We've talked about this before, but it's worth stressing again. Religion (whichever one you choose) has its place in this country, and that's within the church, within the home, and within yourself. It does NOT belong in the government. That people can't - or refuse to - separate the two is pretty scary.
November 4, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
The Day the Enlightenment Went Out
By GARRY WILLS
Evanston, Ill.
This election confirms the brilliance of Karl Rove as a political strategist. He calculated that the religious conservatives, if they could be turned out, would be the deciding factor. The success of the plan was registered not only in the presidential results but also in all 11 of the state votes to ban same-sex marriage. Mr. Rove understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.
This might be called Bryan's revenge for the Scopes trial of 1925, in which William Jennings Bryan's fundamentalist assault on the concept of evolution was discredited. Disillusionment with that decision led many evangelicals to withdraw from direct engagement in politics. But they came roaring back into the arena out of anger at other court decisions - on prayer in school, abortion, protection of the flag and, now, gay marriage. Mr. Rove felt that the appeal to this large bloc was worth getting President Bush to endorse a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (though he had opposed it earlier).
The results bring to mind a visit the Dalai Lama made to Chicago not long ago. I was one of the people deputized to ask him questions on the stage at the Field Museum. He met with the interrogators beforehand and asked us to give him challenging questions, since he is too often greeted with deference or flattery.
The only one I could think of was: "If you could return to your country, what would you do to change it?" He said that he would disestablish his religion, since "America is the proper model." I later asked him if a pluralist society were possible without the Enlightenment. "Ah," he said. "That's the problem." He seemed to envy America its Enlightenment heritage.
Which raises the question: Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?
America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11.
The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies.
Where else do we find fundamentalist zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of and hatred for modernity? Not in France or Britain or Germany or Italy or Spain. We find it in the Muslim world, in Al Qaeda, in Saddam Hussein's Sunni loyalists. Americans wonder that the rest of the world thinks us so dangerous, so single-minded, so impervious to international appeals. They fear jihad, no matter whose zeal is being expressed.
It is often observed that enemies come to resemble each other. We torture the torturers, we call our God better than theirs - as one American general put it, in words that the president has not repudiated.
President Bush promised in 2000 that he would lead a humble country, be a uniter not a divider, that he would make conservatism compassionate. He did not need to make such false promises this time. He was re-elected precisely by being a divider, pitting the reddest aspects of the red states against the blue nearly half of the nation. In this, he is very far from Ronald Reagan, who was amiably and ecumenically pious. He could address more secular audiences, here and abroad, with real respect.
In his victory speech yesterday, President Bush indicated that he would "reach out to the whole nation," including those who voted for John Kerry. But even if he wanted to be more conciliatory now, the constituency to which he owes his victory is not a yielding one. He must give them what they want on things like judicial appointments. His helpers are also his keepers.
The moral zealots will, I predict, give some cause for dismay even to nonfundamentalist Republicans. Jihads are scary things. It is not too early to start yearning back toward the Enlightenment.
Garry Wills, an adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University, is the author of "St. Augustine's Conversion."
Religion in government is evil
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lukpac
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Religion in government is evil
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Some Bush Supporters Say They Anticipate a 'Revolution'
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 3 - Exulting in their electoral victories, President Bush's conservative supporters immediately turned to staking out mandates for an ambitious agenda of long-cherished goals, including privatizing Social Security, banning same-sex marriage, remaking the Supreme Court and overturning the court's decisions in support of abortion rights.
"Now comes the revolution," Richard Viguerie, the dean of conservative direct mail, told about a dozen fellow movement stalwarts gathered around a television here, tallying up their Senate seats in the earliest hours of the morning. "If you don't implement a conservative agenda now, when do you?"
By midday, however, fights over the spoils had already begun, as conservatives debated the electorate's verdict on the war in Iraq, the Bush administration's spending and the administration's hearty embrace of traditionalist social causes.
