Republicans

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:13 pm

I could have sworn there was a thread like this already but I could not find one. The occasion of this thread is that something really bad has happened to the Republican party. Today's example involves the questioning of Merrick Garland. Amazed that some of those people don't burst into flames spontaneously due to the brazenness of the hypocrisy.

Maybe the fall happened 40 years ago or 50 years ago. Maybe it was only 20 years ago, or 10. Maybe it was an incremental process. Whatever the timeline, the result is fundamentally untenable for decent people trying to live in a democracy.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:05 pm

I am no expert here, but a common theme I have heard is that the genesis of this for Republicans was the civil rights movement. Republicans could have chosen to support civil rights and court the black vote, but instead, they let JFK and the Democrats take that ground and decided to court the disaffected southern democrats to make up for it. This was all Nixon at the head of the party.

These narratives then go on to highlight the missed opportunities in later years when Republicans could have turned the corner and didn't. They always highlight Reagan's racist dog-whistles to otherize minorities and sow fear to curry votes. Sarah Palin is highlighted as bringing this mindset out into the open and idolizing it. And Trump is always the ultimate symptom/illustration of the worst of these tendencies.

Again, I'm no historian, but it rings true with my biases.

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:31 pm

My view matches Mike's. Take a look at the electoral college outcomes from 1952 to 1980 - Under Eisenhower, the solid Democrat states are the deep south. In the 60's things start shifting. Carter holds on by being southern but the loss is complete with Reagan. White racists became Reagan democrats, then solid Republicans.

There has been a dualism in the gop, both branches of which I despise. The elitists use race baiting an nihilism to get votes and keep control as they distrust the populace at a whole. They followed the Powell memo, creating think tanks to create faux intellectualism to support their views, tried to control textbooks, and did everything to rig government in favor of corporations. Most recently, these people accepted Trump to get the latest victories - friendly judges and yet another round of tax cuts for the richest. They know this cripples government but don't care as they are a bunch of heartless Ayn Rand fans (also why they don't want to spend on the environment - who cares if it affects others). They complain about debt and deficit only when they are out of power, knowing full well that the deficit is a direct outcome of budgets and tax policy. They also push a very Randian lack of empathy an venerate the myth of the deserving poor because social programs cut into their tax cuts. Most conservatives don't seem to care about suffering if it doesn't involve them.

The problem is the elitists have largely lost control. When you consistently use the same propaganda for decades, people grow up with it and think it is the core value of the party, not just a scheme to maintain control to extract money. Trump, or someone similar, was an almost inevitable endpoint.

I don't see a quick fix. The conservative population has been trained all their lives to distrust mainstream news - it's not elitist enough and it punches holes in the facade of think tank bred stories. Conservatives are hit with a rotation of fear of outsiders, finding someone other than themselves to blame, and told how great their are. Knowing that the majority of the country is not republican, they have also been taught to distrust cities and universities (Have you seen the maps they make showing how the country is more red by surface area? Or how direct is bad because they'd be overwhelmed by places like California? That's straight up anti-democratic). A side effect of this is how quickly conspiracy ideas spread. The whole thing is a disaster.

tldr: Fuck 'em. I hope the white nationalist, patriarchal Trumpists split from the elitist money grubbers and they become two small parties with no power.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:54 am

And it's only going to get worse. Those disgusted with Trumpism are leaving the party, meaning the ones that remain are causing it to shift further to the right. While that may hurt them a bit at the national level, at the state level it will be terrible.

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:32 am

Good point. Strongly republican states will get Trumpier. There's already been a new round voter suppression laws and a few states lowered their flags for Rush's death.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:30 am

Some members of Congress and state officials did not lower the flag for the officer murdered in the rioting, but did lower it for Rush. Absolutely disgusting, says old me. #$)*& all of you $#%(*%&^)(#*)@*, says 18 year old me forced to listen to Rush every day at my work at a government office (!) while he babbled about feminazis amidst the usual race-baiting. This went on all summer, every summer. Then for the rest of my life, when encountering a dittohead, I got to hear about how if I just would LISTEN to his actual show instead of parroting what the libs told me to think, I would know he's the least racist person alive - at least, he was, until Trump appeared on the political scene.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:54 am

100% right about the Nixon switch, but what surprised me was that it wasn't until his second term. In 1968, Nixon performed his worst in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Arkansas. The Dem even performed better in those states. There was a third party, but Nixon didn't need them to win.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Unit ... s_by_state

Cut to 1972, what states did he perform best in? Mississippi, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida. What an amazing turn around, and all due to courting the racists.

