Republicans & their Teeny Tiny Tent
By scarce Friday Nov 28, 2008 11:00amEric Cantor (R-VA), incoming Republican Whip, gives the same tired and canned response on why republicans are failing to reach out to minorities, becoming more and more a homogeneous group of like-minded, mainly white conservatives. Cantor says they'll reach out by appealing to economic concerns like "the diminution of their 401-K's", lowering taxes, and all the other red herrings that don't answer why people of color, and whole regions of the country are moving away from the republicans in droves. It's doubtful chanting "Tax cuts! Tax cuts! Tax cuts!" will make the Republicans a more inclusive party.
According to exit polling, these groups voted for Obama:
- 95% of African Americans
- 67% of Hispanics
- 62% of Asians
Now if population and demographics were a static thing the republicans might have a reasonable and viable strategy with this approach. McCain did win the popular vote among White people, and did really well among White people over 65 (68%). Unfortunately for them time is not on their side. Those aged 18-29 voted for Obama by over thirty points, which is itself an ominous sign for the future, if you're a republican.
Consider the Hispanic vote alone. After all the anti-immigrant vitriol of the past couple of years the Republicans are pushing away a group which should be at least somewhat inclined to vote for them. And what happened this year? As conservative columnist Linda Chavez put it, Ask the 14 out of 16 hard-line, anti-immigration Republicans who lost their seats this time around to pro-comprehensive reform Democrats how well this worked at the polls. And then consider that by 2050 Hispanics will double in their share of the U.S. population, from 15% to 30%, or in raw numbers nearly tripling from 46.7 million to 132.8 million in 2050. Overall, minorities will become the majority.
None of this can be news for Republicans so they must see the hand-writing on the wall. What is amazing is that they seem incapable or unwilling to do anything about it. Sure, we might see Michael Steele head the RNC as some kind of figurehead African American, or Louisiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal gain some level of national prominence but what does it say about a national party that has no African American members in their caucus? Or that in the largest "minority" group of them all, women, the figures of most prominence among House Republicans are the likes of a Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Jean Schmidt, and until recently Marilyn Musgrave. And even more potently the new face of the Republican Party herself, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Or consider the regional shifts where there are now no Republican congressmen left in New England, their last holdout Chris Shays in Connecticut succumbing to the inevitable by his support of the Bush administration. In New York State there are only 3 of the 29 members.
None of this bodes well for the Republicans.
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I won't be satisfied until the republicans are reviled as much as the Nazis are in Germany today.
There are still a few dead enders over there, as will be here, but not enough to pay attention to.
After all, besides actively campaigning for McCain/Palin he also GAVE MONEY TO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR CONGRESS!!!:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-brie...
I read a post on a very conservative forum saying that anyone that does not strictly adhere to every Republican tenant should be "excomminucated" from the party. No exceptions. Brilliant. I posted back that she was going to have a very small tent. More like a pup tent.
Excommunication is a throw-back to the inquisition as a tool of the Roman church to do away with heresy. The underlying rationale is that those who do not blindly accept the main tenets of an ideology -- christianity or the republican party -- are to be excluded from those who are and who remain loyal to the herd. I guess these twits skipped their classes on the Enlightenment and the French/American revolutions. They don't want critical thinkers in their party; they want compliant dupes.
Actually, I'm an excommunicated Mormon, excommommunicated for 28 years now. I'm not sure of the significance as compared to the Roman Catholics.
But back then excommunications meant you could be subject to a legal attack, and not have any legal recourse. Eventually you could get arrested and disappear, or tortured and executed. If you had a wife or child they would become paupers and either forced from the community or accused of heresy or witchcraft and burnt at the stake. That also happened to the wives and children of priests, when in the 12th century it wa suddenly declared that priests had to be celebate and unmarried, presumably because the church didn't want the expense of supporting not just the priest but the wives and kids too.
There was a form of excommunications for entire villages and towns. I think they were called interdictions, but one of my source books is missing. Even an excommunicated mayor would be expected to carry out the death penalty against accused witches and heretics or be accused of being one himself. Such village bans usually led to extermination of the entire town by troops, such as what happened to the Albigensians in the south of France.
