{"id":52711,"date":"2012-02-04T03:38:40","date_gmt":"2012-02-04T08:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=52711"},"modified":"2012-02-04T03:38:40","modified_gmt":"2012-02-04T08:38:40","slug":"tough-love-and-common-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/tough-love-and-common-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough Love and Common Sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It happens every time. Give ’em an inch, they’ll take a mile. Radical conservatives are doing what they’re famous for: pushing their own personal agenda up the arse of everyone else in the name of “American values” and their conviction that all people must join them in obedience to their religious convictions or there will be hell to pay. I know what you’re thinking: OMG, she’s going to bitch about the Republicans again. Yes. Yes, I am. And it’s not because I’m warring with my neighbor or judging some cross-section of humanity or furthering an us\/them agenda; it’s because radical Republicans — bless their bony heads — have become the impediment against which we must all push if we are to stop our downward spiral, restore our civil liberties and knit up the nation’s wounds.<\/p>\n

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Admittedly, I have a bias. I was raised in a socially liberal, politically conservative household. That gave me a foot in both worlds. If I turned out politically and socially liberal, it’s because I found conservatism to be incestuous, mean-spirited and sclerotic. In my opinion, it’s downright un-American! Read history and you can only call the marriage of religion and government odd bedfellows, merging their authority in an uneasy arrangement of divided control over the citizenry, with absolute obedience to each required upon pain of death.<\/p>\n

This nation purposely separated religious from governmental power for the very reason that liberty could not survive their combined influence, but as a lower vibrational philosophy, it’s hard to snuff out. Religion has never given up trying to pull us back into servitude. Listen, in your heart of hearts you know Pope Ratz would love to have that power again, impressing us willful little peons who oppose his message of straight, unprotected but absolutely married sex with his own version of the wrath of Gawd. It was as recently as 1908 that the Vatican’s Congregation of the Inquisition was renamed the Holy Office, which in the 1960s became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Perhaps you recognize it as the Vatican office that Cardinal Josef Ratzinger ran before he became Pope Benedict XVI? See? Incestuous, mean-spirited and sclerotic, not to mention a tad sadistic.<\/p>\n

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But the days of kings and queens and popes are gone, and I’m an American, which is why — especially as a female — I could turn my back on organized religion in my youth and adopt my own version of morality without being imprisoned, tortured or killed. That still isn’t possible in some countries today. Our liberty is not accidental. This nation didn’t just “get around” to declaring its democratic underpinnings, it was “born” that way. Since its founding, America has been a grand experiment in secular liberalism. What was implied but never implemented in its infancy — racial equality, gender equality — is slowly making its way toward solid footing now, and it must be so, if we are to live up to our promise.<\/p>\n

The guarantees espoused by our Constitution and Bill of Rights were radical at the time. They still continue to be a moving target for those who want us to fail, and they are no picnic to administer. Never before had a citizenry been promised this level of equality and opportunity, free speech and common good. It’s no wonder we were considered rowdy upstarts and shiftless outliers by the properly civilized of the day, who relied on monarchy, class consciousness, colonization and slavery to fill their coffers and further their ambitions. It took us awhile to sort that out; in fact, we’re still sorting out that influence, hoping to leave it behind. We’re still fighting to fulfill the promise of democracy, and the examples of freedom-fighting in the Mideast illustrate how lazy we’ve become at defending our own — not counting the #occupy, of course; they’re showing real courage.<\/p>\n

Acting as a counterweight against runaway liberalism, the conservatives have had their place in the social fabric since the country’s inception. Our brief period of middle-class comfort lulled us into believing we all had similar populist values, but that was never actually true, and it should be obvious by now that there is no actual purpose for conservatism, which makes no pretense of governing except to impede liberalism. In America, where exploiting natural resources was our forebears’ principal industry, keeping ourselves from falling back into either theocracy or corporate dominance has always been a tricky balance. Ben Franklin pointed out that we had a Republic, if we could keep it. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’re having a bit of trouble keeping it, and we won’t, if the conservatives get their way.<\/p>\n

How bizarre is it that the flagship country of global progressivism is having an internal conflict with the principles of modernity? Blame the end times: no, not the end of civilization, the end of tyranny. That’s what we’re fighting for now. With the Republicans turned manic, their numbers including our most racist, most religious and most obstructionist citizens, there seems no end to their determination to take us back into old alliance with ruthless authority and power. Still, there seems to be some wobble on the right of the political spectrum. Conservative nonsense can suddenly be pointed out, pushed back, and countered. The mood of the country is still polarized, but common sense may be making a comeback.<\/p>\n

It would be all right with me if we retired the parties and started over. Republicans are ridiculously compromised by money and privilege, while Democrats seem completely cowed by years of compromise and fiscal obligation. But even if we changed the names, we’d still be some level of progressive or conservative at heart, all Americans with different degrees of social awareness. Each of us is engaged in personal politics of some kind, so pick yer poison, citizen, come down on one end of the spectrum or another. The far edges are, supposedly, socialism and fascism.<\/p>\n

If you Google those options, you get some interesting possibilities. The opposite of socialism, say some, is “degenerate economic conservatism,” otherwise known as “capitalism.” Another listing calls it the “economic feudalism of Ayn Rand” and an unfettered free market. My favorite? Socialism is “practical Christianity,” the kind I was taught as a kid. Still, somewhere between socialism and fascism, between liberalism and crony capitalism is a moderate place we might all meet: Ben’s republic, if we can keep it.<\/p>\n