Conservative Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, were first in line to stake their claims, citing polls showing that a plurality of Bush supporters named "moral values" as the most important issue and arguing that a drive to ban same-sex marriage boosted turnout in Ohio.
"Make no mistake - conservative Christians and 'values voters' won this election for George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress," Mr. Viguerie wrote in a memorandum sent to other prominent conservatives. "It's crucial that the Republican leadership not forget this - as much as some will try," he said, underlining the final clause.
"Liberals, many in the media and inside the Republican Party are urging the president to 'unite' the country by discarding the allies that earned him another four years," Mr. Viguerie continued. "They're urging him to discard us conservative Catholics and Protestants, people for whom moral values are the most important issue.''
Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and an influential evangelical Protestant, said he had issued a warning to a "White House operative" who called yesterday morning to thank him for his help.
Dr. Dobson said he told the caller that many Christians believed the country "on the verge of self-destruction" as it abandoned traditional family roles. He argued that "through prayer and the involvement of millions of evangelicals, and mainline Protestants and Catholics, God has given us a reprieve."
"But I believe it is a short reprieve," he continued, adding that conservatives now had four years to pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage, to stop abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, and most of all to remake the Supreme Court. "I believe that the Bush administration now needs to be more aggressive in pursuing those values, and if they don't do it I believe they will pay a price in four years," he said.
Dr. Dobson and several other Christian conservatives said they believed the expanded Republican majority in the Senate and the defeat of the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, put them in striking distance of both amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and approving the appointment of enough conservative Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade and other abortion rights cases.
"I think it is a real possibility," said Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, a champion of social conservative causes. In the meantime, he said, he also hoped to pass other measures conservatives had campaigned for this year, including an "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" requiring some women seeking abortions to be offered anesthesia for their fetuses.
Austin Ruse, president of the conservative Catholic Culture of Life Foundation, suggested that if Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist steps down, Mr. Bush could begin to repay his social conservative backers by naming Justice Antonin Scalia to replace him. "We'd love to see Scalia in that spot, and I think we have earned it," Mr. Ruse said.
The strongest argument that Christian conservatives played a decisive role in the election came in Ohio, where a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage passed by an overwhelming margin. Conservatives said the proposal increased conservative turnout and helped Mr. Bush win a narrow, pivotal victory.
Phil Burress, the veteran Christian conservative organizer who headed the effort to pass the measure, said his campaign registered tens of thousands of voters, distributed 2.5 million church bulletin inserts and passed out 20,000 yard signs. His group called 2.9 million homes, he said, identifying 850,000 strong supporters whom it called again on Monday as a reminder to go to the polls.
"The president rode our coattails," Mr. Burress said.
Although the Bush campaign courted conservative Christians assiduously, the exact level of their turnout is not yet clear. Surveys of voters leaving the polls showed that "moral values" outweighed concerns about the economy or the war with more than 20 percent of the voters - more than chose any other issue - and about 80 percent of those voters supported Mr. Bush. But some pollsters cautioned that the multiple-choice format of the questions asked might have influenced the responses.
Sarah Chamberlain, a spokeswoman for the Republican Main Street Coalition, a group of moderates within the party, argued that high-profile moderates on social issues also played a pivotal role for the campaign in Ohio and elsewhere. Those moderates included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and Senator John McCain of Arizona.
"Frankly, he wouldn't have been elected without us either, and the conservatives need to remember that," she said.
"Social conservatives are a very important part of the base, but they are not enough alone," said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and a conservative strategist close to the Bush administration, noting that in Illinois, Alan Keyes had taken a drubbing in the race for the Senate after running a vigorously conservative campaign on social issues.
Mr. Norquist eagerly predicted the accomplishment of a long agenda of government reduction: repealing the estate tax, privatizing Social Security, restricting medical and other liability lawsuits, closing military bases, opening more government jobs to competitive bidding to lower costs and weaken unions, imposing new disclosure requirements on organized labor, and expanding health care and investment savings accounts.
