“As Republicans in Congress increasingly pandered to conservative media, their rhetoric became more extreme, while their interest in governing has completely evaporated.”
They don’t govern, they obstruct. With every single ruling that comes to the floor, no matter how much it would help various groups or issues in this country, they vote it down. I dare anyone to show me anything passed of late by Republicans which benefits all citizens of this country!
When they do “govern,” it is to introduce or approve utterly ridiculous legislation designed to pacify Conservative Christians who feel they are being “discriminated” against by the simple – and Constitutional rights – of other human beings who just happen to be of other faiths, nationalities, sexual orientations or belief systems.
In their governance they are effectively discriminating against all but one segment of the American population.
Their aim is to control a woman’s private decision whether or not to have an abortion. *It is NOBODY’S business* and falls under doctor/patient confidentiality. End of discussion. Countless hours and funds have been wasted battling something which does not belong in the political arena. The government should butt out of the abortion debate – period! Move on to more important things which are important to every citizen, not something that drives Conservative Christians bat-shit crazy!
Right up there with abortion is the GOP’s direct attack on the LGBT community, an abomination in the eyes of Conservatives. Again, it’s nobody’s business but, screaming “religious freedom,” Bible thumpers have hijacked the Republican party to do their will.
Daily, I read of legislation introduced solely by Republicans that goes against the very grain of what this country stands for and was founded on. It is a direct affront to our modern society. If Republican Conservative Christians had their way, we’d see passage of overwhelmingly restrictive, hateful, discriminatory rulings against women, LGBT citizens, immigrants, minorities and those of non-Christian faith. They’d love nothing better than to devise a H.G. Wells time machine to take us back 60 years or more.
This is the “Party Of Hate,” the “Party Of No.”
It is no longer the “Grand Old Party.” Since its hijacking by right-wing conservative Christians, it needs to be renamed the “Conservative Christian Party.” Ah, but that would violate the separation of church and state as mandated by the Constitution. Maybe they could hide behind the words “Conservative Party” and still try to get away with pushing their hateful, discriminatory doctrine.
Nativism has reared its ugly head in the 2016 election and the GOP candidates are leading the charge. Sadly, they’ve confused “patriotism” with nativism, hatred & discrimination, but they wave their American flags nonetheless.
They have forgotten we are a nation of ALL people, not just White, Christian people.
The GOP has outlived its usefulness. Time for them to go.
Conservative Christians feel that they’re under attack.
Good – they SHOULD be!
We hear cries across the country of “religious persecution” from right-wing Christians. They stomp and fume that their religious liberties are being denied. With utmost certainty they affirm that this is a Christian country and that our laws should be based on Biblical principles.
Even one of our political parties, the GOP, has strong Christian-based leanings. Conservative Christian lawmakers are constantly pushing their agenda of religion-based beliefs, anti-abortion being a hot topic.
Several of the current Republican presidential candidates are devout Christians who flagrantly espouse inserting more of Christianity into the lives of all American citizens.
There have been lawsuits from Conservative Christian business owners because they don’t want to serve LGBT citizens or Muslims.
The most recent fiasco with Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because of her religious beliefs, was determined by the courts to be unlawful and discriminatory. This was a clear case of a public servant refusing to do her job. She was mixing religion with federal law and should have stepped down. Instead she was jailed – rightly so, and not in “persecution” as her supporters claim. Evangelical Christians held her up as the poster child of discrimination and attack on Christianity.
Recently, Airline High, a public school in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, was warned by the ACLU to stop openly proselytizing Christianity in school. The letter from the ACLU warned that the “prayer boxes with Christian symbols throughout the school,” and “religious messages on the school’s website,” were in clear violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The school’s “Fellowship of Christian Athletes,” placed the prayer boxes around the school. Also mentioned was the use of the word “God” in messages and on the school website. As of today, the phrase, “May God Bless You All” is still on the front page of the site.
Conservative Christians need to look at their version of persecution.
What they are actually doing is trying to force their religion on others in the public sector. That IS persecution of those of other faiths.
It is not persecution that they have been told to stand down in regard to pushing their beliefs. It is the law.
Just like those “terrorists Muslims” you rail against, who impose Sharia Law, you would do the same thing here in this country if you could.
It is because they have been so brainwashed by their religion to think that Christianity is the only religion.
