Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The candidates have said it all. This line up is simply amazing. Not in my Virginia…please!!
The core problem is that there can be no re-branding of the Republican Party. How do you re-brand core beliefs? If you feel homosexuality is a sin, you can’t re-brand that. If you have strong anti immigration feelings, how is that re-branded? There is no magic wand that waves away these feelings. At best, Republicans can tone down the rhetoric and stop trying to legislate the social issues. Other than that, I simply don’t know what can be done.You are still talking about the same core party members and people who vote for their beliefs. One’s common core of values simply doesn’t re brand.
Many of the moderate Republicans are chased out of office these days to the screams and shouts of “RINO!” There doesn’t seem to be room for these people under the big tent any more. some of my favorite people are moderate Republicans, which should come as no shock. I eschew zealots of any flavor.
Perhaps what we will soon hear is the swan song for the Grand Old Party. I think that is sad. Perhaps we have already heard it, as the Old Guard dies off or goes out of office, often in disgust. My feeling is the Grand Old Party died off a few years ago and the swan song was sung. What’s left? The Republicans who I just don’t feel can claim the Grand Old Party logo.
The make overs simply won’t work.
The Republican Party today is composed of freaks and weirdos, especially here in Virginia. Their state party selected a total nutcase, EW Jackson, to be Cuccinelli’s Lt Governor. Jackson and Cuckoo are perfect representatives of today’s Republican Party.
Certainly didn’t take long for the Moonhowlings Golden Rule to be tossed into the blogging dumpster.
I have read that E.W. Jackson passage on birth defects and sin. It truly amazes me that Maddow and others of like mind cannot recognize that Jackson was engaged in a pastoral discussion of one of the most basic, albeit sometimes varied, of Christian doctrines: Original Sin, and the difference between life in the Biblical Garden of Eden and the world of human travail into which Adam and Eve were cast after sinning in the Garden. That speaks of a serious gap in our educational system with regard to the study of comparative religions and theology.
Ummm, Rachel, if you don’t mind, some free educational advice. If you aren’t inclined toward Bible lessons or a course in comparative religion, you could just take a look at the New England Primer of 1777: “In ADAM’S Fall We Sinned all.” That’s at least a kernel of an idea for you.
‘
@Wolverine
Starry doesn’t like the Republican ticket. Actually, it is the worst I have seen in my lifetime.
I have heard just as bad about Demon(crats) on here. Are you shocked that Starry doesn’t like Republicans?
The Moonhowlings Golden Rule is a goal. Sometimes we all fall short.
@Wolverine
Let’s let everyone decide for themselves. E. W. Jackson’s passage on birth defects:
The passage reads:
I don’t see any differentiation on sin. Frankly either current sin or original sin as a cause of birth defects offends the hell out of me.
Rachel Maddow is a Rhodes Scholar. Perhaps her belief system takes what he said at face value. I expect there will be lots of Jackson apologists for a while though.
I don’t buy in to the original sin idea either. I guess that makes me morally defective.
I would posit that it does not matter if the reader buys into some form of the Original Sin concept or not. The point is that it is obviously a key part of E.W. Jackson’s personal religious faith and that was what he was talking about when he said “the whole cosmos has been made imperfect – wounded – by sin.” Of course, according to Christianity, the biggest baddie that came out of the Fall was not something like birth defects but human death itself. Whether one believes this stuff or not, you cannot in fairness slap at a man who, in his role as a man of the cloth, is simply describing a virtually universal tenet of his faith as if he was giving a sermon. Unfortunately, in my opinion, without a mental reference to the doctrinal concept in question, a reader can jump to a too literal translation of the actual words and criticize on a false premise.
To point out that Jackson is speaking of his own doctrinal beliefs is hardly an apology for him. It is a reminder for those who may have missed the doctrinal context of it.
