Why Do Republicans Hate America?
Republicans Hate America....so they are blocking Health Care Reform
Republicans Hate America....so they are attacking the President
Republicans Hate America....so they want your job to go to China
Republicans Hate America....so they bring guns to Town Hall meetings and health care rallies
Republicans Hate America....so they want YOU to pay more taxes so the wealthy can pay less
Why not add your own to the list, in comments? And why not spread this around, bring it up to your family and friends. Because it truly does seem to me that Republicans Hate America. And that point should be driven home.
Republicans have their soundbites that they use against us all the time. "Death Panels". "Obamacare". "Socialism".
So why not fight back and ask, why do Republicans Hate America??
Repubs hate America...So they lie to and manipulate us.
Repubs hate America...So they don't care about denying equal rights to gays or other minorities.
Repubs hate America...So they put politics and personal gain above all else.
Geez Lis, I could go on and on and on...
Good Idea.
Thanks for post.
Rec'd.
August 30, 2009 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
This wasn't my idea, actually. It is an idea I owe to three people I was chatting with last night. I forgot to ask the originator if he'd mind whether or not I gave him credit. So, time will tell if he wants to take the credit or not.
Thanks for adding yours, they're good!
August 30, 2009 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
LisB - is this blog meant to be a joke or are you serious? I must agree with JEM on this one. For people on here to come up with quick "one-liners" about why Republicans "hate America" seems to me a sign that you are agreeing with the very tactics you hate. It's like someone giving up with "if you can't beat them, join them".
Going this direction makes you sound like one of the talk show hosts on the Cable evening shows.
August 31, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unfortunately, most Americans love an America that probably only exists in approved history textbooks approved by the Texas school board. It's the complexity of real America that bothers them.
August 30, 2009 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
rec'd (at great risk of having that rec marginalized because we are friends.)
republicans hate America... so they are willing to destroy it rather than have a democrat have a successful presidency.
August 30, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's an excellent one, Stilli!!
August 30, 2009 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
ditto!
August 30, 2009 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, sure, because "To save it we had to destroy it" worked out so well for us in Vietnam.
August 31, 2009 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans hate America because they'd rather help out a Chinese worker, than the blue collar family down the block, so they shop at WalMart.
August 30, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a mouthful, but it says so much. Thanks, Bwak!!
August 30, 2009 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans hate America... so they send our fine young men/woman off to die.
August 30, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans hate America...because its there.
hahahahaha
August 30, 2009 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans don't hate America - They are scared shitless of it. What they say and how they say it sounds exactly like what you hear from a paranoid schizophrenic who is hallucinating. With exactly the same kind of control.
Don't ask me how I know this but trust me...I know.
C
August 30, 2009 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, the purpose behind the post is to have a quick soundbite response to the Republicans' quick soundbites that they've been using against us so successfully.
When they cry "Socialist!" we can return with, "Why do you hate America?". It's short, simple, and effective. It turns the tables on them without us coming back with paragraphs at a time that go over their heads and make them accuse us of being too professorial (i.e., eggheads).
August 30, 2009 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like Chris' byte better, "Why are Reps afraid of the real America?"
August 30, 2009 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that what republicans are most afraid of, at least those who think they have money, is loosing their money and possessions. That the government or the poor or someone will take away all that defines them and their lives.
Their wealth and expensive houses and expensive cars and what not. Those things which they care the most of. With out which they are nothing.
C
August 31, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a great point.
August 30, 2009 9:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
LMAO!!!! Perfect, C.
August 31, 2009 3:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans not only hate America, they hate the very idea of America - a land of opportunity for people, even people from far, far away, with funny-sounding, often barely pronounceable names.
Republicans hate America because there are too many of us Americans to suit them.
Republicans hate America because Lady Liberty wants the "huddled, teeming masses" and that gets in the way of more golf courses and gated communities.
Republicans hate America because...that's why.
August 30, 2009 8:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perfect.