Is this a mix of Roman Catholic AND Morman tenets? As a recovering catholic, I did actually know most of the religions were pretty sick - but that's some screwed up sh** ~~
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With Mormons excommunication is simply administrative. It's my understanding they suspend your church records and don't destroy or erase them. If you return to the church it's at your formal status. Mormons also don't believe in Hell but in Outer Darkness. But most people will go to one of three levels of heaven. The best is for devout Mormons of course, but it's not like a condemnation to Hell.
It's not like your soul is on trial, which is the impression Roman Catholics receive.
Protestants have what's called a Disfellowship. That too is largely administrative, but since so many think they're the sole source for Truth and don't believe in levels of Heaven, that is in effect damning you to Hell.
The destruction of the Albigensians delayed the Renaissance by 50 years, and changed the site to Rome.
they'll still baptise your progeny by proxy, and bind you to your god damned family for eternity. When I found that out, I was pissed. Spending an hour with my family IS an eternity. I've spent my life trying to get away from those bastards, as all of the people on my dad's side of the family do. And they got out of the church 3 generations before me.
Yeah and I am a lapsed Catlicker and all. My mom made me get baptised against my will, because she was a sinner and her life was falling to shit. What fun wearing a white dress shoes and hat and going up for my first (and last) communion with the 5 year olds, in front of my friends. I was 13. Thanks for making me even weirder, mom.
So I have been baptised against my will twice now. I'm not an atheist, but I hate the fucking fuck out of religion.
I never heard of baptising your progeny by proxy, but they do practice Baptism of the Dead.
Sounds like the title of a horror movie, but that's why Mormons are so into geneology. They find out who their ancestors are so they can be baptised in their place (by proxy.) Salt Lake City has some of the best geneological records for that reason.
Only marriage in a temple binds your family, and only your immediate family. Brothers sisters, parents et al are not bound in that way, although if married (preferaby not to each other), bound to their immediate families.
I hope they have plenty of newspapers to line the floor with.
Re-thug-lics -- the party of angry, immature, voraciously rapacious, cowardly, despotic, troglodytes, bigots, racists, perverts, xenophobes, pedophiles, war criminals, murders, homophobes, misogynists, self-righteous hypocrites, self-hating women, preeminent whiners and consummate chronic liars.
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Republicans never stick their promise "no new taxes"
They never do anything about abortion even with majority Senate,House and supreme court
Most of them are like everyone else with gay men and women in their families besides being gay theirselves
Nobody really wants to restrict hunting and protective arms. Assault weapons well thats another story
... offer a superior product.
Right now, the Republicans are racing to be the Prodigy/AOL of political parties. Nobody's going to give a shit except the tiny demographic that can't handle the faster, smarter, more innovative ISP's.
But then, if they changed with the times, maybe they'd have to admit that evolution exists, and that scares 'em even more ...
And since they don't have one, they can't become extinct fast enough for me. Do you think if their numbers dwindle too much, they're survival might be covered under the Endangered Species Act?
KKKarl's permanent republican majority. Political genius....right!
... who bought the very shit he was selling and thought the 3rd reich would last once thousand years.
Like grandpa like son... When all you have to contribute to the social panorama are lies, deception, hot air, and hubris. Don't be surprised when reality reminds you rather painfully (for others) that your approach is not sustainable.
It is to my (admitteldy tiny) mind inconceivable that ANYONE not possessed of at least a few divine attributes will be able to rectify the damages done by the Busheviks these last 8 years.
The list of the regime's clusterfucks is too long, too comprehensive, too utterly thorough for any replacement to set to rights in under a decade, absent a totally compliant Congress (the kind that abetted the Chimperor and his henchfolk so willingly and effectively these last 8 years: the eager base and the complicit "opposition") which we ALL know Mr. O. won't have. THe GOPukes, driven ever rightward toward their basest constituencies, will balk at no trick or lie to sabotage any efforts to truly repair and damage.
Remember, to them the damage is insignificant. It's their fault, though the Dims have thoughtfully appropriated most of the really feculent baggage by now. What's important is repositioning for the next cycle. It does NOT help them at all with their proven constituencies if things IMPROVE under the leadership of the Dims. They can only plausibly represent needed "change" the next time if things get worse.
And things are going to get worse.
Gay-ron-fuukin'-TEED, chers.
'Specially if the Pukes have anything to say about it.
And they do.
...actually the hardliners don't see "damage" at all. To them it is progress towards their goals. And allowed by complicit congresspeople who are rewarded along the way.
