One of the great PR successes of modern conservatism is their assumption of the mantle of “Family Values,” despite having a roster of leaders whose ill behavior has only succeeded in turning it into catchphrase that has lost all meaning.
The right is a hypocrites festival of the fallen with infidelity and broken marriage vows (Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, John McCain); hooker patrons (David Vitter, Larry Craig, Dick Morris); drug abusers (Rush Limbaugh, Ted Haggard, Glenn Beck), and the list goes on. Yet somehow they have the audacity to preach to others about family values and hold conferences like the Values Voters Summit taking place this weekend. Although they profess to honor family values, they persistently refuse to value families.
The summit is featuring a who’s who of right-wingers that will take the stage and sermonize on standards of behavior that you must comply with even if they do not.
Almost every GOP candidate for president is scheduled to speak: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Joining them will be numerous federal and state officeholders: John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Ann Marie Buerkle, Ted Cruz, Ken Cuccinelli, Vicky Hartzler, Bobby Jindal, Jim Jordan, Steve King, and Mike Pompeo. And don’t forget the media mouthpieces for the right: Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Laura Ingraham, Gary Bauer, Bill Bennett, Tony Perkins, Phyllis Schlafly and Brent Bozell.
The Summit is sponsored by some of America’s most notorious hate mongers: The Family Research Council, The Heritage Foundation, Liberty University, and The American Family Association. These groups are united in their pursuit of religious intolerance and bigotry aimed at minorities and gays. The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer has called President Obama a fascist, blamed gays for the Holocaust, asserted that Muslims have “no fundamental First Amendment claims,” and that Mormons have no right to religious freedom. That should make appearances by Romney and Beck more interesting. Here’s more hate speech from Fischer:
The Southern Poverty Law Center and People for the American Way (among others) have called for public figures to denounce these views and cease to associate with those who espouse them. But the participation of Republican presidential candidates, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and prominent rightist pundits like Beck, insures that the summit will reach their parishioners to affirm the negativity that is their trademark.
Conscientious Americans should reject the so-called Values Voters and instead, vote their values. Because the truth is that majorities of Americans believe in religious freedom, marriage equality, universal health care, and tax fairness. America is a nation that values tolerance over bigotry, and people over corporations.
