How can anyone throw their lot in with this fool? How can conservatives/Republicans believe that their ideology/political agenda will not lose credence when a man this ridiculous is on your side.
http://www.pfaw.org/news/press/2001-05-02.277.phtml
Needs2know
Needs dear, you know that I’m not a Bush fan at all. And, you may be correct in your assumption that many of Mr. Robinsons’ supporters are housed w/in the Bush administration, but the Republican party is a big one, as is the Democratic party. Both have more than their share of loonies, nitwits, idiots, demagogs and Adam Sandler fans.
It’s not fair to expect the middle of the road Republicans to defend the choice Mr. Robertson made in his choice of parties. And, actually, didn’t Robertson himself declare to be an Independant (I really do try to not focus on him, it makes my eyes go funny :eek: )
Anyhow. I even posted a ‘isn’t Pat a loony’ thread recently ( Pat Robertson pro-abortionist? , but didn’t call on all Republicans to ‘own’ his agenda.
Hold individual Republicans accountable for their own actions (ie Bush did this and I don’t like it), hold the ‘party’ accountable for their platform (ie platform re: abortion), but don’t hold individual party members accountable for another party member’s actions/beliefs/adhersion to the party.
This is shocking. You mean there are people in the GOP who want to reform medicare, education, and social security? Who aren’t satisfied with the status quo, of sky rocketing health costs, millions of poorly educated children, and a retirement system hurtling toward bankruptcy. And even worse that there are those who want evidence that the arsenic levels in place for 50 years are harmful before spending hundreds of millions to change that level? And even worse than that there are some who want americans to be protected from nuclear holocaust by more than the goodwill of foreign dictators? And most shockingly that there are those in the GOP who question the motives of their political adversaries.
Why when this gets out the Republican party is doomed. I bet Harry Browne is dancing a jig somewhere.
How can anyone throw their lot in with this fool? How can liberals/Democrats believe that their ideology/political agenda will not lose credence when a person this ridiculous is on your side.
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[sub]NOTE: The above parody post was brought to you by a verified bleeding heart, tax ‘n’ spend liberal. Just because we think we’re right doesn’t make the other guys stupid.[/sub]
puddleglum: You mean there are people in the GOP who want to reform medicare, education, and social security? Who aren’t satisfied with the status quo, of sky rocketing health costs, millions of poorly educated children, and a retirement system hurtling toward bankruptcy.
:rolleyes: Y’know, puddleglum, your attempts at sarcasm would be much more effective if they didn’t rely so heavily on distorting the facts. Many people of all political stripes do recognize that there are some problems with Medicare, with Social Security, and with public education. But “skyrocketing health costs” are not specifically a problem with the Medicare system: its cost increases are due mostly to the facts that health care costs in general are rising faster than inflation, and that the percentage of Americans in the system is rising as the baby boomers age. The evidence that conservative-backed education “reforms” such as standardized testing, vouchers, and school prayer actually help our “millions of poorly educated children” is pretty slim. And as noted in several other threads on this board, Social Security is not exclusively a “retirement system” and it is not “hurtling towards bankruptcy”; many of those trying to foster fear about it are more interested in the benefits that will accrue to investors by pumping trillions of public dollars into private investment than in the actual well-being of old people.
(Sources: Medicare, Social Security, Public education.)
And even worse that there are those who want evidence that the arsenic levels in place for 50 years are harmful before spending hundreds of millions to change that level?
That evidence is what the EPA and the USGS have been working on for the past several years before publishing the new standard this past January.
And even worse than that there are some who want americans to be protected from nuclear holocaust by more than the goodwill of foreign dictators?
As you can learn from the current threads on this board about nuclear missile defense, there is no scientific basis whatsoever for believing that the “missile defense” projects espoused by the Administration will actually provide such protection.
And most shockingly that there are those in the GOP who question the motives of their political adversaries.
You mean like right-wing activist Grover Norquist, quoted in the OP’s linked article as calling those opposed to his views “not stupid, but evil”? Is that what you consider a rational and desirable form of “questioning the motives” of one’s adversaries? :rolleyes:
I’m a Bush fan who despises Pat Robertson. PR is a self-centered, dishonest, religious swindler. He’s as evil as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and he has less excuse.
It’s a shame that People for the Amercian Way has chosen to attack Robertson in such a dishonorable way. Look at some of the distortions in the link provided here:
– The headline says, PFAW brag of “control”. The content says they claim only “significant leverage.”
– The article shifts to Grover Norquist (President of Americans for Tax Reform.) PR is a religious swindler and rabble-rouser. GN lobbies for tax reform, mostly meaning lower taxes. They’re very different.
– The article shifts to Tom Schatz (Spokesman for Citizens Against Government Waste). I happen to be a charter member of CAGW. As their name implies, they fight government waste. They criticize both Democrats and Republicans . (They criticize Dems more than Reps, because Dems waste more money than Reps.) PFAW improperly links PR to CAGW.
– Look at this quote: “…and bragging that once ‘radical’ far right plans to significantly reshape key federal programs, such as Social Security, are now viewed as ‘he norm.’”
This is vicious and dishonest name-calling. Whether or not partial SS privatization is a good idea, it’s a fact that it is now the norm to contemplate it. This idea, which PFAW denigrates as “radical far right,” has been supported in concept by several Democrats, including Senator Moynahan and Sen Lieberman IIRC.
Note the trick PFAW used of lumping together two different types of conservatives. Robertson represents the religious right – a group that often opposes civil liberties issues. Norquist and Schatz represent the smaller-government right, a group that tends to support civil liberties even more strongly than the average Democrat. The two sides are ‘far right’ in totally different ways.
Of course, PFAW knows this. They’re just using any means, fair or foul, to get people riled up.
I would hope that honest liberals cringe when they read PFAW material, just as honest Conservatives cringed at Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy used the evil of Communism to attack all liberals, which weakened the fight against Communism. Similarly, the PFAW actually strengthens Robertson when they use him to smear honorable conservatives.
I would be a Republican were it not for the Christian Right, and I am a Christian. When such a small group of extremists have such a large influence on half the government (lets face it) we are all in trouble. This also goes for the environmental extremists on the left.
Although a libertarian, I’ll defend the Republicans from this stupidity.
Simple. Republicans that I know believe in certain things which make them Republicans. They are not about to abandon their principles because Pat Robertson makes them look stupid in your eyes.