Great Day For American Polotics

[Kanamori]

For how many people whine about our government, they sure have a peculiar love for it...

[Strike For The South]

For how many people whine about our government, they sure have a peculiar love for it...

Gah! If I dont whine they dont get any better. We will just become a little more blind and fat until we collapse under our collective weghit. Its a sad day when the "war on Christmas" gets more press then the economy or Iraq.

[Zalmoxis]

Gah! If I dont whine they dont get any better. We will just become a little more blind and fat until we collapse under our collective weghit. Its a sad day when the "war on Christmas" gets more press then the economy or Iraq.

Absolutely right, why is that crap about Christmas even news?

[Banquo's Ghost]

I'd be very grateful if some of you would express your views on how powerful a force the religious right is in US politics.

It seems to me that they are a small but very influential group that has managed to convince the GOP that it has no chance without them. But is this true? On the whole, the American people seem to be quite distanced from most of the agenda this group promotes.

When the Democrat party appears to be in constant confusion mode, why does the evangelical right even matter to the Republican party?

I'm genuinely interested.

[Tachikaze]

I'd be very grateful if some of you would express your views on how powerful a force the religious right is in US politics.

It seems to me that they are a small but very influential group that has managed to convince the GOP that it has no chance without them. But is this true? On the whole, the American people seem to be quite distanced from most of the agenda this group promotes.

When the Democrat party appears to be in constant confusion mode, why does the evangelical right even matter to the Republican party?

I'm genuinely interested.

Because of a perceived threat to our country since 2001, it has been easy to manipulate the US public through fear, and religious belief is promoted as the antidote to this fear. The Republicans say that the very values of American life are under attack. These include, for many people, Christianity and everything they associate with it, like families and moral behavior.

So, now being religious is a fad. Like all fads, it will fade. But, until then, the Republican government will push as many far-right religious bills through Congress as possible while they have the popular support.

And realize that there are some parts of the US, especially the South and interior agricultural areas, that are particularly religious and patriotic, and they combine the two. This has generally always been true.

[Major Robert Dump]

Flag burning amendment attempts pop up every 6 years or so around election time, its nothing but pomp. Won't pass, will never pass, and the only people who really support it are either complete morons with mullets or 80 year old veterans. It's purely a tool for congess members to say "look what I tried to do" and its designed to fail, just like congressional investigations into things like sports steroids, Waco and campaign finance.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I think the influence of the 'religious right' is somewhat exaggerated. Most Americans, after all, are against gay marriage, and this opposition is not from a vocal minority of the 'religious far right' as some say. And for all the talk of how the GOP is pushing 'far right religious bills', how many such bills have actually been passed?

I will admit that the GOP is trying to appeal more to religious people, and the greater push for an anti-gay marriage amendment reflects that. But it also stems, as I said before, from an opposition from more than 'the religious far right'.

Religon is NOT supposed to be the basis of our laws.

Religion dictates morals, and morals form the basis of our laws.

I will agree that this recent legislation push is pandering to the base. It's just so the politicians can avoid doing actual work on issues like immigration, social security, etc. And this is supposed to convince me to vote for them how?

Crazed Rabbit

[spmetla]

that will go a long way toward energizing the values voters at the base of the Republican Party,

Gee, wonder who they're pandering to this time? Religon is NOT supposed to be the basis of our laws.

The House has approved an amendment to the Constitution to outlaw flag burning and passed a bill to crack down on the practice of minors' crossing state lines for abortions to evade legal limits in their own states

Outlaw flag burning? This is jacked 100%. Although I haven't burn't any flags except to honorably dispose of them the freedom to express distaste for the govenment by burning flags has always been and shouldn't be made illegal. First it's this then it'll be the banning of protests all together.

One of the things I love about the US is the ability to move to different states to do things illegal in other states. If a minor can legally get an abortion in state X then by all means let them. Most people can't afford to change their residence purely for something like an abortion.

And although I don't find anything appealing about homosexual relationships I believe that they should be able to marry each other or have some sort of legal union equal to marriage.

I hope the midterm elections take away the GOP supremacy in Congress. The system of checks and balances doesn't work when the three branches are all puppets on the same hand.

I'd be very grateful if some of you would express your views on how powerful a force the religious right is in US politics.

It seems to me that they are a small but very influential group that has managed to convince the GOP that it has no chance without them. But is this true? On the whole, the American people seem to be quite distanced from most of the agenda this group promotes.

When the Democrat party appears to be in constant confusion mode, why does the evangelical right even matter to the Republican party?

I'm genuinely interested.

The Republican party has been like this since Reagan. I'm an avid supporter of the seperation of church and state and the Republicans seem to not understand that they are constantly trying to violate this principle. I don't want to live in the Christian version of Iran's system of Islamic Republicism.

[Kralizec]

Social conservatives, including Bush, say that the process by which the cells are derived is morally akin to abortion because the fertilized egg is destroyed.

Wasn't Bush a proponent of stem cell research at first?