August 30, 2009 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lis,
I agree with your overall point. Republicans own the PR parade. It seems like Democrats don't just play the game poorly, but have shown up on the wrong field on the wrong day...without any equipment. It is frustrating.
Republicans hate America because they have to put up with opinions other than their own.
rec'd
August 30, 2009 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Plus some of those opinions are expressed by people of icky different races or who have horrible accents (instead of talkin' Amurriken, talkin' 'bout vayyues) or names that are hard to pronounce when you're used to one or at most two syllables.
RHA.
August 30, 2009 9:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans hate America cuz it's got that annoying oath about defending the Constitution when they'd rather loll about and pat one another on the backs for being right-wing terrorists. http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/22/gop-rep-right-wing-terrorist/
Republicans Hate America. The fucking racist, anarchist oafs. RHA.
August 30, 2009 9:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
RHA is a great acronym -- makes it easy to remember the response to give when the right-wingers use their attacks.
August 30, 2009 9:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
When I'm standing on Kingery Hwy with our big banner saying Honk for Health Health Care occasionally some wingnut will roll down his window at the light and say something stupid like "you're bankrupting the country" or f*ck Obama". Sometimes I just blow 'em a kiss and sometimes I ask them "Why do you hate America?" When they deny it I tell them "Sure you do. We're supposed to be one nation under God right? Do you think God approves of letting people die because the richest nation on earth puts insurance company profits before people?"
That only works on the religious. And as we all know Republicans only give lip service to religion.
August 30, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good for you! RHA!!!
August 30, 2009 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm so glad you do this, Mark. I wish I could be standing there with you.
August 30, 2009 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can make a banner that people can see both sides of with a couple of bedsheets, a can of spray paint, and a staple gun and a couple of 8' long sticks or poles you can buy at any hardware store. Somewhere within a half hour's travel from you anyone reading this is a blue dog or Republican house rep's office. Anyone can do this. All you need is a few friends. You can find all kinds of volunteers by creating an event at Organizing for America or contacting your local Democratic party org. There's retired and unemployed Dems looking for something to do to counter the nonsense during the day, others will come before or after work. At least half the people who drive by in this Republican district love us. As a single guy I've never had so many pretty women honk their horns and wave at me. Rarely, but sometimes we get so many people honking it sounds like we just won WW2. Give it a try, it's worthwhile and it's fun.
August 30, 2009 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Mark.
O/T. Where did weird DJ go?
August 31, 2009 12:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just noticed that myself, Quinn. Seems texting Mark might have been a no-no.
August 31, 2009 12:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Got me Q. I wrote that last post about mocking him and went to bed. Somebody ought to save that blog as a textbook case in how not to introduce yourself.
August 31, 2009 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not gone entirely,
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/fgdesign/
August 31, 2009 9:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mark, thanks for this. All too often I spend my weekends at home and don't think to organize something like this. Then again, I'm in NY and most of our congress critters are already of a like mind in regards to health care reform.
But, it doesn't hurt to remind people.
August 31, 2009 12:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dems are always bad at framing issues and controlling the message. It's because we have sympathy, see shades of grey, value independent thought, and *gasp* try to avoid telling deliberate lies.
You see, Republicans don't *hate* America, they just like an ILLUSION of America. Unfortunately, you can't put the previous statement on a bumper sticker.
Honestly, one of the reasons why I was thrilled to support Obama after the 2004 DNC speech was because I read that he wrote that speech himself, and I sincerely hoped we'd finally have a Dem who could get our party's message out there in an understandable way. And he did for a time.
BUT NOW WE NEED OUR RHETOR-IN-CHIEF TO GET OFF HIS ASS AND TAKE BACK OUR MESSAGE. And the rest of the Party needs to get the f*** out of his way because as much as they THINK they're running things the ship, he's the only one who knows how to keep the ship from running aground.
***steps off the soapbox***
August 31, 2009 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, you should step up on that soapbox more often, Dem dear.
