This Republican war

I've been reading this blog, and enjoying it a great deal, for several months now, but for some reason this post prompted me to finally raise an issue that's been in the back of my mind for some time now.

I would be the first agree that the Republican Party is far from perfect. There are a host of problems including a highly questionable commitment to the current strategy in Iraq. However, there still is an important difference between the Republican and Democratic platforms. While one can debate the actual impact, the Republicans, in general, espouse the right positions on issues of sexual morality and the culture of life versus the culture of death. In my opinion, both parties have been bought and paid for by big corporations and promote a consumerist/materialistic culture. Yet, at the end of the day, Republicans in power means fewer abortions, greater hope for preserving the institution of marriage, fewer embryos killed in research, and fewer abominable animal/human hybrids. Are the lives being lost in Iraq tragic? Certainly. But, I believe far more innocent lives would be lost through greater funding for abortion and embryonic research if we had a Democratic administration.

Given that fact, I do not understand the palpable feeling of Schadenfreude that permeates your recent posts about what you see as the imminent collapse of Republican power and the corresponding ascendance of the Democrats. Is the Iraq war all that matters? Should we be rejoicing in the fact that the hawks will get theirs in the upcoming election when it will almost certainly mean a corresponding boost to the culture of death? Ultimately, I can't help but get the impression that conspicuous failings by institutional leaders seem too obscure the bigger picture in your consideration of important issues.

Maybe this means the GOP has lost the military vote?

Do you really think the new Democratic president in 2009 is going to abruptly withdraw our troops? Not a chance.

Abruptly withdraw, no.

But the next President, Democrat or Republican, is surely going to have at the top of his or her agenda figuring out the most respectable exit strategy from Iraq.

No one -- not even John McCain -- is going to keep huge numbers of U.S. troops over there indefinitely in pursuit of Bush's chimera of a stable "Democracy".