{"id":818,"date":"2021-08-14T11:43:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T15:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potlatchga.com\/?p=818"},"modified":"2021-08-14T12:02:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T16:02:39","slug":"thoughts-for-the-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potlatchga.com\/?p=818","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts for the Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Above: Cartoon from www.cagle.com\/tag\/educators-defy-ban-on-mask-mandates<\/a>. Critical Masks published August 11, 2021 by Dave Whamond politicalcartoons.com<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

This cartoon struck me as being especially relevant to our politics today; like a picture, it says a thousand words. It certainly suggests the absurdity of our contemporary political discourse. Our polemics address the trivial to the exclusion of more important issues. We need to ask ourselves tough questions about our partisanship. This is especially true for those on the right who have ditched their long-held principles for instant gratification and short-term gains.<\/p>\n

Andrew Sullivan in his Weekly Dish<\/em> column* recently summarized what I’ve been asking about conservative Republicans since at least 2016. Sullivan writes:<\/p>\n

“When I think of American conservatism, I think of limited government, incremental change, a concern for social cohesion, and a defense of old-school liberalism–a free press, free speech, free association, free markets, freedom of religion.<\/p>\n

I think of a government eager to ensure that capitalism can work without excessive government intervention, but also a dedication to enforcing the integrity of the market–busting monopolies, regulating stock markets, prosecuting corruption. I think of a conservatism that enforces borders, but has no issue with vibrant, moderate immigration.<\/p>\n

And yet many on the right now seem happy to chuck all of this into the dustbin of history… .”<\/p>\n

I invite all of us to think about what we believe and to question what is really important, especially those on the right who seem hell-bent on throwing the “baby out with the bathwater.”<\/p>\n

*The Weekly Dish<\/em>, Andrew Sullivan, August 13, 2021<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This cartoon struck me as being especially relevant to our politics today; like a picture, it says a thousand words. It certainly suggests the absurdity of our contemporary political discourse. Our polemics address the trivial to the exclusion of more important issues. We need to ask ourselves tough questions about our partisanship. This is especially…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\nThoughts for the Weekend - Potlatch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/potlatchga.com\/?p=818\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts for the Weekend - Potlatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This cartoon struck me as being especially relevant to our politics today; like a picture, it says a thousand words. 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