Friday, January 11, 2008

"James Dobson has really helped my family"

Check out the great post over at Mothertalkers about James Dobson and a run-in with a fundie friend. The friend (maybe too strong a word) kept repeating that Dobson "has really helped her family.” So what I would like to ask her is how? Exactly how. I’m not being snide. I really want to know. What does Dobson offer people that makes him such a force in America? He makes me want to vomit (on him), but millions love him, and I refuse to accept because they’re whackos as an answer. That kind of attitude is what gives liberals a bad name.

I think every progressive candidate and political activist should be asking this question. If we knew the answer we’d be on our way to being able to make common cause with folks who are now voting for people like Mike Huckabee, who said just the other day, “Families do a much better job of raising children than the government.” Only here’s the beauty part: Candidates who don’t have an ideological hatred of government could actually offer solutions to the real practical problems parents face. And then we could say buh-bye to James Dobson. And Grover Norquist and Pat Robertson and Phyllis Schlafly and Ralph Reed (hey, yippee, we already did get rid of him. Or he got rid of himself) and … name your favorites.

So, gentle readers, what’s the answer? I know exactly one religious conservative in the neighborhood, so I havcn’t the foggiest. Anybody out there know a Dobson fan to ask?

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