The Real Face of Conservatism

There was a time that I have said that I would only vote for the best candidate for any political office, regardless of party. I tend to vote more Democratic but I would have chosen a Republican if I thought they were the better candidate. Not any more. Over the weekend, right-wing pundit, best selling author, and popular conservative speaker, AnnCoulter was invited by Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, to speak at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) convention. This convention is considered a really big deal in conservative circles. After a rousing introduction full of praise by former GovernorRomney, Ms. Coulter in her usual repulsive charm, made this statement:

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards."

Reacting to Coulter, the CPAC crowd cheered and clapped. I find this very interesting, not Coulter's hateful slur but the crowd's reaction. Coulter regularly spews this kind of hate-filled bile, that's to be expected. The fact that this crowd found her remarks worthy of cheering and clapping paints a very ugly picture of the state of conservative politics in America. What would have happened ifCoulter was talking about Barack Obama and said the "N" word? Derogatory name-calling never sounded so loathsome. Social conservatives are doing a great job of stripping away the veneer of what they think is civilized debate to reveal that their anti-gay rhetoric is little more than bigotry, discrimination and homophobia. As Coretta Scott King said: "bigotry ...seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood," So, really and truly, the Republican party is the party of bigotry. Honoring people who use shameful epithets like "faggot" is pretty pathetic. I think, and hope this points out to the American public that the debate on gay/lesbian issues is one about discrimination and not about preserving "traditional values'. Such pretty words for an ugly issue. Maybe this will bring the real issues out of the closet and we can see this debate for what it really is.

Meanwhile, I see the Republican party embrace people like Ann Coulter, Mitt Romney and Rush Limbaugh, in all their hateful glory. I see them shove Christianism down voter's throats and embrace corrupted political figures like Tom Delay, Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham. I watch their colossally incompetent president lie about intelligence and bungle a war we should never have gotten into. I think I can pretty safely say I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN EVER!!!