Fun.

So, I'm going to try to say some nice things about the GOP ideals that my current representative (who I've never voted for) I think holds. First, one thing I think they do well is they have an active interest in greasing the wheels of the economy. Now, I don't like unfettered capitalism, but an interest in using the government to spur economic growth is a positive. (Now, I personally prefer any growth to be coupled with a safer safety net).

I do think there are empathetic GOP members. Like the occasional philanthropist, some want to use their power for good, even though I'm not a fan of the fact they have so much power to begin with.

Like if you wanted to make a government team of advisors, you'd want to add a person focused on economic progress that can speak up and contribute and make sure certain policies will not have unintended consequences.

Ideally, the GOP will be full of these members, working on solutions via compromises with the left. I'm all for a healthy two-party system and hope we get back there some day.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 10:02 am

Adding this here because there are some GOP talking head examples, but if you want me to create a "Tories" thread, let me know.

It's amazing the flailing to prove that Meghan is lying, with the only proof being that they hate Meghan so she must be lying, thus doubling-down on dynamics that she's complaining about in the first place.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:39 pm

I am stupefied by this spectacle.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:49 pm

On one hand, a black woman says she had this experience.
On the other hand, this white male commentator does not believe her.

And our society treats these two things as equal. Disbelief is not evidence, unless that disbelief is from a white male, who we know is a neutral arbiter.

Look, could she be lying? Sure. But their biased desire for her to be wrong is not worth any weight. What they can say is "these are serious allegations that need to be investigated" but they just can't. And they get hoisted by their own petard.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:10 pm

Dianna told a remarkably similar story about her time at the palace before she also managed to escape it. The media canonized her.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:48 pm

It's sad hearing this story about his mom putting away the money, maybe because she thought he or William would need it someday to escape. It rings very true because I think a lot of women who have experienced difficult or abusive situations do this. My own grandmother suffered from a terribly unlucky first marriage, and her daughter (not my mom, thankfully) suffered from two very unlucky marriages, after which Grandma had a great deal of importance to offer us granddaughters about financial independence and other forms of maintaining freedom. The suffering on the other side of that window is palpable and it's easy to see it in Harry.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:52 pm

Okay serious topic aside, I cannot help but find it absolutely hilarious that Piers Morgan performed flaming self-own due to his crazy feelings about Meghan, and so many men are so sympathetic to him, like Piers would have been just fine had it not been for that terrifying sorceress, who wrought all this herself.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:22 am

Wow, Matt Gaetz is really a piece of something.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:41 pm

I was disturbed by these images so I turned to google for assistance. Yes, yes he is exactly like this cartoon man! Then I searched to see what sort of scandal exactly the man had become embroiled in. I grew even more disturbed! This is why people are afraid of clowns and consider them menacing.

My search yielded an article from the normally semi-sober BBC:
"The 38-year-old congressman, blessed with good looks, better hair and a sharp tongue, has been a frequent guest on conservative cable..."
Come again? What looks?
This man is not only the fleshy twin of "Robbie Rotten", but he looks like the ugliest possible human ass, rendered as an entire full size man. Lonely gentlemen of the world, try your luck in England, because they think this is "good"! The hair... I can't.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:28 am

Weird how the Q projection is catching up to them.
Rewatching...at a glacial pace...Chernobyl.
Lots of great lines about how the facts will bide their time, wait out the fabrications and lies and propaganda, and then lay its cards on the table and walk away.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:20 pm

This Gaetz stuff just keeps getting worse and worse.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:55 am

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:20 pm This Gaetz stuff just keeps getting worse and worse.

