John T. Harvey, writing for Forbes about the Texas GOP platform, in an article entitled “The Terrifying Texas GOP Platform” writes, “[I]t is difficult to believe that what the Republicans put together during their convention in Fort Worth was even written in the 21st century.”* And Forbes is generally a conservative publication. But he’s right--sadly so. Here are a few quotes I pulled from the document; you can decide for yourself:
From the “Preamble”: “We STILL hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, . . .” All “men”? Still ignoring half the population? Continuing: “The embodiment of the conservative dream in America is Texas.” As you will see, that’s just scary.
From the “Principles” section:
“The sanctity of human life, created in the image of God, which should be protected from fertilization to natural death.
”Self-sufficient families, founded on the traditional marriage of a natural man and a natural woman.”
It’s not hard to see where this is going.
“Affirmative Action - Inasmuch as the Civil Rights Movement argued against using race as a factor in American life, affirmative action reintroduces race as a divisive force in American life. The Republican Party of Texas believes in equal opportunity for all citizens without regard to race or gender. To that end, we oppose affirmative action.” Notice the build-in contradiction.
“Protection from Extreme Environmentalists – We strongly oppose all efforts of the extreme environmental groups that stymie legitimate business interests. We strongly oppose those efforts that attempt to use the environmental causes to purposefully disrupt and stop those interests within the oil and gas industry. We strongly support the immediate repeal of the Endangered Species Act. We strongly oppose the listing of the dune sage brush lizard either as a threatened or an endangered species. We believe the Environmental Protection Agency should be abolished.” You can just imagine who was responsible for putting in this plank! And the dune sage brush lizard? Well, note this from a West Texas TV web site: “But some local oil consultants say conserving these habitats could come at the cost of jobs. Especially with the ground, the lizards reportedly live on oil hot spots, where double the oil can be drilled.”**
“Free Speech for the Clergy - We urge amendment of the Internal Revenue Code to allow a religious organization to address issues without fear of losing its tax-exempt status. We call for repeal of requirements that religious organizations send the government any personal information about their contributors.” They are apparently unaware of the concept of separation of church and state.
“Voting Rights - We support equal suffrage for all U.S. Citizens of voting age who are not felons. We oppose any identification of citizens by race, origin, or creed and oppose use of any such identification for purposes of creating voting districts. Voter Rights Act – We urge that the Voter Rights Act of 1965 codified and updated in 1973 be repealed and not reauthorized.” Again, notice the contradiction.***
You will obey: “Enforcing the Platform - Every Republican is responsible for implementing this platform. Party candidates should indicate their positions on platform planks before their acceptance on the ticket and such information should be available on the Party website.”
“Religious Symbols - We oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit, or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols.” See earlier remark about separation of church and state.
“Family Values ― We support the affirmation of traditional Judeo-Christian family values and oppose the continued assault on those values.” Judeo-Christian? There are other belief systems out there, but not for Texas Republicans.
And quoted in full: “Family and Defense of Marriage ― We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists. We call on the President and Congress to take immediate action to defend the sanctity of marriage. We are resolute that Congress exercise authority under the United States Constitution, and pass legislation withholding jurisdiction from the Federal Courts in cases involving family law, especially any changes in the definition of marriage. We further call on Congress to pass and the state legislatures to ratify a marriage amendment declaring that marriage in the United States shall consist of and be recognized only as the union of a natural man and a natural woman. Neither the United States nor any state shall recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status of a spouse. We oppose the recognition of and granting of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic partners without being legally married. We advocate the repeal of laws that place an unfair tax burden on families. We call upon Congress to completely remove the marriage penalty in the tax code, whereby a married couple receives a smaller standard deduction than their unmarried counterparts living together. The primary family unit consists of those related by blood, heterosexual marriage, or adoption. The family is responsible for its own welfare, education, moral training, conduct, and property.” I’m still trying to figure out what is meant by “a natural man and a natural woman.”
And finally: “Enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act ― We support the enforcement of the State and Federal Defense of Marriage Act by state and federal officials respectively, and oppose creation, recognition and benefits for partnerships outside of marriage that are being provided by some political subdivisions.”
And this is just a sampling of this extraordinary--and extraordinarily hateful--document. Please read it. The national GOP Platform is likely to contain much of the same language, so the Texas Platform is relevant not just to Texas but to all of us.
*http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2012/07/01/texas-gop-platform/
**http://www.newswest9.com/Global/story.asp?S=14030079
***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_rights_act
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