USA Today, pg1: Many wary of GOP's moral agenda (poll)

[DeepModem Mom]

Thanks to Beetwasher, who posted this article in GDPolitics!


Many wary of GOP's moral agenda
Poll: Public disliked Schiavo intervention
By Susan Page
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The controversy over Terri Schiavo has raised concerns among many Americans about the moral agenda of the Republican Party and the political power of conservative Christians, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds....

***

•By 55%-40%, respondents say Republicans, traditionally the party of limited government, are “trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans” on moral values.

•By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues....

***

Mark Rozell, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia who studies religion and politics, says the (Schiavo) case has created a “clear backlash.”...

***

By more than 2-to-1, 39%-18%, Americans say the “religious right” has too much influence in the Bush administration. That's a change from when the question was asked in CBS News/New York Times polls taken from 2001 to 2003. Then, approximately equal numbers said conservative Christians had too much and too little influence.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050406/1a_offlede06.art.htm

[efhmc]

1. Is the window of reason in America cracking open again? Quick, call

out the right wing media blizzard machine.

[mtnester]

48. Or Osama...whichever would be more effective

I do not trust our government...I do not I do not I do not

[Demeter]

2. Only Took Them 5 Years!

"When they came for the feminists, I said nothing, because I wasn't one of THEM; when they came for the Blacks, ditto; the Arabs; the young; the elderly; but when they came after ME, I started to pay attention."

America, what a place.

[pelagius]

35. Why, oh, why couldn't people have figured this out...

...last October? Damn, timing is everything.

[Beetwasher]

3. THIS SHOULD BE THE DEMS THEME FROM HERE ON OUT

The Dems theme should be, and I've said this before, "The Dems are the party of FREEDOM from Gov't interference in your personal life and for PROTECTING individual rights and the sanctity of the Constitution. The Repubs are the party of BIG BROTHER GOV'T."

Right now, this tact can be very, very effective, but it has to be repeated AD NAUSEUM and it has to be stated SIMPLY BUT LOUDLY FROM NOW ON AND FOREVER and the message has to be totally consistent and coming from the mouth of EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DEM REPRESENTATIVE EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME THEY OPEN THEIR MOUTHS ABOUT ANYTHING.

The Dems should NOT be talking about morals. Let the Repubs keep talking about morals, the Dems should be talking about FREEDOM FROM GOV'T INTERFERENCE IN PEOPLE'S PERSONAL PRIVATE DECISIONS.

[Mizmoon]

4. Are you effin crazy?

that would be wise and make sense. Our Democratic leaders will NEVER go for it :crazy:

[wickywom]

13. They are effin crazy not to..

Laying it down loud and clear.. America was founded on the VALUE of seperation of church and state. We are morally obligated to protect the sanctity of religion, because it can not ever be brought into government without being soiled by politics and altered in a negative manner.

They will reply with that the civil rights and abolitionist movements were "christian",
but that not being a very sound arguement is all they got.
They are wrong and America is waiting for a leader to call them on it.

[DeepModem Mom]

14. "America is waiting for a leader to call them on it" --

I'm waiting (hoping) for a "have-you-no-decency" moment, a watershed moment of realization re. the Bush cabal.

[DemBeans]

23. I hope this becomes the theme for 2006

We need to pound this point home at every opportunity.

Remember the 1992 Republican National Convention, when Poppy allowed the social conservatives to run amok and scare the hell out of America? This is another such moment. Democrats need present a clear, well-articulated alternative to the nanny state, instead of bleating about 'values' and quoting the bible. People want to be left the hell alone to determine their own values, and this needs to be our theme.

[calimary]

45. Vote Democrat. We're the ones who DON'T butt in.

republi-CONS: The Butt-In-ski Party.

republi-CONS: The Busy-body Party.

Help the republi-CONS Mind Their Own Business. Vote Democrat.

[Clark Bayh 2008]

63. Indeed, it's time to forge some alliance on this with the Libertarians

Dems need to cobble together some type of coalition.

Libertarian views are popular regarding income taxes & freedom from interference.

Could be an opportunity. Unfortunately, the Dems do continue to blow it.

[wryter2000]

37. You got that right

The DLC is too busy purging the party of us anti-war nuts to go after the Republicans.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Thanks again for this article, Beetwasher!

