Sorry, J. I failed to post the link and then went to bed. I'll try to find the link up again...if I can recall how.

I will, instead, post a comment from Ron Wagner, USAF pilot in P**********l Wing at Andrews, airline pilot, aero engineer and self-professed liberal.

"Our so-called conservative party, the Republicans, has gone insane and are now best called just Republicans because they are not conservative. Here’s just a few of the reasons:

Violating women’s rights: No conservative would ever want to expand government to dig into personal medical lives and have that government make medical choices for women. Honestly, if you’d been in suspended animation for 50 years and came out and someone told you that one political party had gone nuts over destroying privacy to protect fetuses you think: Oh, those damn bleeding heart Democrats are now wanting big government to open medical records and tell pregnant women what to do. I hope the conservative Republicans stand their ground and stop that liberal government overreach.

Violating everyone’s rights: No conservative would want Roe versus Wade overturned because that decision was about privacy and legally had nothing to do with granting women the right to have an a******n. It’s about government’s right to violate the privacy of all of us. First of all, no conservative would ever want a big brother government to assert such control—government can assert such control only if it is able to invade the privacy to discover:

That someone is pregnant.
Exactly what date that pregnancy began.
That they decided to have an a******n.

A conservative government should never even know, nor would it want to know, that those happened.

Violating the right to love: No conservative would ever want big government to deny people who are in love and want to get married the right to get married because they don’t pass some invasive government test. But no! Today’s conservatives want to establish Christian norms and say that if you don’t comply with Christian views on love and marriage, you can’t get married.

Violating the Constitution: No conservative would ever, ever, ever, ever, ever back a coalition of religious people who want to turn the United States into a religious state. That violates the Constitution, which conservatives used to consider the cornerstone of our country. Now? Well, now, they (often) seem to think the Bible should form the basis for our laws—even though the Constitution they profess to love expressly prohibits that.

Violating our future: Finally, they are the worst fiscal party since the end of World War 2. And yet, weirdly, millions of people v**e for them because they think Republicans are fiscally conservative. The opposite is true. Republicans like to say that Democrats are the tax and spend party, which is true, and which is actually very conservative. That’s how the credit bureaus force you to live your fiscal life. But Republicans are the don’t tax but spend even more party. That’s not conservative, that’s just insane and it’s destroying our future.

As a liberal, have I ever thought that conservatives have a point?

And my answer is YES!

Several decades ago, I thought they had great points. But now we don’t really have conservatives in the United States.

Instead, we have the Republican Party and I miss having (true) conservatives."

Sorry, J. I failed to post the link and then went to bed. I'll try to find the link up again...if I can recall how.

I will, instead, post a comment from Ron Wagner, USAF pilot in P**********l Wing at Andrews, airline pilot, aero engineer and self-professed liberal.

"Our so-called conservative party, the Republicans, has gone insane and are now best called just Republicans because they are not conservative. Here’s just a few of the reasons:

Violating women’s rights: No conservative would ever want to expand government to dig into personal medical lives and have that government make medical choices for women. Honestly, if you’d been in suspended animation for 50 years and came out and someone told you that one political party had gone nuts over destroying privacy to protect fetuses you think: Oh, those damn bleeding heart Democrats are now wanting big government to open medical records and tell pregnant women what to do. I hope the conservative Republicans stand their ground and stop that liberal government overreach.

Violating everyone’s rights: No conservative would want Roe versus Wade overturned because that decision was about privacy and legally had nothing to do with granting women the right to have an a******n. It’s about government’s right to violate the privacy of all of us. First of all, no conservative would ever want a big brother government to assert such control—government can assert such control only if it is able to invade the privacy to discover:

That someone is pregnant.
Exactly what date that pregnancy began.
That they decided to have an a******n.

A conservative government should never even know, nor would it want to know, that those happened.

Violating the right to love: No conservative would ever want big government to deny people who are in love and want to get married the right to get married because they don’t pass some invasive government test. But no! Today’s conservatives want to establish Christian norms and say that if you don’t comply with Christian views on love and marriage, you can’t get married.

Violating the Constitution: No conservative would ever, ever, ever, ever, ever back a coalition of religious people who want to turn the United States into a religious state. That violates the Constitution, which conservatives used to consider the cornerstone of our country. Now? Well, now, they (often) seem to think the Bible should form the basis for our laws—even though the Constitution they profess to love expressly prohibits that.

Violating our future: Finally, they are the worst fiscal party since the end of World War 2. And yet, weirdly, millions of people v**e for them because they think Republicans are fiscally conservative. The opposite is true. Republicans like to say that Democrats are the tax and spend party, which is true, and which is actually very conservative. That’s how the credit bureaus force you to live your fiscal life. But Republicans are the don’t tax but spend even more party. That’s not conservative, that’s just insane and it’s destroying our future.

As a liberal, have I ever thought that conservatives have a point?

And my answer is YES!

Several decades ago, I thought they had great points. But now we don’t really have conservatives in the United States.

Instead, we have the Republican Party and I miss having (true) conservatives."

I disagree with his entire premise about a******n. I do not believe it's just "her" body. I believe the fetus is a human being and as such deserves all the same protections as anyone under the Constitution. I think the author is way over exaggerating the whole religious thing. I do agree Republicans are just as fiscally irresponsible as the Democrats. Both want to spend money we don't have, just on different things. We have no real party of conservatives fiscally anymore except the Freedom Caucus and they get demonized by both sides anytime they talk about cutting a budget. Personally this guy just sounds like a Christian basher and full blown Libertarian. I'm conservative and don't give a damn who loves who. I did not want the definition of marriage changed. People could have gotten the same legal protections with Civil Unions.

I concur with much of what you write here, J, yet we have some disagreement. However, on the issue of civil unions, for instance, we seem to align. As passion runs high on both ends of the ideological spectrum, it is doubtful whether opposing stances on a******n or same sex marriage will ever be agreed upon. I am reminded of a quote attributed to Ben Franklin, "If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."

As it stands, many hold a different idea of what constitutes 'reason'.

Agreed, Rose. But,I wanted to add something to the conversation due to my forgetting to post the link I entended to post last night. The following is that link. A bit dated, but it mentions the liberal policies put forth by Ronald Reagan that proved beneficial...or not , depending on ones views:

https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/januaryfebruary-2003/reagans-liberal-legacy/

The article is fairly long, but should read to completion.