The Cwazy Things Those Wacky Wepublicans Believe - Part III

[B_VinylBoy]

I'm sure there were a few lunatic fringers on the left who thought Bush was the Anti-Christ... figuratively speaking, of course. I sincerely doubt 24% of them actually lived in fear of Bush because of it, unlike many of Republicans who are now associating Obama with the same dubious title.

 

[cruztbone]

thank you Maxcock, for your reporting on the Harris survey. It is clear that many Republicans DONT: 1. understand the US constitution. 2. understand what socialism is. 3. understand a birth certificate's legitimacy. 4. understand the Bible.
5. understand the high caliber of vocabulary used by our president. 6. understand
REALITY.

it is as if they are all being channeled by, dare i say the name.......TRINITY!!!!!!!

 

[maxcok]

Well I was drunk,

Ah, I've come to read you so well.

but what I meant was this:

This thread is condemning republicans because they 'demonize the opposition' among other things.

But you and the others are doing the same thing in this thread - demonizing the opposition.

How is it any different?

How is it different? We're not 'demonizing' Republicans as you say, not I, not the thread, not the other posters from what I see. I am only bringing to the forum what these polls have brought to light, and people are commenting on that. Namely:

This thread has done nothing but reveal the disturbing attitudes and crazy beliefs held by a great percentage of Republicans, often the majority.

People are commenting, criticizing perhaps, and justifiably so.

Your party is demonizing the president, a substantial number quite literally.

No one is 'demonizing' Republicans, unless they are doing it to themselves.

There are some idiots in the repub party - you'll get no argument here.
There are apparently lots of idiots in the Repub party. A majority of idiots, it would appear.

There are plenty in the democratic party as well.
Yes, there are. But that does not mean they are equivalent, in numbers or in levels of craziness.

You are not one of the idiots.
I thank you for recognizing and acknowledging that. There is hope for you after all

 

[D_Tully Tunnelrat]

Conservatism and liberalism are nothing new in American politics... but the avalanche, and immediacy of demagogic outlets now makes us react more than think.

This brief summation of conservative political thought prior to the '50's' is as current today as it was then.

American conservatism was less a coherent ideology than an irritably reactionary mood: reflexively hostile to the federal government, staunchly isolationist, explicitly anti-modern, anti-intellectual, proudly agrarian, and incapable of distinguishing between communism and New Deal liberalism, which were treated as twin forms of modern tyranny.*

It's no coincidence that the civilizing influences of intellectual conservatism: Whittaker Chambers and William F. Buckley are deceased. Their self-appointed heirs: Gingrich, Rove, Limbaugh, and Beck would be unable to intelligently converse with either of them for both Chambers and Buckley felt there was a legitimate, albeit small, role for government in modern life.

Conservatism centers on orthodoxy, or supplants one - Communism -, for another - Christianity. It seems to only function best when in total opposition, such as in the previous examples, otherwise how can one rally the masses to the presence of evil ? Buckley often claimed the greatest sin of Communism was it's godlessness, not it's totalitarianism.

Liberalism seeks to critique it's own orthodoxies, inherently making it, as best put by Lionel Trilling “variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.” replete with the accompanying self-doubt and indecision - aka "pointy headedism," which in it's best thinking seeks to avoid all forms of totalitarianism.

Unfortunately for us, liberalism, post 60's (Chicago 8/7, etc.), has become stale, supplicated by wealth, and more fractious and strident with each decade, which may well be why the country has moved to the right. Liberals have lost the national language of simplicity and hope, save under Clinton and Obama. They rarely challenge their own orthodoxies, while attacking other's. And they seek to codify their beliefs (yes, even liberals have those...) into unfathomable stacks of new rules orthodoxy (2500 pages for health care...), hoping that infinite detail settles or obscures each matter once and for all, instead of using day-by-day, practical, simple to understand common sense.

We have met the enemy, and they are us.

Here's an excerpt from FDR's Inaugural Address from 1933, which still seems apt:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

American Rhetoric: Franklin Delano Roosevelt - First Inaugural Address

* The Illiberal Imagination | The New Republic

 

[maxcok]

I guess Obama needs to be doing something, ANYTHING to get us Republicans to not believe some of those things, huh? Oh wait! That would mean completely scrapping his entire agenda, and everything he stands for.

So, can I safely assume you are in agreement with the views expressed in the poll? Can I also assume you get your 'news' and 'information' pretty much exclusively from Fox and right-wing blogs?

I know you may find this hard to believe, but I tell you if you spoke this entire post at a tea party rally (except for the part where you say to stand up against the right) it would be met with enthusiastic cheers.

I somehow doubt that. If they did cheer, it would be because they were dazzled by my patriotic passion and completely misunderstood my meaning. I doubt even you would cheer if you could look past the fine sounding words to comprehend what I am actually saying.

This is EXACLY what the tea partyers are feeling right now. What's really remarkable is your inability to see that the threat to the "modern democracy" and "freedoms" and even the "Great American Experiment" itself is the left wing of the present government. What Obama and Pelosi are trying to to is replace the Great American Experiment with the Karl Marx Experience and they are using Rules For Radicals as their playbook to make it happened.
'What's really remarkable' is the gullibility of people like you believing such ridiculous nonsense. Nothing of the sort is happening. 'What's really remarkable' is how incredibly ignorant you and your pseudo patriots are of American history, the Constitution, our system of government and basic principles of democratic rule. 'What's really remarkable' is how grossly uninformed and misinformed you and your fellows are on the very issues you are protesting against, how incapable or unwilling you are to think for yourselves, how you suck down whatever load of crap is served up by the right-wing media, and how you stubbornly resist and reject the intrusion of any thought that might broaden your outlook or change your point of view.