They mistakenly think that Christianity should be the religion of the United States. Wrong again. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof.” That means, Conservative Christians, you lose. Clearly indicated is the fact that there can be no “religion” of the United States.
You have no right to try to force your religion on students in a public school. You have no right to force the citizens of this nation to conform to your religious doctrine. You also have no authority to mandate that women of this country follow your views on abortion by using the Christian religion as evidence. At public gatherings, or in meetings of elected public servants, you have no right to “pray in Jesus’ name.”
We are a country of many different faiths. Our freedom of religion set forth by the founding fathers is not only a guarantee of our choice to worship as we please, but it is also protection from those who would try to force their beliefs on us. That means YOU, Conservative Christians!
Yes, you Christians are protected under the First Amendment. So are the Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Pagans and any other religion. It is also protection for those who choose not to believe in any religion.
You have no right to force your religion down the throats of others.
The 2016 election scares me because the Republicans scare me.
Looking at the lineup, from front-runner Donald Trump on down, it’s horrifically clear that the GOP has lost its mind.
Never mind – taking into consideration the voting records of the Republicans, along with the utterly ridiculous legislation they introduce, it should be painfully clear that they are not acting in the best interests of this country.
There’s something very wrong when those in government lose their sense of connection to the people they represent. Tragically, that seems to be the case in our government – not just with the Republicans.
Even before passage of Citizen’s United, corporate America has had a death grip on U.S. politics. We have not seen the likes of this since Boss Tweed and his cronies 100 years ago. We need to do something about this – get the money out of politics and overturn Citizen’s United.
The GOP has leaned too far to the right, embracing the whims of the Tea Party, but forgetting at the same time that they represent the citizens of this country – HUMAN BEINGS.
The current crop of Republican lawmakers and candidates also come dangerously close to slamming the door on separation of church and state, liberties and rights of (horrors!) the LGBT community. There’s the battle over women’s healthcare and the right of women to make their own decisions regarding an abortion. It’s nobody’s business whether or not a woman chooses to have an abortion, is lost on the Conservative Christians and the Republican party.
Then there’s blatant racism. The GOP has traditionally been the “old, white man’s party,” and with the likes of Donald Trump leading the polls, you’d have to be totally oblivious not to notice the thinly veiled hatred he espouses. Racists unite! The Republican party is yours!
Those with such leanings are buying into his rant of collecting 11 million illegal immigrants – which, hey – by the way, folks – aren’t all Hispanics, and shipping them back home. Trump is like Hitler with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Never mind — assuming it was even legal to do so, how in the hell is the government going to find these 11 million illegals and how is this roundup going to be paid for?
A presidential candidate should act with integrity and in defense of every ethnic and religious group in America. Trump had a chance to do this but he blew it. “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims,” stated a racist supporter at a recent rally. The man went on to reiterate that tired old “birther” theory about President Obama, something that Trump has vocally embraced in the past. What bothered me was that the Donald didn’t utter one word in the defense of Muslims in this country. That in itself tells volumes about him.
The whole lineup of GOP presidential hopefuls are pushing for more war. Trump is no exception. In regard to the Middle East Trump said:
“Iran is taking over Iraq 100%, just like I predicted years ago,” he said. “I say this, I didn’t want to go there in the first place. Now we take the oil.”
“We should have kept the oil,” Trump continued. “Now we go in, we knock the hell out of them, take the oil, we thereby take their wealth. They have so much money.”
“They have better internet connections than we do in the United States,” he complained. “They’re training our kids through the internet. We have to knock out their wealth.”
“We go in, we knock the hell out of them, take the oil.” No, Donald, you just can’t go “take the oil.” That’s an act of war.
Dangerous, very dangerous things come out of the mouth of this man running for President Of The United States.
He is not your ordinary politician: No, he’s not a politician and really has no clue about the political process. He’s a bully, an egotistical, spoiled-brat businessman who is used to getting what he wants and under the impression that he can just “do” things. That’s not how government works.
He’s also very vague on how he’s going to get things done as POTUS. On his website “Positions” page, he lists only 3 areas: Tax reform, immigration reform and 2nd amendment rights. If you do any research at all – and have followed anything but Fox News – you’ll find that his tax reform won’t truly impact the rich (like himself) and his immigration reform including of building a wall which he says that Mexico is going to pay for. Gee, has anybody asked Mexico about this?
