Top Values Stories to Watch in 2010: No. 2 ... Culture Wars rage on

Another war to watch in 2010 is the Culture War. We saw the latest battle in the closing months of 2009: the angry, acrimonious fight about health-care reform. (Scroll down to read our No. 1 story on the war in Afghanistan.)
   

The battle deepened the divide between liberals and conservatives, making compromise virtually impossible.

While I disagreed with the Republican position, I had to admire the Grand Old Party’s military discipline. Republican leaders obtained total obedience from the rank and file, proving that a determined minority can wield extraordinary influence on the political process.

Some of the rhetoric about healthcare reform got downright ugly. Glenn Beck, the right-wing political entertainer, said that Obama’s healthcare reforms were really “stealth reparations.” Because the poor and uninsured are disproportionately people of color, expanding insurance coverage was really a way to compensate descendants of slaves, he argued.

As the health-care legislation begins to be implemented in 2010, expect to see more shots fired in the culture war. For a time, health-care reform eclipsed the usual Culture War issues like gay marriage and abortion (though the latter figured in health-care debates), but these value-laden issues will rise to prominence again.

Would you include the culture on your list of the top values stories to watch in 2010?

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