Bush is hostage to religious right, says top Republican (The Guardian)

[Up2Late]

(I guess it's tough to spin 82% opposed to the TS "effort")

Bush is hostage to religious right, says top Republican

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Thursday March 31, 2005
The Guardian

One of the most respected figures in the Republican political establishment turned on his own party yesterday, accusing the leadership of falling hostage to the religious right. In an opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times, John Danforth, a former senator and US ambassador to the United Nations, writes: "Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians."

Mr Danforth's credentials in the party, as a three-term senator from Missouri's heartland and as the minister chosen by Ronald Reagan to officiate at his state funeral in June 2004, are well established.

His broadside against the party's rightward shift in recent years appeared to crystallise growing unease over the increasingly political nature of religion in public life in the US - prompted by the public feud over the fate of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman who spent her 13th day without food or water in a hospice following the removal of her feeding tube. That affair has split the US right, and in recent days Republicans have tried to distance themselves from the controversy because of negative public reaction.

The Terri Schiavo affair has opened faultlines on the other side of the political divide. On Tuesday, the Reverend Jesse Jackson confounded fellow Democrats by flying to Florida and joining the vigil outside the hospice where Ms Schiavo lies dying. "We cannot hide behind the law and not have mercy," Mr Jackson said. However, a CBS television poll last week found 82% of Americans opposed to efforts by George Bush and Congress to intervene to prolong Ms Schiavo's life against the express wishes of her husband.

(more at link above)

[Stand and Fight]

1. Kick

Because I want to read this tomorrow.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Cool

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Jesse Jackson confounded fellow Democrats...

Confounded? Jackson is so transparent it's pathetic. The man always goes where he can steal some of the thunder, especially since of late, he has not had much thunder to steal.

on edit: Would be neat to have a smilie that blew up like a balloon in size, then became transparent...just a thought

[chicagojoe]

5. Yeah, and his usual critics can't say a word about this one.

[Hardrada]

12. Or a Cheshire Cat smilie

That vanishes all except the smile.

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. LOL That would be most excellent!

Good one, Hardrada!:applause:

[MollyStark]

31. I do not agree with you

Not all democrats or other people on the left are in agreement about Terri Shaivo.

[rocktivity]

40. I don't think Jesse is "confounding" the Dems at all

I don't think it's an accident that Jesse turned up at the point where the legal appeals are gone and Terri's body has passed the point of no return. I think it serves two purposes--to steal the thunder of the right-wing religious leaders there (he met with Jeb, which REALLY must have snapped their garters), and to lay waste to the liberal "culture of death" image the GOP was trying to create. I think he's there with the Dems' "blessing"--if you'll pardon the expression.

:headbang:
rocknation

[chicagojoe]

4. I don't believe this will be the last

time we hear of Republicans turning on Bush&Co. over the next 4 yrs., and the reasons will be many. I knew it would just be a matter of time before they imploded.

[TommyO]

36. It's just too bad..

that the implosion didn't happen before the election.

[coloradodem2005]

6. kick

[illflem]

7. My feeling is the conservative Christians

only think they own the republican party, when in fact they've been used just for their votes.

[ngGale]

9. And, the repugs are not going to be able...

to handle the monster they let out of the bag.

[this_side_up]

10. they remind me of

Pack up the babies
Grab the old ladies
Everyone goes
Everyone knows
Brother Love's show
Amen

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. I think it's a combination of the two --

The republicans have been using the religious right, and proclaiming how important they are

And Shrub believed them.

It's really sad when you fall for your own propaganda.

[ikojo]

27. Totally right on....the pugs will not overturn Roe v Wade

because then it would remove a wedge issue they use against the Democrats. Sure they pass laws making it more difficult for women to exercise choice but they know a golden egg of a wedge issue when they see it. They control all branches of government and have done little on the right's top issue.

The repugnicans need the cultural issues to keep the fundie Christians in their camp. They know that if the fundies and others really took an honest look at the Christian doctrine and what the pugs do on behalf of the wealthy, the real Christians would bolt the pug party in favor of one that really does care for the poor and disenfranchised (where they would go in the US is beyond me but surely such a party can be created).

