Posted on 07/31/2005 1:19:25 PM PDT by KMB
For the past 20 years, there's been a discussion in political circles and the media about the "fault lines" in the Republican party over the hot-button social issues such as the death penalty, abortion, affirmative action and gay rights.
The presumption has always been that these issues would ultimately cause a rift between conservatives and moderates that would split the Republican coalition. The pundits and the MSM have been expecting and predicting this split for as long as I've been watching politics and they've been puzzled by the fact that it has never occurred.
I believe that the reason that it hasn't occurred is that the underlying assumptions are wrong. There are no "moderate" Republicans. I think Republicans are almost all conservative. Today, there are no Republicans left who are philosophically in line with Nelson Rockefeller, John Anderson, Lowell Weicker or Mark Hatfield. I know that this line of reasoning may be challenged by the Maine & Rhode Island Republican senators but the Republicans in those states (who vote Republican in presidential elections) are conservatives. The New England Republican Senators get elected by appealing to Democrats in overwhelmingly Democratic states.
There were approximately 62 million people who voted for GW Bush in 2004. I believe that probably 61.5 million of those people (1) support the death penalty (2) oppose affirmative action and (3) oppose gay marriage. I also believe that an equally high percentage of Bush voters (even those who are pro-choice) believe that the Roe v. Wade case was a hideous decision.
Pro-choice Republicans also are aware of the dirty little secret of the abortion debate -- which is that even if Roe v. Wade were overturned tomorrow, there would probably be no effect... There are probably no more than 7 - 9 states where abortion would actually be outlawed and there are currently few (or no) abortion doctors practicing in those states today anyway. Overall, the number of abortions occurring in the next ten years would only be affected by 1% or less if Roe v. Wade were reversed.
So this is, I believe, why the Republican coalition never cracked or splintered. It has confounded and infuriated the opposition but the Republican coalition really never had the fault lines that so many people thought it had.
However, I now think that one may be developing. The impending divisions in the Republican party won't be "moderate" vs. "conservative". It will be "evangelical conservative" vs. "non evangelical conservative". The issues that cause the breach won't be abortion, the death penalty, gay marriage or affirmative action. Instead the divisions will be caused over: (1) stem cell research, (2) evolution and (3) the Terri Schiavo case.
I think that 25 years from now, we'll all look back on the Terri Schiavo case as a cataclysmic event in American politics. There were tens of millions of people who looked at the pictures of Terri Schiavo and thought just one thing: "My god, if that ever happens to me, pull the plug, stop the feeding or do whatever it takes to finish me off."
At the time many Republican leaders spoke of the fact that this was a unique case but the tone of the debate both in and out of the media was that this was essentially a first step.
I remember that pro-Brady Bill and pro-Assault weapons ban politicians repeatedly assured the public that this wouldn't mean banning guns while activists and media pundits indicated that this was a first step towards doing so.
With the Terri Schiavo case, activists -- evangelicals --similarly didn't view this as a unique case but as a first step towards preventing feeding tube or life support removal in any case regardless of living wills or not.
This had an effect on non-evangelical Republicans or "secular Republicans" . . . By itself, I don't think that it would be enough to cause a breach but this isn't just one issue. The other issues that are occurring at the same time are an inexplicable renewed debate over evolution and the stem cell research debate.
With regard to the former, there's no polite or nice way to put it so I'll just be direct. People who believe in evolution think that people who don't believe in evolution are idiots -- pure and simple. The perception that an evolution believer has of a non-evolution believer is of a person saying, "Duh, my grandfather wasn't no ape."
Secular Republicans look at people who publicly discuss their doubts about evolution and who don't want it taught in public schools with utter disgust.
With regard to stem cell research, secular Republicans are excited at the prospects and supportive of practically any scientific research and they simmer at the thought of obstruction of research on religious grounds.
These three issues: evolution, Terri Schiavo and stem cell research are close to causing (or may have already caused) an irrepairable breach in the Republican coalition.
I'm a conservative. I believed in a 2nd war against in Iraq to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein as early as 1998. I also believe in making the '01 & '03 tax cuts permanent; drilling in anwar; that members of al Qaeda who are captured are illegal soldiers and not entitled to due process. I believe in progressive indexing of SS benefits, support the confirmation of John Roberts, think Antonin Scalia is the ideal justice and favor ballistic missile defense.
I also support the death penalty, oppose affirmative action, oppose gay marriage and think that the Roe v. Wade decision was a farce. I could go on but the point is made -- I'm a conservative....