[Beetwasher]

8. I Didn't Post It In LBN Because I Thought For Sure It Must Have Been

already posted. :shrug:

:hi:

[Amy6627]

15. You are soooo right on! BTW-- We haven't really heard much

from Howard Dean since he became DNC Chair- or have I not been paying enough attention?

[jaysunb]

19. Run Silent...Run Deep

the target lies directly ahead.

The MSM might be asleep, but Howard ain't !

[wryter2000]

39. Among other things

Howard's mobilizing against Ahnuld's attempts to futher screw over the state of California. He also stated, as a doctor, that no doctor he'd ever go to would diagnose on the basis of a few minutes of videotape.

[Lindacooks]

41. You're absolutely right and PLEASE send this to Dr. Dean

and Moveon.org.

This IS the issue!!

[calimary]

43. Um, Mr. bush, did somebody say "they hate us for our freedoms?"

Well, guess who "they" are, in this case?

This is what you can use when you're assaulted by some knuckle-dragger who, when confronted with facts, has no other retort than "why do you hate America?" The answer to smash back in their faces: "why do YOU hate America? America is supposed to be The Land of the Free. The WHOLE F-ING COUNTRY is a First Amendment Zone. It's YOU conservatives and reactionaries who want to do away with all that. YOU hate US for our freedoms. WE love freedom - the freedom that's our birthright as Americans. WE love our freedoms. YOU hate US for that."

[MisterP]

44. leadership hitched their wagon to the Rs' star AGAIN, and it flopped

[Democat]

47. Democratic Theme?

That would mean Democrats had strategy and a willingness to fight Republicans.

Don't get your hopes up.

[Inland]

5. And why headline not "MOST Americans"? nt

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Good call, Inland! Looks like "most" to me -- nt

[expatriot]

32. No, 38% is not "most" Americans.... true, it is 2 to 1 margins BUT

only 18% said that the Religious Right did not have too much of an influence which means only 56% of Americans had an opinion either way. So it is not "Most" but rather many.

[DeepModem Mom]

34. You're right! The other question, however...

does show a majority: are Republicans "'trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans' on moral values."

[Benhurst]

9. Americans have allowed the Constitution to be shredded and

the election process to be corrupted, so it really doesn't matter what they think.

[LdyGuique]

31. Au Contraire -- Americans all across the country matter

There is no point in this entire exercise in political agitation and political conversion if Americans don't matter.

We still have a huge constituency out there who have not read the Constitution since their Government classes in high school. And, few people know the huge body of laws that have been passed by Congress over the years which supplement the Constitution.

And, while many who post in political forums are more up-to-date on the first 10 Amendments, the so-called Bill of Rights, few truly agree 100 percent with each and every possible aspect to them, partially because they were written deliberately with sparse language.

Freedom of speech has a long and contentious history, because it is so uncomfortable at times. In fact, the first attack against it came in 1798 -- just 7 years after the Bill of Rights Amendments were passed and added to the Constitution in 1791.

Under the threat of war with France, Congress in 1798 passed four laws in an effort to strengthen the Federal government. Known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts, the legislation sponsored by the Federalists was also intended to quell any political opposition from the Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson.

The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act, passed by Congress on June 18. This act required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of 5 years before they became eligible for U.S. citizenship.

Congress then passed the Alien Act on June 25, authorizing the President to deport aliens "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" during peacetime.

The third law, the Alien Enemies Act, was enacted by Congress on July 6. This act allowed the wartime arrest, imprisonment and deportation of any alien subject to an enemy power.

The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, passed on July 14 declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.

One of the men arrested was Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of the Philadelphia Democrat-Republican Aurora. Charged with libeling President Adams, Bache's arrest erupted in a public outcry against all of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Many Americans questioned the constitutionality of these laws. Indeed, public opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts was so great that they were in part responsible for the election of Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, to the presidency in 1800. Once in office, Jefferson pardoned all those convicted under the Sedition Act, while Congress restored all fines paid with interest.

The original intent of freedom of speech was its political aspect. It never occurred to the framers that it would ever evolve to include pornography or entertainment.