Original sin just doesn’t hop off the page at me. To those who do not have a fundamentalist religious background some of these concepts just aren’t as obvious as you might assume. I was also fairly sheltered from the Jackson brand of religion. My mother was very selective about who I was allowed to go to church with etc.
I have studied comparative religion but it sure didn’t get down to the nitty gritty between Christian sects. It was more of highlights between major world religions and it was also when I was in high school so definitely dark ages study.
Actually, Moon, I am sort of shocked that Starry can spell. What grade is he in now?
Just goes to show that Jackson wasn’t politically astute enough to learn from Sideshow Bob’s mistakes…
@Censored bybvbl
And yet Sideshow gets re-elected again and again and again.
His “mistakes” seem to be working for him.
Marshall keeps getting re-elected because even as outrageous as he is on reprouctive rights, he is a man of the people. He fights for people in Northern Virginia over roads, taxes, elder care and things that hit us on a day to day basis. Abortion isn’t part of our everyday lives. Traffic and congestion are a big part of our lives. Marshall in that respect is a man of the people and he defies his own party when he thinks they are wrong.
Would I ever vote for him? No. But I respect his ability to compensate for his horrible record on women’s rights by doing right by Northern Virginians in other regards.
Somehow at the polls, people remember that he stood up to Corey Stewart and the Gov. Mcdonnell.
@Cato the Elder
It’ll be interesting to see how he fares with a redrawn district which includes more of Manassas Park.
The lengths to which SOME republicans will go to validate the lever is astounding.
It’s really amazing to me that people are trying to defend and “explain” E. W. Jackson rather than insisting that their party do something to prevent extremists like him from being on the ballot in a centrist state like Virginia.
Having this guy on the ticket in Virginia would be like the Democrats running Reverend Wright and Al Sharpton. Good luck.
Very good analogy, middleman. Very good points made. I don’t think EW can just be explained away.
Amazing how some seem to think that no one should even be allowed to run from office who does not meet their personal criteria. Also amazing that a Black Baptist minister is now considered an extremist because of his long-time Biblical beliefs. I think Jackson would do well to remind Black congregations in Virginia of this disdain flowing from his opposition.
Wolverine, the problem isn’t his beliefs. The problem is he doesn’t seem to be able to separate his belifs from his policy. I also don’t want Ken Cuccinelli’s or Terry McAuliffe’s Catholicism as doctrinaire for the State of Virginia. I am a huge proponent of Jefferson’s wall of separation. I see little difference in Jackson’s belief system and the very ideas we eschew in the middle east at times.
Yes, Jackson is an extremist. So is Pat Robertson. Race is immaterial.
opps, “run for office” Run from office is what the other side wants the man to do.
It is also amazing to me that someone would still think that conservatives will just fly a white flag when conservative candidates are subjected to false accusations by the opposition. Actually, one could say that the conservatives are flattering the opposition by adopting greater aggressiveness with regard to both attack and counterattack. It is now a two-way street. You’re going to have to live with it.
Who has made false accusations about EW Jackson? Please. Let’s discuss them.
Moon, I have simply addressed one of the false accusations here after seeing it on several occasions in liberal and Dem blogs and seeing Maddow’s general performance (not yours). This negative business of the birth defects and sin results from either a lack of understanding of theology or an attempt to criticize the man by deliberately using literal meanings and obscuring the real context of his religious writings. It is a false condemnation accompanied by mockery and deserves to be countered. I do not doubt that this kind of thing will continue. All I ask is that, if one disagrees with something he says or does, whether religious or political, then do so honestly and in context. Don’t make it up.
He has beliefs. You have beliefs. The beliefs of everyone come from somewhere — religion, a particular ideology or philosophy, your educational and life experiences, your mother’s knee, whatever. The beauty of our system is that you both have every constitutional right to expound on those beliefs and to run for office and engage in other legal political activities in order to push those beliefs into the public fora for acceptance. And the courts are assigned to assure the constitutionality of it all. So, why are his beliefs called “extremist” while yours are not? Because you don’t agree with his beliefs? How about your beliefs and goals are just different?