Thank you for getting the gist of the reasoning behind this post. Of course not all Republicans hate America, and yes, most of them fear what they think America has "become", but as you said, that won't fit on a bumper sticker.
August 31, 2009 12:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I should have begun with "I totally agree with the sarcasm" :)
I knew where you were going and agree profusely. It usually comes out wrong which is why I don't post here often...aaack!
August 31, 2009 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry to be the wet blanket, but this post would not have found a place in Ted Kennedy's philosophy, nor does it in mine.
Republicans hate America no more than Democrats do.
If we can't disagree without dehumanizing Republicans, we are no better than the worst of the hateful fringe on both the Right and the Left.
Thanks, Liz. You're the liberal answer to Glenn Beck.
August 31, 2009 12:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
And maybe we shouldn't try to reduce hatred to a bumper sticker.
August 31, 2009 12:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I donno. Seems to me that might be a constructive first step.
1. Reduce hatred to bumper sticker.
2. Put bumper stickers on old Ford Pintos.
3. Trigger massive chain reaction auto accident involving Pintos.
4. Enjoy destruction of hatred on resulting conflagration.
That's probably as good an idea as I've had in a long time.
Thanks Rip! Thanks LisB!
August 31, 2009 1:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ripper,
I don't think LisB's post is really about thinking Republican's hate America. I think it is a tongue in cheek post highlighting how effective many Republicans are at invective. They seem to be able to take charge of any message and use jingo-ism to mislead the public.
One of President Bush's speech writers was hired because of his evangelist beliefs. His job was to craft speeches with words that meant something to evangelists. Certain words and phrases were woven into the larger text. These phrases would not be noticed by those not familiar with conservative evangelism. It isn't that these were things in which the administration believed, it was an attempt to build support. It was insincere. The speech writer decided to resign at some point after the President announced his faith based initiatives. It was mentioned in a speech and he turned to an administration political operative, maybe Carl Rove, and asked what a "faith based initiative" was. Basically the operative said.."I don't know, but we need to find some fast." He eventually became so disillusioned he left.
I am sure things like this happen on both sides of the aisle. I think it is more predominate on the Republican side. From my perspective, the Republicans have become more about working to gain political power and hold on to it than leading and governing.
Tactics like spreading the idea of "death panels" and emphasizing President Obama's middle name during the campaign become frustrating and have a cumulative effect. I think this post was just a way to point out the shallowness of those tactics and to give people a chance to vent.
August 31, 2009 9:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
So it somehow makes sense for democrats to co-opt the very tactics they deplore?
Makes consistency and credibility of democratic ideas suspect to the much-maligned middle that is the life or death of any effort at reforming government - for good or evil.
Do democrats hate republicans so much they would see America fail at our very important tasks?
August 31, 2009 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nope...I think it is just blog, not a movement. But I do agree that it would be wrong for anyone to adopt the tactics of the Republican party as a standard operating procedure.
As a blog on a website to let off steam and point out the kind of tactics our opposition uses, I am good with it.
August 31, 2009 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is a lot of this sort of thing around and I believe it cheapens the dialogue to the point that it pollutes other, more substantive posts.
I am all for rants. Click on my name and read just about any of my blogs. I can be rant central sometimes. But rarely do I aim so loosely that every democrat would think I harbor those critiques for them as a homogeneous group rather than as a flawed collection of individuals, some bad but mostly good.
Actually, let me amend that. The further left one goes there is an exponential increase is how hateful one finds my commentary and blogs to be. I was just accused of being a "conservative fundie" so the idea that the left is any less susceptible to damaging tactics than the right has been is not in evidence.
The democratic party's biggest problem right now isn't fringe republicans who say and believe crazy shit. It is far-left liberals who can't allow for a large percentage of moderate liberals and conservatives in the middle with a vastly different view of how to change this country.
August 31, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with the partisan hell. When it becomes theater we do not progress.