What about foreign policy, Donald? Are you ready to hold American companies who’ve outsourced millions of jobs overseas accountable? How will you go about bringing jobs back to America? What about making corporate America and the rich pay their share of taxes – not just hedge fund managers as you recently suggested, but all the 1%? Why aren’t you commenting on environmental issues, climate change and renewable energy? Any ideas on how to reign in Wall Street? How about healthcare, overhauling the prison system? Student debt? Have you thought about the rights of workers and labor laws? What about raising the minimum wage? What are you going to do about rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure?
I could keep going but you see my point. He hasn’t touched on a lot of issues, only saying, “It will be great,” It will be the best,” “You’re gonna love it,” “It’s just good management and I’m a good manager,” and endless reiterating of “I, I, I, Me, me, me!”
Trump is not reliant on donors: That means he can do and say what he wants. See below about a “filter.”
Yes, he doesn’t have much of a filter. Bravo. He says what he wants and doesn’t care who he offends. The POTUS needs restraint along with careful wording in response to world situations, and can’t go blurting out statements just because he’s pissed off. There can be no verbal wars on Twitter. The President needs tact and diplomacy. Donald has none of these. We can’t have the leader of the most powerful country in the world hurling insults at the likes of the Middle East, Korea, Russia or China. He’s dangerous. He’s too reactive.
He speaks for us little people. Got news for ya — so does someone like Bernie Sanders. Dating back to the 60’s, he began fighting in the Civil Rights Movement. His political stance reflects his determination to serve the people and has not changed since even before he was first elected to public office in 1981. Unlike Trump, Bernie Sanders IS giving concrete suggestions on how to carry out what he proposes.
Trump on the other hand, comes from money. He had a privileged childhood and today is worth billions. HOW can he possibly know what it’s like to be one of the “little people?” He doesn’t have a clue what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, to work 2, 3 or 4 jobs and barely get by, or to be one hospital stay away from bankruptcy. He’s just pandering to the desperateness of the ordinary citizen with no substance to back it up. He’s built his empire on the backs of “We the people.”
Diplomacy: See above on “he doesn’t have a filter.” Point taken.
His business accomplishments: Yeah, that’s nice that he’s head of a big mega-bucks corporation – but – being the President Of The United States isn’t the same as running a company. You can’t dictate the rules; there is a process involved. You can’t fire someone because you don’t like them. You also can’t declare bankruptcy.
Heck, Americans idolize him: God, I hope not! Unfortunately there are many conservative Republicans who think he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He’s tapped into the anger as well as the fear that Fox News has brainwashed them with.
Trump panders to Conservative Christians that his 2nd favorite book is the Bible – yet he can’t quote one verse.
He seems to have wrapped up many factions of the Republican party: the gun nuts, racists and he’s even courted the Conservative Christians. Claiming that the Bible is his second favorite book (after The Art Of The Deal which is, of course, about himself) he started toting a Bible with him to events. Most Christians I know who fervently believe in the Bible can also quote scripture ad nauseam. Trump can’t even relate one single line. He defends this with the suggestion that “It’s personal.” Yeah, Donald – you’re full of shit! Methinks it’s more sucking up to get the vote, don’t you?
Donald, in reality you are just like those politicians you are railing against.
What amazes me about Trump and the entire Republican party is:
HOW CAN ANYBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND VOTE FOR THESE PEOPLE?
You are voting against yourself!
Republicans consistently vote against any programs to help the struggling citizens of this country. They’ve tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act how many times? (I’ve lost count) and have voted against benefits and treatment for veterans. Their witch hunt on abortion led by Conservative Christians is relentless. There’s the Planned Parenthood debacle which is still going on. Name a program – any program – and they’ve voted against it! Their mantra of slashing taxes comes only at the expense of the average American citizen. They want to defund Social Security because they view it as an “entitlement.” It’s NOT the federal government’s money – it’s ours! Our infrastructure is crumbling, people are out of work and desperate, they’ve lost their homes due to Wall Street’s recklessness but all the Republicans want to do is see that corporate America and the rich keep getting richer! What boggles my mind is HOW can anyone who has half a brain who knows the trouble we’re in can continue to support their plans.
What the hell is wrong with you people?
