tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248881149749925934.post1966983175734345167..comments2024-01-02T10:09:58.744-08:00Comments on Preaching to the choir: Republicans support deregulation until they really, really don'tShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12429147325673256508noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248881149749925934.post-6753485396275031432011-05-29T10:33:08.940-07:002011-05-29T10:33:08.940-07:00I'm not conflating anything. Not one person wi...I'm not conflating anything. Not one person with an R after his/her name has spoken up in Kansas in opposition to this legislation. Not once has any Republican in the statehouse or in the press complained that this kind of regulation is inconsistent with Republican ideals. I also don't recall hearing any Republican opposition to stringent anti-abortion regulations in Oklahoma or South Dakota, though admittedly I have followed those less.<br /><br />If people claiming membership in the Republican party don't want to be held responsible for these regulations, they need to speak up. It's a little tiresome to keep hearing that we can't hold all Republicans responsible for the legislation passed by the people the Republican party nominates and then elects.Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12429147325673256508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2248881149749925934.post-56138465891711123232011-05-27T05:48:53.013-07:002011-05-27T05:48:53.013-07:00You're conflating "Republicans" with...You're conflating "Republicans" with "politically active religiuos conservatives." Not all members of the first and larger set fall into the second set. Not all Democrats are civil liberties activists, for instance; nor are all Democrats labor union advocates.<br /><br />If you're a politically active religious conservative person, you have no particular objection to the government doing all sorts of activist and intrusive things, so long as it does so for the purpose of protecting and advancing morality.<br /><br />It's easy to conflate the GOP with its loudest and most obnoxious wing, precisely because of the volume and shrillness with which that group articulates itself and the zeal those sorts put in to their political activity. But to borrow an idea from one of my favorite ex-bloggers, I'd paint for you a picture of the GOP that divides its principal interest groups into four main blocs: Jesus! Guns! Money! and Moats!<br /><br />The Jesus! bloc you know. The Guns! bloc includes both second amendment-obsessed NRA types and pro-military-spending war hawks. The Money! bloc represents the sort-of libertarian, sort-of big business Herbert Hoover types. The Moats! bloc are those who attribute every problem in the U.S.A. to the proliferation of illegal immigrants and who adopt relatively isolationist foreign policy stances.Burt Likkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16060980744675990412noreply@blogger.com