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.
BUT! Did you think it was accurate, according to your own assessment of yourself?
Actually, I just posted it because this is Monday, and some people need a lift!
;o]
LOL!
No surprise with you, either! The Pajamahadeen Rule!
That's me, pretty much. Forceful, but not completely impossible :-).
With as many kids as you have AND home school, I would say you had to be "forceful" to a degree.
How are you feeling these days?
And is the kitchen painted, yet?
LOL
33.
31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful &
practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not
a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's
extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty
in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake
your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get
over if that trust is ever broken.
The 02 Ranger yellow is very yellow with more blue than red. Pictures don't show it well. It was called Screaming Yellow that year.
That's good!
;o]
Kitchen's done (yellow!) and I'm feeling pretty good. Tired, but I hope to go to bed earlier tonight, since Der Prinz is out of town.
Pretty good test for a Monday! At least it was something to bring a little levity into the mundane...
Good! I have to go to bed earlier tonight as well. It seems I go to bed just about the time everyone else is coming online, and I have a bazillion posts to catch up on in the morning. *sigh* :o[
I got a "35". so is that good or bad?
Yeah. That's you.
Well, it's accurate about how others see me...
but it doesn't mention how one thinks of oneself
(which is also important for a few reasons).
LOL!
There is no "good" or "bad", "right" or "wrong"...it's just an assessment for judging your capabilities on a job...but it was fun to do on a Monday.
How are things going with you?
We all have our own opinions of who we "really" are, but it helps to know how others see us, as well. At least, it does for me. Because if I need to improve in an area, I can do it. Or vice-versa.
I have no clue how folks here see me...(not sure I want to know, either...)
:o]
I thought I'd have gotten something labeling me
crazy, but it doesn't take into account personal
views (i.e. your thoughts about certain things...
like people). I honestly think in order to be truly
accurate, it would need a section of questions
pertaining to your view of yourself.
True. And I liked it better than any of the other yellows out there. Dodge has a yellow, but it's too orange.
When I went to the shop to have my truck painted, I told the guy, "I want the bluest yellow you can get before you start turning green. I don't want a trace of red in it." What they started out with was too clear. After three coats, you could still see the primer through it, so they doped it with titanium white and shot four more coats -- it was drop-dead gorgeous.
It was so yellow, I set a fresh banana -- one that was just getting ripe, and the only green left was near the tip of the stem, and no freckles yet -- on the hood and it was a perfect blend; you couldn't see where the hood stopped and the banana started.
"Did you have a comment to make"
yeah i made one didn't i? :)
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