Most conservatives, however, agreed that among the three arms of the right - religious traditionalists, opponents of big government and foreign policy hawks - it was the religious right that pulled the most weight in Mr. Bush's re-election.
Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a group that advocates limited government, said the Bush administration's spending had irked many of his members. "My fear is that Republicans will learn the wrong lesson from this victory and say, hey, we can spend and borrow hundreds of millions of dollars and the voters won't hold us accountable," he said. "There were a lot of conservatives who really had to hold their nose to vote Republican."
By all accounts, the war in Iraq only hindered Mr. Bush's re-election, renewing debate among conservatives over its wisdom, especially during the hours on Tuesday when early polls suggested that Mr. Bush might be headed for defeat. "We need a major national debate on, what kind of foreign policy is this country going to have?" said Paul Weyrich, founder of the Heritage Foundation and now chairman of the Free Congress Foundation. "Are we going to continue on the offense, where we make more enemies than we can defeat? Or are we going to return to the traditional foreign policy that we do not attack unless attacked?"
But some of the intellectual proponents of the war known as neoconservatives called the vote something close to a vindication of Mr. Bush's policy of pre-emptive action against potential sponsors of terrorism.
"The world saw this as a referendum on the Bush doctrine, and I think the world was right," said Charles Krauthammer, a neoconservative columnist.
Kenneth R. Weinstein, chief operating officer of the neoconservative Hudson Institute, was more cautious "Certainly," he said, "we have avoided the blood bath in the Republican Party that would have taken place if Mr. Bush had been defeated."
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 3 - Exulting in their electoral victories, President Bush's conservative supporters immediately turned to staking out mandates for an ambitious agenda of long-cherished goals, including privatizing Social Security, banning same-sex marriage, remaking the Supreme Court and overturning the court's decisions in support of abortion rights.
"Now comes the revolution," Richard Viguerie, the dean of conservative direct mail, told about a dozen fellow movement stalwarts gathered around a television here, tallying up their Senate seats in the earliest hours of the morning. "If you don't implement a conservative agenda now, when do you?"
By midday, however, fights over the spoils had already begun, as conservatives debated the electorate's verdict on the war in Iraq, the Bush administration's spending and the administration's hearty embrace of traditionalist social causes.
Conservative Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, were first in line to stake their claims, citing polls showing that a plurality of Bush supporters named "moral values" as the most important issue and arguing that a drive to ban same-sex marriage boosted turnout in Ohio.
"Make no mistake - conservative Christians and 'values voters' won this election for George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress," Mr. Viguerie wrote in a memorandum sent to other prominent conservatives. "It's crucial that the Republican leadership not forget this - as much as some will try," he said, underlining the final clause.
"Liberals, many in the media and inside the Republican Party are urging the president to 'unite' the country by discarding the allies that earned him another four years," Mr. Viguerie continued. "They're urging him to discard us conservative Catholics and Protestants, people for whom moral values are the most important issue.''
Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and an influential evangelical Protestant, said he had issued a warning to a "White House operative" who called yesterday morning to thank him for his help.
Dr. Dobson said he told the caller that many Christians believed the country "on the verge of self-destruction" as it abandoned traditional family roles. He argued that "through prayer and the involvement of millions of evangelicals, and mainline Protestants and Catholics, God has given us a reprieve."
"But I believe it is a short reprieve," he continued, adding that conservatives now had four years to pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage, to stop abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, and most of all to remake the Supreme Court. "I believe that the Bush administration now needs to be more aggressive in pursuing those values, and if they don't do it I believe they will pay a price in four years," he said.
Dr. Dobson and several other Christian conservatives said they believed the expanded Republican majority in the Senate and the defeat of the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, put them in striking distance of both amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and approving the appointment of enough conservative Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade and other abortion rights cases.
