What do the Republicans stand for these days?

[mdlbear]

[With permission, from a locked post by my nephew, because I felt it needed wider distribution.]

So, can someone explain to me what the Republicans stand for these days?

See, I was listening to a party guy on the radio [the show was On Point, on NPR] on the way home talking about what they need to do to regain power. That got me wondering if the Republican party stands for anything other than hate?

- small government? I think not.
- individual freedoms? Yeah right.
- fiscal responsibility? Have you looked at our deficit?
- pro-business? I can't really see how.

So...
- hate against pregnant women who want an abortion? Check.
- hate against gays who want to marry/adopt/have eights/etc... Yup.
- hate against people with drug problems (ie - throw them in jail) rather than rehab for them? Yup.
- hate against individual rights by limiting civil liberties? Yes.
- hate against the environment? I think so.


There was a caller who said that when he watched the democratic convention he saw a group of people full of hope and positive energy. When he watched the republicans he saw anger and fear. Is it any surprise Obama won?

So, I'm serious here. I know some of my friends at one point or another considered themselves to be republican. Step up and explain why please. I really want to know.

[I also have a link to this Salon article that essentially asks the same question.]

Comments

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

One of the articles I just posted a link to contains the following food for thought:

The problem with the modern conservative movement is that it was built around a trenchant and compelling critique of liberal excess. That was the message Reagan rode to office. Heck, a version of that message elected Clinton, too. But the movement always had an easier time agreeing on what it opposed - taxes, regulation, government - than what it supported, other than a strong national defense. As it rolled back the excesses it identified (and, in many cases, went quite a bit further) the party found itself bereft of a positive agenda. On the issues most important to the base, it went ever further to the right; on those most significant to the public at large, it moved to the center. The result was the worst of both worlds: cutting taxes while increasing spending; appointing conservative judges while expanding executive authority; cutting social welfare for the poor while expanding or preserving broader benefit programs.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

The GOP right now resembles Harvey Dent... or Dr. Henry Jekyll. Definitely two personalities running around in there. I know old-school Republicans who are for small government, for business, for freedom... I count a few of them among my friends. (You know one of them; she got disgusted enough with the Dark Side of the GOP to vote Obama.) I also know *of* a bunch of right-wingnut pseudoreligious bigots - some only a single bus ride away! - that are currently wagging the GOP elephant... it's pretty freaking disgusting, frankly.

It's a surprise that Obama won simply because the Hyde side of the GOP was willing to do just about anything to win; the surprise was the tsunami of folks who inundated them at the ballot box and made all their dirty tricks moot.

What the GOP does with itself right now is not my problem. My problem is cleaning up their mess.

But right now I've another mess to clean up, one I'm getting paid to do. More later.

Yup, that's me too

[carmiel.livejournal.com]

Yes, I used to be registered a republican, but not for a while now. They used to be for the the stuff you listed above, but they've been taken over by the control freak religious right IMHO. Those are the people who hate *all* that is not like them and use God's name to justify hurting others.
BTW, it's not just hate against women who want/need an abortion, they hate women period, as evidenced by the preference for us to be at home, and silent under the tyrany of a husband. Which is why I also say the Christians left me too.
We who are kind, compassionate and reasonable really need to take back our country. The election was a small start, but only a step.

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

I can see the "pro-business" with blinding clarity. Their whole attack on the environment? That's so businesses don't need to spend money to act responsibly. Likewise with their weakening of safety standards, especially in the workplace. Not to mention welfare to corporations turning a(n) (often huge) profit, or the original bailout plan, which would have let the CEOs of the fraudulant/failing companies off with retirement benefits which could feed the whole country they'd shipped their grunt-jobs to.

I agree with carmiel with regards to the individual freedoms bit. Fundamentalists of any flavor can only hate those who feel differently from them. Unfortunately they have the Republican Party in a stranglehold, mainly because big businesses don't bother them, so they can ally with the neocons.

Oh, and the whole "spreading democracy" thing? The fundies love it since they get whole new captive audiences to convert, and the big businesses like it because they (wait for it) get money out of it. Whether it's contracts to "rebuild" or new workers to exploit or new customers for their wares or equipping our side, they benefit financially.

[mdlbear]

"pro-business" only in the limited sense of being pro- the kind of huge oligopolies or monopolies that can contribute large amounts of cash. They're firmly opposed to regulated or socialized infrastructure businesses (e.g. health care, telecom, internet, public transportation) even where those would benefit all (other) businesses. They're firmly on the side of big, centralized business as opposed to decentralized small businesses: record labels vs. musicians, factory farms vs. family farms, etc. even where the public would be better served by the small businesses.

[tagryn]

The GOP did stand for the first things, the problem is as McCain said, "we came to change Washington, and let Washington change us instead." The DeLay/Hastert/Bush GOP lost its way from their basic principles, giving in to the temptations of power (or as they probably saw it, 'doing what is necessary to keep this nation safe'), and now has to work its way back to them. A party rarely exits office after 8 years in the same shape it was coming in; the Democrats were in similar condition after eight years of Clinton, with the DLC wing fighting it out with the more leftist/progressive wing to define exactly what the party stood for.

You forgot strong national security on the GOP side. If you look at the priorities polling by party, that's 2nd-highest for Republican voters vs. near-last for Democrats. Also lower taxes, 3rd-highest priority for Republicans.

I suspect social conservatives see the Democratic Party in a similar way as you do the GOP, starting with treatment of the unborn (4th highest priority for Republicans), but you'd have to ask one.

[mdlbear]

Started long before the currently-outgoing Bush; it was just a lot starker with the current administration.