Earlier this week I spent more than 15 minutes on the phone with NY Post columinst Maureen Callahan explaining to her that there was no new culture war brewing on the right. Indeed, I argued, the exact opposite is taking place. Republicans and conservatives have been focused on spending, taxes, the size of government, etc while it is liberals – and their friends in the MSM – who have been trying to stoke the embers of a new culture war.
In fact, after my interview with Ms. Callahan I actually posted my thoughts here on this blog on this subject matter. In that post I wrote:
The only people talking about the “culture wars” are on the left and the reason is simple: they can not defend the abysmal record of the Obama administration when it comes to the bread and butter issues most Americans care about.
Contrary to what the left, and their enablers in the main stream media, would have you believe, there is no new culture war brewing on the right. The Republican candidates for President haven’t been crisscrossing the country banging the drum of abortion, gay marriage, creationism, etc. Quite the contrary, even the most conservative candidates – such as Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann – have repeatedly said these are NOT the issues they are running on.
Full post here: http://therealredbarron.com/2011/08/25/the-reality-of-the-culture-war/
So imagine my surprise when I read Ms. Callahan’s column this morning that claims the EXACT OPPOSITE of what I told her and what I wrote, and then used a quote from me as part of her evidence of the clash over this new “culture war”:
So why are the Republican Party’s biggest stars reviving the culture wars? While Perry and Bachmann, et al., are also talking foreign and fiscal policy, why get in the muck on abortion, evolution, gay marriage, when most Americans care mainly, and desperately, about keeping their homes, their jobs, what’s left of their 401(k)s?
“Let’s focus on what got us elected,” says Christopher Barron, political consultant and chairman of the activist group GOProud, which represents the conservative LGBT community. “The 2010 elections were laser-focused on the size of government and fiscal issues.”
Full piece here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/clash_of_cultures_AU9r5CDorv73hRMqMKSFPN
Not only did Ms. Callahan completely ignore and twist what I told her, she couldn’t even get basic facts right. She writes:
Barron was one of sixteen Tea Party leaders to recently sign a petition imploring Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to focus solely on the economy. “This election was not a mandate for the Republican Party, nor was it a mandate to act on any social issue,” it reads.
The “recent” letter she was referring to is actually a letter penned in November of 2010. Almost one year ago. Guess that google function must not have been working on Ms. Callahan’s computer.
I expect little out of the MSM, but this – even for my low expectations – is just a joke. Who knew that Jayson Blair was now working under the pseudonym “Maureen Callahan” and now working at the NY Post?
TROLOLOL
Ok, so they aren’t actively running on these issues. But we know their positions nonetheless. And should they get elected, we can expect legislation that further restricts abortion, bans recognition of gay unions, relaxes environmental protections, etc. So even if these candidates say they aren’t running on these issues–and they say this to avoid controversy now–we know how they will act in regard to “culture war” issues if they get into office.
Yes, we can only hope that’s exactly what they do.