Tuesday, November 16, 2004 11:09 AM CST
Democratic Party hurt itself by championing cause of gay marriages
By HARRY REYNOLDS, Editorial Page Editor
Being a good Democrat, I'd like to say the world will end, thanks to the re-election of George W. Bush.
One must go back to Abraham Lincoln's election, which had the imminent result of the South going -- uh -- south to get the feel for the moans and groans vented by Bush haters.
Some, rumor has it, are seriously contemplating moving to Canada.
Even Lincoln, the "original gorilla" his moniker, compares more favorably than Bush the "dumb."
Well, let's be charitable, lessen the pain the word suggests and tag Bush "stupid."
As any American worth his salt knows, it is a citizen's inalienable right -- no matter his IQ ranking -- to, at some point in his life, be stupid or do stupid.
The right to be stupid cannot be found in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, but it's pretty well implied. If not, we wouldn't have three separate, but equal branches of government: The executive, judicial and legislative.
In spite of these checks and balances, stupid reigns with cheerful persistence in the nation's capital.
The hinterland lags not far behind. Any resemblance to the proposition of effective government has yet to be realized in the various states, cities and hamlets dotting the U.S.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Human beings, are by nature, fallible.
President Bush is also fallible, though getting him to admit it is virtually impossible. Bush sometimes confuses "resolute" with "obstinate."
The man's no more resolute, obstinate, stubborn, etc., than President Ronald Reagan was. What Bush lacks is the finesse and charm of the "Gipper."
The president's most common facial expression, the sneer, which might be deliberate, or genetic -- depending on the judge -- enrages those who don't like him.
For that matter, one would be compelled to conduct a thorough search to find a supporter who likes the sneer.
Having watched Bush in a number of settings, whether tense, in repose, or somewhere in between, I have concluded the sneer is genetic.
Underestimated is one trait Bush shares with the 16th President of the United States.
In George W. Bush, the comedians and late show talk show hosts mine a rich vein of humor. But, what Bush is portrayed to be stands in stark contrast to what he is.
It is easier to caricature Bush than understand him. His critics exhibit a streak of meanness in their assessment.
As if Bush was the odd child on the playground, to be teased and treated with disdain, and talked about in conspiratorial tone.
Bush is the odd man out these days. In a sense, he is an anachronism.
He is a born-again Christian whose family values include a father, mother and children residing on some pleasant street in Sunnydale U.S.A.
Bush isn't going to apologize for his religious beliefs. Those who relish beating and hooting at fundamentalist, bedrock Christians miss the point.
Religion, by its very nature, is belief. One does not compromise or alter belief because it is out of sync with what is in vogue.
If the fate of the world were to be determined by popular opinion, God would be irrelevant, one hell of an oxymoron.
Many Democrats were much vexed when the family values crowd flocked to the polls to vote for one who professes to be their kind.
While fronting dismay over the fact that voters in 11 states vetoed gay marriages, I suspect a good many Democrats were not really that shocked.
While courageous, if not dismissive, the Democratic Party's decision to champion the cause of gay marriages was deadly to its aspirations of carrying Ohio.
Faced with the choice of going with the party or family values, the Democratic Party, having hitched itself to political correctness, cut itself off from its political base.
Bush understood that because Bush is middle-class America.
Which is hard for a man who has never actually been in the middle class to achieve.
The Democratic Party needs to take a serious inward examination to determine what values it wants to tout.
If anything needs beheading in America, it is that tawdry beast political correctness. It is the father of discontent, asserting the right to shut off free speech, or expression it deems offensive.
Its high priests have worked hard to prevent people from doing, or saying, anything not deemed politically correct.
In 11 states, muted Americans spoke out on Election Day. They did it in secret. And they did it in frustration. And they did it in rage.
One cannot oppose anything advanced under the flag of political correctness without running the risk of being targeted for sensitivity classes.
Expressions of rebellion are manifested at the polls. The polls went for Bush.
Until the Democratic Party shakes off the bonds of political correctness and gives meat -- not lip -- to family values, it will face an uphill struggle.
The party needs to start talking to those it professes to represent.
The Democratic Party should embark on a raging good public debate on moral issues, ranging from abortion, to gay marriages, to stem cells, to the role -- if any -- of religion in government.
We need to do it absent the velvet fist of political correctness.
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