After the revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, a poll found that 42% of Americans did not object to torturing enemy prisoners during wartime. No doubt many of them were sincere Christians, whatever that means. The problem with welcoming Neanderthals into the discussion or into your big tent is that they tend to piss all over the carpet and rape your sister. The problem with liberals in general is that they really believe in dialogue, and that it's possible to have a real conversation with the Swaggarts, the Falwells, the Robertsons, the Coulters and the Limbaughs.
Polls also showed that, despite several years of evidence to the contrary, a majority of Americans believed the Bush claims about WMDs, connections between Saddam and Al Qaeda, nucular yellowcakes, and the rest. They knew all about Dubya's "service" in the Texas Air National Guard, Cheney and Scalia's duck-hunting trips, Halliburton's no-bid contracts and the rest.
Americans aren't concerned with the truth. They want a STRONG LEADER. One who doesn't FLIP FLOP. One who will bring FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY to the Ay-rabs, even if we have to kill them all first.
To me this year feels a lot like 1968, after Nixon's election, except that the country has moved so far to the right in the meantime that it's about to feel more like Argentina in the 70s.
Ross Bender
In a message dated 11/5/2004 10:44:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
From: Stephen Fisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 07:56:02 -0500
It was a real eye-opener that people feel so strongly about abortion and
gay rights that they are willing to overlook everything else -- EVEN a
war they didn't necessarily believe in or a President with questionable
motives.
I heard a number of people call into WHYY to explain why they voted
for Bush. What they said was much more complex and subtle than
"family values". Let me see if I can capture it.
These were people who cared a great deal about treating people right,
doing the right thing, and (for the Christians among them) "doing what
Jesus would do".
They were in a dilemma. Kerry supported abortion and gay marriage,
and they were deeply disturbed by that. Bush was against helping the
poor (both here in abroad) and was causing a lot of pain and suffering
by starting wars, and they were deeply concerned by that, too.
In their conversations with Bush supporters about their concerns about
Bush, they heard, "Yes, those are very serious concerns, and the
President is also very concerned about these issues. Bush really
wants to help the poor, but it's a tough problem. He really thinks
that what he's doing is the right thing. Aare very serious concerns, and the
President is also very concerned about these issues. Bush really
wants to help the poor, but it's a tough problem. He really thinks
that what he's doing is the right thing. And Bush really wants to
help the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, he is aware that there's a
lot of pain and suffering over there, but he really believes that what
he's doing is the right thing in the long run."
In their conversations with Kerry supporters about their concerns about
Kerry, they heard, "What, you're one of those neanderthals who still
supports school prayer, and wants to eliminate abortions and
homosexuality! What's next, eliminating all sex outside of marriage!
I bet you think the earth is flat, too. Where have you been since
1960, under a rock! I can't believe you could be soooo stupid."
So, they voted for Bush. I don't think they heard any special
campaign that everyone else was not aware of. I think they just
reacted to it in a way that few people expected.
One person mentioned that when Clinton talked about abortion, he said
that he wanted to make abortion "legal, available, and rare." The
"and rare" part communicated to people that he understood, respected
and shared their concerns about abortion.
The important thing is to welcome people who are anti-gay, and
anti-abortion into the discussion, not saying that we will change the
party platform, but saying that we respect their concerns, but we can
agree on fundemental issues. We need to speak to Christians,
particularly evangelical Christians, in language that shows that we
share their values and that our platform is based upon those shared
values.
There's no hyprocrisy involved. My Christian friends supported Kerry
>because< of their Christian values, not in spite of them. I googled
for ' "I was hungry" jesus ' and the first site I found was, "George
W. Bush and the teachings of Jesus"
(religiousleft.bmgbiz.net/bushandjesus.html).
Just my 2 cents,
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