Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.Cared for and cherished? Maybe. Always safe from harm? Impossible. It would also be nice if the kids on the streets of Chicago were part of the equation, but that's not happening, either.
You can argue that, well, it's just an aspiration and not an actual, achievable goal. But the real problem with it is that it's crap. You cannot keep anyone always safe from harm, although in your ministrations to do so you can harm them a hell of a lot, by taking away their ability to make decisions.
And then there was this:
A decade of war is now ending.Uh, I don't think so. We may be about to stop fighting in Afghanistan, but there's little reason to expect that we won't have to defend our interests in the next four years. I would certainly support taking a hard look at where our interests precisely lie (Mali might not be one of those places, to use a recent example), but wars don't end just because you say they do in a speech.
7 comments:
"know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm."
unless they are in utero, then its ' F 'em'...
i'm sure Rich agrees, as long as evil guys aren't waterboarded, because ya gotta respect life, ya know....
Gino,
No. I don't agree. I would like to see abortion on demand ended. I have stated that multiple times here.
My consistency in regard to my respect for life at every phase seems to bother you. I am not sure why. Perhaps you feel some level of guilt or cognitive dissonance in your support for torture. I can only guess.
Perhaps you can take some comfort in your brave decision to support no political party. It must be nice to absolve yourself from the inevitable conflicts that arise when you and your party part ways on a few issues. I commend your resolve! It's impressive.
Warm Regards,
Rich
I would like to see abortion on demand ended.
Yet you continue to vote for candidates who support abortion on demand, from the president on down.
That's your right, Rich. But there's nothing consistent about your respect for life.
^^^ and defend that vote over and over again.
while defending policies that pay for it, and demand that others pay it as well...
what irks Rich, is that one of your most spoken beefs is against Bush and enhanced interogation techniques, and barely a peep against another guy who endorses and promotes the wholesale slaughter of innocents that you say that you oppose.
sure, politics is messy. partisan politics even more so... but it's a matter of weights and balances, greater vs lesser evils.
you seem to be more offended by what can arguably be (and within the Church, definately is) the lesser evil.
thats the nub.
you can explain yourself at The Gates, as will i.
I'm done with you.
Gino,
I wasn't aware that you had started with me, but if you want to be done with me, so be it. Take care of yourself, and I wish you luck and good fortune. Sincerely.
Mark (and Gino, if you care to read this)
I don't question your personal motives on your stand against abortion. Placing all your eggs in the right to life for the unborn 'basket' is the right decison for you. That the political outlook that you follow just happens to coincide with organizations that are pro-life must be serendipitous for you guys. Lucky you.
I can try to ignore the fact that the GOP was more pro-abortion than the Dems up till the early 70's/Roe. I can try to ignore the fact that Nixon did an about face on abortion, going from an abortion supporter to an enemy of abortion over night, in order to tap the anger of the Religious Right, and cement his position with Southern Evangelicals, Northern Catholics, and State's rights Dixiecrats. But I can't ignore the convenient fiction of what the abortion issue has become for so many right wingers. Most of whom would be right wing regardless of Roe and its fallout.
The Right's position on abortion dates only to 1973, and the GOP and other right wing groups have done all they can to use that political football to it's maximum. It is so convenient, it is so noble, and so altruistic. You're pro-baby...Who can argue with that? But in many cases, Nixon's being the first, it is also quite disingenuous. Many pro-lifers think they are the latest incarnation of the abolitionist movement. Some are, but an awful lot are not. Roe v. Wade was one in a long series of Legislative actions and Court decisons, starting with Brown v. the Board, that pissed off White Evangelicals, many of whom were Dixiecrats. With Roe, the Right found its cris de coeur: It fit perfectly into the pattern of Legislative (Civil Rights and Voting acts, busing, etc) and Court decisons that incensed the right, while also joining these folks to Northern Democrats, especially Catholics. But abortion was only a small part of their beef. Most of their anger was about every Right Wingers favorite euphemism: states' rights.
(Continued...)
The political ascent of the modern Religious Right, especially in the South, was driven by white evangelical resentment over what many there viewed as political overreach by the Federal governement. Southern Whites were losing their "rights" to practice legal racial discrimination, and they didn't like it. Their anti-abortion stand may, in many cases, be genuine, but it doesn't exactly make all of you the moral equivalents of Abolitionists. And it doesn't make all Dems the moral equivalent of slave owners. Remember, too, that abolitionists sought manumission for all slaves, while many in the Religious Right today are driven by the desire to stop the Federal Government from interferring in their right to practice legal racial discrimination.
So when you try to put a jacket on me with the abortion issue, it ain't gonna work. First of all, I am a shameless Cafeteria Catholic who puts ZERO moral authority in the Catholic Bishops, the College of Cardinals, the pope, and almost any Catholic person or organization claiming some half-baked divine moral authority. In fact, given what I know from history, I tend to view the very notion of Catholic hierarchical moral authority as a punch line. But I do accept Jesus as my Savior, and when I read the Gospels, I can't help but think that Jesus would be a Democrat today. Maybe he would take Gino's stand and claim to be an independent, but I am pretty certain Jesus would have pulled the lever for Obama. That's my guess. I Read his signature statement-the Beatitudes, and that's what I come up with.
Mark, one final thing. You claim I "vote for candidates who support abortion on demand, from the president on down." Not true at all. My State Rep (Kelly Burke, who is a personal friend who I have campaigned for), my State Senator (Ed Maloney, who was a teacher of mine in high school, and whom I have campaigned for) and my Congressman (Dan Lipinski) are all right to life. There are many on the Left who see through the Right's bullshit on this topic...not just me.
Warm Regards,
Rich
Mark, one final thing. You claim I "vote for candidates who support abortion on demand, from the president on down." Not true at all. My State Rep (Kelly Burke, who is a personal friend who I have campaigned for), my State Senator (Ed Maloney, who was a teacher of mine in high school, and whom I have campaigned for) and my Congressman (Dan Lipinski) are all right to life. There are many on the Left who see through the Right's bullshit on this topic...not just me.
Great. What are they doing to stop abortion on demand? About the same as you are, apparently.
But it's all good. After all, what difference, at this point, does it make? The mantra for our new enlightened era.
Look, I don't care what you do. And I don't know the condition of your soul, either. Only God knows that. It's quite possible that you'll get through the ol' Pearly Gates without a hitch and I'll be the one cast out into the eternal darkness. We'll find out when we find out. But let's stop pretending that being personally opposed to abortion means anything at all. Nah, scratch that. Do whatever you want. What difference, at this point, does it make?
By the way, I ain't Nixon. But what difference, at this point, does it make? Let's all do the Antinomian Groove Thang!
Post a Comment