[megatherium]

30. Reminds me some years ago what happened with the flag burning admendment -

Republicans were in a position to pass it. Whoops, all they wanted to do was bash Democrats. They didn't actually want to tamper with the constitution, not even these guys are that stupid or evil. It was Sen. McConnell (R-KY) who bit the bullet and reversed his position. He gave an impassioned defense of freedom of speech. Quite charming until you remember he is beholden to the tobacco industry, for whom freedom of speech is the right to aggressively advertise their addictive and deadly product to vulnerable target audiences.

[VirginiaDem]

32. I don't think so--and that's the danger for the Repubs...

I think your assessment would have been very accurate up until this past election. The Repubs are now owned and operated by the fundies. And the establishment may not have figured it out but a lot of Danforth types are starting to. I have no proof so we'll probably have to agree to disagree, but what's going to happen with the presidential nomination in '08? The most appealing candidates from a national perspective are Giuliani, McCain and Schwarzenegger (with all the "ifs" and "buts" that his potential candidacy brings). In the past, the establishment would figure out a way to get one of these guys the nomination; now the establishment in at least half the Red states are soaked with fundies and the primary/caucus voters are dominated by same. If one of the "moderates" were to get the nomination, a significant % of fundies would walk--there are fundie third parties ready to step in; if the moderate doesn't win, the general electorate shifts away from the radicals toward the dems.

The Republicans also don't quite know that they're not "the party of religion", which was supposedly a factor in this election but rather "the very religious party". There's a big difference for a lot of Americans.

[Wright Patman]

44. If Schwarzenegger is nominated

it would be the first time in history someone who is actually ineligible under the U.S. Constitution stands for the White House.

If we are just going to ignore eligibility requirements, I'd like to take this opportunity to place in nomination one of my favorite cartoon characters, Scooby Doo.

[VirginiaDem]

46. That's what I meant by all the "ifs" and "buts" part of my

post. He will only get the nomination IF the constitution is ammended to allow naturalized citizens to run, which of course is a VERY big if. The Republicans would never, ever be stupid enough to nominate someone ineligible.

[Lerkfish]

38. DING!DING!DING! we have a winner!

I think at one point the religious right is going to wake up to how they've been manipulated and there will be "hell to pay" , as randall Terry intimated.

I think it will be an awakening for the GOP as well. I think they enjoyed a long honeymoon of vacant-eyed sycophants and the ability to mass hypnotize the willing fundies....but I think they might just get bitten by that cobra when it realizes what it thought was a friend was really a master.

As we see in the schiavo situation outside the hospice...just because a group of people are extremely gullible doesn't mean they can't be just a wee bit scary and uncontrollable.

I think Delay and Frist found out that if you stir up a hornet's nest, it is not a real effective weapon because there's not way to aim it if you stir it up TOO MUCH.

[paineinthearse]

8. Another chink in the armour. nt

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

11. Kick...

..eom

[raysr]

14. A willing hostage

I suppose now they're gonna try and get him out it of by saying he's hostage to a voting block he set out to capture. Fuck Bush and Fuck fundies.

[DulceDecorum]

16. Is George W. Bush insane?

Tour recent 'episodes' and decide for yourself:
http://www.unknownnews.net/insanity.html

Not so far fetched.
They covered up Reagan's Alzheimer's for a long long time.
Nixon's crookedness too.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Excellent photo at your link! Very unusual, when we're used to halo shots!

Wouldn't it be cool to get this face its own halo?



The new photo looks as if he's getting closer to the edge. He apparently has met some disappointments he can't transcend. What happens when he blows? He kills millions of people?

[Up2Late]

26. I think it's from this web site

<http://www.bushislord.com/index.php>

<>

I'm 99.9% sure, this is a satire site.

[DoYouEverWonder]

29. The pic in your post is one of the most obscene

pictures that W has ever posed for. Here's my response to that image. I put these on cars with Bush stickers and religious symbols or ribbons whenever I get the chance.

[Mad_Dem_X]

33. "Pick One" - I love it!

:thumbsup:

[Erika]

17. Bush calls Falwell when he is ill

He knows that Falwell can bleed many citizens out of their savings to vote for W and the GOP. He's got them on his list.

