn’t worked.... I called John Kasich’s bluff. He’s a hypocrite.”
Stone is known to be a hard-hitting campaign operative and fervent supporter of Donald Trump, who also attacked Kasich during Wednesday’s Republican debate. Although Trump didn’t say anything about Kasich’s past drug use — or dealing — he did lash out at the Ohio governor and potential establishment favorite for being “lucky” with “fracking,” saying pure chance is the only reason Ohio’s doing so well now.
That's why he's losing in his own state.
Kasich is just desperate to try to remain relevant. He has been made a fool of by Trump on National TV and he’s smarting from it. If he was smart Kasich would just STFU and hope everybody forgets about it.
Kasich / Bush = worthless dumbsh1ts.
No. Hugh Hefner, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer, Gloria Steinem, Robert Altman, and the U.S. Supreme Court's Douglas and Brennan and Kennedy.
And Quentin Tarantino, and Madonna, and the Kardashians.
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