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

[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.