"I think it is a real possibility," said Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, a champion of social conservative causes. In the meantime, he said, he also hoped to pass other measures conservatives had campaigned for this year, including an "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" requiring some women seeking abortions to be offered anesthesia for their fetuses.
Austin Ruse, president of the conservative Catholic Culture of Life Foundation, suggested that if Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist steps down, Mr. Bush could begin to repay his social conservative backers by naming Justice Antonin Scalia to replace him. "We'd love to see Scalia in that spot, and I think we have earned it," Mr. Ruse said.
The strongest argument that Christian conservatives played a decisive role in the election came in Ohio, where a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage passed by an overwhelming margin. Conservatives said the proposal increased conservative turnout and helped Mr. Bush win a narrow, pivotal victory.
Phil Burress, the veteran Christian conservative organizer who headed the effort to pass the measure, said his campaign registered tens of thousands of voters, distributed 2.5 million church bulletin inserts and passed out 20,000 yard signs. His group called 2.9 million homes, he said, identifying 850,000 strong supporters whom it called again on Monday as a reminder to go to the polls.
"The president rode our coattails," Mr. Burress said.
Although the Bush campaign courted conservative Christians assiduously, the exact level of their turnout is not yet clear. Surveys of voters leaving the polls showed that "moral values" outweighed concerns about the economy or the war with more than 20 percent of the voters - more than chose any other issue - and about 80 percent of those voters supported Mr. Bush. But some pollsters cautioned that the multiple-choice format of the questions asked might have influenced the responses.
Sarah Chamberlain, a spokeswoman for the Republican Main Street Coalition, a group of moderates within the party, argued that high-profile moderates on social issues also played a pivotal role for the campaign in Ohio and elsewhere. Those moderates included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and Senator John McCain of Arizona.
"Frankly, he wouldn't have been elected without us either, and the conservatives need to remember that," she said.
"Social conservatives are a very important part of the base, but they are not enough alone," said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and a conservative strategist close to the Bush administration, noting that in Illinois, Alan Keyes had taken a drubbing in the race for the Senate after running a vigorously conservative campaign on social issues.
Mr. Norquist eagerly predicted the accomplishment of a long agenda of government reduction: repealing the estate tax, privatizing Social Security, restricting medical and other liability lawsuits, closing military bases, opening more government jobs to competitive bidding to lower costs and weaken unions, imposing new disclosure requirements on organized labor, and expanding health care and investment savings accounts.
Most conservatives, however, agreed that among the three arms of the right - religious traditionalists, opponents of big government and foreign policy hawks - it was the religious right that pulled the most weight in Mr. Bush's re-election.
Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a group that advocates limited government, said the Bush administration's spending had irked many of his members. "My fear is that Republicans will learn the wrong lesson from this victory and say, hey, we can spend and borrow hundreds of millions of dollars and the voters won't hold us accountable," he said. "There were a lot of conservatives who really had to hold their nose to vote Republican."
By all accounts, the war in Iraq only hindered Mr. Bush's re-election, renewing debate among conservatives over its wisdom, especially during the hours on Tuesday when early polls suggested that Mr. Bush might be headed for defeat. "We need a major national debate on, what kind of foreign policy is this country going to have?" said Paul Weyrich, founder of the Heritage Foundation and now chairman of the Free Congress Foundation. "Are we going to continue on the offense, where we make more enemies than we can defeat? Or are we going to return to the traditional foreign policy that we do not attack unless attacked?"
But some of the intellectual proponents of the war known as neoconservatives called the vote something close to a vindication of Mr. Bush's policy of pre-emptive action against potential sponsors of terrorism.
"The world saw this as a referendum on the Bush doctrine, and I think the world was right," said Charles Krauthammer, a neoconservative columnist.
Kenneth R. Weinstein, chief operating officer of the neoconservative Hudson Institute, was more cautious "Certainly," he said, "we have avoided the blood bath in the Republican Party that would have taken place if Mr. Bush had been defeated."
