So good, I ported over the whole thing..

.. so I can enjoy at leisure!

EMAIL OF THE DAY: “I voted for President Bush in 2000 and planned to do so again in November. My reason: national security and the man’s seeming personal integrity. As a Jew, I had a gut-level fear of the Christian Right but (1) did not believe Bush shared its worldview and (2) saw fundamentalist Christian support for Israel as indicative that the Christian Right was not anti-Semitic.

Then, in one ten day period, I saw the Christian Right go into rapture over a film that is blatantly anti-Semitic (I saw it today), saw Laura Bush both indicate approval of this film and empathy for those disgusted at the idea of gay marriage and then the President made his speech supporting the amendment.

I’m straight and also a Jew and, to me, the Bushes – sensing defeat in November – are going to tap into homophobia, anti-Semitism and whatever else it takes to secure their base.

I was never part of that base. Jews, gay Republicans, African-American Bush voters, Hispanics are not part of the base but, add our votes to that of the base, and the GOP wins.

But now it loses. Jews used to be the canary people. Jews still play that role but today, even more so, that role is played by gays. You can judge a party or a leader by how he treats this group, the one group it is still safe to hate in America.

Well, Bush has failed the test. I will not be part of the gay-bashing, Mel Gibson adoring, xenophobic America that the Bushes consider their base.
This canary has no intention of dying from the poisonous gas of hatred. I’m 58. I have voted for every Republican nominee since Nixon and without regrets. Until now. I wish I could take back my 2000 vote. But, in any case, I will work to get out the vote for Kerry or Edwards. I will not vote for a President who secures the basest elements of his base by dividing Americans.

And you know what: he is going to lose. That gay marriage announcement was the desperate act of a desperate man.”

One thought on “So good, I ported over the whole thing..”

Thank you for voicing exactly what I suspected about the effects of Bush’s announcement on the ‘conservative’ (as opposed to the ‘right-wing’) portion of the Republican party. Division and distraction isn’t really anything new in politics, but I do think this may be an all-new low for the far right.

The last issue of the Progressive had a good article addressing this, BEFORE Bush’s announcement that he would support an amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The points still ring true.

“So how do the rightwingers get elected if they have nothing to say about the most important issues facing the American people? That is the central question of modern American politics. And the answer is that they work day and night to divide the American people against each other so that they end up voting against their own best interests.”
“They tell white workers their jobs are being lost not because corporate America is downsizing and moving to China, but because black workers are taking their jobs–because of affirmative action. White against black.
[…] And they’re telling working class guys, you used to have some power. You used to be the breadwinner. But now there are women running companies, women in politics, women making more money than you. Men against women.
And they’re turning straight people against gay people. The homosexuals are taking over the schools! Gay marriage is destroying the country! Straights against gays.”

http://www.progressive.org/feb04/sand0204.html

It’s amazing really, how obvious it is when you step back a bit and look at the patterns, yet it still works, year after year.

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One thought on “So good, I ported over the whole thing..”