Frightening GOP behavior - How committed is the Republican party to the core principles of freedom and democracy?

Another question might be: How committed is the Republican party to upholding core (Christian) values such as honesty, trust, respect, integrity, love, kindness, temperance and fairness?

I’m worried. Debate is good of course. Even heated debates are good. But there are limitations. Health insurance for everyone is going to cause Armageddon? Obama wants to pull the plug on grandma? Excuse me?

Of course laws and bills can never be perfect, but often they are good enough or better than inactivity. Humans are never perfect. This includes lawmakers. But should this lead to such blatant hostility and hatred? Has the GOP mutated into a party of anger?

The American democracy used to be a role model for the rest of the world. Contemplating what seems to have happened to the political culture these days makes this more and more doubtful. Is this really what the United States of America stands for? Portraying political opponents as witch doctors or worse? I think there’s more at stake here than finding the best health care reform. And I’m not saying that the Democrats are flawless, but to me they seem to be more committed to upholding the core values of humanity which do include respect and solidarity. And they do not see their fellow Americans who support the Republicans as enemies. I have serious doubts whether the reverse is true as well.

Here’s a quote from Franz Neumann: “If the concepts enemy and fear constitute the energetic principles of politics, a democratic political system is impossible, whether the fear is produced from within or without. If freedom is absence of restraints, the restraints to be removed are many, but the psychological restraint of fear ranks first.”

And an article written by James Zogby

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/frightening-gop-behavior_b_508969.html

What are your thoughts?