Democratic Response to Republican response to Republicans: The Anti-American Party

June 12th, 2005

Response to Democrats: The Anti-American Party

Matt McDonald wrote a column called Democrats: The Anti-American Party that has been widely distributed on the Internet on Republican, Neo-Con and so-called “Christian Right” websites. The column is suppose to be a response to my column, Republicans: The Anti-Christian, Christian Party but seems to be responding more to some distorted parody of my actual writings.

The response is rather rambling but still quite interesting. McDonald seems to believe that frequent use of the word Christian is somehow sinister coming from a moderate conservative traditional Democrat. The entire article was about Christian ethics in American politics. It would be nearly impossible to write on the subject without using the word “Christian.” Additionally, my column urges Democrats not to surrender the Christian label to a Republican Party advancing what I believe is an anti-Christian political agenda. This is clearly stated in my column.

McDonald thinks that I fear Christian influence in American politics because I use the word Christian frequently. Obviously, he does not think our Founding Fathers were wise when they established the doctrine of Separation of Church and State. He seems to miss the point that the Christian Church was protected by this measure from the corrupting influence of politics and government money. Government money leads to government control! Any good traditional conservative or Constitutional scholar understands what McDonald fails to understand concerning our Founding Fathers intentions and insights. Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, etc. got the idea by watching politicized European Christian churches in action during the colonial period. Traditional conservatives, unlike the so-called “Christian Right”, support the position of our Founding Fathers.

This writer briefly owned a Christian bookstore well before starting Democratic Talk Radio with my co-host Al Lawrence on the night the Bush vs. Gore ruling was handed down by the Supreme Court. I am a Democrat because I am first of all a Christian. I am the conservative half of the show. Anyone familiar with the show has often heard me use conservative and Christian ideas in exploring political topics. McDonald falsely labels me as a liberal. Actually, Al Lawrence is the liberal half of Democratic Talk Radio.

Real conservatives do not have to be blind followers of Bush Republicanism. I support a strong defense but not unwise or illegal wars designed solely to enrich oil companies and defense contractors. I want both a strong and intelligent foreign policy. I believe stupid is always weak in the long-run. I definitely do not consider these views anti-American. Iraq was the wrong war in the wrong place and is being fought with basically the wrong strategy. Neo-Cons are not traditional conservatives!

You can be anti-Corporate and still be a conservative. Like real conservatives, I believe in balanced budgets, which are certainly not part of the agenda of Bush Republicanism. Howard Dean and most Democrats hold the traditional conservative position on balanced budgets unlike the Bush Republicans. The Christian Coalition and the Republican Party once made a Constitutional Amendment to Balance the Budget one of the centerpieces of their political agenda but that was before Bush.

The Bush Administration has done nothing of real substance to curb illegal immigration although McDonald strangely faults the Democrats on the issue. The Bush Republicans completely control the federal government at every level and set immigration policy. Illegal immigration benefits only the large corporations by driving down wage rates and making unionization difficult. Bush Republicanism supports the Corporate position on illegal immigration instead of the conservative position McDonald attributes to it.

I strongly support gun rights like all conservatives. Howard Dean is a strong supporter of gun rights and had NRA backing while Governor of Vermont. I support the death penalty like both Gore and Bush in 2000. However, I believe it should target those most likely to be deterred from their crimes, such as, those who threaten our Democracy by rigging election or Corporate officers who destroy the lives of millions of workers, consumers and investors for profit. The death penalty currently targets mostly minorities and the poor instead of the powerful and wealthy law-breakers. It is not un-American to seek an expansion of the law and order doctrine to the powerful and wealthy.

It is not un-American to oppose the political agenda of Bush Republicanism. In fact, much of the current political agenda of the Bush Republicans seems kind of un-American to many citizens. Most citizens oppose all or part of the falsely named Patriot Act. Many traditional conservatives do not want to see Big Brother government by any label.

Bush’s tax cuts were going to create a booming economy with millions of new jobs according to his own estimates. They have not done so. Neither, McDonald or Bush stating that they have change the fact that job growth has not even come close to keeping up with population growth. The tax breaks were not going to increase the budget deficit. They exploded the budget deficit.

McDonald tried to paint the Democratic Party as anti-minority in his column. The accusation is simply absurd. A look at elected Democratic officeholders, Democratic Party leaders or the policies supported by the Democratic Party clearly shows that his premise is simply false. He is partially correct in his comments about white Christians and the Democratic Party. White Christians are welcome. They can play a significant role since Democratic priorities are shared by most real Christians who truly understand both Christian ethics and the Democratic Party!

In America, differing ideas on political issues do not make anyone “Anti-American” as no political Party exclusively owns the label of Patriot. McDonald owes all Democrats an apology!

Written By Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence (hosts of DemocraticTalkRadio.com ).
Mail: 234 Johnstown Road, Elkton, Maryland 21921. Phone: 443-907-2367
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