I disagree, although not completely, with the idea that far left Democrats are squelching the moderates. I think it is more likely an impression derived from what the media chooses to cover. To me it seems like the Democrats have a big tent and that sometimes leads to some public disagreements and the inability to form a cohesive national message. The Republicans, on the other hand, seem in a crisis and for some the solution is to shrink their tent.
The big tent is messy and the shrinking tent has less voices, therefore less debate within the party.
In a positive note...I really do appreciate the back and forth we are currently having!
August 31, 2009 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agree on this conversation being most productive, though I disagree on the idea that moderates are being shouted down by the far left. It happens all the time around here.
Perhaps I am simply more aware of it because I am a republican and hardly in step with most lines of thought from the liberal left, though I have much in common with the democratic and independent moderates.
August 31, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Have you even bothered to realize that there are no moderate Republicans to deal with? Look at the Town Hall Meeting mobs. Look at the GOP leadership in the House and the Senate. Look at Michael Steele, fer chrissakes. Newt Gingrich? Dick Armey? My God, man, these are all whacko fringe agents of their own destruction. And they've got the reins fully in their grasp, hellbent for leather.
I am pretty fed up with the Clinton/DLC attempts to triangulate within this dynamic. Moving closer to the "center" places us way beyond reach of our basic principles; in fact makes of the Dems the "moderate Republicans" which you so keenly admire.
Legitimate Democrats are no more interested in a strategic move to become middling Republicans than Mae West would have desired becoming Mother Theresa. It just ain't in our nature.
I think we are far better off to realize that bi-partisanship is a fool's game in today's Washington. Far better to seek out positions based upon principle rather than an attempt to seek he middle ground. After all, when an opponent has decided to so foolishly jump off a cliff in search of a "better way," you are well served to firmly stand your ground rather than attempt to meet them half way.
August 31, 2009 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am a moderate republican, TheCleverBullDog is a moderate republican. MiddleClassBill is a moderate republican. Those are three of the most proliferate republicans on this site and all of them are moderates who are routinely treated as far right loons. That is what I am talking about, SJ, and always have been.
We haven't practiced true bipartisanship since the 1960s, perhaps as late as the early 70s. To lament something that has not been practiced correctly as being ineffective as a tactic is intellectually dishonest. Same thing as point to a failure properly enforce regulations as being indicative of the failure of regulations.
Bruised knuckles lead to bruised egos and very little else.
August 31, 2009 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
I consider myself to be a fiscally conservative libertarian. I couldn't care less what drugs someone wants to consume, if they want to buy/sell sex, have 3 ways, 4 ways, whatever. I only care when their actions affect others. I support DUI laws, but support allowing drinking while driving. I oppose any restrictions on free press (including pornography, even though I don't believe the 1st amendment was about anything other than political speech) and oppose ALL gun control. I support reducing taxes ALWAYS because a government with too much money has too much control over our lives, and I am convinced reducing taxes improves the economy for all.
August 31, 2009 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Which goes to proves my point that the right is no more homogeneous than the left is, despite the obnoxious tendencies of the fringes from both parties to maintain the fiction.
August 31, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
At last, we finally agree on something - although your dateline might be a bit lengthy. We certainly haven't practiced bi-partisanship since the Gingrich Revolution. It's nigh impossible to deal effectively in a bi-partisan fashion with a group whose major accomplishment over the last 30 years is one failed (of course!) "Impeachment in Search of an Impeachable Offense." It's like trying to negotiate with your hangman because the judge is out of town.
You are right, also, that there are moderate Repubs. And you are right that I am a Liberal Progressive. And you are right that things would certainly be less contentious if everyone on the left would sacrifice their ideals to join forces with the Moderate Republicans.
But then what? I'd be an unprincipled moderate Republican, fighting ineffectively to promote policies and ideas that I have no interest in promoting (Like NAFTA; CAFTA; and the "Insurance Industry Profit Reform Plan"). And the opposition would be as intransigent and as belligerent and as dishonest and as corrupt as ever. And having sacrificed principles in favor of strategic posturing, I will have undermined whatever foundation I ever had upon which to stand in opposition.
