Over the years I always thought of our Republican friends as good old fashioned fiscal conservatives. But now I wonder what has happened to them. Where have all the common sense conservatives gone? I don't understand how Republican moderates can tolerate the religious fundamentalists who have taken over their party and vow to force their religious and right wing social agenda on all of us. I have this fantasy that out there in the country there is this sleeping giant of outraged moderate conservatives who will grab the power back from the party extremists during the next election. Wishful thinking.
One of the few moderate Republicans we can count on some of the time is John McCain. Recently he's said he would vote against the elimination of the filibuster. I love that, but I wish he would say it out loud, and forcefully. Like this:
The religious factions growing throughout our land are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. From where do they presume to dictate their moral beliefs to me? I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of Conservatism.
If you think I wrote the above for Senator McCain, you are mistaken. Those are the verbatim words of Senator Barry Goldwater who held McCain's seat thirty some years ago. I never thought of Goldwater as a moderate conservative. Yet in today's world he sounds like a flaming liberal. I wish we could bring him back and I wish we could find some others like him.