Republicans hate gay Americans; Democrats don't
I've been discussing the presidential election with a number of my friends, and I'm consistently surprised by their perception that Republicans and Democrats are exactly alike, only interested in serving the needs of their corporate masters. The Ralph Nader world view, basically. These friends of mine are good, smart people, with hefty intellects, solid educations, and real generosity of spirit. I think they should know better. Yes, both parties are beholden to private corporate interests, but there is a significant level of difference between the levels of enslavement. Plus, the Democrats embrace certain principles that are fundamentally at odds with the Republican movement conservative juggernaut. Progressive versus regressive taxes, support for universal healthcare, global warming and the environment are good examples.
And so is this. Check out the short video below of Al Gore speaking logically and passionately about the fact that gay Americans deserve to commit to one another through marriage, and that it's absolutely stupid for Republicans to deny gay Americans that right. Watch it:
Side note: Don't you think Al Gore has aged incredibly since the 2000 election? He doesn't look good. I hope he takes care of himself. This country needs his thought leadership, whether he ever ends up running for president or not.
Comments
I get tired of that "two sides of the same coin" canard, myself.
Next time someone lays that one on you, say "Thanks for the Iraq War" and slap them upside the head for voting Nader.
They'll thank you later.
Now, the gay thing, I'd be willing to argue with you--saying "Republicans hate gays" is the same as saying "Democrats hate fetuses."
Posted by: barabajagal | January 24, 2008 8:55 AM
Canard. Good word.
You could argue that not all Republicans hate gay people, but there is a good chunk of Republican legislators and voters that do, without question. Democrats don't say this kind of crap about fetuses.
Posted by: Mike | January 25, 2008 7:03 AM
I think what Barabajagal is trying to say is that you can't say ALL Repubs "hate" gays. A significant percentage of republican operatives ARE gay. Self-loathing is more nuanced than hate.
Posted by: heather | January 25, 2008 8:52 AM
Coincidence is not the same as causation. In Florida, the other third party candidates got more votes all together than Nader. Al Gore bears the responsibility for his incompetency as a candidate and the failure by him and the Democratic party to investigate and protest the suppression of African-American voters in Florida. Thousands of elderly voters, many of them Jewish, voted for Pat Buchanan. Does it make any sense to blame it on Nader? While it may be comforting to blame Ralph Nader for everything, if you actually think through the debacle in Florida in 2000 your misguided frustrations are without basis in fact. This is what democracy looks like.
The fact is that the Republicans and Democrats march lockstep on many, many issues and are in fact indistinguishable. Unfair trade treaties, excessive military spending, corporate welfare, support for oppresive foreign governments and the drug war. Am I missing something? Sure George Bush doesn't care about global warming but it appears that John McCain (R) does and John Dingell (D) did not. Please don't make me laugh about Democrats supporting progressive taxes. of course that's why income above a certain level is not taxed for Social Security or Medicare. Payroll taxes make up a significant source of revenue for the federal government and those taxes fall disproportionately on lower income workers, the very definition of regressive.
Support for universal health care? But I thought Massachusetts under Republican Mitt Romney was one of the first states to enact universal health care. The environment? try telling that to King Coal Robert Byrd or his buddy John Dingell.
In the popular narrative promoted by the media, yes the Democrats are supposedly in favor of those things while the Republicans are not but on closer review, that narrative is exposed as false.
The Democrats are incrementally better than the Republicans but is that something to be proud of? "At least we're not as bad as the psychopathic religious wing nuts!" Now that is a campaign slogan.
Posted by: Andrew | January 27, 2008 6:21 PM
zzzzz....huh? Andrew, did you say something? "Popular narrative yada yada." If only we dug deeper, etc.
We're a moderate country with a pernicious conservative streak that can nevertheless be sweet talked into some decent progressive policies. I don't think Chomsky will get a cabinet position anytime soon.
Anyway isn't it high time for you to jump to the "O" train?
Posted by: barabajagal | January 28, 2008 2:45 PM