GOP Platform Rejects Civil Unions
In another move to shove all but the most conservative out of the party the GOP platform committee voted today to reject an amendment supporting Civil Unions for both straight and gay couples.
Rhode Island delegate Barbara Ann Fenton introduced the amendment, saying:
“As a Roman Catholic, there’s nobody in this room who believes [more than I do] that the definition of marriage is between one man and one woman,” she said. “But those are my religious beliefs, and this country was founded on the separation of church and state.”
“At 31, I don’t see people because of the color of their skin and I don’t recognize them by their sexuality,” she added. “For my own generation, a lot of times homosexuality is not the biggest deal in the world. And that’s OK.”
The conservative delegates listened to what she had to say and then promptly shot her idea down with some calling civil unions “counterfeit marriage”
I have a number of friends who are very conservative both politically and religiously. They are generally opposed to marriage equality and we have largely agreed to disagree on this issue.
Yet not one of them is opposed to the idea of civil unions. Not one. They all support the idea that a committed couple should be able to inherit from each other, visit each other in the hospital, etc. For them the idea of denying a loving couple such things is an anathema to the very concept of a loving faith, let alone a proper role for government.
When asked for my political philosophy I often jokingly say I am not sure if I am an independent leaning Republican or a republican leaning Independent.
Between Akin and platform views like this, I am wondering how much longer the word Republican will remain in the description. This is a painful thing for me to consider because I am very much in the mold of the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan.
But I am not sure such a party exists anymore.
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“But I am not sure such a party exists anymore.”
It doesn’t. Or rather, it does but has to meet in secret in a speakeasy under Capitol Hill. They speak in hushed tones in dark candlelit rooms about such things as actual balanced budgets while ordering single malt scotch, wondering about how to balance the engine of capitalism with the needs of Middle America, for whom they are champions of fairness and opportunity.
The bar is mostly empty. Once it was filled with the laughter of many, Teddy Roosevelt sat over their they say, and Ike himself used to server drinks in a pinch every other Friday night. But those days are gone. Every time there is a knock at the door they all stop in sudden silence, like a gazelle at the watering hole when a lion rumbles in the distance. They know soon, all too soon, their turn will come. They enjoy their scotch, and the camaraderie that comes with knowing they are the last of their kind.
Yikes, the big tent is now an umbrella.
Why am I not surprised?
PollingReport.com has a Fox News Poll done May 13-15, 2012 that asked:
“Do you believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to get legally married, allowed a legal partnership similar to but not called marriage, or should there be no legal recognition given to gay and lesbian relationships?”
Results:
That’s almost 3 people in 4 that are against what the Republican Party has just put into their official 2012 Party Platform… Do they really want to lose that badly or do they think they’re on to something.
It would sure be nice if some of our right-leaning commenters that agree with this policy would chime in and tell us what they think their party is doing.
They are holding their nose and voting for them, SteveK, no matter how much the festering stench is put off by their leaders. War mongering, homophobia, rape apologia, and an incredible lack of specifics seems to be ok for some as long as they come with a promise to give the wealthiest a tax cut by cutting life-giving services for the poor. Give ‘em what they want, I guess?
*Gotta love the RNC platform coming soon to Tampa.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/40790_GOP_Platform_Embraces_Shariah_Panic
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/21/gop_embraces_anti_sharia/
<blockquote cite="">As Todd Akin weathers the storm of disapproval in heroic right wingfashion, tied to the mast and ears plugged with wax, Republicans in
Tampa are busily putting the finishing touches on a batshit insane 2012
platform, featuring total criminalization of abortion and the paranoid xenophobic fantasy that Islamic law is about to take over the courtrooms of America: GOP Embraces Anti-Shariah.</blockquote>
roro80 says: They are holding their nose and voting for them, SteveK, no matter how much the festering stench is put off by their leaders.
That’s what I thought too but I just can’t believe the amount of support that seems to be going to these hateful, divisive positions / points of view… It’s simply beyond me.
OT / New editor just killed my HTML code program… Hopefully I just haven’t found the quote function yet.
Sorry about that SteveK. That new editor wasn’t supposed to be LIVE yet. I turned it on by accident. It’s off now pending further review.
I wish you’d have left references to real hero’s, even fictional real hero’s out of this rudi.
Tyrone, I wasn’t complaining (though sometimes it sounds like i am) adding an editor is a great idea and looks like this edit function will be great… My comment about [blockquote] was intended for the ‘wish list.’
Thanks for all you’re doing.
Ok. Still are some little quirks in that editor that I’m going to work out. And to jump back on topic (in a sense):
The only civil unions I reject are of the peanut butter and jelly kind. It’s the uncivil union of a PB&J (aka “not neat”) that makes a winner! LOL
Sure would be nice to find a party that believes in reduced spending, reduced deficits, entitlement reform, tax reform, private development of energy independance and less interference into individuals private lives.
Doesn’t exist, so we choose between government debts projected to be in the mid 20 trillions in a few short years or we choose a government that wants to control each individuals moral behavior. Great choices!!!
The GOP wantts govt. out of our lives, except when they want it IN our lives. Gads, politics is HARD! Can’t we talk about something easily fathomable, like string theory?
“But those are my religious beliefs, and this country was founded on the separation of church and state.”
She lost them right there.
The folks drafting the GOP platform think the idea of the separation of church and state is a lie, and that religious beliefs – but only certain religious beliefs – should be used as a guide when deciding public policy.
Today’s GOP is just wrong. About everything. Taxes. Foreign policy. Energy. Abortion. Where to cut spending. Health Care. Regulations. Environment. The importance of the federal government itself. Pick a topic. For crying out loud one quarter to one third of them can’t even get the current president’s citizenship status or religion correct.
And where they really set themselves apart is that they have very specific plans on how to fix these things and those plans seem to be largely based off of purely made up information having little to nothing to do with reality. And they are really aggressive about pushing these really bad solutions. I have never seen such a large collection of intellectually lazy people, and they seem to take some kind of pride in it. Hey, that guy is wearing a flag pin, he must be a “real American”. My kinda guy. The government should stay out of people’s lives and not impinge on our freedoms. Unless you are gay and want to get married, or think you might have an abortion. You know, massively personal decisions that affect you for the rest of your life and really aren’t any of my business at all. You see, I have this book here that says both of those things are wrong, and I think you should have to abide by its rules too.
Its astounding, the thought processes dominating the GOP these days.