Home
Refresh   Tag(s): ; ; ; ; ;
Add to My Group
June 21, 2008 at 11:31:32

View Ratings | Rate It

Failed Conservative Values: Arianna Huffington on Family Values Hypocrisy

by Edwin Rutsch     Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com


Tell A Friend

 
Arrianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington is a well know progressive speaker and activist.  She started the popular Huffington Post website and it seems you can't turn on a progressive TV show  without her popping up on it and taking a swipe at the conservatives. I saw Arianna at our local bookstore where she was promoting her new book, The Right is Wrong. During the Q and A, I asked her how conservative values have failed. She had plenty to say.

Failed Conservative Family Values: Arrianna Huffington

 My name's Edwin Rutsch, and I'm from ProgressiveSpirit.com, and I'm working on a documentary on how conservative values have failed. Conservatives have talked a lot about their values as a pillar of their movement, and so I'm looking at how those values have actually failed, and I'm wondering if you have some thoughts about that. You started talking about the failed conservative value of fear, for example. I’m wondering if you could expand on that, or on other failed conservative values.

Arianna Huffington:  Well, of course, we can see how the conservative family values have failed, ranging from senators caught in bathroom stalls at airports, to congressmen caught sending sexy emails to pages. We've seen the hypocrisy of the party that claims to be the party of family values.

And also, the whole idea that the Republicans are the party of morality and moral values, because they are opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion, is something that progressives need to tackle head-on. Because the Bible, the real spiritual values, are primarily based on what we do for the least among us. That's the essence of the Bible. How do we deal with what John Edwards called "the Other America"? That's the essence of real values.

If you look at the states where there were Living Wage initiatives in the fall, those did very well. Conservatives tend to focus on how the same-sex marriage initiatives did, but how about the Living Wage initiatives?

So I think if you want a battle of different moral values, just put the values of those who care for the poor, of those who care for those who have no health insurance, against the values of those who care about denying the right to marry somebody of the same sex. And let's see who wins.

See the full talk video at;
Arianna Huffington Reads from 'Right is Wrong'
Book Passage May. 19, 2008

Family Values at Wikipedia:
Family values is a political and social concept used in various cultures to describe values that are believed to be traditional in that culture and in support of the idea that families are the basic units of culture. The phrase has different meanings in different cultures. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the term has been frequently used in political debate, especially by social and religious conservatives, who believe that the world has seen a decline in family values since the end of the Second World War.  Because the term is vague, and means different things to different people, "family values" has been described as a political buzzword, power word, or code word predominantly used by right-wing or conservative political parties and media providers.

Some Questions for Discussion:
Family Values is this vague undefined term. It somehow implies that you support healthy and functioning families. However, conservatives seem to use it more as a self-righteous whip while their actual policies undermine family life.

What are Conservative Family Values?
What are the actual values that conservatives support?
What are Progressive Family Values?
How can progressives reclaim the discussion about Family Values?

Failed Conservative Values
I ask for your assistance to systematically build the arguments and tell the stories that reveal how Conservative Values have Failed. Join in our effort to create a documentary and book on the subject by contributing  articles, posts, chapters for the book and video clips. Check our website for more information and a growing outline of tasks that need to be done on this project. 

Coming Soon

Coming soon, Congresswoman Maxine Waters talks with me about the Failure of Conservative Values. I didn't know much about her before, but Wikipedia says, " Waters voted against the Iraq War Resolution, the 2002 resolution that funded and granted Congressional approval to possible military action against the regime of Saddam Hussein." Now that is impressive.
 

Next Page  1  |  2

 

ProgressiveSpirit.com

my Bio here http://humanityquest.com/Projects/Bios/EdwinRutsch/

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Contact Author Contact Editor View Authors' Articles

 

Book Recommendations for "Arianna Huffington"
The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
by The editors of the Huffington Post

$15.00
Lowest New Price $8.39

Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Simon

On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life
by Arianna Huffington

$12.99
Lowest New Price $2.98

Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Fourth Instinct: The Call of the Soul
by Arianna Huffington

$17.95
Lowest New Price $11.11

Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Simon

Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe
by Arianna Huffington

$24.95
Lowest New Price $0.28

Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Knopf

View All Book Recommendations

Share this page: (what's this?)                   Tell a Friend: Tell A Friend

FACEBOOK      DIGG THIS      Add This Page to Mr Wong!           NEWSVINE      DEl.ICIO.US      Looksmart Furl      NETSCAPE      My Web      Tag!RawSugar      Blink List     (More...)
Comments: Expand   Shrink   Hide  
1 comments


Thoughts on Family Values

 One thing it seems to me progressives and the media need to  do is make the distinction between,
 Conservative Family Values and Progressive Family Values.

Progressives should never refer to Family Values but to either  'Conservative Family Values' or 'Progressive Family Values'.

Failed Conservative Family Values of patriarchy, authoritarianism, strictness, control, secrecy, intolerance, close-minded, etc., The Conservative Family Values map on to the Failed Conservative Values we see at the national level.

as apposed to

Progressive Family Values of caring, empathy, community, equality, justice, responsibility, tolerance, open mindedness, etc.,

There's a lot of work to be done to take back the Family Values discussion.

Progressive Values Stories: Brianna Leavitt on Taking Back Family Values - Justice & Responsibility
View @:DemocracyforAmerica.com  - Opednews.com - Dailykos.com - Groups.yahoo.com

I interviewed Brianna Leavitt at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley.  She feels conservatives have taken over the term Values and Family Values, but she doesn't want to just give up the words to them. She goes on to talk about the Progressive Values she learned in her family. Her mother always reached out to the poor and homeless.  Brianna  was taught empathy, justice and responsibility by her parents and grandmother. These are in opposition to the Failed Conservative Family Values that exclude people.

 

by Edwin Rutsch (64 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments) on Saturday, Jun 21, 2008 at 11:36:45 AM

Recommend  (0+)

 
Want to post your own comment on this Article? Post Comment


 

Most Popular Articles
in the Last 2 Days
(by Recommend Emails)

Health Insurance Exec Whistleblower Wendell Potter Testifies Before Congress by Wendell Potter

REPORTING FROM HONDURAS: Hondurans Call Out for Help from the International Community by Medea Benjamin

North Korea – Impending Missile Launch May Require US Military Action by Steven Leser

Bush's 4th of July Celebration Posted by Darla

Cynthia McKinney and the Spirit of Humanity Crew are captured and detained by the Israel Navy by Cynthia McKinney

Italy to Declare Independence from U.S. Military by David Swanson

Does North Korea Really Pose a Grave Threat to the Security of the US? by Nathan Nahm

Women's Friendships Lift Moods, Save Lives by Elayne Clift

You Don't Have To Eat 10,000 Boxes Of Crackerjack To Become An Ordained Minister! [Satire] by Daniel Vojir

How the Terminator Can Save the World by Scott Baker

Go To Top 50 Most Popular

 

Tell a Friend: Tell A Friend

Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews

Powered by Populum