Schwarzenegger urges Republicans to Seize Centre

As the Financial Times notes (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32e19f68-7ff9-11dc-b075-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1), Schwarzenegger is actually right about what the GOP needs to do if it wants to avoid a potential blood bath in November, 2008. However, the Party has trapped itself from being able to take such an approach inasmuch as the primaries give undue power to the "grass roots" Christianists, who vote in primaries and often assist in campaigns. As a result, the GOP candidates have almost been in competition to out Christianist each. Should a subsequent change in tactics be made, the candidate will be accused of flip-flopping or worse. The moral is that sometimes you need to think twice about who you are getting into bed with. Now the GOP is stuck with the Christianists. Here are some highlights:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, has urged Republican presidential candidates to capture the political centre ground ahead of next year’s election by focusing on healthcare reform and education. As the campaign has unfolded, leading candidates have drifted to the right to win support from social conservatives.

Shifting the debates to centre-ground topics would be a positive move, he added. “Being somewhat in the centre . . . is not a detriment. If you sell [your ideas] well and if you explain it well, that’s what leadership is all about, bringing people along.” The California governor was one of his party’s few successes in last year’s mid-term elections, winning a second term in spite of Republicans losing control of the US Senate and Congress.

He has implemented new climate-change legislation and proposed sweeping reform to the state’s health insurance system. His “post-partisan” stance on these issues was justified by the mandate he won, he said. “I feel because I have good approval ratings, and because I won a Democrat state with 57 per cent of the votes, that . . . I can get people to cross party lines.

Study of gay brothers seeks genetic clues

I actually was going to participate in this study, but my brother would not participate (they are taking gay and non-gay brothers sets too). I tried to explain that (1) everything was highly confidential and (2) participating did not indicate that he was gay since they wanted other brother sets too, but he nonetheless was spooked. I got as far as actually speaking with Dr. Alan Sanders and did the initial questionnaires, etc.

Personally, I would like conclusive proof that sexual orientation is genetically determined to at least partially but significant extent because then (A) the Courts - and legislatures - will be less susceptible to being influenced by Christianist propaganda that being gay is a choice and (B) existing non-discrimination laws may become applicable depending upon their wording. Obviously, such scientific proof is the Christianists' worse nightmare. It would (i) show that they have been lying (deliberately, I might add) and (ii) the less crazed religious might be inclined to put aside their prejudice and bias. Here are some highlights from a Boston Globe story (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/16/study_of_gay_brothers_seeks_genetic_clues/):

CHICAGO - Julio and Mauricio Cabrera are gay brothers who are convinced their sexual orientation is as deeply rooted as their Mexican ancestry. They are among 1,000 pairs of gay brothers taking part in the largest study to date seeking genes that may influence whether people are gay. The Cabreras hope the findings will help silence critics who say homosexuality is an immoral choice. If fresh evidence is found suggesting genes are involved, perhaps homosexuality will be viewed as no different from other genetic traits like height and hair color, said Julio Cabrera, a student at DePaul University in Chicago.

Added his brother, "I think it would help a lot of folks understand us better." The federally funded study, led by Chicago area researchers, will rely on blood or saliva samples to help scientists search for genetic clues to the origins of homosexuality. Parents and straight brothers also are being recruited.

Dr. Alan Sanders of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute, the lead researcher of the new study, said he suspects there isn't one "gay gene." It is more likely there are several genes that interact with nongenetic factors, including psychological and social influences, to determine sexual orientation, said Sanders, a psychiatrist. Still, he said, "If there's one gene that makes a sizable contribution, we have a pretty good chance" of finding it.

Many gays fear that if gay genes are identified, it could result in discrimination, prenatal testing, and even abortions to eliminate homosexuals, said Joel Ginsberg of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. However, he added, "If we confirm that sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic, we are much more likely to get the courts to rule against discrimination."