Posted on 12/30/2010 2:25:53 AM PST by StatenIsland
Back in June, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel, whom many think would be an attractive 2012 presidential candidate, was quoted by Andrew Ferguson in The Weekly Standard as saying the next president "would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues."
That quickly attracted some harsh criticism from opponents of abortion and same-sex marriage. But Daniels has declined to back down, telling the Indianapolis Star the other day that such issues are secondary to the economy and foreign policy.
I think both Daniels and his critics have missed the point. The fact is that there is an ongoing truce on the social issues, because for most Americans they have been overshadowed by concerns raised by the weak economy and the Barack Obama Democrats' vast increase in the size and scope of government.
Those with strong positions on both sides of the abortion and gay rights issues don't like to hear that. They -- on both sides -- base their views on strongly held moral beliefs that are intellectually defensible and not vicious in character.
And for more than a decade, they had gotten used to a politics in which the demographic variable most highly correlated with voting behavior was religion, or degree of religiosity, and in which positions on abortion were very highly correlated with partisan preference.
Our politics in the years from 1995 to 2005 or so was like a culture war between two approximately equal-sized armies fighting it out over small bits of terrain that made the difference between victory and defeat. In that context, abortion and other cultural issues were litmus tests in the contests for both parties' presidential nominations.
I don't think that's likely to be the case in the future. You don't hear potential contenders for the 2012 Republican nomination talking about cultural issues very much. And the intramural arguments among Democrats are over things like tax cuts for the rich and the public option in the health care bill.
Even as economics is overshadowing all else, we seem to have reached a truce in the culture wars because important issues have been settled as a practical matter.
[snip]
But on the cultural issues that have been the focus of political contention, we seem to have reached a status quo that, while not acceptable to some with strong views on both sides, is one most Americans can live with. The truce that Mitch Daniels called for and that his critics decry is a fact of life.
Read more at
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2010/12/30/a_truce_in_culture_wars_as_voters_focus_on_economy
The left is never going to stop on “social issues”, regardless of the state of the economy - that’s the core of their program.
What did the dems prioritize in lame duck? Why, the homosexualization of the US military and Amnesty for illegals. Some “truce”.
Liberals have always pushed this argument, I don’t agree with the rino wing of the GOP.
What are 'social' issues? Is redistribution of wealth a fiscal or a social issue... Is thou shall not steal a social or a fiscal issue? The whole system will collapse before some will begin to comprehend there is no fiscal controls without 'social' controls.
We have hired to rule over US a bunch of liars, crooks, thieves and hypocrites... those would all be considered 'social' issues. We hired a stranger to rule over US and he will not even release his historical record, and the collectivist smile and yawn. We are in bondage and have even placed generations yet unborn into servitude for their whole lives...
Try calling a truce with the left on the culture war. They won’t keep the truce,even if they agree to one. Why should they? They’re winning it. They started the culture war and they aim to finish it—which means America’s finish.
The Leftist “CULTURE” of Death must be exterminated! No GOP social liberal is going anywhere,anytime,anyhow--or his or her supporters in the party will be SKINNED!!! America has earned TOTAL conservatives.
Given the current economic situation, I personally emphasize fiscal conservatism — but I will not turn my back on social conservatism. But “conservative” organizations like CPAC are extending a hand to homosexuals, and that is a bad move. I don’t see it as a truce when some “conservatives” are trying to help homosexuals.
The reality is that government needs to do less. We need less special legislation for special groups, and we need drastically less government spending. That kind of fiscal conservatism will lead inevitably to social conservatism. We can get there, but not if organizations like CPAC try to act like Liberal Democrats.
When the enemy is mounting a Banzai and Obamakazi attack. Ferget everything but repelling it.
With revenues drastically declining for social liberals in the near future, sure, they’d want a “truce.” Those monstrous revenues for such favored constituents were their advantage.
“Progressives” (man-haters and the like) also whined about their losses during the Great Depression, BTW. Healthier families circled their wagons then.
The RINOs sold out on DADT and the reason “social issues” seem less important now is that the Dems have already won all the legal battles and have every power they need to force the rest of us to comply. The winners don’t need to worry about the “culture wars” anymore.
Also, abortion and euthanasia are part and parcel of Obamacare and will be imposed on us through regulatory means that we cannot resist because the Dems have all the legal support they need without ever having had to directly address the issue.
The next thing you’re going to see will be extra-legislative attempts, probably through the several ACLU suits that have recently been filed, to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions and permit euthanasia and to get Catholic and in fact all Christian churches to perform gay “weddings” and have gay clergy. I think you will also see suits against Catholic and some other Christian chaplains in the military if they dare to say anything critical about homosexuality in their preaching or counseling.