If Obama gets his way, we will be on a permanent path. The same Path the Soviet Union was on. We know where that road goes. Tea Partyers are not the radicals. All they want is to stop the people from taking the Great American Experiment and hope for Modern Democracy away from the world. I know you think Democracy is not at stake BUT IT IS.
I do think democracy is at stake, in this country at least, though the rest of the world will probably adjust and do just fine. How could you read my post, comment positively on it, and miss that? It was kinda central to the whole premise. I also think that the future of this nation as a good and great world power is at stake, our way of life is at stake, the very principles this nation was founded upon are at stake. The threat is not from Obama or the scary 'liberal left'. The threat comes from a growing right-wing fringe who are trying to overthrow majority rule through fearmongering, uncivil discourse, disruption, obstructionism and violence - the very people who ironically claim to be defending freedom and democracy. The threat ultimately comes from the corporate masters whose purpose rabid sheep like you unwittingly serve, ironically in the name of patriotism.

Do you realize that CEO's of companies that spoke out against the healthcare bill have been called before congress to testify under oath?
As well they should be. My biggest problem with the Healthcare bill - and I have many - is that it is a gift to the insurance companies and big pharma. By mandating that everyone purchase insurance, not providing a public option for competition, doing nothing significant to reign in the cost of premiums or unnecessary services -this bill allows these corporations to essentially double their market share and profits by feeding off consumers. These industries were very much in the back door and at the table crafting the bill, and that is deplorable.

That is just the beginning. As in the USSR, the more power and money people give to the government, the more they will take away in the name of safety and security. Thats when nothing can stop them from doing whatever they want, including taking ALL of your freedom away. Then as people get more and more depressed with their situation, that's when the food lines start, then the famine and chronic poverty, followed by the eventual collapse of the nation. Thats what happened in the USSR because thats what happens in communism, and communism is what Obama wants.
I'm really not interested in responding to all the absurdities and blatant disinformation there, so I'm going to skip past your complete ignorance of Soviet history and communism in general and move on. If anything comes to pass as you describe in your scenario, and I'm not saying it can't, it will not be at the hands of Obama, WHO IS NOT A COMMUNIST! OR A MARXIST!! OR EVEN A SOCIALIST!!! You and your ilk use these labels as scary buzzwords without remotely understanding their meaning. A little socialism is hardly a bad thing, our system incorporates quite a lot of it actually. You do realize that the most popular government programs, Medicare and SOCIAL Security, are fundamentally socialist programs, right? If anything like you describe comes to pass, it will be from the confluence of events unprepared for, and from the rise of tyrannical authoritarianism that strips us of our liberties, invades our privacy, and controls the population through fear - like the road we were headed down in the eight years of the previous presidential administration. Where were you and your buddies then?

The great irony (and I don't mean this with condescension, but I have noticed that 'irony' is a concept apparently foreign to many on the far right, so please make sure you understand what it is) as I was saying, the great irony is that the Tea Partiers and those of you on the extreme right are serving the purpose of the Republican party and ultimately their corporate overlords, while naively thinking you are in the service of democracy and saving America. Nothing could be more opposite from the truth. Simply put, and though you are unaware of it, you are tools.

The Republican party ultimately doesn't give a crap about you or your misguided ideals. When it comes right down to it, they really didn't give a crap about the religious right, gay marriage, abortion, burning the flag, etc. either - all those hot button social issues they use to drag all the lunatics into their big circus tent. Exploiting these issues and the racial divide has always been a cynical political ploy to increase their base, and fearmongering is their stock and trade. Unfortunately, now the lunatics are in such large numbers they have taken over the asylum.

Before we talk again, I would strongly encourage you to broaden your sources of news and information beyond what feeds your preconceived notions. I would also strongly encourage you to educate yourself on American history and the documents and the principles this nation and this government were founded upon. The Federalist Papers are mandatory. If you have not read it, I could also suggest as a starting point in your education George Orwell's 1984. Try to read it for comprehension and see the parallels in recent history and current events. When you've done that, and developed some critical thinking skills, get back to me.


Addendum: I notice big bad brave stratedude has gone quiet after being challenged for espousing even more twisted logic and an extreme agenda in another thread. I wonder if he has the conviction of his beliefs and the strength of argument to return, or if he is, like so many of his political persuasion, fundamentally a noisy coward?

 

[Qua]

[*]Has done many things that are unconstitutional (55%).

[*]Does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (40%)


One big surprise is that many more Republicans (40%) than Democrats (15%) believe the president does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do.

I believe those first two. But I believe the same thing about every president in the first place (and don't really care), and about every president to come around since the passage of the Federal Reserve Act (and some time prior) in the second.

And yeah, I honestly find that last point to be a surprise. Seems Democrat types are more into to corporate/financial conspiracies and are somewhat non-partisan with applying them. I think it basically shows that populism does not fit within party lines, and this time its the Republicans fanning that flame.

 

[jackflynn7]

Does he or does he not have A LARGE PENIS??????:banana: