- Sister Toldjah - https://sistertoldjah.com -

Weekend Open Thread/Discussion: What does “inclusive” mean to you?

Hey y’all. Got a lot of errand running to do today in an effort to catch up from being so behind due to my CPAC trip. For example, I haven’t been grocery shopping in two weeks. Ugh.

Wanted to jump start a discussion about GOP “inclusiveness” in light of the controversy that surrounded CPAC over their inclusion of the gay conservative group GOProud at the convention. Several conservative groups either boycotted or pulled out of the convention because of the invite that was extended to GOProud, who are – at least from what I know – more conservative than the Log Cabin Republicans. In fact, GOProud was started as an alternative to the LCP precisely on that basis.

I didn’t have a huge issue with their invitation because on the whole they share a lot of the same conservative values [1] that the rest of us do. Smaller government, lower taxes, states rights, etc. While they do believe in gay marriage and an alternative family structure and I don’t, they believe it’s an issue that should be decided at the state level. That being said, there was a raging debate at both CPAC and on Twitter and elsewhere between conservatives over whether or not they should be included. Some people were saying that we’re obviously not going to agree 100% on everything and that the attendace of GOProud shouldn’t have been a big deal on that basis, saying CPAC was the place to “exchange ideas and to get your viewpoints across”, while others were arguing as to just how big of a tent the GOP was supposed to actually be and wondering if the “inclusiveness” meant that hypothetically pretty much any group could be invited to CPAC in the name of “inclusiveness” – which I thought was a good point. If CPAC is the place to “exchange ideas and get your viewpoints across” then does that mean it shouldn’t be an issue to invite groups like Planned Parenthood and NOW and the SEIU to CPAC to “exchange” ideas? How far should the “inclusiveness” go? Where is the line drawn in terms of who should be invited and who shouldn’t?

This actually extends beyond CPAC to conservatives in general. In your view, where is the line drawn in terms of what makes a person conservative and what makes him or her moderate to liberal?

Discuss amongst yourselves. I’ll check in when I can. :)

Sunshine on a cloudy day
Sunshine on a cloudy day in Charlotte, NC - 2/17/11