From: lazarus@wixer.cactus.org (Michael Lax)
Subject: Re:  How evil are the Republicans?
Organization: Real/Time Communications
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 12:02:13 GMT

>dep@inel.gov (Don Palmrose) writes:

>>In article <1992Aug21.114844.26876@wixer.cactus.org>,
>>lazarus@wixer.cactus.org (Michael Lax) writes:
>>
>>
>> However, this particular Republican convention reminds me of another time.
>> A leader who claimed that if you followed him without question, even if you
>> disliked a couple of things he stood for, he would improve the economy and
>> make his country powerful again.  He would make certain that those that did
>> not represent his definition of "good", and who he blamed for the country's
>> woes, would be kept carefully in check.  He talked of forcing religion,
>> albeit just his view of religion, back into the lives over every citizen,
>> especially the captive audience of unsuspecting children.  He had the
>> support of many of the fundamentalist Christian religions.  Who am I
>> talking about?  If you haven't figured it out by now, it's Hitler.  And
>> while there are some differences between Bush and Hitler, the similarities
>> are infinitely more frightening.  The Nazis even went so far as to attack a
>> group which Quayle has had no end of enjoyment in attacking:  the media and
>> entertainment "elite."  Bush speaks out of both sides of his mouth on
>> abortion.  And his attitude towards the rights of gays and lesbians reeks
>> heavily of a fascist attempt to repress a minority; there is little
>> difference between Republican attacks on my sexuality than Hitler's attacks
>> on the "evil" of the Jews in pre-Nazi Germany.  He claims he represents the
>> 'majority', but did that make the Nazis (who also represented the
>> 'majority) _RIGHT_?  Fascism, unfortunately, is very seductive, and Bush
>> has seduced many of the moderates of the Republican party.  Let us hope
>> that the American people are not as easily seduced, for the world does not
>> need another demagogue with too much power.
>>
>> Michael Lax
>>
>>

>This is an example of another tactic by Hilter: tell a big enough lie and the
>people will believe you.

Could you please tell me where I lied?  Bush was strongly pro-choice in the
late 60's, and even as recently as his vice-presidential years.  He has
received a lot of support from Pat Robertson, et al.  He has been preaching
for school prayer.  Quayle did sound like a parakeet attacking the "media and
cultural elite."  Yes, the comparison to the Nazis is strong:  but people
sometime forget that Hitler was _elected_.


>All Bush and other Republicans have said is that the current laws of the US
>protect everyone in a fair and equatible manner, homosexuals included.
>Because the Republican party is strongly against the granting of extra rights
>that will make a certain sexual preference a leagl minority does not make
>them evil.  Thus, to twist this to mean Bush is just like Hitler is rather
>lame and pathetic.  Homosexuals can be this way if they want, Bush has said
>this.  It is just strongly immoral to many Americans that this certain
>lifestyle decision be given more rights and privilages than a hetrosexual
>lifestyle.

You start out at least sounding rational.  But even at the beginning you
obviously don't know the facts.  The laws of the US not only don't protect me,
they make a criminal in many states.  Gays and lesbians are _frequently_ fired
just because of their sexuality - take a look at "Cracker Barrel" restaurants
(they fired you if you 'looked' gay, whatever that is).  The DOD won't even
HIRE us.  We are denied the right to marry and the right to adopt children -
these are not "special" privileges any more than Rosa Parks wanting to ride at
the front of the bus was considered by many to be such.  Of course, what's
left of your argument falls completely apart when you expose your ignorance:
I did not "choose" to be gay.  Like the Christians who ex-communicated
Galileo, or stifled Newton, you will probably never admit that your god could
create gays and lesbians, and that in so doing made us a part of nature's
diversity.  Regarding "special" rights, let me quote from the Dems platform (I
don't have a copy of the Republican platform, but would like to obtain a copy-
I don't get a.p.b.):

     Democrats will continue to lead the fight to ensure that no
     Americans suffer discrimination or deprivation of rights on the
     basis of race, gender, language, national origin, religion, age,
     disability, sexual orientation, or other characteristics irrelevant
     to ability.

     [P]rovide civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians and an
     end to Defense Department discrimination.

Again, how would I get more rights than a straight person?

>The government under Bush is not going around kicking in the doors and
>rounding up gays to put them into special camps.  Rather, the amount of
>funding for a cure of AIDs became the highest medical funding catagory under
>his Administration.  He also had FDA totally re-organize their drug approval
>proceedure to speed up the process of getting medicine out for the treatment
>of AIDs.  And just because he will not accept homosexuality as a moral and
>right lifestyle makes him just like Hilter is the most absurd thing I have
>heard in a long time.

Oh, but you are mislead.  In many cities, MPs go around to gay bars to see if
any soldiers go there.  This is just one example of government abuses of gays
and lesbians.  You might also like to know that the President of Parents and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is a Jewish woman who survived the Nazi
concentration camps.  And if Bush was so concerned about AIDS, why didn't he
fully fund the Ryan White care bill?  And the FDA changed their rules after a
_lot_ of pressure; this was hardly Bush's doing.

Hitler wouldn't accept gays, lesbians, Jews, Turks, or Gypsies as "moral and
right lifestyles."  And while I hope that Bush won't start putting us in
concentration camps, he has certainly, like Hitler, made us illegal (I refer
again to "sodomy" statutes).  Jews in Nazi Germany suffered from hate crimes,
much like gays and lesbians do now, but the government could have cared less -
much like now.  Jews were told that their lifestyle was not as good as that of
the Christians, that they shouldn't expect "special" treatment since, & except
for their Judaism, they had the same rights as any other German - and anyways
they had plenty of money.

Pointing out the differences between Bush and Hitler are easy.  I had
mentioned, granted briefly, that these differences exist.  My concern,
however, is with fascism, and that Hitler was a democratically elected leader.

Every day I see the Republican party being led by the fanatical religious
right.  Their agenda includes "converting" gays and lesbians, which sounds a
lot like the Inquisition to me.  And remember that Hitler was a human being
doing what he thought was the best thing for his country.

==============================================================================
"For I can see that in the midst of death, Life persists; in the
midst of untruth, Truth persists; in the midst of darkness, Light
persists."

"An eye for an eye will blind the world."
                                      Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

"I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it."
                                                             ME!

lazarus@wixer.cactus.org
Michael Lax, 12514 Esplanade St., #B, Austin, TX  78727-4409
512.837.1596 (h), 512.836.9715 (fax)
==============================================================================
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