I haven’t heard him say that birth defects are from sin. However, I did read his passage. I would say that is all a matter of interpretation. Seconly, even if we are speaking of ‘original sin,’ that’s a very cruel thought. How about birth defects are part of nature.
Let’s talk about his remarks about Planned Parenthood andn the KKK. If that isn’t an extremist statement, then I’m afraid I wouldn’t know where to start explaining it.
The good news is, Americans can vote for whomever they want. I am curious where you think 51% of the votes to put this dude into office will come from. MNost of the Republicans I know don’t go along with this stuff. They just won’t openly say so.
When I was an R, I did say so and left.
He’s a nut.
Don’t know where the votes will come from, Moon. Not being associated and never having been associated with either of the main parties, I don’t have access to the details needed for handicapping elections beyond guesses. I, as a Yankee born and bred, just find it rather bizarro that, in the year of our Lord 2013 and in the heyday of Barack Obama, the GOP in the Old Dominion has an African-American fire and brimstone Baptist preacher as No. 2 on its state ticket, whereas the Democratic Party voted to sideline two men of color and offer to the voting public three White guys.
And the No. 3 guy on the Dem ticket is my state Senator, from whom we, as independent voters of almost 40 years in this district, never received a single word on any issue since he was first elected in 2006. And our total mailbox take in his re-election effort was about two postcards which had nothing but pablum. For awhile there, we were considering writing his name on a piece of paper and putting it on the fridge with a magnet, because we kept forgetting who he was.
I’m supporting him just so I can watch heads explode around here just in case he wins.
Cato, I don’t think we have to worry about any heads exploding…
@Cato the Elder
It’s more entertaining to see the justifications the right has to whip up to support him.
You know, in fairness to Bishop Jackson (who I think was a horrible choice, but one has to admire is persistence and enthusiasm for the convention process), Maddow (and others who have picked this up) have been careless, probably deliberately so, about his yoga remark. He wasn’t talking about yoga in the sense of exercises you do at the local fitness club (and that’s the way his remark has been portrayed). He was talking about Transcendental Meditation as practiced by someone whose name/title is Maharishi Yogi. I personally don’t feel that TM is particularly Satanic, but Jackson’s remarks make more sense in that context, from a fundamentalist Christian point of view, than if he had attacked a physical discipline that almost everyone has had some exposure to as a fitness activity.
I’m still processing that Planned Parenthood is more harmful than the KKK.
Maybe its the circa 900 deaths per day at PP, 30-40% of them African-American in a national population of 12-13%.
According to whom?
Wolverine, You are acting like Planned Parenthood rounds up women for an abortion, whether they need one or not. You do realize what would happen if there were no clinics?
Same thing that happened before Roe v. Wade was codified. A million abortions a year and not so safe and not legal.
I think you have been reading too many ‘pro-life’ pamplets. Pro-choice people are also pro life. Think about that one for a while.
Guttmacher for stats for 2008 and 2009. Don’t think they changed much since then except maybe somewhat of a recent downward trend in all abortions. Hardly a pro-life organization. I’m just passing them on. I use Guttmacher whenever possible because they have a reputation for being closer to the abortion providers. Sometimes the providers hold out on government stat collectors, causing them to go the estimate route. California has been notorious for that.
Where did you get stats on a million abortions before Roe v. Wade?
@Wolverine
Don’t give me that yak-I’ve been part of the pro-life movement for decades. And I’ve been surrounded by a range of people invested in that cause. He’s one of those loud mouth, shallow activists…the ones with rosary beads the size of your head marching up and down streets…braying, I mean praying loudly and anxious to be seen.
“Those who pray to be seen by others, their only reward will be the adulation of their peers”. You’re fulfilling that.
I think there are plenty of Americans (black and white) who would takes exception to anything that attempts to mitigate the harm and damage resulting from the KKK.
Lyssa — Whatever.