Donald Trump is not the answer.
As far as I’m concerned, Bernie Sanders is leading the true revolution that this country desperately needs.
Women have been terminating unwanted pregnancies for centuries.
The first medically recorded instance of an abortion was 1500 B.C.
Women have used leeches, lye, douched themselves with poison, acids, consumed poison, pierced their uterus with knitting needles and used an assortment of other horrific things. Some lived. Many died painful and lingering deaths which they literally rotted from the inside out from gangrene.
This is not even ancient history. Some of it only goes back 40+ years.
The religious right can pound their Bibles and scream about the sanctity of life. Republican conservatives in individual states, egged on by the Conservative Christians, can make abortion unavailable by shutting down abortion clinics.
There is nothing which will stop women from obtaining abortions. The end of the law or, as it is going now in a state by state initiative, the end of a legal and safe, sterile place where these procedures are preformed correctly by a trained medical staff — will not deter women.
The result of making abortion illegal will be drive it back underground.
It will make criminals of women. It will criminalize those who act for them to give them safe ~but~ illegal abortions.
Women who cannot afford to go to a licensed [underground] physician may die – with those babies that the Conservatives believe so fervently that they have the right to protect. This will not only affect women but their families, too. This is madness!
Slowly but surely, without challenging the right of Roe vs. Wade THE RIGHT to a safe abortion is being taken away. Secretly, one abortion clinic at a time is being shuttered.
I want to know — where did this all come from?
Why can’t we just be allowed to make our own healthcare decisions and have true separation of church and state?
Roe vs. Wade became legal in 1973 for a women’s right to choose. It’s still legal after 40 years & a constitutional right.
This county’s Conservative Christians and the Republican party are out to abolish abortion rights one state at a time.
Rachael Maddow, in a recent segment on abortion rights, says that states are – one by one through Republican initiatives, making impossible restrictions and mandates for abortion clinics to adhere to. These restrictions require abortion clinics to have the same surgical specifications as hospitals do. In many cases these specifications are financially impossible as well as sometimes structurally impossible to comply with.
~The regulations require abortion facilities to meet the same building requirements as ambulatory surgical centers. They specify the size of exam rooms, require public corridors to have a minimum width of five feet and stipulate minimum ceiling heights of seven feet 10 inches, among other specifications (Women’s Health Policy Report, 9/21).~
In some states these are only a few clinics left; others have only one. It is clear that it is the right-wing Republican and conservative Christian agenda to take away the right to choose by simply closing abortion clinics.
From the Supreme Court decision, on “Casey”: Our law affords constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education. Carey v. Population Services International, 431 U. S., at 685. Our cases recognize “the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.” Eisenstadt v. Baird, supra, at 453 (emphasis in original). Our precedents “have respected the private realm of family life which the state cannot enter.” Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166 (1944). These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.
Then, oh my Gawd…, we have the “Personhood” bills which are making the rounds in many states.
In Casey, the Supreme Court held that states may enact some abortion regulations, but they may not “strike at the right itself” to terminate a pregnancy. A law redefining embryos as people is thus a direct attack on women’s constitutional right to choose. ~ Think Progress
Now that we’ve gotten that legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way my opinion is as follows:
It all boils down to three words:
It’s NOBODY’s business
I do not care if it violates your religious beliefs. That’s too damn bad! Your religious beliefs are not the same as mine. In our Constitution’s first amendment we have the right to believe in God in whatever form we are most comfortable with. That is what our country is based on: religious freedom.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Though some may argue that this is a Christian nation; it MAY have been at one time, oh about 400 years ago, but today it is not. We are a multilingual, multiracial nation of many religions. It seems of late, however, that the Christian right demands that “We The (American) People” believe like they do.
The fact that these “Personhood bills” want to give full rights to a fertilized egg, a few clumps of cells or something that it not capable of living life on its own and has no way to express its desires – is another attempt of the far Christian right to exert its views on the entire American public. THAT IN ITSELF IS A VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION GUARANTEEING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!
That should end the abortion debate right there.
Bottom line?
What has happened to the SEPARATION of CHURCH and STATE?
Get the religion out of politics – PERIOD!
Conservatives have NO RIGHT to FORCE THEIR BELIEFS on the ENTIRE UNITED STATES!
A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing! 
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