Dangerous Right Wing Republican Stupidity At The Value Voters Summit

This weekend was the annual meeting of the religious right wing of the Republican party at the so-called Value Voters Summit. The name of the event is similar to other ironic names associated with cheap-labor conservatives like “Defense of Marriage Act” and “Clear Skies Act of 2003“. Being it’s election season, the current crop of GOP candidates show up to kiss the ring of the Family Research Council and they say some really stupid crap.

Newt Gingrich would ignore court rulings he didn’t agree with:

Just as President Abraham Lincoln was inspired to act against the Dred Scott decision, Gingrich said, “one of the major reasons I am running” for president is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2002 ruling that the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. The ruling was later overturned…

“On the issue of God and American public life, the courts have been historically wrong at least since the 1940s,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich: I’d ignore Supreme Court if need be

Herman Cain missed the irony of his words:

So I happen to believe that the Founding Fathers put it in that order — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — for a reason. You can pursue happiness all you want to, as long as you don’t tread on somebody else’s liberty. (Applause.) You can pursue liberty all you want to, as long as you don’t tread on somebody else’s life. And that includes the life of the unborn. (Cheers, applause.)

Remarks by Herman Cain

“Libertarian” Ron Paul is against government interference with your life unless you are a woman wanting free birth control:

“I am deeply troubled by the flippancy with which President Obama recently discussed regulations that are alarming and troublesome for many Americans,” said Rep. Paul (R-Texas). “Not all Americans are comfortable with the Obama administration’s decision to mandate coverage of birth control and morning-after pills, and the considerations of these people, many of them Christian conservatives, are worthy of careful consideration — not mockery.”

Ron Paul says Obama regulation to provide free birth control makes ‘mockery’ of religious right

And later Paul said that “Roe v Wade” led to counterfitting money and he is looking for the correct king to tell us what to do:

But it was also – about the time we had Roe versus Wade, we also had the breakdown of our monetary system, the rejection of the biblical admonition that we have honest weights and measures and honest money. And not to have honest weights and measures meant we were counterfeiting the money and destroying the value of the money, which implies, even in biblical times, they weren’t looking for a central bank that was going to counterfeit our currency. (Cheers, applause.)

….

But I prefer the different king, the original king, the instruction that comes from our creator, not from our government. Our government should be strictly limited to the protection of the liberties that allow us to thrive. (Cheers, applause.) And our liberties and our economy, they are under attack today. There is no doubt about it.

Paul Values Voter Summit Transcript

Rick Perry believes that “freedom” can solve all our problems:

The answer to our troubles lies in a positive, optimistic vision, with policies rooted in American exceptionalism. See, American exceptionalism is the product of unlimited freedom. And there is nothing troubling our nation today that cannot be solved by the rebirth of freedom** – nothing. (Cheers, applause.)

….

For some candidates, pro-life is an election-year slogan to follow the prevailing political winds. To me it’s about the absolute principle that every human being is entitled to life. All human life – all human life – is made in the image of our creator. (Cheers, applause.) And every innocent life must be protected, from the most frail, who are elderly, to the most vulnerable, who are unborn.

That’s why as governor I have consistently worked for pro-life legislation, policies such as parental consent for minors seeking an abortion, a ban on third tri-semester (sic) abortions, an informed consent law. And I’m proud to fight for and was proud to sign a budget that defunded Planned Parenthood in Texas. (Cheers, applause.)

Perry Values Voter Summit Transcript

**unless you are a woman, an atheist, or not a Christian

Mitt Romney wants to “reward” marriage by taking away the social safety net from single mothers and allow health care workers to not treat you if you don’t have the same beliefs as they do (that means Christian):

Unfortunately, when it comes to marriage, our government’s policies are often out of step with our values. If a couple has a baby, the government will actually give them more support—in the form of food stamps, welfare, or other benefits—if they do not marry than if they do. Our safety-net programs penalize the decision to marry, instead of rewarding it. That’s just wrong. And that’s why I will eliminate these marriage penalties. And I will hold fathers financially responsible for their child, whether or not they have married the mother.

Our values must also encompass the life of an unborn child. There are, of course, strong convictions on both sides of the life issue. Yet, it speaks well of our country that almost all Americans recognize that abortion is a problem. The law may call it a right, but no one ever called it a good. And in the quiet of conscience, people of both political parties know that more than a million abortions a year cannot be squared with the good heart of America.

I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. As president, I will end federal funding for abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood. I will protect a health care worker’s right to follow their conscience in their work. And I will nominate judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the law. It is long past time for the Supreme Court to return the issue of abortion back to the states, by overturning Roe v. Wade.

Romney Values Voter Summit Transcript

Mitt needs to do some fact checking. Abortion is only a tiny part of the work Planned Parenthood does. The majority is basic women’s health including contraception, sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, and cancer screening and prevention. In many cases the Planned Parenthood clinics are the only place poor women or those located in rural areas have for health care. If funding were cut off then it would cost the government more in the long run.

And just in case you still don’t believe that this Values Voter Summit is a refuge for the moronic, racist, and general bigots here are a couple of bits from Bryan Fischer’s speech at the summit. Fischer is the poster boy for the American Family Association, one of the sponsors of the summit.

I believe we need a president who understands that just as Islam represents the greatest long term threat to our liberty so the homosexual agenda represents the greatest immediate threat to every freedom and right that is enshrined in the First Amendment, it’s a particularly threat to religious liberty…. We need a president who understands that every advance of the homosexual agenda comes at the expense of religious liberty. We need a president who understands that we must choose as a nation between homosexuality and liberty, because we cannot have both. A president who understands that we must choose between homosexuality and liberty, and who will choose liberty every time.

…..

“I submit to you that not a single one of our unalienable rights will be safe,” Fischer said, “in the hands of a president who believes that we evolved from slime and that we are the descendents of apes and baboons.” Fischer called the separation of church and state “mythical” and argued that a result of secular government and the theory of evolution result in mass murder like in Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia and Maoist China.

Bryan Fischer’s Speech To The Values Voter Summit

You know what would be a better value for these so-called Values Voters to learn? Truth and facts. They need to find some and leave the poor, the middle class, gays, and women alone.

Oh and good news, “Libertarian” Ron Paul won their straw poll. Wow..