Comments on: Mark Sanford: Prescriptions To Fix The GOP

Guest Column: South Carolina Governor Decries "Soulless Pragmatism" Represented By Specter's Party Switch

[An-Historian]

Socialism is clearly a far more compassionate and humane system than unfettered Capitalism could ever be.

Jesus was obviously a socialist, not a capitalist - so why don't the right-wing religious zealots in this country follow his example, rather than the example set by the greedy Capitalist Robber Baron's of past centuries, if their religion is so important to our way of life, including our governmental affairs?

They don't follow his example because they're a bunch of greedy, self-serving hypocrites, that's why.

[erichsh]

And a lot of those people "coming out of the woodwork" are not "religious" people at all - they're just decent, concerned citizens.

Religion has no place in our government. Our Constitution is crystal clear on that point.
Posted by An-Historian

Who's talking about government?? I'm simply stating that some of the largest charity and community service organizations in the world - ie the Savation Army, Habitat For Humanity, etc. as well as countless neighborhood and regional organizations - are faith-based. Agree or disagree?

Yet you are "frightened" by these people? But evidently in your worldview the government should be performing these services - screw the volunteer efforts, shut down the faith-based organizations, just have the government take care of us all.

[legacyabq]

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of
'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day
America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened. ~ Norman Thomas
Posted by wardoglrs at 9:35 PM

Yeah?? And then what'll happen?

[An-Historian]

"Boy, you must really get the creeps every time you see a Salvation Army volunteer trying to raise funds for the poor/disadvantaged, or all those religious fanatics coming out of fhe woodwork to help out their neighbors at soup kitchens or other outreach programs."

Posted by erichsh at 9:37 PM : May 7, 2009

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In a country this rich we shouldn't even need soup kitchens or outreach programs, should we?

And a lot of those people "coming out of the woodwork" are not "religious" people at all - they're just decent, concerned citizens.

Religion has no place in our government. Our Constitution is crystal clear on that point.

[erichsh]

"George Bush said that god told him to start the war with Iraq and murder, torture, orphan, and exile hundreds of thousands of Iraqis" etc....Posted by norcalruss

Knock yourself out, norcalruss, believe what you want. But just do me a favor and post a link citing Bush's statement that "God told me to start the war" Or just own up to it and admit he didn't REALLY say that, that's just what you think about him.

[norcalruss]

All it takes to lose my vote is the mere mention of religion from a politician's mouth. Religious fanatics scare me -- they *really* scare me. Both the past and the present are chock-full of examples of the horrors that unchecked religious fanaticism can lead to.

Posted by An-Historian
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Religion has NO place in government and isn?t that useful in society. George Bush said he was a born again Christian and look what he did. He said that god told him to start the war with Iraq and murder, torture, orphan, and exile hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and lied to the world repeatedly about WMD and connections to terror. I wonder if Hitler was a Christian, he wasn?t much different than Bush.

[erichsh]

The Repubs & The Dem's are both Nazi's regimes and any one who supports them are just as guilty for there crimes how much more lies will it take before the dumb downed voter gets off these two worthless regimes. Grow up yadayada..., disgrace, fools, blahblah
Posted by wardoglrs

Stuff it right up you know where wardoglrs..... I count among my best friends those with liberal political viewpoints. But arrogant, self-righteous, pompous, snotty big-mouths such as yourself manage to take what is no more than your OPINION and elevate it up to "FACT" in your own mind. But you don't stop there, no way. Anyone who doesn't see those "facts" as you see them must therefore be a complete idiot. So do you feel the same way about your sports team favorites? Or your choice of food or TV shows?

[erichsh]

All it takes to lose my vote is the mere mention of religion from a politician's mouth. Religious fanatics scare me -- they *really* scare me. Both the past and the present are chock-full of examples of the horrors that unchecked religious fanaticism can lead to.

Posted by An-Historian

Boy, you must really get the creeps every time you see a Salvation Army volunteer trying to raise funds for the poor/disadvantaged, or all those religious fanatics coming out of fhe woodwork to help out their neighbors at soup kitchens or other outreach programs.

[norcalruss]

That does not however mean that the loss of Arlen Specter from the GOP is a crippling blow to conservatism, as he didn?t much have anything to do with conservatism while he called himself a Republican. Instead, the Party should take Mr. Specter?s departure as yet another opportunity to shore up our brand..
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Unbelievable! Yet another neocon living in denial! These idiots just don?t get it! They keep pretending that there is nothing wrong with them and their message, it?s the rest of the world that is wrong

This is what is being said in TIME magazine ?s latest edition:

These days, Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species. They lost Congress, then the White House; more recently, they lost a slam-dunk House election in a conservative New York district, then Senator Arlen Specter. Polls suggest that only one-fourth of the electorate considers itself Republican, that independents are trending Democratic and that as few as five states have solid Republican pluralities. And the electorate is getting less white, less rural, less Christian ? in short, less demographically Republican. GOP officials who completely controlled Washington three years ago are vowing to "regain our status as a national party" and creating woe-is-us groups to resuscitate their brand, while Democrats are publishing books like The Strange Death of Republican America and 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation. John McCain's campaign manager recently described his party as basically extinct on the West Coast, nearly extinct in the Northeast and endangered in the Mountain and the Southwest.

[An-Historian]

The Republicans simply got far too religious on us over the past decade, and that is a source of great concern to many of us who simply cannot understand what some narrow and arbitrary religious issues have to do with delivering good government.

All it takes to lose my vote is the mere mention of religion from a politician's mouth. Religious fanatics scare me -- they *really* scare me. Both the past and the present are chock-full of examples of the horrors that unchecked religious fanaticism can lead to.

As long as the Republicans insist on bringing up God at every possible opportunity I feel compelled to keep them out of public office. Let them become preachers or something - not politicians.