And implicated multiple unnamed congresspeople as well.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:47 am

The fact that he seems to be paying for some of this through Venmo while leaving all of his Venmo transactions available for public viewing just boggles the mind.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Fri Apr 09, 2021 11:49 am

The apparently normal technique of Republicans hiring straw candidates (with coincidentally the same last names as their Democratic opponents) in order to draw votes from folks who do not expect to be deceived....

Oh ya, Gaetes involved in that too.
It takes a particular species of arrogant and stupid.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:24 am

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:20 pm This Gaetz stuff just keeps getting worse and worse.

In a tweet about his persecution by the media, he unironically quoted R Kelly.... (4/4/21, sorry I don't have actual source)

Post by **Mike** » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:49 pm

Tucker Carlson spouts Replacement Theory racism on his show.

Tucker Carlson is denounced by the Anti-Defamation League which calls for his firing.

Fox Corporation defends Carlson and says he did nothing wrong.

The reasoning? Tucker said right in the interview that this was not replacement theory. (Ignoring the fact that he exactly described replacement theory before saying it wasn't replacement theory.)

So as long as you say you're not racist, you can't be racist.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:06 am

Ron Johnson is a fan of the theory, tried his hand at it recently. Choppy but got the message across! It's the official Republican ideology now.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:46 pm

Andrew Sullivan never trends for his good opinions, only his really bad ones.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:50 am

If Trump stays out of the 2024 race and if Tucker Carlson chooses to run, I suspect Tucker would be the favorite for the nomination.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:37 pm

And the Matt Gaetz stuff just keeps getting worse. These people do not know how to crime, do they?

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed May 05, 2021 10:29 am

The fact that Liz Cheney is being censured by her own party for unwillingness to lie outright on behalf of Trump, while a person against whom there are current and credible charges of sex trafficking of minors in an ongoing investigation is allowed to remain on the Judiciary Committee with the full support of his party, tells you everything you need to know about 2021 Republicans. This is a major What The Fuck moment that those of us with mentally-captured relatives could use for a gentle Reality Check. Unfortunately, I have cut off all my mentally-captured relatives completely at this point, in part due to the racism and in other part due to not wanting to contract COVID from those numbskulls. But if people are still communicating with their family crackpots, like my husband still is, this is a nice moment for communication. You want Liz to lie or be "cancelled", but you love the pedo guy. Great.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed May 05, 2021 12:28 pm

And the two highest ranking Republicans in Congress (McConnell and McCarthy) who both blamed Trump for the riot are still praising him.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon May 10, 2021 9:50 am

When Liz Cheney isn't conservative enough for these nuts, not only are they doomed but they're going to doom the rest of us as well.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:21 am

Who knew that addressing global warming could be achieved by just altering the orbit of the moon or Earth? I'm sure the fine people at the Forestry Service and Bureau of Land Management will get right on top of that and make it happen. All thanks to the representative from the great state of Texas.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:30 pm

Imagine having to live as such a person. He is trapped in the hell of his own self.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:28 pm

The appropriate response from the witness should have been mockery. He's clearly a moron. Instead, she, and I totally understand why, just let it roll over her.
Mockery of their stupidity and dishonesty and Cowardice. That really needs to be the tone shift.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Jun 11, 2021 5:13 am

He was being a troll, not sincere. Not that that’s any better.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:41 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:50 am If Trump stays out of the 2024 race and if Tucker Carlson chooses to run, I suspect Tucker would be the favorite for the nomination.

I think Tucker is merely an entertainer, not a serious candidate....however there are rumblings of a DeSantis candidacy as well as a Kemp one.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:50 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:41 pm
Mike wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:50 am If Trump stays out of the 2024 race and if Tucker Carlson chooses to run, I suspect Tucker would be the favorite for the nomination.
I think Tucker is merely an entertainer, not a serious candidate....however there are rumblings of a DeSantis candidacy as well as a Kemp one.

Trump was merely an entertainer, albeit one who traded on his millionaire real estate mogul persona.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:53 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:30 am Some members of Congress and state officials did not lower the flag for the officer murdered in the rioting, but did lower it for Rush. Absolutely disgusting, says old me.

