Spain’s huge Christmas lottery spreads riches worth almost €3bn
-
The top prize, known as *El Gordo *or the Fat One, was won by ticket
holders in the northern city of Logroño
Players with winning tickets in Spain’s huge...
32 minutes ago
Seed Newsvine
+NEW+YORK+hot+movie+008.jpg)
+LasVegas+gals+vlcsnap-16038.png)
THE FEAR FACTOR ; Today's conservative republican lives in fear. They live in fear of Islam and Atheism. They live in fear of the gradual Browning of America. They live in fear of a political system that encourages social justice rather than financial greed. They fear the power of government shifting from the traditional white male power structure to a egalitarian structure where women, gays, religious and racial minorities share power. They fear an educational system that seeks to promote parity rather than exclusivity.
ReplyDeleteHow else can you explain the hatred republicans today hold for their democratic compatriots. If you were to listen to the discussion, the hatred isn't over issues but over the very being of the opposition to the republicans. There is no longer a political dialogue where politicians with differing views work with one another and reach compromises on a legislative agenda. The politics of the republican moment is that the democrats must move to their position and then they will talk. It is an absolutist philosophy. It is a philosophy that is rooted in the fear of extinction, similar to what you see in governments in the third world. The absolutist cannot allow change or other viewpoints, because that would mean the end of the world as they know it.
A true family oriented conservative should be an admirer, not a critic of President Obama. We have a president who is a devoted family man whose marriage is strong and is directly involved in the raising of his children. He has been a moral beacon for his family and has had one of the most scandal free administrations in recent history. Yet the right attacks the president and frequently attacks the first lady with unreasonable vitriol. When the tea party can go to a rally and have signs depicting the president as an African tribesman with a bone through his nose and a spear in his hand or when the attacks on the first lady can be based on the fact she appeared on the Academy Awards show, one has to wonder why. But when you look at these attacks in light of similar attacks on the minority community, attacks on the LGBT community that are totally unsubstantiated, continued birther accusations by many on the right, as well as accusations of socialism, communism, acting undercover to destroy America all demonstrate a visceral prejudice against those who may be different than they are. The bigotry is rarely spoken, but is obvious through action and speech.
Even in areas such as education, the fears of today's conservatives come to pass. The historical view of public education in this country has always been to strengthen and support it. Where there were difficiencies in the system, we sought to improve them. There has been a sense that the American system of education was egalitarian and was the great equalizer that allowed America to be the land of opportunity for immigrants and a path to the American dream.
It is only in the current incarnation of the republican party that the conservative view of public education has changed. No longer is it the goal to improve the public education system in urban environment, but to gut it. To hear a presidential candidate indicate that class sizes of 45 in a public urban school was satisfactory, was a shock to the senses of those who care about urban education. What is particularly troubling about this new conservative emphasis on gutting the public schools, is that it only occurs in urban schools with large minority populations. There is never discussion about provision of additional funds to poorly funded schools or revenue sharing between affluent and poor school districts. It almost appears that education is becoming a battlefield for the efforts of the new conservatism to maintain real class differentiation.
...CONT/-