I wanted to write. So I did.
When the right wing became a heaping mess of contradictions
by Jessica Weaver
Again sucking up the attention of the American media is soon-to-be former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. She continues to cater to her small-town, conservative supporters by giving interviews while fishing in her waders. These interviews have stayed true to Palin’s character by only further confusing constituents who are bewildered as to the governor’s sudden decision to resign her post a little more than halfway through her first term. Palin’s (clearly paraphrased) claim that quitting makes her a fighter instead of a quitter gives us a somewhat humorous example of a typical contradiction within the Republican Party, which has found hypocrisy in its search for a new identity. The party is at a divide, trying to decide between moderate stances and extreme conservatism. However, it seems that right-wing stances have become nothing worth conserving.
To examine true conservatism, we have to first define the term. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and speech-writer William Safire’s Political Dictionary defines a conservative as “ a defender of a beneficial status quo, who…prefers that [change] come slowly, in moderation, and preferably not resulting in centralization of government power.” This is easy enough to understand. Conservatives are weary of substantial change and prefer that the U.S. Government holds limited power. But the conservative movement is much more than its book definition. It resists economic regulation, favors states’ rights, supports a strong military, and opposes many ideals that liberals believe to be basic civil rights.
“The men and women who wear our country's uniform…are the most important assets in our military arsenal. They and their families must have the pay, health care, housing, education, and overall support they need. We must significantly increase the size of our Armed Forces; crucial to that goal will be retention of combat veterans.” This is a quote directly from the GOP’s own website. Of course, given its historic commitment to the defense of America, this comes as no surprise. The Republicans want to treat their soldiers with respect, and recruit as many of them as possible. This is vital to our national security, and we owe those soldiers the best possible treatment…unless they’re gay? Now, in all fairness, polls have shown that now that we desperately need military personnel, more Republicans support overturning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell than keeping it. But these numbers are not equivalent to those of Democrats. Additionally, President Obama seems to fear a conservative backlash in Congress and in the military, one that was seen by President Clinton in 1993. Air America’s Anne Marie Cox brought to my attention the true anti-conservatism that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell actually represents. True conservatives have historically fought for a strong defense and a large military budget. So, how do we make our military stronger and more prepared to defend this great nation? For many conservatives, that means firing over 13,000 troops since 1993, because they are believed to engage in “homosexual conduct” in their private lives. This abnormal, anti-Christian, homosexual behavior of course contributes to delinquency in the military, and of course a lack of discipline that is simply unacceptable.
The GOP also claims to be encouraging more women to enlist in the army and ensuring that women are given their equal right to serve their country. Unfortunately, with some research, we again stumble across a funny contradiction. Women make up about 15% of the American military and almost 50% of those discharged from service under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Unless we are to abide by the stereotype and assume every woman in the armed forces is a lesbian, then this statistic should raise some serious concerns regarding the respect and privacy of women in the military. The GOP platform says, “All Americans should affirm that our first obligation is the security of our country.” Apparently to many of our conservative friends, the private lives of our soldiers are more important than their ability to protect this country. President Obama, I hope that you can rise above these radical conservative barriers and keep the promises you made to some of your biggest supporters. And I hope that those conservatives who continue to battle you on this issue, both in Congress and in the military, can suck it up and make this an easy transition.
Moving on, social conservatives contend that the media ought to be more closely monitored, because violence and sex are infiltrating the minds of our youth. Much can be said for Republican familiarity with sexual indiscretion (mainly just sex with hookers), so to avoid a sticky subject, we’ll just tackle the violence part. It seems that these older conservatives themselves are the ones whose minds have been filled with fantastical ideas of good vs. evil. The prison at Guantanamo Bay is due to close in six months. The Obama Administration continues to hit dead ends in its attempt to find a suitable destination for these 200 prisoners once Gitmo is shut down for good. The seemingly simple solution of detaining them in the U.S. has been blocked by Congress, at least for the fiscal year ending September 30. Florida’s very own Republican Representative, Tom Rooney, has stated, “It is completely unacceptable to move these dangerous individuals to our federal prisons where they will be integrated with other prisoners.” Sigh. Mr. Rooney and others fear the effects of bringing dangerous criminals into maximum-security prisons. Can we please, for a moment, actually think about the issue (I do promise to revisit the point about contradictions)?
Maximum-security prisons are presumably equipped well-enough for murderers and serial rapists. Now, I understand how conservative politicians (and admittedly some liberals) would be frightened by watching too much “Prison Break” or seeing superheroes chase down psycho killers who escaped from the prison bus. But let’s not get carried away here. What these politicians are afraid of is something that is completely unfounded. First, they are under the delusion that transporting these suspected terrorists is remarkably more dangerous than transporting regular, American criminals. These suspects are foreign, not superhuman. Second, they are just that, suspects. These are men who are to be put on trial by the U.S. Government and given due process of law. It is likely that the over-excited Bush administration threw at least a few of these suspects in Gitmo without sufficient evidence. So, to those politicians who continue to reject the idea of detaining these prisoners in the U.S., calm down. Stop with the indulgence of media fantasies. Maybe the youth are not the ones whose television habits need to be monitored.
