R.A.W. Rightists against "W".

[coloradodem2005]

Dear friends, it must be told that not everyone in the right wing agrees with the Bush Administrations’ policy of warfare and welfare. As a right winger, I am appalled by Bush’s LBJ domestic policy and his Wilsonian foreign policy. He, like every other neo-con, is a leftist in Elephant’s clothing.

His crimes against the faith are many:

-Medicare entitlement increases

-No Child Left Behind

-A policy of Outsourcing, depriving Americans of millions of high paying jobs

-A blind eye toward illegal immigration and a threatened amnesty for illegal aliens who threaten to steal jobs from minorities.

-A Wilsonian foreign policy that promises to liberate every man, women, and child regardless if it is in America’s best interest. Where ever there is “repression,” Bush has threatened warfare.

Rightists who stand against these abhorrent aims, which flout the Constitution, stand up and be heard! Post and count yourself among the silent majority.

To my liberal foes, there is much we can do to stop the neo-con agenda. I believe common ground can be found in ending free trade and resuming America’s foreign policy to the Reaganism of “Peace through strength” and war only when necessary.

http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&forumid=10&threadid=16248

[Liberty Belle]

1. Welcome to DU!

There are many who share your concerns, on both the right and left.
While we may never agree on every issue, I'm all for working together to defeat measures that we can all agree are bad for our country and our children. As the old saying goes, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bush and his top advisors are dangerous zealots who are destroying much that we all should care about.

In our community, we have been talking about getting groups of concerned citizens together to meet with our Republican Congressman. Our hope is to form a bipartisan group including people who actually voted for him, as he will be more likely to listen and respond to concerns on specific issues, such as Social Security changes, jobs outsourcing, the war, and so forth.

Most liberals and conservatives should agree that Bush's' interventionist foreign policy forays are not in our best interest. George Washington warned against precisely such interventionism in his farewell address. Any of us with draft-age children shudder at this reckless foreign policy.

Outsourcing jobs has hurt American workers and our economy, while No Child Left Behind is loathed by most teachers and students.

Running up the biggest deficit in history, while allowing the US to become dangerously indebt to foreign interests, is also not a conservative value. Conservatives used to criticize Democrats for big spending, but Clinton did manage to balance budgets, while W. spends money like drunken sailor.

Many conservatives and liberals are also concerned over the erosion of our civil liberties (ie, police state provisions of the Patriot Act and especially stopping Patriot II). Restoring the Fairness Doctrine to limit media bias on either side is another worthy goal. Taking steps to slow or stop global warming to preserve our planet (in light of frightening global scientific reports out this week) also seems a conservative thing to do; ignoring science is neither rational nor prudent--and after all, Teddy Roosevelt was the founder of the conservation movement. Britain's chief scientist warns that global warning poses a greater threat to our security than global terrorism.

I may not share your view on Medicare, if I understand you correctly. I believe Social Security and Medicare are important programs that should be preserved to care for our elderly. Before Social Security, 50% of seniors lived in poverty. Today it's 10%, but the Bush proposal would roll back that clock. I am less familiar with the Medicare issues but have heard that Bush aims to destroy both Medicare and Social Security in the long run, as he views them as just big spending programs, not safety nets for our parents, ourselves, and our children upon reaching old age.

I do not view Bush as a "leftist in elephant clothes" but rather a neoconservative who is most interested in pandering to his corporate donors than pleasing voters of any political stripe. Thus he ignores liberals and sells out conservatives on many issues.

That said, for the next four years, I think citizens of all parties should work together on whichever issues we find agreement on. If enough of us speak out in unison, we can make a difference.

I applaud you for starting your website, which I'll add to a list of resources I've compiled on conservatives who now realize the dangers posed by this administration and now oppose Bush. I'd be happy to share those with you, if you'd like to use them to persuade other conservatives of the dangers we all face.

[coloradodem2005]

3. ?

I'm a leftist. I just saw it and posted it. I have been here for sometime. I think it is interesting that the paleocons are talking like they are.

[Liberty Belle]

2. Why A conservative religious leader fears the religious right

A CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST & EX-MORAL MAJORITY LEADER DENOUNCES BUSH & RELIGIOUS RIGHT’S EFFORTS TO DESTROY FREEDOM

Chuck Baldwin, a Baptist pastor and past executive director of Florida’s Moral Majority who once rallied his parishioners to build a monument to aborted babies, makes this startling confession: “No one can honestly question my commitment to pro-life, pro-family conservative causes. That being said, the Religious Right, as it now exists, scares me.”

The Religious Right has become a propaganda machine for George W. Bush and the Republican Party, Baldwin observes, then goes on to criticize the right-wing establishment for “trampling the very principles which the Religious Right claims to represent.” No longer does the Religious Right represent conservative, Christian values, he argues. “Instead, they represent their own self-serving interests at the expense of those values…the Religious Right is actively assisting those who would destroy our freedoms.”

Baldwin faults religious leaders for failing to resist passage of the Patriot Act, creation of the Homeland Security department, and appointment of a National Intelligence Director. “Neither did the Religious Right offer even a whimper of protest as President Bush and Republicans in Congress created a first-ever national ID card in the new intelligence bill, which eerily has more in common with early Twentieth Century German and Russian intelligence institutions than anything envisioned by America’s Founding Fathers.”

Further, he recognizes the danger of wedding Church and State while demonizing opposing political interests. He warns that the Christian Right views the war in Iraq as a holy crusade and Bush as a religious leader. “America is fast taking on the shape of the old Holy Roman Empire and President Bush is quickly morphing into a modern day Caesar,” he says, then speculates on whether America is heading for a modern-day religious inquisition led by the Religious Right.

“I used to believe that liberals were paranoid for being fearful of conservative Christians gaining political power,” concludes the fundamentalist leader, who is also a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. “Now, I share their trepidation.”

Read the full text of this story, first published in The Covenant News, at:
http://dailykos.com/story/2004/12/18/4283/8852