Dropping the Code Words in Ol' Virginnie
Always nice to see a member of the GOP drop all the code word BS and say what we know they're really trying to say. Check it out here
Apparently Congressman Goode does not consider religious freedom to be one of the "principles on which this country was founded" that Americans should be fighting for. It is becoming more and more clear that as Democrats bring funding back to Virginia public schools, they should make sure more money goes to history programs in addition to math and science.
posted by Pete @ 12/22/2006 11:29:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Um, Pete, your bias is showing.
Virgil Goode no more speaks for the broad swath of the Republican party than the does the last Democrat to say or do something revealing their own bone-headedness for the broad Left Tent.
I would point to Sen. Warner's comments (further down the page from the headline) clearly respecting the rights of congressional members to "exercise the religion of their choice, including those of the Islamic faith utilizing the Quran."
Should anyone be judged by the least of their organization? (I realize I'm directing this question to a lawyer.)
Not bias, intentional provacativity (provactiveness? Other?). You're right about organizations not being judged by their least/worst, I just wanted to raise the issue (admittedly in a overblown, perhaps unfair, fashion) of the GOP's use of terms such as "states' rights", "family values", and "traditional American values" (not to mention the utterly ridiculous "history, not hate" rhetoric of those trying to defend the Confederate battle flag - not all GOP in that case) to promote sentiments that are not as benign as the code phrases imply. The old Nixon-era Southern Strategy at work. Use code words to let bigots know you'll do their bidding in elected office.
My point, on a more muted level, was to ask whether Goode was merely expressing above board what many "American values" advocates on the Right/GOP really mean. For example, does "traditional/historical American values" automatically equal WASP to the GOP codebreakers?
I mean, seriously, what is un-American about pledging your loyalty to the Constitution on a Quran if you're Muslim? I would think all the pro-religion-in-government people would be happy that a religious text was being included in the ceremony. You don't suppose that those who favor religion in govt, schools, etc. REALLY mean Protestant Christianity only, do you? Please decode the rhetoric for me.
PS - NOW my bias is showing? :)
This was my favorite excerpt: "Goode also told Fox News he wants to limit legal immigration and do away with 'diversity visas,' which he said let in people 'not from European countries" and 'some terrorist states.'" Regardless from which party this guy purportedly hails, he is a classic example of the thinking that prevails in western and southwestern Virginia. There's nothing surprising in what he said -- what's surprising is he had the chutzpah (a bad choice of words, I know) to tell the truth, to say exactly what he thinks and feels. In my estimation, as repulsive as his comments are, its an affirmation of the system, and of our freedom of speech. And that's a positive.
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