“But that means we engage people to talk about this for the good of everyone, including social conservatives, not sit back and do nothing…”

No response necessary.

Second – Marriage ended up on the ballot because people do what they normally do when faced with something new and seemingly scary. They freaked. Now, they have become more used to the idea and things are changing slowly. The last round of ballot measures either won with fewer yes votes or were defeated such as AZ. The nature of being conservative is NOT that we don’t get there, but that it takes longer to adjust to ensure that we don’t lose the best of our values and traditions. But that means we engage people to talk about this for the good of everyone, including social conservatives, not sit back and do nothing because it may piss them off. They came to OUR party after they were disappointed with Jimmy Carter. They fought and kicked and screamed to get us to accept their morale activism when we were content to leave that to the churches. They were hardly shy about it and so neither should we be. I’m not afraid to talk to them about these issues, why are you? The point is to talk about these issues as conservatives, not to not talk about them at all because it seems to be the same thing HRC is doing. It’s the HOW, not the WHAT.

Rule by judicial fiat silences public debate. Marriage is not a fundamental human right, it is a social construct. So, defining marriage in a free society should be a matter of public consensus, not judicial dictate.

So you’re saying the ends justify the means and it’s ok to “exploit” gay marriage so long as it gives us a temporary majority at the cost of long term real success as a party.

The idea that disagreeing with gay-leftist orthodoxy is “exploitation” or “gay-bashing” is both ignorant and Stalinist: “You disagree with me, therefore your motives are nefarious.”

The reason gay marriage has been on the ballot is pure and simple: a large majority of Americans think marriage is a very important institution and care passionately about it–and a handful of activists are abusing the courts to try to force unwanted changes to it down their throats.

That most Republicans agree with the majority of Americans is neither “exploitative” nor “gay-bashing”–it’s probable.

Congressional Republicans became complacent in 2005 and 2006 and largely abandoned the small government principles which helped them gain the majority in 1994 and secure it in subsequent elections.

No, the problem is that a party that does not believe in government can not effectively run the government. Putting a Republican in charge of the government is like choosing a vegan to be CEO of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

I merely think that a libertarian approach is the best strategy — not only politically, but also socially. It won’t piss off the far right and will let the marketplace do what it has been doing, with private businesses becoming increasing gay-friendly.

Why not? HRC and the DNC did.

I no longer tolerate lectures from Democrat gays over this. Period.

The total acceptance of gays is a foregone conclusion? How is this conclusion to be accomplished — by the magic of legislation? How is this acceptance to be enforced if the conclusion isn’t quite total enough? Is resistance to gay marriage an example of ‘gay-bashing’ by definition, specifically your definition? Further, is a party’s winning strategy to simply promote any social trend from any quarter, particularly if we can describe disagreement with it as ‘bashing’? In your view, are the advantages of (ostensible) Republican policies such as free markets, strong defense, etc. dwarfed by your gay litany, thus rendering any exploitation of resistance to it (real or imagined) tantamount to Cardinal Sin?

It’s absurd to blame Rove for using this issue to divide the country. It was not Rove who created the division, but those who would use the courts to decide an issue without giving the people a say in the matter.

…sorry, it just bears repeating

Priced at $795 per person

What’s included:

*3- Nights hotel accommodation at the Meadowmere Resort, Ogunquit ME

*Thursday night cocktail hour

*Group dinner on Friday and Saturday night

*Plenty of morning free time on Friday to enjoy the foliage at your own time and pace

*Optional Friday afternoon kayaking tour

*Saturday boat tour to the charming village of Kennebunkport,where you can see the Bush compound from our boat

*Enjoy the quaint, gay-friendly bars of Ogunquit each night

I got news for you. I could go there by myself cheaper than $800 and probably do more.