If you think me wrong on this, just take a look at how effective the DLC has been. Strategic posturing in place of principles pretty well defines their mission, and they have caused significant losses for Progressive politics in exchange for political expedience to a point it's difficult to determine just WHERE the Dems stand on any issue. And it's allowed the whacko right to gain ascendancy and to have their lunch in the marketplace of ideas.
You're welcome to your Moderate Republican ideology. But I think you are wrong on most issues. And so I will continue in loyal opposition to seek and promote a better way, based upon principles rather than an assessment of what might be the easiest "sell" at the moment..
August 31, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again, I don't think anyone's ideals need to be sacrificed in order to find the right mix of solutions for all citizens, moderate and not-so-moderate alike.
The only ones unlikely to be dissatisfied are the far fringes and they are never happy.
I think a very liberal progressive agenda can be laid out for the country, sans any specific solutions to deliver on those ideas, and gain wide support amongst the silent majority. From there, both sides can offer solutions to get to that shared goal.
We have no shared goals, so there is no unity. That means that any compromise is always going to feel like capitulation.
August 31, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I for one would be delighted if the day came when a substantial number of them didn't hate America.
Teddy's gone, unfortunately. Civility mostly is as well.
The Republicans hate pluralism, democracy, their neighbor's right to speak, the majority's right to elect a president. That ***pig*** Congressman Wally Herger pissed all over his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and praised some ignorant oaf for calling himself a terrorist!!!! (Imagine an American doing that in 2002 when we had a fascist government?!!) Pissed up and down and all over right upon on his oath! Any Republican object to that? That's beyond treason as to the United States, the very concept of an **oath** is solemnly mocked!
Heard a peep about it?
Sarah wants Alaska out of the Union, so does Perry want Texas gone. Anybody got anything to say about that? You really think for an instant Sarah Palin would shed one tear if something happened to Obama? *She* cares about America?
Remember that report that Bush commissioned warning of militia activity as a threat? Every major Republican leader lambasted the report. It was a disgrace! So where were they when the preacher Steven Anderson was praying for Obama's death and sending the armed goon squad out to intimidate supporters? Did they apologize, i.e., maybe the report was right after all?
Charles Grassley, "moderate" Repub out to negotiate health care? He is handing out the book of misanthropic anti-patriotic *madman,* Glenn Beck. You gonna tell me that Glenn Beck loves his country? Does he even know what country he lives in? Hate-landia?
The birthers despise our democratic right to elect a President. Instead, they should appoint the Presdident themselves, and there is no other interpretation. That's why that insufferable creep called himself a terrorist; he hates American institutions. Like the vote. Yet which Republican has questioned this?
Beck has poisoned the Speaker of the House in effigy. She's number two in line for the big job i.e., in case something should happen, god forbid, to Obama and Biden, she's it. Poisoned in effigy. Was there a peep? (Besides Grassley handing out his odious book?)
What are these despicable anarchists going to do if there is an actual assassination attempt? Plead guilty to incitement? They are 100% guilty, might as well be charged as conspirators, so are they going to hold their wrists out and say, "Cuff me?" "I confess?" PUH-LLEAZE!!
In 2009, Republicans hate America. Deal with it. RHA.
August 31, 2009 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
(Nothing personal and I may be posted the above in the wrong place; sorry.)
August 31, 2009 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Applying the ideas of a fringe to the mostly silent majority is not an intellectually rigorous analysis of the political environment in this country.
That the republican "leadership" is too cowardly to fight the fringe groups is not in dispute, but that hardly makes all republicans of all stripes part and parcel of these hateful ideas. Mostly, conservatives don't pay attention to politics at all. Kind of like liberals. If they can be bothered to do anything, it is turning out to vote once every four years as if that is enough to be an involved citizen.
