Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (42019)	10/3/2000 4:39:27 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

I think this bears reposting: Self- governance depends on the maintenance of decency, responsibility, and self- discipline. Otherwise, it is a recipe for decadence and the eventual overthrow of the rule of law by a demagogue. Therefore, we have an interest in promoting certain values as a society, and government has a role in support of values- laden institutions, such as the family, the school, the church, and various charitable groups, clubs, and civic organizations. Further, the law ought to consistently reflect these values. We do not support the legalization of those drugs that are most potent in their psychological effects or in the creation of dependency, for example. We do not support the legalization of prostitution. Although there is some disagreement among conservatives about where to draw the line, we generally agree to oppose "abortion on demand", without regard even to fetal viability, as a devaluation of human life and grotesque attack upon the sacredness of maternity. We do not want to penalize success by confiscatory taxation, and we do not want to subsidize indolence by expecting nothing of those who receive welfare. We do not want aggressive attacks on all customs by which the people solemnize and celebrate what they hold dear, but seek the least offensive solution to conflicts over the role of such observances. In general, conservative Republicans are trying to preserve the conditions of liberty by tending to "social ecology".....

To: carranza2 who wrote (42019)	10/3/2000 4:40:20 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 769670

The GOP will continue to appeal to the coalition of "don't bother me" voters. I can't imagine too many of them voting for Gore.

To: carranza2 who wrote (42019)	10/3/2000 4:41:19 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769670

And this: In a democracy, consensual values prevail. The Constitution rightly forbids backing a particular church, imposing specific doctrines and practices, or using public platforms as occasions to proselytize. A moment of silence does no harm; neither does a benediction at commencement, on the traditional "rotating clergy" basis; nor does even the posting of the Ten Commandments so long as it is embedded in a display also drawing from non- Judeo- Christian traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. For the rest, just as the preferences of the majority, through their elected representatives, are allowed to prevail on environmental policy, or tax policy, or the criminal code, so is it a matter of legislative debate, where the minority opinion must take its chances, hoping to sway the majority to support it. Is there a contradiction? First, conservatives are not libertarians, and therefore do not, in fact, say that government is incapable of even the littlest good in public matters. Second, most conservatives would like to see a better balance struck between the federal government and state/municipal government, which should not be mistaken for antagonism to all government. Third, no one is attempting intimate regulation of anyone's "private life", they are resisting having the minority ban all customary observances from the public square, resisting the innovation of legally sanctioning gay marriage, trying to get abortion back into the legislature where it belongs. There are a number of areas in which it is impossible to be "values neutral", one is merely picking "autonomy" over "respect for human life", for example. Fourth, to observe that the economy functions best when decisions are largely decentralized, and therefore that the market should be as free of constraint and distortion as possible, has its fraternal twin in the observation that government functions best when it is largely decentralized, and therefore decisions should be kept as local as possible. Fraternal, not identical. One should not confuse the kind of decisions made by the market (e.g., the allocation of capital and goods) with the kinds of decisions made by the government (e.g., what acts are socially destructive enough to criminalize, what policies promote the common good). That is the sort of sloppy thinking which has made a mess of political discourse........