As this column is becoming increasingly lengthy, this is probably a good place to stop. I intended to cover more issues, but I’d rather not send this too far over 1,000 words. In summation, modern conservative ideals, and particularly the politicians who promote them, are causing dangerous rifts in our society. Some Democrats are surely guilty of hypocrisy as well, but they are not the ones unabashedly challenging all of the president’s proposals. It is no wonder the Republican Party has found itself so lost and in the midst of an identity crisis. With people like Sarah Palin coming back into the spotlight, it is no wonder that fewer than one in four of Americans now admit to being Republican. The party needs to do some serious restructuring, but in order to do that, it has to eliminate the stupid battles and do away with the raging contradictions.
by Jessica Weaver
Again sucking up the attention of the American media is soon-to-be former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. She continues to cater to her small-town, conservative supporters by giving interviews while fishing in her waders. These interviews have stayed true to Palin’s character by only further confusing constituents who are bewildered as to the governor’s sudden decision to resign her post a little more than halfway through her first term. Palin’s (clearly paraphrased) claim that quitting makes her a fighter instead of a quitter gives us a somewhat humorous example of a typical contradiction within the Republican Party, which has found hypocrisy in its search for a new identity. The party is at a divide, trying to decide between moderate stances and extreme conservatism. However, it seems that right-wing stances have become nothing worth conserving.
To examine true conservatism, we have to first define the term. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and speech-writer William Safire’s Political Dictionary defines a conservative as “ a defender of a beneficial status quo, who…prefers that [change] come slowly, in moderation, and preferably not resulting in centralization of government power.” This is easy enough to understand. Conservatives are weary of substantial change and prefer that the U.S. Government holds limited power. But the conservative movement is much more than its book definition. It resists economic regulation, favors states’ rights, supports a strong military, and opposes many ideals that liberals believe to be basic civil rights.
“The men and women who wear our country's uniform…are the most important assets in our military arsenal. They and their families must have the pay, health care, housing, education, and overall support they need. We must significantly increase the size of our Armed Forces; crucial to that goal will be retention of combat veterans.” This is a quote directly from the GOP’s own website. Of course, given its historic commitment to the defense of America, this comes as no surprise. The Republicans want to treat their soldiers with respect, and recruit as many of them as possible. This is vital to our national security, and we owe those soldiers the best possible treatment…unless they’re gay? Now, in all fairness, polls have shown that now that we desperately need military personnel, more Republicans support overturning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell than keeping it. But these numbers are not equivalent to those of Democrats. Additionally, President Obama seems to fear a conservative backlash in Congress and in the military, one that was seen by President Clinton in 1993. Air America’s Anne Marie Cox brought to my attention the true anti-conservatism that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell actually represents. True conservatives have historically fought for a strong defense and a large military budget. So, how do we make our military stronger and more prepared to defend this great nation? For many conservatives, that means firing over 13,000 troops since 1993, because they are believed to engage in “homosexual conduct” in their private lives. This abnormal, anti-Christian, homosexual behavior of course contributes to delinquency in the military, and of course a lack of discipline that is simply unacceptable.
The GOP also claims to be encouraging more women to enlist in the army and ensuring that women are given their equal right to serve their country. Unfortunately, with some research, we again stumble across a funny contradiction. Women make up about 15% of the American military and almost 50% of those discharged from service under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Unless we are to abide by the stereotype and assume every woman in the armed forces is a lesbian, then this statistic should raise some serious concerns regarding the respect and privacy of women in the military. The GOP platform says, “All Americans should affirm that our first obligation is the security of our country.” Apparently to many of our conservative friends, the private lives of our soldiers are more important than their ability to protect this country. President Obama, I hope that you can rise above these radical conservative barriers and keep the promises you made to some of your biggest supporters. And I hope that those conservatives who continue to battle you on this issue, both in Congress and in the military, can suck it up and make this an easy transition.
Moving on, social conservatives contend that the media ought to be more closely monitored, because violence and sex are infiltrating the minds of our youth. Much can be said for Republican familiarity with sexual indiscretion (mainly just sex with hookers), so to avoid a sticky subject, we’ll just tackle the violence part. It seems that these older conservatives themselves are the ones whose minds have been filled with fantastical ideas of good vs. evil. The prison at Guantanamo Bay is due to close in six months. The Obama Administration continues to hit dead ends in its attempt to find a suitable destination for these 200 prisoners once Gitmo is shut down for good. The seemingly simple solution of detaining them in the U.S. has been blocked by Congress, at least for the fiscal year ending September 30. Florida’s very own Republican Representative, Tom Rooney, has stated, “It is completely unacceptable to move these dangerous individuals to our federal prisons where they will be integrated with other prisoners.” Sigh. Mr. Rooney and others fear the effects of bringing dangerous criminals into maximum-security prisons. Can we please, for a moment, actually think about the issue (I do promise to revisit the point about contradictions)?
Maximum-security prisons are presumably equipped well-enough for murderers and serial rapists. Now, I understand how conservative politicians (and admittedly some liberals) would be frightened by watching too much “Prison Break” or seeing superheroes chase down psycho killers who escaped from the prison bus. But let’s not get carried away here. What these politicians are afraid of is something that is completely unfounded. First, they are under the delusion that transporting these suspected terrorists is remarkably more dangerous than transporting regular, American criminals. These suspects are foreign, not superhuman. Second, they are just that, suspects. These are men who are to be put on trial by the U.S. Government and given due process of law. It is likely that the over-excited Bush administration threw at least a few of these suspects in Gitmo without sufficient evidence. So, to those politicians who continue to reject the idea of detaining these prisoners in the U.S., calm down. Stop with the indulgence of media fantasies. Maybe the youth are not the ones whose television habits need to be monitored.
As this column is becoming increasingly lengthy, this is probably a good place to stop. I intended to cover more issues, but I’d rather not send this too far over 1,000 words. In summation, modern conservative ideals, and particularly the politicians who promote them, are causing dangerous rifts in our society. Some Democrats are surely guilty of hypocrisy as well, but they are not the ones unabashedly challenging all of the president’s proposals. It is no wonder the Republican Party has found itself so lost and in the midst of an identity crisis. With people like Sarah Palin coming back into the spotlight, it is no wonder that fewer than one in four of Americans now admit to being Republican. The party needs to do some serious restructuring, but in order to do that, it has to eliminate the stupid battles and do away with the raging contradictions.