I hope they do ditch us

The Republican Party is horrible. The The Senate Republicans are so far removed from having any real trace of subsidiarity to the point that any mere whiff of it is now a complete fantasy. Simultaneous to that, the last two Presidential nominees were social moderates and the RNC thinks they lost because the elections because "normal" Americans don't care about that nonsense.

 I know, I know. The public nudity thing is easy blog hyperbole but see, even in SF and the rest of the country as well, people don't want their neighbors' sexual hang-ups forced on them. Americans do care about social issues. They just can't stomach the hypocrisy of using beatitudes as a wedge against beatitudes.
This guy in a Shea combox summarizes it well.

"the large core value of modern conservativsm and GOP politics seems to be a sort of “every man for himself” social Darwinism. As an orthodox Catholic, I cannot support that. On the other hand, what ought to be the core value of liberalism (“we’re all in this together”) very much fits with orthodox Catholicism — except that nearly all modern liberals have tossed this out the window. If every citizen has an inherent value that must be defended, one could never justify abortion."

 Which position is less insane? Killing people with inherent value or hierarchy of persons based on power? Well, I guess the GOP wins that one, but really they deserve no credit for doing so. You are now slightly less unhinged than Daffy Duck. Good for you GOP. And now they want to ditch us. We shouldn't be surprised. I mean, even that rascally maverick, John McCain, deriding the Tea Party as a bunch of "Hobbits" when they wouldn't step in line.

Perish the thought.

I'd say the world could do with a few more Hobbits. But whatever, the pols have always been happy to serve as the footmen for Mordor, (yeah, I know that was a really dorky line). By the way, McCain, calling the Tea Party Hobbits, really is an insult to Hobbits and I do not approve. But nonetheless, you know what's a good Tea Party issue, getting the banks under control. And a few conservatives have had their hidden hopes that Elizabeth Warren may be a closet Hobbit. Sure, that may be a bit of a reach, but I've made the argument for a while that OWS and TP represent the more sane interests of their political tribes. It would be really cool if she could reign in the muckety-mucks without vilifying an entire industry. Here is what I think - if the Democrats are successful in getting Warren on the Banking committee the same forces that oppose her now will turn right around and try to buy her out. One of the cynical tricks the Democrats have played is to carry the image that they are opposing corporatism while simultaneously engaging in corporate crony capitalism. We will see. Warren will have to go against her own party as well if she really wants to reign in the banks. But I wonder...what would happen if in the mean time, Warren's number one donor went from being Emily's List to the Susan B. Anthony List. I'm not saying she's pro-choice simply because she is bought by the their interest groups. I am saying that a pro-life Warren would be a conservatives dream. That is probably another deranged fantasy but wouldn't it be cool if conservatives could treat Elizabeth Warren like a real person even while she herself doesn't treat the unborn as real persons, (as serious as that is). It's not impossible. We're all adults capable of thought - we can say "I agree with her here but not there."  Pretty simple actually. We appeal to an universally true, objective standard, (human dignity), and we affirm it wherever we find it.   

 Eiher way, if the GOP kicks us "fringe" social issues voters to the curb, it could be the best thing for everyone.