Apathy is killing this country not the crazy ideas of the far right fringe with padded coffers and a well-lit stage.
August 31, 2009 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't try to talk reason to me, you fricking *moderate*, you!!! We are on a mission from God!! (Seriously, you might wanna just sit this one out, amigo! :) )
RHA!!!
August 31, 2009 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am what I am. It's just not in me to sit things out, but go on with your mission. I'll bring the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.
August 31, 2009 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant comment. I will be hitting some of the same ideas in my today's blog. Check back at 4:20.
August 31, 2009 9:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
See my comment to this entire blog below. I wish yours was higher up on the list so people could see it.
August 31, 2009 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
So you'd rather the defenders of the Constitution bring a knife to a gun fight?
OK, that's not a serious argument. But when a politician takes positions that are at clear odds with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I think calling him un-American is perfectly OK unless he/she is ALSO calling for specific amendments that would advance his viewpoint. At least that's the mark of someone willing to work within the American system to achieve his political goals, despicable though they might be.
It's the people who think, "Screw the Constitution, screw the law, screw the UN Convention Against Torture, screw the Geneva Conventions, screw FISA, we're gonna torture and wiretap whoever we damn well please and we dare you to do anything about it" who can quite objectively be called un-American. And I see no reason to be shy about doing it.
(And that is by no means descending to Glenn Beck's level. Glenn Beck, in addition to being un-American, just makes stuff up.)
August 31, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans Hate America because they fail to accept that their ideas are not always accepted by the majority and it is still America whether we agree with their ideas or not.
You can get this on a bumper sticker, but people have to be standing on your bumper in the parking lot to read it, is all.
August 31, 2009 3:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Unashamedly recommended because I like you. Completely incidental to my recommendation is my agreement with the post.
August 31, 2009 3:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe.
Why do Republicans think so differently from Democrats? We have the same Constitution and laws to guide us. How then can we arrive at such opposite conclusions?
I find it hard to believe that our Constitution and our laws are so poorly written that two people arrive at completely different ideas of what is expressed. That is just not logical.
August 31, 2009 4:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's fuzzy logic. Gonzolez and others suggested what they were doing in Gitmo was NOT torture. How they came to that conclusion defies logic too. Frankly, I question their sincerity and honesty. I feel certain they were completely aware they were merely paying lip service to the laws for which they have no respect.
August 31, 2009 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is what I think too. Why congress is so routinely unable to follow the laws when it seems clear decisions made violated those laws. It doesn't make sense.
August 31, 2009 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Facing neoconservative fanaticism and farcical behavior with a mirrored liberal reflection of the same will fail to move this country in the right direction. We just suffered that partisan hell these last forty years. Despite some improvements in various technical arenas, we are mostly worse off as a country for having traveled that road.
For continuing to travel that road even now.
The president was elected for articulating a different message, both in the primaries and the general, and was sent to Washington by the majority of moderates in both parties. He certainly didn't advocate demonizing one's political opponents to score cheap points for partisan gain.
I find it both sad and ironic that there is so much of this type of commentary around here as it represents so many wasted opportunities.
August 31, 2009 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
You have managed to miss the point completely, Jason. In a couple ways.
First, this is about framing, message design, the ability to articulate a necessarily partisan viewpoint in bumper sticker/soundbite terms, and that elusive quality some communicators call "stickiness" for obvious reasons.
Second, it is because the Republican party, as it is constructed today, is antithetical to American ideals of individual freedom while assuring a basic equality of rights before the law. Their stated beliefs are now explicitly about restricting the rights and damaging the well-being of others, most often for profit in some way.
You often claim to be a moderate Republican. You want to claim that mantle, fine. Carry it to your fellows, and push them in that direction, rather than coming here and telling us to stop disrespecting them. For the Republican party as it is today is not deserving of respect, rather it is deserving of naked contempt. Most if not all of your chosen party has taken the route of obstruction, hyperbole, fear-mongering, hatred, and barely veiled incitement to violence. Your critique of some soundbite sloganeering on this side rings more than a little hollow in that light, don't you think?