It never occurred to the framers that freedom of religion would include religions from around the world, nor religions yet to be conceived. They just knew of the broiling issues of Catholics versus Protestants with some Jews thrown in for good measure. The intent was to keep any ONE religion or sect from becoming a state religion at the expense of the other beliefs versus the developed belief of freedom FROM religion. This is a natural outcome, but it's taken 200+ years to achieve some of that.

The right to bear arms has always been controversial because depending on who is discussing it colors the issue. From my point of view, it's separate from a "well-armed militia" and means essential weapons, but not major armaments, such as bazookas, tanks, and howitzers. I, personally, don't believe that the "right to bear arms" includes non-citizens. It's a right one gets upon naturalization. Others would argue differently.

Most Americans lack a clear and concise history of Constitutional law, but most would not support major changes to the Constitution as it was written if it were on the ballot.

[renaissanceguy]

10. Kick!

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14741193
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/537124

[SaveAmerica]

11. What do they think we've been trying to say all this time?

They were blinded by the right, now they're acting like a douche, and I guess they see the light.

[joefree1]

12. If it goose-steps like a fascist ...

>>Nevada Democrats are decrying remarks by U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons condemning "tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals" for their opposition to the war in Iraq.He added it was "too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket" to become human shields in Iraq.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/mar/02/030210032.htm

[Al-CIAda]

49. OT- Great site, nice work joefre. Cool -n/t

[NashVegas]

16. More Rope More Rope More Rope

Is needed. That 40% number needs to go down to about 23.

[SemperEadem]

17. The pendulum is swinging back

and knocking the strawmen out of the way in its arc.

[rocktivity]

42. The pendulm never swung that far

It's just taken this long for the MSM to be able to acknowledge it.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Toby109]

18. And who the fuck ever said

that the U.S. government should be involved in morals in the first place! Jesus H. Christ! Every single human being has their own set of moral values. That's what makes us different. Unique. In the old America these differences were settled by the rule of law. A social contract that defined the terms of human criminality. In the new Amerika these laws have been up ended, once again. Someone robs a bank of a couple of million(insured)dollars, he's liable to get 20 years to life even if he doesn't kill or injure anyone. But the CEO of a company can ruin the lives of thousands, and he walks.

By the way, the American people have known the truth of this since the Clinton impeachment. They just haven't faced up to it yet.

Sorry for the vulgarity. Just pissed off today.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. I think you really have a point about facing the truth --

people don't want to believe that a cabal as nefarious as the Bush cabal can come to power in the U.S.

[Toby109]

27. And it makes the job of the Bush corporatist cabal

so much easier. We are involved in a contradiction. We have been taught, and indoctrinated, that American democracy is the greatest thing since sliced bread without fully examining the methods used to attain that ascendancy.

And who gets to decide if it is better for other people and other cultures?

[yorkiemommie1]

36. husband i had huge fight last night re: this very thing

he refuses to believe that HIS party is behind all of this anti-choice, pro-radical religion crap. well, i said... it's not the Democrats!!!!!!!!!!

still no lights going on it his head.

[Zorra]

20. Let's make this perfectly clear: GOP is the party of HUGE government.

Not only has the federal government greatly expanded the number of people that it has working for it and gone on a spending spree that is unprecedented in American history, it has abolished many civil liberties and privacy rights, giving itself unprecedented license to interfere in the daily lives of Americans.

George W. Bush: A "Big Government Tax-Cut & Spend Conservative?"

The the era of big government is back, thanks to the Bush Administration.

That’s the conclusion of a Brookings Institute study. The Wall Street Journal reported that the think tank is releasing a study Friday which found that the “number of full-time employees working on government contracts and grants has zoomed by more than one million people since 1999, bringing the overall head count to more than 12.1 million as of this past October.”
snip----
But representatives of two conservative think tanks said the findings dovetail with their own studies of government growth under President Bush. Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, and Daniel Mitchell, a Heritage Foundation economist, argue that government was much better contained under President Clinton, in part because Mr. Clinton faced a skeptical Republican Congress.

"We are now seeing the biggest expansion in government since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House," Mr. Moore said. "It is pretty much an across-the-board mushrooming of government. We have the biggest education, foreign aid and agriculture bills in history, and bigger expansions are on the agenda."

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2003/09/george_w_bush_a.html

Republican voters are so brainwashed. You can convince a republican that it is not raining, if that is what they want to hear, while they are being soaked to the bone in a thunderstorm.