Plainly, until we can open up the minds of those who keep them shut tight, fearful of outside influence, there can be no spirit of cooperation that might lead to a middle ground. Obama, announcing the ambitious drawdown of troops in Afghanistan next year, seems intent on pounding swords into ploughshares, to the amazement of all but his own countrymen. Here’s where the rubber hits the road, as regards the parties — the liberals are skeptical that he’ll do it, while the conservatives are horrified that he might! The hungry Gawd of Rogue Capitalism cannot live without the spoils of war.<\/p>\n

The GOP is deaf to the voice of reason, dull-witted to the possibility of collaboration or peaceful co-creation. This is the infamous black\/white thinking we’ve learned to identify after long years of Bushie tutorial. This is what thrives on fear and tribalism and what has caused science to question the intelligence<\/a> of those who hold conservatism dear.<\/p>\n

Yes, give them an inch and they will try to shove you off the bus, and likely, under it. Ask Karen Handel, the anti-choice vice president of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation who lobbied — successfully — for the largest breast cancer philanthropic organization to withhold grant money from Planned Parenthood. Some $600,000 was diverted away from PP, which provides underserved women with breast cancer screening. Although no Komen money has been used for abortion services — which are, I might add, legal in this country — the anti-choice Komen founder, an ambassador under George W. Bush, quietly approved this move. Pleading the action, which effectively withholds mammograms from millions of women, as a response to the investigation of Planned Parenthood initiated by House Republicans caused several high-ranking members of their organization across the nation to call bullshit and resign.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Komen quickly found itself in hot water. The public rushed to Planned Parenthood’s defense. It received $400,000 in donations in the 24 hours following Komen’s announcement, and Mike Bloomberg pledged $250,000 to help make up the loss. To his credit, he nailed this issue in his statement, saying, “Politics have no place in health care.\u201d\u201d Oh, that it were true, given what we know about big pharma and for-profit medicine, but now that Bloomberg has given us the slogan, and the public has our back, we must come together to MAKE it true.<\/p>\n

Today, Planned Parenthood is $50,000 to the good, and a clear message has been sent to those who seek to punish women for taking control of their own bodies and future. A news alert, as I write, tells me that Komen has retreated from its position and has apologized to the American people, but it hasn’t mentioned if it will fund next year, saying only that it will “preserve PP’s eligibility to apply for future grants.” That tells us it has covered its ass from a barrage of condemnation and done no more than capitulate to pressure applied. And, lo — a star in the heavens! It also tells us that the radical-right is now vulnerable and that populist pressure works.<\/p>\n

So don’t stop pressing on the gas pedal, my progressive friends. That’s the liberals’ Achilles heel, thinking that because they’ve won the day, they’ve won the game. The game of citizen activism, my dears, never ends. If the conservatives are simply in place to see to it that liberals DON’T win the day, then they’ll not stop no matter how much is won. Consider that once Obama took the Oval Office, the first speech from the opposition dedicated the next four years to tossing this dark stranger out of it, no matter the cost to party or country. They made good their promise, didn’t they? We must make good our promise, as well, that the Enron era is over and that racism, sexism and austerity have no place in civil society.<\/p>\n

A blogger over at Huffington suggested that we send a donation to PP and indicate that it is “in honor” of Karen Handel. She’ll get cards from Planned Parenthood informing her of our contributi\u00adons “in her name.” Not only will we have the pleasure of supporting a service vital to the community and our needy sisters, we’ll be putting the anti-choicers on notice that they are NOT the only game in town.<\/p>\n

Liberals have a big tent, they’ll stand up for everybody’s rights. Ask the ACLU, who serve the legal interests of the hateful, as well as the hated. That’s just common sense, because some day — if you will — they’ll come for you; we must stop injustice wherever we find it. “We, the People” includes everybody in the nation, not just those who have passed some tribal test of deservedness. While that may be too much democracy for some of our citizens, too much liberty for others, that’s just how it is. That’s how we were designed and there’s no going back, despite the systemic numbing of our national expectations. How we EVER came to the place where we allowed our constitution to be ignored and our privacy invaded still befuddles me.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we’re taking care of the Pubs’ children and grandchildren, the ones who won’t have sufficient sex education or health care, who won’t be taught critical thinking or ethical studies because their version of church\/state has been surrendered to visions of apocalypse, anachronistic programming and self-hatred. We’re saving them from themselves, and somewhere down the line, when they clear the cobwebs of cowboy capitalism from their heads and detox from decades of merchandise glut, who knows — they might even thank us!<\/p>\n

Until then, we’ve got to love this union so much that we preserve it for the generations ahead, the true conservation of our national blueprint and resources. For love of country, and our neighbor as our self, we can’t give an inch until we’ve driven a stake through the heart of rogue capitalism and nihilistic religious practice. With love in our hearts then, not another inch! Not one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves It happens every time. Give ’em an inch, they’ll take a mile. Radical conservatives are doing what they’re famous for: pushing their own personal agenda up the arse of everyone else in the name of “American values” and their conviction that all people must join them in obedience to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}