Image via WikipediaGet ready for the most conservative Congress ever - Republican Party - Salon.com
Showing posts with label Tea Party movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party movement. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Return of the Culture Wars: Tea Party’s Social and Religious Agenda and How Progressives Can Respond
Image via WikipediaSen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY), , believes the government should intervene when it comes to pregnant women—forcing them to continue their pregnancy, even in cases of incest or rape. In fact, by the latest count, the midterm elections brought 44 more antiabortion votes to the House and six more votes to Senate.Return of the Culture Wars: Tea Party’s Social and Religious Agenda and How Progressives Can Respond
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Gay GOP Overestimated Own Power; Underestimated Tea Party Opposition
Image via WikipediaNot only did GOProud overestimate its own power, it vastly underestimated that of its opposition within the GOP and Tea Party. Assuming that conservative ideas of liberty mean more personal rights, with the main focus on fiscal issues, they now run smack into an opposing conservative ideology: That of the moral order being the foundation of small government idealism.
Anyone doubting the truth of this need only visit some of the heartland Tea Party forums to see, to sense palpably, what anger has risen to the top: and to read the "no sale, perverts!" and other of the literally hundreds and hundreds of Tea Party citizen retorts such as the following sample from Free Republic:
Gay Republicans Ask for Social Issue Cease-Fire | Religion Dispatches
Anyone doubting the truth of this need only visit some of the heartland Tea Party forums to see, to sense palpably, what anger has risen to the top: and to read the "no sale, perverts!" and other of the literally hundreds and hundreds of Tea Party citizen retorts such as the following sample from Free Republic:
"Anyone who is truely a TEA party member will reject these social Marxists.
The agenda of the perversion rights movements are not at all a Constitutional movement or a limited government movement.
These perverts who want perversion rights or the right to murder babies are not worthy of a vioce in the TEA party.
These perverts should be called out and put in their
place.". . . They can screw each other in the privacy of the bedroom but they shouldn’t expect the state to give them any new benefits.. . I totally agree. And I don't want to even hear the words "gay," "lesbian," or "transexual."
“Already, there are Washington insiders and special interest groups that hope to co-opt the Tea Party’s message and use it to push their own agenda – particularly as it relates to social issues. We are disappointed but not surprised by this development. We recognize the importance of values but believe strongly that those values should be taught by families and our houses of worship and not legislated from Washington, D.C.
We urge you to stay focused on the issues that got you and your colleagues elected and to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit holes in order to appease the special interests.”
Oh, this is priceless. Thank you, idiots for telling us how afraid you are that YOUR special interests might be in jeopardy by the Conservative landslide.
This is a pure fear reaction. Especially since it was given to Politico first. If you want to sort the gold from the silt you’ve got to shake things up first. The silt is showing itself.
“Already, there are Washington insiders and special interest groups that hope to co-opt the Tea Party’s message and use it to push their own agenda – particularly as it relates to social issues. We are disappointed but not surprised by this development. We recognize the importance of values but believe strongly that those values should be taught by families and our houses of worship and not legislated from Washington, D.C.
We urge you to stay focused on the issues that got you and your colleagues elected and to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit holes in order to appease the special interests.”
Oh, this is priceless. Thank you, idiots for telling us how afraid you are that YOUR special interests might be in jeopardy by the Conservative landslide.
This is a pure fear reaction. Especially since it was given to Politico first. If you want to sort the gold from the silt you’ve got to shake things up first. The silt is showing itself.
Gay Republicans Ask for Social Issue Cease-Fire | Religion Dispatches
"GOProud’s letter is at once bold and insulting. Bold because they have walked into the lion’s den and asked kindly not to be eaten for supper. Insulting because it shows that even gay and lesbian people will give up fighting for their civil rights if it means a few more bucks in their pockets or a few more chickens in their pots.
GOProud, however, has sadly underestimated both their influence and their opponents on this issue. While gay voters did help the Tea Partiers in their takeover of the House, they still played a miniscule role—not enough of a role to make them king makers by any stretch of the imagination. Also, they seemed to miss the memo that Tea Partiers are, by and large, religious conservatives.
Polls show that nearly half (47 percent) consider themselves part of the religious right, with more than 80 percent identifying as Christian. Nearly two-thirds say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases and only 18 percent support marriage equality for gays and lesbians. So, while GOProud and the Tea Partiers they helped to elect may agree on many fiscal issues, there remains a wide gap on social issues.
Part of the problem here is that Tea Partiers spent most of their campaigns talking about fiscal issues and not the social issues. Those gay and lesbian voters who wanted their vote to be a “rejection of Democrats” and voted for Tea Partiers because of their fiscal sensibilities have just sent a passel of anti-gay Republicans to the Hill."Gay Republicans Ask for Social Issue Cease-Fire | Religion Dispatches
CPAC under fire over gay conservative group - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com
Image via WikipediaThe American Principles Project president Frank Cannon wrote an open letter yesterday to CPAC chair David Keene, saying that his group could not participate in the conference because of GOProud's role in the event.
"Having now examined closely GOProud’s mission and its behavior since its inception, we can only conclude that the organization’s purposes are fundamentally incompatible with a movement that has long embraced the ideals of family and faith in a thriving civil society. They have further defined themselves with their attacks on Senator Jim DeMint, one of the key leaders of this year’s conservative victory," wrote Cannon.CPAC under fire over gay conservative group - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Pro-Traditional Marriage, Pro-Life Groups Respond to Tea Party Activists Calling for Abortion Backdown
Image via WikipediaThe letter jointly signed by Republican gay rights activists and a small group of Tea Party leaders has sent shockwaves throughout the . . . movement.