Died of natural causes.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brian ... inguisher/

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:56 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:50 pm
Mando wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:41 pm
Mike wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:50 am If Trump stays out of the 2024 race and if Tucker Carlson chooses to run, I suspect Tucker would be the favorite for the nomination.
I think Tucker is merely an entertainer, not a serious candidate....however there are rumblings of a DeSantis candidacy as well as a Kemp one.
Trump was merely an entertainer, albeit one who traded on his millionaire real estate mogul persona.

Maybe, but Tucker has a better platform where he is. Some non-megalomaniacs would prefer to have a strong position that will last over leaving it for a position with limitations. Who knows...we'll see

Post by **Mike** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 4:05 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:53 pm
Phoebe wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:30 am Some members of Congress and state officials did not lower the flag for the officer murdered in the rioting, but did lower it for Rush. Absolutely disgusting, says old me.
Died of natural causes.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brian ... inguisher/

So assuming all facts are correct. It was reported that a man died of injuries sustained while defending the capital. The Trump White House concurred and ordered flags flown at half mast in his honor. Some members of Congress chose to ignore that request. Is that less disrespectful because they found out three months later that he died of natural causes?

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Jun 12, 2021 4:21 pm

No, but it is factually accurate.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:41 am

So did Rush Limbaugh.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:45 am

It is factually accurate. And the stresses he endured during the rioting likely contributed.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:07 am

Sending a gift to the band at the high school my husband and I attended, which easily has the highest proportion of students of color and immigrants relative to other high schools in the town. At its most recent football game some group from the other school (mostly wealthier white families) brought an enormous Trump 2024 banner, and instead of chanting for their team they chanted for Trump and USA as if they were the only team there representing it, and it was a deliberately organized thing because most of the fans were wearing red white and blue instead of their normal school colors which are not those. I'm sure the ostensible excuse is that they were trying to mark the 9/11 weekend, but it isn't quite explained how chanting for Trump is the normal way of doing that at a high school football game. The students also report that other things were said and heard in the crowd, and at this point it's a hostile atmosphere for these KIDS to try to attend their own damn football game.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:18 pm

That sinking feeling when you go to your kids own band practice to help with props and discover one of your parent group's leaders has a Nazi eagle sigil with 88 emblazoned on its chest, as a back window sticker on his truck.

Don't know which guy yet. Very multiethnic and multiracial student group and this person is lead booster? Oh God what?!

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:31 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:18 pm That sinking feeling when you go to your kids own band practice to help with props and discover one of your parent group's leaders has a Nazi eagle sigil with 88 emblazoned on its chest, as a back window sticker on his truck.
Don't know which guy yet. Very multiethnic and multiracial student group and this person is lead booster? Oh God what?!

Are you fucking kidding?! That’s horrifying.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:08 am

Not kidding! Happy times we live in. Someone told me it could be the decal for a local firing range, and the truck driver is ignorant of the meaning of the symbol, but that doesn't exactly make me feel better if you see what I mean? We have a Nazi firing range? Someone made that and knows what it means.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:10 am

For some reason I find it deeply disturbing that Gavin Newsom is telling us all to wake up to what is happening in this country with Republicans and the decision that power is more important to them than upholding the basic principles of democracy.

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:55 am

A CNN report today on polls showing that 78% of Republicans do not believe that Biden won the election despite the fact that zero evidence that can hold up in court. How do you even start to reason with people so detached from the truth?

I also see lots of bile directed at Biden. And not because he is too conservative or ineffectual. I'm not clear on why (other than he's from the other side and won) but he's the new devil. My aunt, who I remember as being very sweet, has made comments to the effect that she would greatly enjoy his death.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:44 pm

What the heck?!

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:26 pm

So, now they plan to audit the 2020 results in ... Texas.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:51 pm

Well I mean, I'm open to a review of evidence, lol!
I was alone and parched and almost maskless and able to drink my cold drink and then a maskless man came and sat here next to me. Joy.