Posted on 10/25/2010 10:52:06 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
When we ask conservative Republicans running for office this year where they stand on important social issues like gun control and abortion, we typically get a canned response that goes like this:
"Golly, when I knock on doors and talk to the voters, they just don't care about that stuff. All they want to talk about is jobs."
There is truth to that. The bad economy is foremost on the mind of most voters.
But that response is also a transparent dodge, a way to divert attention from what can be extreme, even dangerous, views.
In Illinois, nobody has played dodgeball harder than state Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor. And nobody has had better reason. Brady's deeply conservative views on many social issues, if widely known, would appall the more moderate Republican and independent voters he needs to win.
Let's review the record:
Gun control. Brady favors allowing ordinary people, with a state license, to walk around with hidden guns -- in their purses and pockets, tucked in their boots -- like in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Good luck with that the next time a rider on the CTA grows testy.
Brady opposes all further restrictions on guns, including a ban on assault weapons. And he has no problem with unlicensed gun dealers selling weapons -- even at your neighborhood garage sale -- without doing a background check on the purchaser.
Brady has opposed legislation to increase penalties for the unlawful use of a weapon near a school, and he has backed a law to allow gun shop owners to destroy purchase records after just 90 days instead of the current 10 years. That would make it far more difficult for police to identify the owner of a gun used in a crime.
Creationism. Brady believes it would be perfectly fine if our public schools taught that cavemen rode around on dinosaurs. He would not object -- that's their business -- if a school district decided to teach the pseudo-science of creationism, which purports that the Bible is literally true and God created the world in six days. Brady says he personally believes in both the literal truth of the Bible and the theory of evolution, which is simply impossible. One negates the other.
Abortion. Brady opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest or to protect the health of a woman. He makes only one sliver of an exception -- to save a woman's life.
Birth control. Brady favors a law that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control, emergency contraception, HIV or any other purpose to which they have a moral or religious objection. As a state senator, Brady voted against requiring insurance companies to pay for prescription contraceptive drugs, even when the same companies cover male sexual performance drugs such as Viagra.
Gay rights. Lots of folks in Illinois oppose gay marriage and, to a lesser degree, civil unions. But Brady takes the most extreme view, going so far as to oppose a law that banned discrimination against gays in housing and employment.
As governor, Brady would have more say over some of these social issues than others, but he'd be free to use his bully pulpit to push his whole deeply conservative agenda. Perhaps more troubling, Brady's ideologically driven views reveal a man with little patience for serious analysis.
Nobody should be surprised that his solution to the state's budget crisis is an empty slogan -- "Cut a dime on a dollar."
We agree with those who say that a vote for Bill Brady is a vote to take back our state and country.
Back to about 1890.
ILLINOIS PING
Yeah, back to when every lawful citizen could legally carry a gun without government permission and for that reason, crime was much, much, lower than it is today.
“When we ask conservative Republicans running for office this year where they stand on important social issues like gun control and abortion, we typically get a canned response that goes like this:
‘Golly, when I knock on doors and talk to the voters, they just don’t care about that stuff. All they want to talk about is jobs.’”
Good. Perhaps we’ll go one cycle without wasting time on BS “hot-button” issues like these.
*Facepalm* bias alert!
WOW, Bill Brady really is a conservative! I wish I could vote for him. Thanks, SUN-TIMES!
“nobody has played dodgeball harder”
What do you call what Kirk and Alexi are doing?
Yeah. Who cares about our fundamental right to life and liberty.
It’s funny how you don’t hear conservative newspapers talking about ripping a baby out of a woman’s body or having the government knocking on your door to remove your weapon...something that liberals are all for...
Oh, wait...I forgot! There aren’t any conservative newspapers! Outside of the Washington Times, I mean.
They make Brady sound like Lucifer’s kid brother.
thinking these nitwits need to be b*tch slapped...
In a Tarantino movie the bad guys have guns and kill their unarmed victims...and I agree that that shouldn't be the norm.
"Back to about 1890."
It's a start but we must keep shooting for 1776.
Because hidden sounds scarier than concealed.
I have no idea what country these "Chicago Sun-Times editors" are living in, but shall-issue concealed carry is common throughout most of the United States, not just in Mr. Taratino's movies:
Yes, there are some states that are still "may-issue", but there only a very few benighted places left that are effectively "no issue."
Even better, constitutional carry is a growing trend; I hope to see at least one more state join Arizona, Vermont, and Alaska in the next year.
Looks like Illinois has a clear choice: A continuation of the Blago/Quinn administration, the most business unfriendly in the nation or someone with some common sense.
The reality is that our entire political system is broken. Not gonna get into all the components except one: So-called candidate debates. For one thing, they have become simply another opportunity for the left to push its agenda.
The sponsor of most of the big league “debates”, The League of Women Voters, has been coopted by the left. It is no longer even a neutral arbitor. It is as partisan as itcan be.
Also, these idiots don’t really debate anyway. Rarely do they even come close to answering the questions asked. Their answers 99% of the time are nothing more than an attack on their opponent. That is not useful.
What I want to know is what a candidate believes. Without knowing that all the rest is a waste of time.
Brady thinks that law-abiding Americans should be able to own guns, to defend themselves from criminals. Anyone who disagrees thinks that law-abiding people shouldn’t be able to defend themselves from criminals.
“SUN-TIMES GETS THE LIBEARL HATCHET OUT”
Conservatives and increasingly indies do not trust the propaganda coming out of the WH and their ministry of propaganda the ‘free’ press. What a joke.
Tell us how this works out for ya Sun Times...later on - don’t waste our time! (speaking to the Sun Times, btw...;))
GOTV!!
11/2!!
Lots of folks in Illinois ....
'Lots'? 'LOTS'??
Who the heck wrote this nonsense, a 4th grader?
You do NOT start a sentence with 'LOTS'.
It is 'A Lot', two words you morons. As in: " A lot of folks in Illinois...'
(It's garbage like this why we called this rag the 'Slum-Times')
That's odd. They must not have gone to VP Bite-Me's door (probably all that security and everything). He was saying during the '08 campaign the fireworks there'd be if Zero tried to take HIS shotgun.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.