You seem to expect us to tolerate intolerance for the sake of "getting along" with those who have no intention of getting along with us. That is ultimately suicidal.
I fully expect a wordy, threadjacking reply, which I have no intention of reading, let alone replying to yet again.
As in: I won't be visiting this thread again, because what needs to be said here has been said, and what you will say in reply to me does not. In this matter, you are far too predictable.
August 31, 2009 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
You take fringe ideologies and then apply that to the majority. Same thing the right-wingers have been doing for years.
You call me predictable, yet you could have cut and paste this criticism from any one of a dozen blogs you have made the same point. It is fringe lefties such as yourself who are predictable in the extreme, much like your counterparts on the fringe right.
You advocate facing deplorable tactics with deplorable tactics of your own and I am in the wrong here? I would point out the irony, but it would clearly be lost on such a staunch partisan as yourself.
August 31, 2009 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Show me a single Republican on the national level who has consistently advocated positions both in keeping with the law and appealing to the best in the American tradition as defined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Name one Republican rep, senator or president in the past 40 years other than maybe Barry Goldwater who matches that description.
Go on. I'll wait.
August 31, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I could name a dozen republicans from the last forty years who were stand-up individuals. The last forty days? Not so much.
August 31, 2009 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
One will do.
September 1, 2009 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ron Paul. Olympia Snowe. Jim Jeffords before he changed parties. There are others. Point being, acting as if every republican is out to subvert the constitution is a losing message for democrats with moderate conservatives and independents.
September 1, 2009 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Paul's extreme brand of libertarianism privileges corporations over individuals. Snowe went along with the atrocious Medicare Part D corporate giveaway. Jeffords left the party.
And I couldn't give a fig about what a winning message for Democrats is. I've been a Republican since 1978.
September 2, 2009 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You certainly don't communicate like a republican. So, it is your fault the party is so fucked up then?
September 3, 2009 7:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, probably. I'll get blamed for it in any event, so I may as well cop to it and save everyone some time.
September 4, 2009 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny. That's why I am on a quest to take the primary elections. That is the only way the republican grassroots will change our party into something that TR and Abe might recognize.
September 5, 2009 8:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
PS: The last paragraph in your comment makes you a troll by most standard definitions. Again, sad and ironic but hardly surprising.
August 31, 2009 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, Jason got the point quite well, OG. It's you who spouts an ideology based on nothing but appeals to a prole mindset. Like rooting for a particular football team. You, OG, are the one being played by the larger forces in the country.
August 31, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
This entire blog is disingenuous.
Max Baucus is a Democrat.
Joe Lieberman is a Democrat.
Shall I continue?
When will people realize that party affiliation is not an indication of patriotism?
By the way, the definition of "America" is very jingoistic here. Just as jingoistic as when people who disagree with you use it. What exactly is "America"? (Hint: your definition probably isn't inclusive enough. After all, Republicans are Americans.)
Honestly, much of the discussion here reads like verbiage from the proles in Orwell's 1984. Who are we at war again with? Eurasia or Eastasia?
Get sophisticated or be prepared to wonder why you agenda isn't moving forward.
August 31, 2009 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans hate America because they don't believe in Liberty and Justice for all.
...because they don't believe that all people are created equal.
...because they believe in free speech only for approved speech.
...because you have the right to belong to the approved church.
Republicans are anti-American, anti-family, anti-education, anti-worker, anti-military (they are for the military contractors not the troops in the field), and anti-religion.
August 31, 2009 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
And I approve this message, on the part of Overreach THIS! for a better America! Nice work!
August 31, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lis, you've hit the nail on the head! Brilliant!
August 31, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lis may kindly respond "later," but I can assure you, she appreciates the *living Hell* out of your gracious musings here.
Best always,
O.T.
August 31, 2009 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink