Posted on 12/24/2009 4:01:42 PM PST by steve-b
It is 2009's quiet story -- quiet because it's about what didn't happen, which can be as important as what did.
In this highly partisan year, we did not see a sharpening of the battles over religion and culture.
Yes, we continued to fight over gay marriage, and arguments about abortion were a feature of the health-care debate. But what's more striking is that other issues -- notably economics and the role of government -- trumped culture and religion in the public square. The culture wars went into recession along with the economy.
The most important transformation occurred on the right end of politics. For now, the loudest and most activist sections of the conservative cause are not its religious voices but the mostly secular, anti-government tea party activists.
Especially revealing is the re-emergence of former House majority leader Dick Armey, a prime mover behind the tea parties and a longtime critic of the religious right. He once said that James Dobson of Focus on the Family and his allies were a "gang of thugs" and "real nasty bullies."
Armey and his supporters speak a libertarian language that contrasts sharply with the message of Christian conservatives. "When Republicans are fighting against the power of the state, we win," Armey told the New York Times recently. "When we are trying to advance it, we lose."...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
E.J. Dionne Jr. is the vilest, most partisan, liberal columnist there is. I refuse to read any of his crap.
Merry Christmas.
The maggot's got a point. I haven't thought about twirling a K-Bar in a Senator's guts for at least 45 minutes.
That is the funniest thing I have read in months!
I belly laughed for 5 minutes. I too have caught myself
thinking about how best to dispatch an unwanted
parasite like those you speak of. Twirling a K-Bar -
that is the best description I have ever heard.
But God says, vengeance is mine, (His). God is going
to repay and let me tell you brother, He is going to
repay. Live like Christ Jesus. God is keeping the real
score card.
Doulos1
Everything that is going on is part of a culture war. Freedom & liberty is our former culture that we are watching disappear into the murky past...Marxism/communism and Islam are the cultures we are trying (albeit futilely, at present) to eliminate from our country and political system...
Dionne’s an idiot. What does he think we’re stocking up for?
I've noticed one other little manifestation of the kulturkampf and it's the number of people saying "Merry Christmas" in a tone of voice that is unmistakably defiant. No, the cultural war is very active, thank you, and if Dionne thinks otherwise he's welcome to consider the appellation "tea-baggers" and where it came from and who it purports to describe. His side's still fighting that war merrily with the stiletto in the back and pretending it isn't there. Sorry, E.J. - we've noticed.
The key observation was Armey’s observation: “When Republicans are fighting against the power of the state, we win. When we are trying to advance it, we lose.”
Does this guy do a lot of drugs?
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