Christofascists - 1, Turner - 0
Pat Robertson, the idiot pictured at the right, is a religious wingnut who wields enormous power within the Bush administration, in spite of not being any kind of elected official. The influence of the christian right in American politics is something that we as Canadians can snicker at and be relieved that we don't have to put up with here in our reality-based country.
Oh yeah?
After perusing some old posts on Garth Turner's blog, I think it's safe to say that religious right nutjob "doctor" Charles McVety was the driving force behind Turner's ouster from the conservative caucus yesterday. This post reveals that there's been antagonism between McVety and Turner for months because of Turner's moderate views on abortion and gay marriage and his outspokeness against McVety and his ilk. McVety made of point of saying he'd help get rid of any MPs who support equal marriage -- so this could be considered his first victory in a campaign against moderate conservatism that will undoubtedly take some more casualties in the near future.
What I want to know is why does this bozo have so much influence? Like Robertson, he's not a politician, he doesn't hold any office, so theoretically he shouldn't have any more influence than I do. And yet he managed to unseat an MP. A month ago I would have laughed off his threats against moderate conservatives -- after all, the party is a coalition of the extremist Reform and the Progressive Conservatives of old, so there should be enough moderates to offset the wingnut element. However, the party is being led by a reformer who appears determined to re-create the Conservative party in the image of the old Reform party. That's how the batshit-crazy religious right whackjob McVety got to be influential. And this is only the beginning: it starts with influencing government to drop moderate MPs, then it progresses to influence in policy-making.
Canada is overall a politically-moderate country, and it's unlikely the majority of voters would stand still for the kind of extremism McVety represents for very long. But I don't think it's paranoid to say this guy needs to be watched closely. He could do a lot of damage before the tories get the boot.
Oh yeah?
After perusing some old posts on Garth Turner's blog, I think it's safe to say that religious right nutjob "doctor" Charles McVety was the driving force behind Turner's ouster from the conservative caucus yesterday. This post reveals that there's been antagonism between McVety and Turner for months because of Turner's moderate views on abortion and gay marriage and his outspokeness against McVety and his ilk. McVety made of point of saying he'd help get rid of any MPs who support equal marriage -- so this could be considered his first victory in a campaign against moderate conservatism that will undoubtedly take some more casualties in the near future.
What I want to know is why does this bozo have so much influence? Like Robertson, he's not a politician, he doesn't hold any office, so theoretically he shouldn't have any more influence than I do. And yet he managed to unseat an MP. A month ago I would have laughed off his threats against moderate conservatives -- after all, the party is a coalition of the extremist Reform and the Progressive Conservatives of old, so there should be enough moderates to offset the wingnut element. However, the party is being led by a reformer who appears determined to re-create the Conservative party in the image of the old Reform party. That's how the batshit-crazy religious right whackjob McVety got to be influential. And this is only the beginning: it starts with influencing government to drop moderate MPs, then it progresses to influence in policy-making.
Canada is overall a politically-moderate country, and it's unlikely the majority of voters would stand still for the kind of extremism McVety represents for very long. But I don't think it's paranoid to say this guy needs to be watched closely. He could do a lot of damage before the tories get the boot.
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