Republican Prejudices

I was going to give a year in review but with the Iowa primary just around the corner I changed my mind. A big part of the Republican campaign surrounds prejudices of many kinds and I’m compelled to wonder what’s happening in our country as I feel the candidates are breeding prejudices.

Anti-Gay support has been displayed by candidates Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, and Bachmann as they have all signed the Family Leader ‘Marriage Vow’ document and the pledge from the National Organization for Marriage (Romney has also signed this pledge). Although Paul has not signed these documents it was brought up that he in the 80s and 90s sent out newsletters that were racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Gay which brought support to him by White Supremacy and other hate groups. Although there was a survey showing that 53% of the US population is in favor of Gay marriages as of June 25, 2011 New York became the 6^th state that allows them. And don’t forget about the United Nations (UN) Rights Council statement called “Ending Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” supported by 85 countries which led to the June 17, 2011 UN Human Rights Council passage of a Gay Rights Resolution that supports equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation. And, on December 31, I hear Perry is making a comeback and has spent more on TV ads than any other candidate to push his family values/marriage support. The first amendment in 1789 separated church and state and yet a survey this year showed 20% of Republicans say they won’t vote for a Mormon for president.

As Gays want the privilege of getting married, straight people apparently don’t care. The 2009 US Census Bureau’s (latest figures posted) American Community Survey showed 19.1% married, 18.9% divorced, 11.3% widowed and 50.7% single. On December 13, 2011 we hear marriage is on the verge on losing its majority status in US; the PEW Research Institute found that marriage dropped 5% in 2010 (only 51% are married) and that 44% of young Americans believe marriage is becoming obsolete. It was also said that divorces are down because a lot of those that do get married are staying married; my thought is you can’t divorce if you’re not married. On December 3 it was said that Georgia mega-church Bishop Eddie Long’s wife is moving forward with divorce because of his improper sexual relations. In December it was also reported that the National Marriage Project found 65% of couples are less happy after having children. The secret for the 35% that are happy: give gifts (like a back rub), have a good sex life, date nights, sharing housework, living within your means, and a shared religion; couples with 4 or more children are the happiest. There was another study that found mothers with full or part time jobs are healthier than stay at home moms. Perhaps this helps in understanding the earlier report that 61% of the children under age 5 are killed by their parents. Republicans don’t want to support welfare, food stamps and foster programs and yet are against abortion (I guess they’d rather have kids born and killed, abused or homeless). On December 13 it was reported that per the National Center on Family Homelessness, 1 in 45 children are homeless; an increase of 33% since 2007. 

The Family Leader documents goes beyond Gays; it makes comments about Blacks. While our country is trying to do the right thing (on October 25, nearly 70 years after Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Marines to accept Black troops, the House voted unanimously to award the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest honor, to these 19,000 Black troops who served in places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa and on October 28 a federal judge approved a $1.2 billion settlement with black farmers who claimed they were unfairly denied loans over many years), a Kentucky Baptist Church banned an interracial couple from attending services. In a November a USA Today gallop poll it found 86% of Americans approve of interracial marriages as opposed to 48% in 1991 (92% of black men are with black women).   

We heard Tracy Morgan and Giants football player David Tyree comment on Gays and on October 27 I heard (on the View) that comedian Orlando Jones tweeted saying that Libyan rebels killed Gadhafi, if American liberals want respect they better stop listening to Aretha and kill Sara Palin. They all believe freedom of speech gives them the right to incite harm (Jones is lucky that Sara isn’t in office or the government would be all over him for making a threat). On November 2, I heard that the Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of Patriot and militia groups has grown from 149 in 2008 to 824 in 2010. Later in November we hear about another American born Al-Qaeda sympathizer and a Georgia terrorist plot by senior citizens.

The Republicans also want to do away with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform that has enabled Wall Street crooks to be prosecuted. I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh but I’ve decided he’s not a patriot but a staunch Republican who doesn’t care how ridiculous their social views are. At least Donald Trump on December 24 dropped his Republican registration and Paul on the 31^st said he might not support the Republican nomination (Chris Christie is supporting Romney). I agree with what I heard on TV’s Harry’s Law – every day we’re becoming less and less inclusive, that’s not what America is suppose to be; this is America we’re capitalism, free market, not Marxism; we’ve become self centered and selfish but we can’t give up our beliefs (social or otherwise).