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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Bush says no religious divide in US
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush, who was given significant support by the Christian right in his election victory, sought to play down suggestions of a religious divide in the United States.
"I will be your president regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me, necessarily, on religion. As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society," Bush said at his first press conference since his victory.
"I don't think you ought to read anything into the politics ... about whether or not this nation will become a divided nation over religion."
He added: "The great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor. That is an essential part of why we are a great nation."
"If you're a Jew or a Christian or a Muslim, you're equally American."
Bush acknowledged the help given to him by the evangelical vote, particularly in southern states, which were swept by the Republican candidate.
Bush, a Methodist, is a born-again Christian, who opposes gay marriage and abortion. According to polls his stance won him many votes. Bush's main political advisor, Karl Rove, has deliberately targeted the religious vote in recent years.
"I am glad people of faith voted in this election. I am glad -- I appreciate all people who voted," the president said after being asked about a potential "religious divide" by a reporter.
His Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, is a Roman Catholic who supports a woman's right to choose abortion. He also opposes gay marriage but voiced opposition to Bush's calls for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages.
There is now a growing debate within the Democratic party on how to tempt the religious vote back to the party, which has now suffered two straight defeats to Bush.
"I don't hesitate to stand up in a crowd and express how important faith is in my life. It is important to be able to express that in a way that is believable, and Democrats have to get comfortable doing that," Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas, told the Washington Post.
Dick Gephardt, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives who was once a candidate for the party's presidential nomination, told the New York Times that Democrats had failed "to speak to our faith, and to relate to people that we share their faith."
CBS News said that its polls showed that only 26 percent of US voters supported legalized gay and lesbian marriages, while 36 percent opposed any legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Among this latter group, Bush held a greater than two-to-one advantage over Kerry.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush, who was given significant support by the Christian right in his election victory, sought to play down suggestions of a religious divide in the United States.
"I will be your president regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me, necessarily, on religion. As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society," Bush said at his first press conference since his victory.
"I don't think you ought to read anything into the politics ... about whether or not this nation will become a divided nation over religion."
He added: "The great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor. That is an essential part of why we are a great nation."
"If you're a Jew or a Christian or a Muslim, you're equally American."
Bush acknowledged the help given to him by the evangelical vote, particularly in southern states, which were swept by the Republican candidate.
Bush, a Methodist, is a born-again Christian, who opposes gay marriage and abortion. According to polls his stance won him many votes. Bush's main political advisor, Karl Rove, has deliberately targeted the religious vote in recent years.
"I am glad people of faith voted in this election. I am glad -- I appreciate all people who voted," the president said after being asked about a potential "religious divide" by a reporter.
His Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, is a Roman Catholic who supports a woman's right to choose abortion. He also opposes gay marriage but voiced opposition to Bush's calls for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages.
There is now a growing debate within the Democratic party on how to tempt the religious vote back to the party, which has now suffered two straight defeats to Bush.
"I don't hesitate to stand up in a crowd and express how important faith is in my life. It is important to be able to express that in a way that is believable, and Democrats have to get comfortable doing that," Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas, told the Washington Post.
Dick Gephardt, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives who was once a candidate for the party's presidential nomination, told the New York Times that Democrats had failed "to speak to our faith, and to relate to people that we share their faith."
CBS News said that its polls showed that only 26 percent of US voters supported legalized gay and lesbian marriages, while 36 percent opposed any legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Among this latter group, Bush held a greater than two-to-one advantage over Kerry.
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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Rspaight
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George H. W. Bush, 1987:
George W. Bush (above):
I think I drank myself into a persistent delusional state Tuesday night. W is making more sense than his father.
Ryan
No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
George W. Bush (above):
The great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor. That is an essential part of why we are a great nation.
I think I drank myself into a persistent delusional state Tuesday night. W is making more sense than his father.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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lukpac
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Of course, what he says and does are two different things.