So in other words, the legislative part of the “culture wars” is over and the left has won. There will be individual legal battles in the future, but they will (thanks to the press) not attract much attention and we will probably lose them as well because of what has already been done legislatively.
That doesn’t mean we won’t and shouldn’t resist, though. The entire power of the US government is now arrayed against us, and it’s not going to be easy, but maybe we can hope to preserve at least some spaces where these evil ideas and practices do not hold sway. But we’re now fighting a defensive war.
Michael Barone is an idiot. There’s no truce. If there was one, then why do the sodomites keep pushing to gain more ground? Why is homosexual sodomy now sanctioned by the US government, including the military? Why have we gained ZERO ground in overturning Roe v. Wade?
No, the immoral leftists are pushing forward on all fronts, and the only idiots who think we have a truce are the RINO centrists who claim their surrender is actually a truce.
LLS
He's one of the best, if not the best, political analysts in the country. Why do you think the Tea Party Movement focused on fiscal issues, limited government and Constitutional conservatism?
If there was one, then why do the sodomites keep pushing to gain more ground? Why is homosexual sodomy now sanctioned by the US government, including the military?
The left has been pushing social issues since the 1960s. The right just reacts. If the repeal of DADT leads to recruiting and retention problems, DADT could well come back. The military doesn't want a return of the draft.
Why have we gained ZERO ground in overturning Roe v. Wade?
There has been progress on the issue of abortion.
"At the same time, we are seeing abortion disfavored and restricted by state laws that are widely popular and have at least in some cases been upheld by the courts. Polls show that young voters, liberal on most cultural issues, have slightly more negative views on abortion than their elders."
No, the immoral leftists are pushing forward on all fronts, and the only idiots who think we have a truce are the RINO centrists who claim their surrender is actually a truce.
Social conservatives should resist leftist overreach. Just like the young are more opposed to abortion than their elders, most likely because they understand the actual biology, IMHO, in time they may understand the medical and psychiatric pathology that's attendant with homosexuality.
The young of today mostly grew up spoiled. There's nothing like hard times for getting people to wake up.
Because liberals cheat.
When the Supreme Court was reconsidering Roe vs. Wade during the argument phase of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, Harvard Law dean Laurence Tribe traveled to Vienna to intercept Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was attending an international law and judicial conference. Tribe and Kennedy met for 3-1/2 hours over coffee in a Viennese cafe, and were observed doing so by someone who told conservative columnist Robert Novak about it.
Kennedy then came home and voted to sustain Roe. His was the fifth vote.
Totally unethical. But that's how people like Tribe work. They'll tell us how to act, then do as they please when important issues allow them to "rise above."
Barone is good on some things, not on others. In the past he has been positively clueless on immigration for example.
And there hasn’t been any real progress on abortion, and there never will be so long as Roe is the law of the land. The Courts have no legitimate authority over the issue, so as long as they stay involved it is a conservative defeat.
And on gay marriage Barone does sound idiotic. How can their be a truce when one side is actively seeking to remove the issue from the proper democratic channels? The Left has sought, and will continue to seek judicial imposition of gay marriage/civil unions on the entire nation. They are being led in that right now by traitor Ted Olson. Who knows how Anthony Kennedy will vote?
Placemark for pingout.
The only threat to this incestuous arrangement in the past fifty years has been the TEA Party uprising of the past two years, focusing on controlling taxes, spending, and reducing government to its Constitutional size and function.
An astute observer will notice that BOTH the Democrats and RINOs worked together in this lame duck session to stir up the "social issues" pot once again. This serves to dampen enthusiasm among the heretofore united TEA Party movement and get us arguing amongst ourselves about the "social issues" once again, instead of pushing the unifying issues that just brought the greatest Republican gains nationwide since 1928, and the greatest conservative gains in the history of the USA.
So let us go ahead and quibble about these "social issues", while the Democrats and RINOs rebuild their power sharing arrangement, and finish dragging the USA into their communist abyss.
neverdem: “He’s one of the best, if not the best, political analysts in the country.”
If Michael Barone is one of the best, he doesn’t apparently know or care much about social issues. Your arguments supporting him seem to ignore the fact that he’s blatantly wrong. There is no truce on social issues. I think the word you are looking for is surrender. Our Republican leaders have pretty much surrendered on the social issues while the left continues to push forward with its agenda. If there’s a temporary cessation of hostilities, it’s entirely on the political right. The left certainly hasn’t entered into this so called truce that Barone imagines.
I agree. He's human. I'm just saying that we have the wind in our back with the Tea Party Movement, and its appeal to the greatest number of voters. I don't want them to dilute their message with other issues. I agree with social conservatives on most issues. My perspective is tactical, not philosophical.
There are others not connected directly to the Tea Party Movement who can make the arguments against abortion and gay marriage.
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