Poor Republican

This is just a post to say Happy Thanksgiving.  Take a break from politics and all the hostility and frustration that tend to go with the subject.  Enjoy time with your friends and family.  Eat until you explode.

Just as importantly, take some time to say thanks.  We have things to be thankful for, don’t we?  We have friends, family, lots of material things, and lots of other less tangible things that we don’t appreciate enough.  Really stop, take a breath and ENJOY the things around you that you should notice every day but don’t.

I will be thanking God for all the things I have and the people I love and who love me.  I will also be praying for the safety and success of our troops in all the countries of the world they serve in, for without them out there we would be so much less safe here.  And I will pray for all of us traveling tomorrow, that we have safe trips and failing that, that we have the peace and strength to deal with the alternative.

So Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and God Bless.

Well, it depends on who you ask, but I refer to the “right wing” that the media always labels Conservative Republicans.  Has anyone ever noticed that the media rarely uses the term “left wing” when referring to Democrats?  There are Republicans who clearly are only in the party to fool certain voters with the (R) in front of their name, so I don’t count them in my definition.

A real Republican believes in Conservative values, starting with the Constitution.  Often described as “strict constructionists,” we believe, oddly, that the Constitution means what it actually says it does.  Liberals like to call it a “living document,” which is liberal-speak for “we can make it say whatever we want it to say.”  And they don’t only do it with the Constitution.  They also like to pretend they’re Catholic while supporting gay marriage and abortion.  Apparently Catholic teachings are “living” also.  It allows a liberal to practice moral ambiguity while claiming to adhere to the rules.  A conservative believes that rules are rules.

Liberals like to claim that the Founding Fathers never anticipated (insert liberal cause here), and therefore the Constitution has to be “interpreted” in a more modern light.  This is patently false.  If the Constitution were meant to be redefined any time it was considered inconvenient, there would be no amendment process.  The fact that it can be amended through a very long and complicated process means two things.  One, it means that the document is supposed to be changed literally, not interpretively.  Two, it means that the process is supposed to be hard, to prevent the whim of a majority from altering the founding document of this country.  In other words, it’s not supposed to be changed by a couple of unelected judges.  Can you say Roe v. Wade?  Imagine if every defendant could go into criminal court and argue that a law is outdated or otherwise unfair to him and have a chance the judge would simply change it?  Or what if we could argue that anti-lynching laws were living documents?  Would liberals tolerate such loose definitions when the laws involve causes they support?

A Republican believes in the rule as written.  Liberals believe the rules mean whatever they want them to mean whenever the situation calls for a different interpretation.  Does that mean a Republican is perfect?  Of course not.  Republicans break laws, cheat on their spouses, etc. just like anyone else.  We’re human beings.  The difference is that a Republican knows a rule is being broken and most of the time will resign, take responsibility and pay the price.  Other Republicans will denounce the offender and demand accountability.  A Democrat will deny, claim the rule is unfair, and refuse to accept responsibility.  And other Democrats will rally around and help.

Basically, a Conservative Republican believes that there is right and wrong, that rules are rules, and that the country is not better off chasing “change” and “progress” for the sake of themselves.  We don’t want to fix what isn’t broken.  Liberal Democrats believe there is no right or wrong (”don’t be judgmental”), rules are NOT rules (living documents) and the country should always be making progress (they like to call themselves “progressives”) regardless of the direction.  And they are willing to break anything and everything so they can be the ones to “fix” things.

Starting on January 21, 2009, you will see exactly what I mean.

The common stereotype for Republicans is that they are rich, white, racist, and selfish.  Okay, they are mostly white, but that is by choice of all the non-white individuals who choose not to join the party.  There is no entrance requirement to become a Republican.  You don’t have to be white, rich, or even a Christian.  You can even be gay…witness the Log Cabin Republicans.  Nobody is turned away from the party; if Republicans are mostly white, it’s because most people who are not white are too busy sucking up to the party that takes them for granted.

So how rich are Republicans?  The mean income of Republicans is typically somewhat higher than Democrats, but both are in six figures.  If you look at the map here, it’s easy to see the most of the states with the highest incomes voted for Obama:

http://www.bea.gov/regional/REMDMap/REMDMap.aspx

Then there’s Congress, where Democrats have more money too:

http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2008/guide/28506-1.html?type=printer_friendly

What about those “selfish” Republicans?  Republicans typically give a higher percentage of their incomes to charity than Democrats.  In addition, when taxes go down, Republican charitable giving goes up.  An easy example can be taken from the recent election.

Obama: 5.7% of income (on almost $4.4 million)

Biden:   0.06 to 0.31% of income

McCain:  25% of income (on a little more than $400k)

Palin:  Not released yet, but you can guess it’s higher then 0.06% yes?

Cheney:  More than 75% of income went to charity!

Yeah, we really elected the guys who care, didn’t we?

Racism?  How can you argue that one?  That’s really the point, isn’t it?  If you yell “racist” every time you don’t get or hear what you want, nobody can argue intelligently.  People have to spend all their time denying they’re racist.  And that’s the idea.  Odd, however, that Democrats want everyone divided up by race, color, creed, etc. on every form you fill out for the government.  They’re also the ones who promised that Social Security numbers would never be used for identification, but that’s another story.

So, to sum up, don’t believe what you hear about Republicans.  If you ARE a Republican, don’t buy into it and never defend yourself against these charges of stinginess, racism, etc.  All you’re doing is lending credibility to nonsense.

Next lesson:  Who Republicans really are.