Center-Right tries to steer Tea Party from Social issues
"The Godless wing of the Conservative movement, the so-called Center Right, is trying to steer the Tea Party Movement away from social issues such as abortion and marriage issues, keeping them focused purely on economic concerns, as if economic concerns were the root of our ills in American society. While America continues to see its values erode, with families breaking up and Americans isolating themselves from one another, while abortions rise and divorces along with them, the Godless Center-Right wants the powerful Tea Party movement to turn its gaze away from God and follow the same Godless values these Center-Right elites want to force the rest of us to follow. If the Tea Party movement follows this guide, they will become an ineffective and useless movement that will fizzle back into the background from where they came."http://freedomist.com/2010/11/16/center-right-tries-to-steer-tea-party-from-social-issues-like-abortion-christian-news/
Pastor sees Tea Party as Unsustainable without Social Conservatives
". . . The unsustainability of the tea party without social conservatives.
There would be no tea party without values voters. We constitute the majority of the movement. Granted, the tea party movement is not entirely socially conservative. There are pockets of libertarians and others who don’t share the same perspectives on abortion and homosexuality. I am happy to work with these folks on the issues we agree upon, even though I know we don’t agree on everything. That’s the beauty of our movement.
But, as any study will show, the vast majority of tea partiers support traditional marriage and oppose abortion. If you remove these voters from your base, you’re left with the libertarian party and it’s exceedingly limited electoral and legislative success historically.
Social conservatives have gladly put certain issues on the back shelf because of the more urgent constitutional questions that have a social impact. But to have our arrogant and increasingly clumsy self-appointed national ‘leadership’ presume that our recent silence on these moral issues gives them license to lock social conservatives out of the legislative process and force the Republican party to adopt a platform of moral abandonment is as arrogant and presumptive as any Republican establishment has ever been, and a slap in the face to the social conservatives that constitute the tea party movement and have determined its success.
A lesson in how to commit political suicide
Let me be very clear, I will not support a party that doesn’t officially oppose abortion or support traditional marriage even if they want to repeal Obamacare. The tea party elites’ claim that these issues are divisive is hypocritical, and will only divide the tea party movement. The tea party should be open to fiscal and social conservatives, as well as libertarians and others whose views may vary to a degree.
Believe me, we social conservatives know what political correctness smells like. We encounter it daily. This letter to Republican leadership is reeking of it. If we can’t be comfortable expressing our social and moral views in the tea party environment, then we won’t be comfortable anywhere, and ultimately won’t remain within the tea party.
Here’s my encouragement to the tea party establishment: don’t do what the Republican elites do by dismissing the very people you purport to serve and alienating the very principled conservatives who are truly turning this country around. It’s one thing to focus on the most urgent matters given the current national discourse. It’s another thing to try and strong-arm the GOP into silence on anything that doesn’t fall within your narrow understanding of what’s important."Orlando Political Press » Blog Archive » The Tea Party Should Not Advocate Against Social Conservatism
Some social conservatives still confident their agenda can now move ahead
Image by gerry balding via FlickrAlthough there have been reports of the death of social conservatism, it would appear that these have been greatly exaggerated. The post below, just one of many, many I have come across in my internet trawlings:
Blue Collar Philosophy: Tea Party Should Not Abandon Social Issues; No State Has Supported Gay Marrige
Religious Right Slams Gay-Tea Party Alliance
Image by Getty Images via @daylife "FRC points out what we noted, which is that most tea partiers are firmly in the social conservative camp:According to the latest data, an overwhelming number of Tea Partiers (almost two-thirds) believe abortion should be outlawed. About half believe in the Bible as the literal word of God, and most think that public officials don't pay nearly enough attention to it or religion as a whole. According to Zogby data, 82% of them oppose same-sex 'marriage.'"Religious Right Slams Gay-Tea Party Alliance | Mother Jones
Andrew Sullivan on the Tea Party Bluff
"It seems to me there are two Tea Party litmus tests in the coming weeks and months: the first is how seriously they embrace the Bowles-Simpon plan for real debt-reduction; the second is whether they really are just Christianists in anti-tax clothing. I expect them to fail both tests easily. But I'd love to be proven wrong." Andrew Sullivan ~ The Daily Dish
The Coming Tea Party Civil War
Image via WikipediaThe tea party's social conservative and libertarian wings are poised for a showdown that could decide the fate of the movement.From Mother Jones
". . . According to a recent poll, only 18 percent of tea partiers support gay marriage, a figure that puts them well to the right of most voters. About half of all tea partiers also consider themselves part of the Christian conservative movement, whose members aren't fans of GOProud. Earlier this year, several evangelical groups went so far as to boycott the annual Conservative Political Action Conference simply because GOProud was allowed to sponsor a small table in the exhibit hall.
The tensions within the Tea Party Patriots are a microcosm of those roiling the movement as a whole. Even as one faction of the group is now calling for social issues to be left to the family and the church, another is actively courting social conservatives. In September, for instance, members of the group's national leadership attended a meeting of high-powered social conservatives in California, attempting to hit them up for donations. . . "
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)