Mike Dunford was a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studied evolution. Life as an army spouse has since moved him on to Pensacola, where he's currently trying to figure out what to do next. While he's doing that, he writes stuff here, although not usually in the third person. He's also a contributer to It looks like there's definitely going to be a little bit of good political news for everyone tonight - a statement released by leading theocon James Dobson:
"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.
"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.
"But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."
As much as I think that every American should fully participate in our government, I'm having a hard time seeing the down side in this one.
(via Kos)
Comments
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I thought James Dobson was dead.
Posted by: ERV | February 5, 2008 6:48 PM
He certainly can't! And wow, this actually makes me like McCain a little.
Posted by: ShellyD | February 5, 2008 6:50 PM
No, ERV, just his reputation.
Posted by: Karen james | February 5, 2008 7:25 PM
I generally assume that anyone who threatens to not vote because they don't like their candidate losing is a flagrant pouty liar. He's votin' all right. He'll hold his nose and vote for the Repub, even if it is McCain... it's a bluff.
Posted by: DrugMonkey | February 5, 2008 8:45 PM
After the Scopes fiasco, the hyperchristians of "The Greatest Generation(TM) retreated from the sinfulness of American political life. Wouldn't a repeat of that history be nice? (At least, up to the point where they were lured out by a Republican faction exploiting the backlash against civil rights...)
It's too much to hope that the only political televangelist who brings in more bucks than Pat Robertson would lead a charge away from Mammon and Caesar - for other than tactical reasons - but no doubt poor Dr. Dobson is having a stressful night. Pray for the current family dog, if any.
If US politics wasn't locked into a two-party system, we'd see the Republicans schism into corporatist and theocratic blocs by summer. (And, of course, a Democratic breakup that would make the Balkans look monolithic.)
Alas, McCain seems most unlikely to revert to his old "agents of intolerance" rhetoric regarding the biblemongers, but maybe now he'll possibly allow himself to think it again.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | February 5, 2008 10:27 PM
Dobson isn't dead. Just his brain. One can only hope that Dobson and his brain-dead christards will indeed sit out this election. That could be a great thing for this country.
Posted by: waldteufel | February 5, 2008 11:50 PM
As a Democrat, I would find at least one silver lining in a McCain victory in November: It sends a message to the powers that be in the Republican party that they can win without pandering to the extremist religious base. Maybe future Republican candidates will become a little less scary when they realize that they don't have to feign nostalgia for Mosaic law.
Posted by: Troublesome Frog | February 6, 2008 8:04 PM