But, I also accept the truth that the human species has a pre-history and I support stem cell research and I think that keeping Terri Schiavo's existance without life going was cruel and sadistic. That feeding tube should've never been inserted 14 years ago.
As a result of all of this, I now find myself in a position that I would have never dreamed of 5 or 10 years ago which is that I object to Hillary Clinton far, far less than I object to Tom Delay. Or Rick Santorum. Or Sam Brownback. Or Tom Tancredi.
Hopefully, Rudy Guiliani will be the nominee in '08 and make this all a moot point but if he isn't then I'm confronted with the possibility that I'll probably vote for Hillary Clinton despite the fact that she stands against so much that I believe in.
If there are others like me out there, and I think there are, then get ready for a 2nd Clinton Administration.
I couldn't find a pilot light to save my life ... will have Der Prinz look for it :-). The stove burners come on, but not the oven.
It's amazing how much debris can get into these things. One of your first steps might be to use the vacuum to dislodge any rust chips or spider webs that could be blocking things. Make sure your vacuum extensions are plastic, and don't bump anything too hard.
This could be a job for someone with good flexibility, if you will pardon my saying so.
Wow, that's a good idea! Josie and Tom were fixing the fries last night, and it's entirely possible they knocked something into the innards!
Tumbles into craters are the reason I wanted multiple robots. It might be necessary to mount a "rescue" mission.
Even though the robots will have eight legs like spiders, the forward motion is done by six, like many insects.
Sets of three legs will alternate forward motion, like perambulating camera tripods. Each tripod will be self-leveling, by "locking" its relative contact extensions only after the last one has touched down. Awkward as it sounds, it should be possible to use the control signal from one human leg to operate a tripod of legs on the robot, and the opposite human leg would operate the other tripod.
Making robots that walk has long been a difficulty, but these are not autonomous robots. Ours are controlled by an operator.
T-C, you could well be one of the best operators. What it requires is someone who has the good sense to move slowly, with deliberation, and perhaps someone who has gone through the occasional change in locomotion patterns due to carrying "extra cargo."
Typically, the pilot light for an oven is located underneath it. Many ovens have a broiler drawer that slides out, and the pilot light can be accessed through that opening.
NASA ought to be mining these threads for ideas.
Or just start sending me a paycheck. I could save them millions.
Making robots that walk has long been a difficulty, but these are not autonomous robots. Ours are controlled by an operator.
T-C, you could well be one of the best operators. What it requires is someone who has the good sense to move slowly, with deliberation, and perhaps someone who has gone through the occasional change in locomotion patterns due to carrying "extra cargo."
Yes, did you notice how slowly and carefully the astronauts were working when they removed that fabric from the space shuttle tiles?
Nothing that couldn't be cured by a week in my messy office! LOL.
Yeah, but I doubt they would have been "carrying extra cargo" until they were surrounded by incandescent plasma during the re-entry period.
I just heard Jeff Foxworthy say, on Comedy Central, "If you can't say anything nice about somebody ... you must be talking about Hillary Clinton!"
*Yes, there was applause. Lots of it!*
No results on the oven. Will have to get a repair service out tomorrow. It's under warranty for parts, but not labor, so I hope they find the problem quickly!
Interesting suggestions. I suppose if I can belly dance while eight months pregnant, I can move a spider's legs around.
Spider-walking would be more of a shuffle than anything else. You'd have to keep the traverse of the feet within the limits of the regular stance. Kinda like this:
.oo.o...o.oo.....oo.o...o.oo.....oo.o...o.oo
o.oo.....oo.o...o.oo.....oo.o...o.oo.....oo.o
Or maybe you can visualize it this way...
.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.
v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v
As I consider it, it should be possible to automate to some degree. Now I'm wondering if a new kind of rough-country "wheel-chair," actually an insectoid leg-chair, could be created.
I can see it now. Three pairs of little kid-sized sneakers covering the six feet of the contraption, moving at a shuffle like a kid holding onto Mama's apron while stumbling along blinded by tears.
I think in the remake of "The Wild, Wild West" the bad guy had a similar device. It looked creepy.
Am I actually in the right place? My mind is having a problem with little sneakers on spiders who are trying to find a pilot light...:o|
Yes, of course you're in the right place. Although you did forget to mention the vacuum cleaner.
But the real question is: Are you loggeed in?
Spiders look "creepy"?
Now where did you get that notion from? ;-)
Whatcha up to?
I don't know...can you see me?
I was 5'9" when I got up this morning, but it's been raining and I was out in it for a while, so I may be shorter, now...How about you?
;o]
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