In These Times magazine describes itself as:

In These Times is dedicated to informing and analyzing popular movements for social, environmental and economic justice; to providing a forum for discussing the politics that shape our lives; and to producing a magazine that is read by the broadest and most diverse audience possible.

Frankly, I'm not familiar with the magazine, but the most recent issue includes an article which deals with Michigan and the 7th Congressional District.

The article is titled "Middle America Confronts Its Own Taliban."

Now, before I say anything more, I want to make clear that I object to this kind of rhetoric. What the article tries to say is that Tim Walberg is part of the Religious Right movement to impose narrow, strict definitions of lifestyle. Using the name "Taliban" is just as bad as President Bush implying that a vote for Democrats is a vote for the terrorists-- it's ridiculous, and lowers the level of debate in this country.

That said, the article is interesting for the angle that it takes, and is perhaps worth reading. Here's the lead paragraph:

Overshadowed by Ned Lamont’s Aug. 8 primary win for Senate in Connecticut was an ugly ouster the same day of a moderate GOP incumbent congressman from Michigan, Joe Schwarz. In his first term in Congress, Schwarz, a doctor, backed lifting the ban on stem-cell research and raising the minimum wage. But in the low-turnout primary, he narrowly lost to Tim Walberg, a minister who took money from the anti-immigrant Minutemen and had to deny involvement in an episode of antigay vandalism at Schwarz’s campaign office. Walberg’s win is the latest by a far-right insurgency in the state. Since 2000, this small group has shoehorned attacks on abortion rights, intolerance against gays, and even racist appeals into the strategy of the state Republican Party.

I don't necessarily agree with everything, but it's interesting to read.

Labels: 2006 Election