Who Thinks the Republicans Have Become a 'Religious Party?'
Friday April 24, 2009 4:40 p.m.
Photo Credit: Flickr: Creative Commons by bobster1985
The race for the White House may have ended months ago, but the campaign is still reverberating. See for example this story from the Huffington Post about John McCain’s campaign manager:
Speaking publicly for one of the first times since the end of the presidential campaign, John McCain’s campaign manager Steve Schmidt painted a dire portrait of the state of the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP has largely been co-opted by its religious elements.
“If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party,” Schmidt declared. “And in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party.”
We agree. Sectarian parties (whether liberal or conservative in ideology) are harmful to the sanctity of religion and the integrity of government. And it’s refreshing to hear that some Republicans feel the same way.
But at the same time, I can’t help but notice that Mr. Schmidt used religion as a campaign tactic, much like past political campaigns. Remember the campaign commercial called The One? But to be fair, President Obama’s campaign also used religion as a political tool as well. He printed campaign brochure describing himself as a Committed Christian, as if that were a constitutional requirement for someone running for the White House.
There is plenty of blame to go around. I just hope that the next campaign that Steve Schmidt works on he makes a genuine commitment to changing the way religion is used (or abused) in the political process. But we can’t change the political process without frank admissions of uncomfortable truths such as what Schmidt just said. This is a great first step.
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Around the Web in 80 Seconds, 04.27.09
There are 6 comments
And this is why Obama is firing incompetents from heading companies.
This is why Obama is calling in heads of credit card companies to order them to stop gouging the American people.
Republicans simply don't understand the Bush era is over. It's Bush that was a "lace curtain" on the butt hole of corporate America. Bush is a shitstain on American politics. He and the Republicans have done more damage to this country than Bin Laden ever could.
The US has lost more than a hundred billion a year by letting American companies move business headquarters overseas and not paying taxes through shelters while doing business as usual.
10 to 12 billion a month in no bid contracts in Iraq. Republicans say, "Well, why doesn't Obama just stop them?" as if he could just magically void all contracts and treaties because he is the new president.
Notice how Republicans always come up with these bizarre scenarios? If you could save your brothers life by waterboarding someone, wouldn't you? THAT is the justification for waterboarding. If gays are allowed to marry, people will marry their pets? THAT is the justification for stopping gays from equal rights.
The list is endless, but the jig is up. America understands. Republicans have become a right wing fringe group where the inbreeding has damaged the party intellectually.
Obama is a what you voted for, so dealwith it. He's a puppet and will do as he's told or he will end up like JFK, MLK, or Malcom X. We are not fighting Left or Right.....it's the Federal Reserve we should be looking at, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission. Take a look at your leaders, from Secretary on down, are members of these secret society to discuss policy which is against Federal Laws. Wake UP people. THE NEW WORLD ORDER is coming to power,,,,while we fight with each other. Take a good look at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw
Committed ChristianI am more worried about President's use of religion than I am by the Political Right often incorrectly termed "religious."
He is a constitutional scholar. On the same day that he swore to defend the Constitution, he hammered the wall between Church and State by asking a minister, who appears to want to replace the Constitution with the Bible, to pray to a Christian God. Less than a month later, he refused to change Bush rules allowing religious institutions receiving federal funds through the Office if Faith Based Services to discriminate against gays, Jews, Muslims, and anyone that doesn't measure up to what is usually Southern Baptist, evangelical expectations. Also, the President has revealed that he himself has a bias against people who engage in other than heterosexual relationships by refusing to remove the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military. If the President's current refusal to uphold the Constitution reveals a fear to challenge a hostile press that caters to the so called "religious" right, then his failures reveal a character weakness. If he is allowing his advisors to convince him to avoid sticking up for the Constitution, particularly where the Bible is replacing the Constitution as the guiding force, for political reasons ... we should be very worried. We need to stick up for the Constitution ourselves and demand he do the same.
While I still think religous people are completely nuts....Another Good Show Welton.
Right Wing Religion:If you're talking 'dogmatic' (like the taliban) then yes. If you're talking 'spiritual' (as in compassionate) I'd say no.
Good one.You have a turdblossom like Michelle Bachman as a spokesman for the Republican party and the question is "are they religious"?
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