[rodeodance]

28. the mushrooming of gov. where only the top layer benefits-very different

the FDR works programs, and social programs for most.
People think they are actully going to be in this top--I think.

[GOPBasher]

21. "Many are wary of GOP's moral agenda." Perhaps

they shouldn't have voted for their moral agenda. Ya think? :shrug:

[MountainLaurel]

24. As well they should be

Because if they aren't in line with that moral imperative . . . :scared:

[UCLA Dem]

25. Its about damn time!!! This country needs to wake up and see the truth!!

[Megahurtz]

26. Wake up America!

Before it's too late.:boring:

[Rose Siding]

29. Have they noticed at all that BUSH "sharply expanded government"?

I wonder if that language- "...Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression" -was in Gallup's question.

[smoogatz]

30. Progressives to rest of America: Told Ya So

You didn't care that Bush lied us into war in Iraq. You didn't care that he did nothing to prevent 9/11. You didn't care that he gave a trillion dollar surplus away to his rich buddies. You didn't care about the billions in no-bid contracts to Dick Cheney's chums at Halliburton. You didn't care about the two stolen elections, the environmental degradation, the damage to our alliances and our image abroad, or the colossal screwing of the middle class. Terri Schiavo? That's what it takes? Fine. Yes, they're dangerous, psychotic idiots. Told ya so.

[AlinPA]

33. Holy Joe Leiberman will poo-poo that poll.......

[truthisfreedom]

38. basically, this proves that bushco stole the vote. you don't have numbers

like this just pop up out of nowhere.

[despairing optimist]

40. America goes Sybil, or Sybil finally gets it together

Which personality will rear its head in the next poll? And where was Sybil last November?

Along with celebrating spring and approaching doom for DeLay, we can savor the irony of Terri Schiavo's tragic condition waking up the rest of the USA to the duplicity of the Republicans' moral crusade.

[Guaranteed]

46. Wow- "values" backfired.

Crazy. :)

[ignatius 2]

50. Where the hell were these people 4 months ago and why haven't

they known this for the last 4 years.

In the words of Napoleon Dynamite.."idiots!!!"

[JamboGuide]

51. BECAUSE.....

They were too busy worrying if the Fab Five and Jeff Stryker were going to break down thier doors and rape thier sons.

[Moderator]

52. kick to combine

[NVMojo]

53. Many wary of GOP's moral agenda

WASHINGTON — The controversy over Terri Schiavo has raised concerns among many Americans about the moral agenda of the Republican Party and the political power of conservative Christians, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.

In the survey, most Americans disapprove of the efforts by President Bush and Congress to draw federal courts into the dispute over treatment of the brain-damaged Florida woman. She died last week.

Some old stereotypes about the two parties have been reversed:

•By 55%-40%, respondents say Republicans, traditionally the party of limited government, are “trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans” on moral values.

•By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues.

The debate over Schiavo has spotlighted the central role “values” issues — abortion, stem cell research, same-sex marriage and the right to live or die — now play in politics.

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050406/1a_offlede06.art.htm

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

54. Oy.

1) Dupe
2) Yesterday's news.

[patricia92243]

61. I did not see the duplicate yesterday.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

62. Looks like the mods found it before I did.

Groovy.

[liberal N proud]

55. So much for those MORAL VALUES they were elected on huh!

Of course we all knew that was total bull shit when we heard it in November.
The republicans have no more moral values than a box of rocks.

[NVMojo]

56. The Repugs have morals and values leaking out of their cracks these days.

And OY, I worked 15 hours yesterday so this is news to me. Sorry if I fecked this up and posted it late and offended you. WOOOHOOOO! I gotta pay for Iraq!!!

[ima_sinnic]

57. don't feel bad, I missed it too. thanks for posting. (nt)

[JitterbugPerfume]

60. I missed it too

Thanks for the post

[Me.]

58. I Read These Before

but you know what, when I saw your threads this morning, I read them again. Good news is so enjoyable and when was the last time we saw so many anti-pug articles in such a brief space of time? I hope this is a trend.

[Coventina]

59. Gee, I really like how USA TODAY tries to tell the American people what to

think.

"By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues."

In other words, 53%-40% of the American people are WRONG!

:puke:

Stupid corporate media whores.