"Compassionate conservative"
"Compassionate conservative"
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD
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Oh, yes, I know. It was just such an amazing 180-degree difference, almost word for word, from what his father had said 17 years ago.
Besides, I don't really think Bush is part of the whole Dominionist thing -- he's just along for the ride. He's their celebrity spokesman, but he doesn't use the product.
(Totally off the topic - don't you hate it when someone says "360-degree turn" when they mean 180?)
Ryan
Besides, I don't really think Bush is part of the whole Dominionist thing -- he's just along for the ride. He's their celebrity spokesman, but he doesn't use the product.
(Totally off the topic - don't you hate it when someone says "360-degree turn" when they mean 180?)
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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lukpac
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Yes. Being the ass I am, I just corrected somebody on that recently.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD
It is often observed that enemies come to resemble each other...
The Republicans are often dismissed as being self-righteous, intolerant, vulgar, and smug. In reading the post-election comments at FLO, the exact same seems to be true of some of the Democrats as well.
I trust that's just temporary, caused by extreme frustration...
Dob
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance" -- HL Mencken
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance" -- HL Mencken
lukpac wrote:Yes. Being the ass I am, I just corrected somebody on that recently.
LukPac's favorite episode of the Brady Bunch is "Law and Disorder."
Chuck thinks that I look to good to be a computer geek. I think that I know too much about interface design, css, xhtml, php, asp, perl, and ia (too name a few things) to not be one.
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Rspaight
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I trust that's just temporary, caused by extreme frustration...
At least in part.
However, although I endeavor to be fair, I won't put theocratic gibberish on an equal playing field with rationality and religious neutrality. My tolerance ends where my rights begin.
Self-righteous is a tricky one. I'm convinced I'm right about a lot of things. (Insert smiley here.) But "self-righteous" implies an assumption of moralism, which I don't think is at work here. I'm not saying my code of personal conduct is necessarily better than anyone else's, just that I don't wish to abide by someone else's code of personal conduct.
Plus, I am vulgar, at least when riled, so yeah, guilty as charged.
Smug? How can anyone in the center or left be smug after Tuesday? Cripes.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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I'll cop to the vulgarity charge as well. That's just me--I don't think it applies to "Democrats" in general. (I'm actually not sure I'd label myself a "Democrat" anyway. The overall timidity of the current Democratic party is just as offensive to me as a lot of the conservative bullshit.)
It's tough to take a cold, objective look at yourself, but I don't consider myself smug or self-righteous. When the Bush administration pulls another one of its dirty tricks, I get no pleasure whatsoever from gloating and saying, "See? Told you so!" I'm just deeply saddened and disturbed by it.
As far as intolerance goes, I am indeed "intolerant" of anyone who tries to force their political/social/religious/sexual beliefs down my throat. I have zero tolerance for anyone who wants to bend the Constitution to advance his own agenda.
If you want to see some real intolerance, take a look at the Christian Right.
It's tough to take a cold, objective look at yourself, but I don't consider myself smug or self-righteous. When the Bush administration pulls another one of its dirty tricks, I get no pleasure whatsoever from gloating and saying, "See? Told you so!" I'm just deeply saddened and disturbed by it.
As far as intolerance goes, I am indeed "intolerant" of anyone who tries to force their political/social/religious/sexual beliefs down my throat. I have zero tolerance for anyone who wants to bend the Constitution to advance his own agenda.
If you want to see some real intolerance, take a look at the Christian Right.
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The overall timidity of the current Democratic party is just as offensive to me as a lot of the conservative bullshit.
If you'll pardon the expression, megadittoes.
If you want smug, this is smug:
Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.
That's Bush from yesterday. For him, power isn't a responsibility, it's a nightstick.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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lukpac
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Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:If you want to see some real intolerance, take a look at the Christian Right.
I recommend Saved!
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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lukpac wrote:Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:If you want to see some real intolerance, take a look at the Christian Right.
I recommend Saved!
You know, I've been meaning to rent that. It looks pretty damn funny.