gays and the GOP
Andrew Sullivan responds to a Republican refugee:
When I think of a gay person who lives responsibly, saves his or her money, goes to church, contributes to charity and settles down in a stable relationship, I think: conservative. When such a couple wants to get married, I think: conservative. When such a person decides to serve his country in the military, I think: conservative. But the new Republican base sees all this and thinks: evil. It didn't have to end this way. But it has. The GOP won a couple of elections with the help of it. They have won a generation's contempt as well.
Aside from implying that responsibility, thrift, faith, altruism, fidelity, duty, and sacrifice are conservative values, Sully’s right on the money.
update (2/21 @ 10:11am):
Barefoot Bum calls Sullivan on his “particularly loathsome example of his smug self-righteousness,” and continues on to delineate some real differences between liberals and conservatives:
I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I believe that I have a positive obligation to actively promote the happiness of my fellow citizens and my fellow human beings, and this responsibility is by virtue of my citizenship, not just my particular preferences.I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I believe that as much as I admire what's good about my country, we have no sort of obligation whatsoever to promote our values at gunpoint; indeed we have an obligation to the contrary.
I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I do not become paranoid and delusional and see existential threats in a few criminal acts, however horrific, perpetrated by cave-dwelling religious fanatics.
I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I figured out that "compassionate conservatism" is an absurd oxymoron; and I figured it out in 1999.
I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I recognize and reject the conservative dog-whistle of "personal responsibility" as "I've got mine, Jack."
I'm a liberal because, unlike conservatives, I do not ask for whom the bell tolls: It tolls for me. Every time.