If you listen long enough, you'll hear President Bush say one of his favorite speech lines eventually: "I believe freedom is not America's gift to the world; I believe freedom is the almighty God's gift to each man and women in this world."
Now, that sounds pretty good. Humble. And, along with the whole "terrorists hate us because of our freedom" thing, it makes Islamists the enemy of God by association. Very effective rhetoric.
It makes me wish someone would ask him or his staunch religious supporters about the absolute truth written in the Bible about slaves (or, if you will, people without freedom). Do you know what's in there?
Take the quiz!
I don't mean to play "gotcha" with this, but it annoys me quite a bit when religiosity gets wrapped up in politics (for instance, denying communion to pro-choice politicians [but not death penalty supporters]).
Kevin Drum
thinks out loud about whether Bush's overt association with the sometimes-scary Religious Right could be turned into a liability with moderates. I hope so.
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Some fun Old Testament rules:
Lev 19:19
Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
Lev 19:26
Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.
Lev 19:27
Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
Lev 20:18
If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must be cut off from their people.
wow…cut off from their people.
damn.
Many of those are actually still carried out quite effortlessly every day by Orthodox (and quite a few non-Orthodox) Jews. Right now, you can run down to the Eastside Market, Whole Foods, and Shaws and buy tons of Kosher products, including Kosher meat, minus blood. Same for produce products. And many Orthodox women will use a Mikva during their menstrual periods to “clean” themselves, and many non-orthodox women use the same constructs for other reasons.
Lots of obscure scriptural elements actually underpin much of our society today. It’s interesting stuff.
Garris
let me confirm it… he’s definately alienating the moderates…. but it’s not going to hurt him because they’ll stay with him on the far right rather than flock to the far left with Kerry.
Unless Kerry comes after the moderate vote, thus alienating his own far-leftist leanings, Bush will retain the moderate vote.
Just my own observation, being a fairly moderate Republican (am I allowed to say that on this site??)
E: I love Leviticus, Old Testament God kicks ass and takes names, yo.
Garris: and yet no one seems to advocate amending the Constitution with the Douche Bill of 2004…
Jim: I love moderate Republicans, wish there were more of you, it would be better for the country, and we’re big First Amendment lovers here at A Cry for Help.
Of course Kerry is only as far-left as one’s tolerance for believing right-wing talking heads. Unless, of course, positions like “I don’t approve of gay marriage, but I don’t think we should amend the Constitution to add restrictions” is far-left. Liberals don’t like JFK2.
Ah, an endangered species, the moderate Republican!
Anyway, after 4 years of living in the middle-American “bible belt” state of MN (which has switched from “blue state” to “red state” in, like, only five years…) before fleeing to Providence, I have some observations from that part of the nation where the Democrats are doing so badly:
1) Democrats are still suffering terribly for Clinton’s sexual and moral failings during his presidency, which was a bigger deal there than on the coasts. I was shocked at how religious, left leaning voters (of which there are still a lot there) have been been drawn to Bush’s “straight talk, moral man” crap, but it’s real…
2) Similarly, Democrats there are suffering for the national party’s perceived atheism. Make no mistake. A woman in Minnesota may be pro-choice, pro-union, anti-capital punishment, pro-social safety net, etc, etc, etc, but she still views the church as the social and moral “center” of her life (mostly social…). But trust me, she votes Republican. Unlike in the “coasts,” in the bleak Mid-West, the local churches are the unquestioned social, recreational, often athletic, and educational centers of most towns (save for cities like Chicago, Twin Cities, Madison, and, um, that’s almost it). Even if most of these people don’t follow church doctrine (and trust me, they don’t), the church is “where it’s at” for them, and they think Democrats are hostile to that.
3) There is a lot of racial tension developing in communities now as SE Asians, Hispanics, and North Africans are becoming almost double digit percentages of previously all white communities virtually overnight. Sadly, the Democratic party is viewed as the “party of minorities” and “not on our side,” and that is hurting them quite badly.
4) A lot of Mid-West communities are expanding like mad, and those pesky environmental and responsible growth issues (usually championed by Democrats) are not charitably viewed by high percentages of those communities whose jobs are tied to home building and construction.
5) All politics is local, and the Republicans have run rings around Democrats in finding appealing candidates to run for office. In MN, the Dakotas, and Iowa, the inbred Democrats keep trotting out the same experienced, but tired, candidates time and time again. You know, the 69 yr old candidate for state senate who has had similar jobs for 40 years and has 55% favorable, 45% unfavorable polling before they ever announce he’s running… Also, in the Mid-West, the Democrats have put a lot of political capital into things like mass-transit and affordable housing, which is sadly seen as being things that “immigrants” and not “whites” want (see #3)…
Clearly, the Democrats need to improve their national party effectiveness and choose the right battles. FYI…
Lifelong Democrat,
Garris