Reversing the Sixties: The 2012 Republican Agenda

There's a good column at Huffington Post that summarizes the over all GOP agenda at both the state and federal level. It is entitled"reversing the Sixties: The 2012 Republican Agenda" and lays the mindset behind the agenda - an agenda that ought to frighten not only women, but also gays and minorities of all stripes. It's as if the GOP wants to roll the clock back to the 1950's or earlier, forgetting in the process that those earlier periods in history were not so good for many in society and even among the "traditional families" reality and the fond reminiscences of today were actually often very different things. In this idealized world of yesteryear, gays would be back deep in the closet, women would be subservient to men, and blacks and other racial minorities would know their place. Here are some column highlights:

One of the most surprising aspects of contemporary Republican politics has been their across-the-board attack on women's health services and women's rights. Rather than an isolated misogynistic program, these attacks should be viewed as one part of a conservative agenda to role back gains made in the sixties.

Recently, MoveOn reported Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP's War on Women ranging from changing the definition of rape to denying abortions in all circumstances to limiting access to contraception to defunding preschool programs and family planning agencies. It's not only the women's movement that's being attacked, but also the civil-rights movement, the consumer movement, the environmental movement, and the gay-rights movement. All the accomplishments of the sixties are under attack by Republicans.

Since the Reagan era, Republicans have been adept at mobilizing resentment based upon the notion of the "culture of victimization." In campaign after campaign Republicans have fueled the anger of lower and middle-class whites and redirected it to imaginary groups: liberal elites who promote "sixties values," black welfare "queens," promiscuous women who want abortion on demand, aggressive homosexuals who seek to convert others to their "lifestyle," and most recently illegal aliens who steal American jobs and benefits. Tom Frank described this process in What's the Matter with Kansas: within the Republican Party, economic conservatives distract social conservatives with inflammatory social issues in order to get their votes and keep them from noticing the life-threatening problems caused by conservative economic policies.

What we're seeing from the 2012 Republican Party is more than a strategy. . . . there is now an overriding "conservative moral logic." This is inherently patriarchal: "The idealized conservative family is structured around a strict father." Family values are the values established by the strict father. By extension, they are set by a Republican candidate such as Romney or Santorum.

Lakoff observes that conservatives project the "strict father" model onto all societal institutions. A proper church is governed by a strict father God, the Christian Old Testament God. The marketplace is controlled by a mythical strict father, whose invisible hand ensures that business transactions ultimately benefit society. The military is run by a strict father without interference from civilians. And so forth.

To incite their conservative base, the Romney and Santorum campaigns have turned away from the economy to family values. And they have focused on women's rights and health services. From their perspective men -- the strict fathers -- control reproduction.

The GOP objective is reverse the gains made in the sixties -- gains they link to "sixties values." Republicans plan to destroy the civil-rights movement, the consumer movement, the environmental movement, the gay-rights movement, and the women's movement.

It's all frightening and, if the GOP agenda succeeds, this nation will not be a welcoming place for many of us.