One regrettable inclusion comes in the generally positive section on the armed forces which suggests banning all homosexuals from military service and substantially reducing the role of women in the military.

Then there's the section on International Relations where the Texas GOP chimerically declares that we're going to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world except for those parts we're going to gratuitously invade. This section actually includes a list of countries and what we're going to do to them. It's kind of like a struggle between the Neocons and the Bircher isolationists, alternating between condemning China and and embracing Israel, and supporting the Iraq War and other War on Terror campaigns, while demanding that we reject any "One World Government Organizations", drop out of the International Monetary Fund, drop out of the World Trade Organization and abrogate our commitments to NAFTA and any similar regional trade treaties. And best of all, there's a lengthy section on not just dropping out of the UN, but taking measures against it or any organization like it in the future, including kicking the UN out of their headquarters in New York, repudiating any debts to the UN, opposing the formation of an International Criminal Court and passing an "American Sovereignty Protection Act" to declare that the UN could never override US law or the Constitution. You really have to read this section for yourself. It's such an impassioned screed against the UN that it's hard to describe in just a few words.

Then, strangely, the whole thing ends with a whimper, concluding with a tacked-on Minority Report Concerning School Choice where seven members of the Resolultions Committee prove that they are so aggressively wrongheaded that they want to go on record as opposing one of the better planks of the platform and put their names down against better education for our kids through school choice. In case you ever have a chance to vote against these remarkably stupid individuals, there names are: Kyleen Wright, Pamela Derr, Tony Sims, Deon Starns, Rick Miller, Richard Whitmore and Paul Stockard. If there's one thing Republicans ought to be able to agree on it's school choice. There's no excuse for opposing it.

Stuff and Nonsense

While this second half of the platform was less blatantly offensive on major issues, it's just chock-full of bad ideas and little bits of craziness from various factions.

Most troubling overall are the theocratic overtones of this part of the platform. It includes the declaration that "America is a nation under God founded on Judeo-Christian principles" and that "the public acknowledgment of God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom" and of course the fundamentally ignorant call for "a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and toward dispelling the myth of separation of church and state." Along with the various radical pro-life elements, endorsement of school prayer and support of Intelligent Design, this adds up to a real victory for the religious right and an embarrassment for sane Republicans who actually understand the First Amendment and realize that there's not an endorsement of religion in any of our founding documents.