You Talking to Me???


So the big Values Voter Summit wrapped up today in Washington, DC.  The summit is billed as the premier event for conservatives and a “must attend” event for any Republican running for President. Since I’m neither conservative nor a candidate for president, I didn’t go.

The summit was sponsored by several organizations identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups including the Family Resource Council and the American Family Association. Additional sponsors include Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and the Institute for American Values. Nazis, skinheads, and the Ku Klux Klan apparently missed out on this great opportunity to meet with like-minded individuals.

I’ve seen a lot of reports from the summit and checked out the web site. What kind of values did the summit promote? The web site says limit government, reduce spending, champion traditional values, and protect America. Of course, the devil is in the details.

The centerpiece of the agenda is “champion traditional values.” That means outlaw gun control, abortion, same-sex marriage,  gays in the military and anything else you might construe as equal rights for homosexuals. They want religion in schools, as long as it’s Christian. Anything else is a problem. Apparently, Mormons, Muslims, and non-Messianic Jews are just as threatening to traditional values as the gays.

Supporters of traditional values support the death penalty. They’d like to see the elimination of “free rider” programs like food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and unemployment compensation. Judging from recent debates, they also would allow people without health insurance to die, while at the same time, decrying the requirement that everyone have health insurance. I guess the good lord will provide.

They want to cut government spending to limit government, except of course for government involvement in the personal lives of gays, women seeking abortions, slackers, and others who dare to defy “traditional values.” Aside for forcing their views on others, the real deal here is to cut government regulation so businesses can victimize workers, plunder our natural resources, and trash the environment with impunity.  They want to eliminate cushy government jobs, too–things like teachers, university professors, firemen, policemen, and other government workers.

They want to protect our country from science, homosexuals, abortionists, immigrants, and anyone who isn’t Christian. Their United States is a country club that needs high walls and armed security guards to keep the riffraff out. They don’t believe in climate change, evolution, or poverty. They don’t believe in much of anything, and are opposed to practically everything. They practice the politics of no, and of wishing failure on duly elected leaders with whom they disagree.

In short, supporters of the Values Voters Summit want to change everything about our country. Instead of valuing diversity, the want everyone to be just like them.  Religion is a weapon and they know how to use it.  Instead of loving one another–the biggest message common to all major religions, they hate people whose lives they don’t understand.

These are not the values that made our country great. These are the beliefs that our nation of immigrants sought to escape when they came here. This new brand of conservatives don’t want liberty and justice for all. They want control, and if they get their way, will severely limit life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for everyone else.

Apparently, integrity is no longer a traditional value.  All of the Republican presidential candidates showed up to speak to participants at this confab of hatred. They certainly weren’t talking to me. That’s just one reason why none of them will get a vote from the residents of…

My Glass House


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