...is that the GOP is really the Geezers Old Party. The Pat Buchanans and Dick Cheneys. Young people were born into it, like religion. Conformity doesn't mix well with diversity. Vanilla's flavor is protected by keeping away any and all toppings that add to the taste.
Too, also, to be fair, there are women you left out of your post like Liz Dole, Susan Collins, Mean Jean Schmidt, and Olympia Snowe. They are at least able to do their jobs and put coherent sentences together so you know what they are talking about, even if one might virulently disagree.
I should have specified that, so now corrected. And you're correct, the really certifiable ones are there, not in the senate. Kay Bailey Hutchison is semi-reasonable too, but she'll likely move on to Texas Governor.
...just want to add that I read your inferred point, too, that women in the GOP do not represent women constituents per se (exhibit A: Sarah Palin, but true for the others). The older ones can be guilty of the old school feminism of "I gotta be like a man to get ahead and distance myself from the female world". They're the worst. Hilary is sometimes in this camp but I think she has learned over time to temper the attitude.
God I hope not.
If I can figure out a way to contact the Texas Democratic party, I would suggest Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas run.
I always did have my doubts about him, too friendly to business developers, however, that's par for the course in Dallas.
So long as you have Sarah and her army of bigots, you can totally forget about us negroes...like you haven't anyway. The election of Obama by the Democratic party has in effect cost the Republican party at least a generation of black voters...at least. Now please come to the westside of Chicago and artfully explain to us why we should vote for and support you vile fucks....that I'd pay to see.
BTW, that's not a "tent", it's a giant klansmen's hood.
... why there were two holes in the side and it smelled like sweaty ol' white guy in here ...
. . . that's true. But don't forget the re-thugs EQUALLY hate women, feminists, hispanics, muslims, gays, atheists, humanists, liberals, socialists, environmentalists, hollywood, critical thinkers, etc., etc. ad nauseam.
They hate frickin' EVERYBODY!
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Rethugs hate themselves!
Touché'!
To me the republican party represents the party of the selfish, the greedy and the narrow minded. The very idea that they are the "moral" party of the "good Christians" is laughable.
Hopefully, the Michelle Bachmanns and Sarah Palins and Anne Coulters will come out strong in 2010 for the Party and doom them to even more losses!
We should do everything we can to get more rightwingers out of office in 2010 (and that includes rightwing Dems..). Hopefully this is only the beginning.
We'll need a token rethug so we have someone to blame!!
be lost,perhaps for a generation, because they can simply not deal with the fact that the US is no longer a center-white country. Never mind drifting to the left, the important shift is to brown. Too bad for them.
Eric is young and wants to lead he only needs to come out and see what's happening in the real world. Republicans are looking at what went wrong and what they need to do to fix it. Start with 2000 and move foward 8 years for the answers. The old timers are living in the pass and as we see with Obama/Biden's 365 electoral votes things have changed. Now Eric should drop the suit and the rich food and stop by McDonald's to talk to real people. Find out what has been happening to 98% of the Americans who are suffering because of the Republaican and Bush Administration policies of GREED/LIES/CRIMES.
Cantor is the same guy that whined "Speaker Pelosi said some mean things that made us vote against the bail out."
I'm glad their Minority Whip is a Loooserrr....
LNS
So now the party of hate and division must now transform itself into the party of love and unity. Bwahahahahaha. Like that’s ever going to happen. They had their chance(s) and they blew it. They will never have anything new to offer. Their name is Mudd.
... how two months damn near destroyed the GOP?
Of course, there was still 44% of America that think Sarah Palin also, though, has the smarts to fill the need for what America is needing, youbetcha.
All Kato Palin did was pull the trigger.
Yeah, my sister-in-law is one of those Palin lovers. Simply fucking amazing! How can ANYONE with a lick of sense think that the Wasilla Wacko is fit to be.................!
It was real shallow what the reichwing tried with sarah. They intended to brush all with an anti-feminist smear if they dared oppose her. But since when was the goppies a party of any kind of feminism?
When it suits their needs, that's when. They're for anything they're against if it suits them to be so.
The problem is they can't cater to the majority. Note to self: "White's" are a minority.
Relevant stats, as of 2006:
White persons, percent, 2006 (a) 80.1%
Black persons, percent, 2006 (a) 12.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2006 (a) 1.0%
Asian persons, percent, 2006 (a) 4.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2006 (a) 0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2006 1.6%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2006 (b) 14.8%
White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2006 66.4%
Humanists, atheists, pantheists, secular humanists, deists, agnostics, etc.? They hate us too!!
http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Image:No...