[Erika]

18. greed, W has fuc--ed this country beyond belief

by the GOP. Democrats knew it was coming. First he would start a war to pay off his defense and energy contributors, then he would redistribute the wealth by the Reagan method of shifting taxes away from the rich to the poor, then he would hike up the oil prices to feather his buddies and his own nest. He's fuc--ed this country beyond belief. It's no wonder, the creep won't speak to the American public.

He's even pissed off his own backers by paying SS taxes to Mexico for the illegal aliens here that are stealing jobs away from Americans and refusing to close the borders.

Bush is a corporate globalist who doesn't care the least about U.S. citizens. His desire is to be king of the planet and share the rewards with his corporate elitists.

[justjones]

19. Yeah, right. Calling him "hostage" implies that he is fulfilling....

the will of the religious fundamentalists rather than his own, when in fact whatever The Chimp does fits in his own fucked up criminal agenda first and foremost. No doubt.

Calling him a "hostage" absolves him from blame...but the fact is that The Chimp is holding the United States of America hostage. He's a fucking terrorist.

[Erika]

21. Bush called Falwell to wish him well

He's sucking the teat of the far right wing extremists and damn proud of it. The GOP used to be the party of the fiscal conservatives and have a plan to uplift all Americans through strong business plans. Now, the GOP has flushed the American worker down the toilet but welcomed aliens to take their place.

[Nostradammit]

20. It's hard work being a hostage!

"Is George W. Bush insane?"


Indeed.

[mom cat]

22. He is not psychitic. He is a psychopathic megalomaniac.

[Nostradammit]

23. Oh good, I was afraid he was insane.

[NVMojo]

25. ...and the religious right is hostage to Karl Rove's PR plan for Bush

It's such a vicious circle!

[bling bling]

28. You don't say...

Nice to see a Republican speaking the truth even if it's anything but a revelation. It's not like we haven't all been screaming this for years.

[JerseygirlCT]

34. This is it. This is our super-huge wedge issue

Separate the fundie nuts from the small-government GOP and we have a winner. Expose the agenda of these fringe groups and the power they've developed in the Republican party.

For heaven's sakes, if Danforth is talking about it, there must be some real concern. And his comments on stem-cell research are right on the money, and apply equally well to the issue of gay marriage.

[rocktivity]

42. DING DING DING! JerseyGirlCT, you're our grand prize winner!

Separate the fundie nuts from the small-government GOP and we have a winner.
In addition, we must also create a wedge between the fundie-nut Christians and the NON-fundie-nut Christians. The Jesus-freak show outside Terri Schiavo's hospice has gotten us off to an excellent start (examples here and here). The Christian left needs to respond by announcing in some dramatic way that Christian fundie nuts do not represent them.

:headbang:
rocknation

[JerseygirlCT]

43. Completely agree!

I think people like Jim Wallis are doing great work on that front, but I want to see many, many more voices raised from the Christian left. It's just too easy to point out the rank hypocrisy on the right. What if they had to behave according to the faith they claim?

[JerseygirlCT]

35. Here's a link to the op-ed

in the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/opinion/30danforth.html?

[emad]

37. Religious Right heading for one hell of a fall: "God's Banker"

murder trial of Roberto Calvi in Rome is about to reconvene.

23 years of CIA cover-up of Bush Sr, Jr and all the dirty scumbags that conspired to rob, embezzle, defraud, moneylaunder, and then suborn judges, witnesses and juries.....

[noonwitch]

39. "Hostage to" implies he's unwilling to take up their cause, which is bs

Bush embraces the religious right.

[winston61]

41. they chose this

The repugs know that without the loony 'religious' right they have no chance to stay in power. They have alienated moderate conservatives who have no interest in social policy. The pro-birth movement will find no comfort with liberals so they jump into bed with Bush, Rove and Cheney. Rove and Cheney play 'em like a cheap fiddle and then deliver nothing. But they never follow through with the threats to abandon the repugs. So, screw 'em, they get what they deserve.

[Bragi]

45. Hard not to agree with him, but...

One wonders where Danforth has been over the past decade or so as the end time rapturists took over his party.

- B