IT'S THE "MORALS AND VALUES", STUPID - Democratic Underground

kentuck

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Thu Nov-04-04 11:41 AM
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IT'S THE "MORALS AND VALUES", STUPID

This short exercise is not to criticise or to blame anyone . It is not to create or validate a conspiracy about the voting machines that were used - although we would be foolish not to recognize the capability of fraud. But, the purpose of these few comments is to lay the groundwork to defeat the Republicans at their own game.

First, we must recognize that many people voted for what they considered"morals" or "values". Both you and I know that George Bush is deficient in both. How do we know? By his actions. Nothing but death and destruction has followed him since he grabbed the power in 2000. He was going to be a "compassionate conservative" and a "uniter", but we see what he has really become.

Give them credit. They managed to divert the war in Iraq to a "war on gays". But they did it in a very quiet and secretive manner. It was never really a national story. Yet, they managed to get 11 of their state organizations to put anti- gay marriage amendments on their ballots. In all 11 states, the amendments won by overwhelming majorities. The only state where the vote was even close was in progressive Oregon. Even there, it got 55%. It was also on the ballot in the state of Ohio. No doubt, it brought out 100's of thousands of voters for George Bush.

But the point we need to focus on is how do we fight such tactics? It is my opinion that we have to take back the "morals and values" issue from the Republicans? We should not timidly retreat in the face of such attacks. Rather, we should go on the offensive. We are the "liberal" Party and Jesus was the first "bleeding heart liberal". We should not hesitate to use the Bible to our advantage. We are the caring and compassionate Party but we must return to our roots.

They call themselves "Christians" but are quick to judge others as
"sinners". The Good Book says "Judge not lest ye be judged". They claim to have "morals and values", yet they send our young people to die in a war that was unnecessary and evil. They claim to be "compassionate conservatives" yet they permitted 5 million people to lose their health insurance in the last 4 years and they did nothing. They were not the Good Samaritan that helped their brother on the side of the road. They simply turned their heads and looked the other way.

They claim to be moral as they steal every penny from the Social Security trust fund - $150 billion just last year. When they came to power, there were surpluses predicted for as far as the eye could see. Because they had "values", George Bush told the people that it was "their money - not the government's money" and gave it all away - most of it to the wealthy benefactors of the Republican Party. They were greedy. They had no "morals" and they had no "values"!

Our Party must return to our roots and remind the voters that it was the Democratic Party that created the Social Security System that literally saved the lives of millions of elderly Americans. We cannot forget the mess that the Republican Party, in its other former glory era of greed in the 1920's, put our people through. We suffered through the Great Depression and no one ever expects that it could happen again. But it was the Democratic Party that had the "morals and values" to say to the country that we have a responsibility to our fellow man and we created government programs like the WPA and the CCC that put people to work and fed starving families. Republicans were mostly silent.

But time has passed and people have forgotten. And now, the Party of
greed -the GOP - comes marching into the new century falsely claiming they are the Party of "morals and values". We cannot forget the lessons of history and we cannot put our faith in a "free enterprise" system, believing it is infallible. It has proven itself very fallible many times over. We should not accept the fools gold offered by the Republican Party. We are still the Party of the People and we must choose the needs of the many over the greed of the few.

But what do we do about the "gay rights' issue? It should be obvious to all of us that it is a losing debate to go state by state in an attempt to win what many consider a civil rights issue. Our strategy must be to win back the House and Senate and win the battle thru the legisaltive process, just as we did with the Civil Rights Act in the 1960's. Some might consider that a retreat and think it is better to go the route until every state in the union outlaws gay-unions and even worse. That is a choice our Party must make. We have to look at the whole picture from a different reality