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Eric Cantor is a total Wall Street Republican who happens to represent a fairly affluent district. His wife was also a big time Wall Street lawyer, so you can bet he doesn't have the "little guy's" best interest at heart, let alone minorities. He doesn't live far from me (and no I'm not one of the wealthy ones). But our kids have gone to the same schools, and many in my neighborhood know him. I met a woman recently who knew him when he was young, and she is quite sure he's gay, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought it was rather amusing. Anyway, I'd love to see Eric Cantor lose his seat, but don't think it's going to happen any time soon.
One group of minorities left out that is a part of all races is that of the gays. As long as the Republican Party is so anti-gay in their rhetoric and their actions, I can't countenance ever supporting them again. I left them in 1992 when Pat Buchanon declared his culture war and haven't regretted my decision at all.
and greedily for their Wall Street buddies.
"Cantor says they'll reach out by appealing to economic concerns"
The Republican party are masters of 'trickle down' p1ss on the people hypocrites.
Are y'all talkin' aboot their constituencies or what they form under their britches?
... you're talking about the teeny-tiny tents they display when they're gathered in the warroom?
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This is the party that proudly use minorities as the villian. I doubt that they will change their recruiting efforts to be the big tent.
The word republicans is "inclusion, inclusion, inclusion".
In the RNC and McCain/Palin rallies you could count on one hand the amount of African-Americans in the crowd. When Obama speaks he list all walks of life and backs it up with like folks in the crowd. Unfortuntely, when a conservative republican speaks they never mention diversity but to their base . . . white folks.
Just after the elections, George W. and Laura Bush sat for an interview for the “National Day of Listening” sponsored by StoryCorp. The questioning was put forth by, incredibly, Bush’s own sister, Doro. Bush’s whiney, defensive answers to perfectly innocuous questions put forth by his own sister is only the least of what has to be the most perfect delineation of Bush’s psychopathology and complete, messy divorce from reality.
So sit back and witness the disintegration of a human mind in this "Interview With Big Brother."
They stand for hate, division, and war. They also stand for racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, anti-feminism, religious intolerance, and bigotry. What did I leave out?
They fell into a good IDEA with "compassionate conservatism" but as with everything else re-thugs do - they were completely cynical about it and were not at any level prepared to make CC a real and serious political adaptation within the party.
In other words - they lied - and because they lied - they can't use it again. Anyone who hears a re-thuglic shouting "COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM!!" would laugh right in their faces these days.
They've completely painted themselves into their hateful, intolerant corner.
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Pretty clones quasi Palinistas types, regurgitating theocratic veiled conservative retro ideology comes across as McCainish yesterdays ideas.
Digging in their heels and stating that they are on a mission to be the watchful balancing branch of the government ( a favorite line of Can'tor) reflects their desperate attempt to salvage an era gone by.
Can'tor may be young, handsome (much like Palin may be pretty and youthful); but, America has grown from 8 years of lies, distortions and denials. Americans hear their empty words, roll their eyes and change the channel or go to the kitchen and get something to eat. It only resonates with the profoundly mentally ill facists of the right, especially diehard small "c" christian theocrats. Their infamous base has been reduced to largely the racists and religious intolerant whites who's definition of assimilation means that America's changing face should assimilate to look like them and not them accomodating change.
Can'tor is a replacement clone, rebooted to spew the same old spin in a different lipstick pig package. Can'tor will be the O'Reilly ( better yet the O'Wrongly) for the next four years. Sounding alarms and rhetoric that will only further entrench the base into their dismal exsistence as they get sucked into an oblivion of disregard and pointlessness. Luckily the children of these mechanized political parent clones are not listining to their garbage and are biding their time waiting to leave their nest of propagandized child brainwashing.
Proof of this is the Obama election; without the youth (including the sons and daughters of right wing neandrathals) we would not have this historic change.
Cantor says they'll reach out by appealing to economic concerns like "the diminution of their 401-K's"
So how does he get the idea that we'd be so overjoyed by how the Republicans have shredded the value of our retirement accounts by voting for the nitwits? The logical response to Bush's bumbling is to vote AGAINST the bumblers.
I can't decide which movie to watch on telly tonight: Miracle on 34th Street, or The Story of O?
Their teeny tiny what? Oh, do your mean brains?
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