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Thread: Today's Republican Party is....

  1. #1

    Default Today's Republican Party is....

    Probably too many reasons to list, but here's my partial explanation:

    Senator McConnell stating the GOP's main goal is to make Obama a one term president. Parroted by Michele Bachman and others.
    Abuse of filibusters and congressional rules to obstruct legislation.
    Refusal to pass legislation once advocated by the GOP, if Democrats also agree.
    Too many Republicans having taken an oath to serve Grover Norquist instead of serving their constituents.
    The ridiculous vetting of candidates that begins with religion, where only Christian conservatives make the grade.
    Dominance of religion and social conservatism over any type of actual governance.
    Anti-federal stimulus unless it means paying (their) state debts with federal monies.
    Proclaiming the way to growth is to cut all taxes.
    Involving our nation in two Wars of 'questionable merit', while cutting taxes.
    Inability to admit when policy was wrong, and refusing to take responsibility for their part.
    Idolizing Ronald Reagan as a conservative while denying his role as a moderate.
    Suggesting only Republicans are freedom loving patriots, and all Democrats are SSSocialists.
    Last edited by GGT; 10-11-2011 at 07:22 PM.

  2. #2
    My guess is many registered Republicans aren't happy with the national GOP, either. I have Republican friends/family that only retain that title so they can vote in state closed primaries. It's a real shame that people have to choose between fiscal and social conservatism, as defined by our two parties.

  3. #3
    The GOP had your support? So you voted McCain in '08 did you? Or GOP in '10? Or Bush before then?

    No offence Geegee, but you've always struck me as a lifelong Dem. Or at least in recent years. You can't lose something that you never had.

  4. #4
    Of course GGT is like twice as old as anyone else here so she has had a long life and a lot of time to change her mind but I'd be very surprised if there had been much resupporting going on. Not many people go from being conservatives in their youth to becoming liberals as cranky old men and women. I don't think so anyway. Okay I might be wrong about this.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by RandBlade View Post
    The GOP had your support? So you voted McCain in '08 did you? Or GOP in '10? Or Bush before then?

    No offence Geegee, but you've always struck me as a lifelong Dem. Or at least in recent years. You can't lose something that you never had.
    Maybe I'm older than you think, and have voted in many more elections than you know (counting more than presidential elections). My voting record used to be more Republican than Democrat, even though I've always been a registered Independent. But that was before the GOP came to mean Christian Conservatives before all else.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    Of course GGT is like twice as old as anyone else here so she has had a long life and a lot of time to change her mind but I'd be very surprised if there had been much resupporting going on. Not many people go from being conservatives in their youth to becoming liberals as cranky old men and women. I don't think so anyway. Okay I might be wrong about this.
    Damn you, minx. I'll turn 53 fucking years old in November, so yeah, I'm probably twice as old as most people here. Old enough to be your mother.

    And FYI, changing political affiliation is fluid and dynamic over time, and very normal. I read [something somewhere] that typically young people start out very liberal and become more conservative as they age. Dread is a perfect example of that. But some things are neglected when figuring this out, from the outside. Like cultural norms at the time, and whether there's a War going on. My older sisters were part of the VietNam era more than I was. They had friends that were drafted and never came home. My sister's husband flies a flag for his best friend that had the bad luck to be drafted and die in the conflict. So many decades later, and he still feels some guilt.

  7. #7
    De Oppresso Liber CitizenCain's Avatar
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    We really need a whole thread about how you prefer Marx to Smith?

    Get a grip, GeeGee. You don't like the GOP because they're the less socialist of the two major parties.
    "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

    "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by CitizenCain View Post
    We really need a whole thread about how you prefer Marx to Smith?

    Get a grip, GeeGee. You don't like the GOP because they're the less socialist of the two major parties.
    There are millions "like me", but it didn't seem quite right to title the thread "Why the Republican Party is losing support".

    I don't like the GOP because they've become a religious party, deciding their platform and picking their candidates based on who's "Christian" and who's not.

  9. #9
    Back in the ancient times when GGT voted Republican the GOP was the more socialist of the two major parties?
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  10. #10
    Back in our ancient times, being Republican and voting Republican had nothing to do with Religion.

    But even Democrats were worried about having a Catholic President.....

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    Of course GGT is like twice as old as anyone else here so she has had a long life and a lot of time to change her mind
    But then why is pretty much everything she listed recent. Heck much of it from the last two or three years? Did she seem like a Republican five years ago, to you? I would not have pegged her for GOP then, myself.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  12. #12
    Exactly, that list implies that 5 years ago, not 30, she was a GOPer. As much as you register as an Independent Geegee, you're not truly independent. Nobody is, I swing to the right and you the left.

  13. #13
    Most of these are not new Republican policies and at least half can be applied to the Democrats. Someone is trying to parrot Tear's attempts to claim open-mindedness.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  14. #14
    So basically GGT is lying about her voting history? Or she made up her mind in the last five years? Or the GOP has been too religious only for the past five years? Or she made up her mind more than five years ago? Why on earth was this thread moved to D&D??
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  15. #15
    I didn't move it, but it is politics.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    So basically GGT is lying about her voting history? Or she made up her mind in the last five years? Or the GOP has been too religious only for the past five years? Or she made up her mind more than five years ago? Why on earth was this thread moved to D&D??
    GGT doesn't make up her mind on a rational basis. I don't know whether she did or did not support the GOP, but she certainly did not support any significant portion of the GOP platform since she's been here/Atari.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  17. #17
    Does the fact no one has directly addressed the items in the OP mean they're not contended? Is it a yeah-it's-fucked-up-but-you-should-see-the-other-guy(s) attitude?
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  18. #18
    Most of them are some combination of caricature, exaggeration, poor reason for not voting for a party, or things that can be equally applied to the Democrats...
    Hope is the denial of reality

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Ziggy Stardust View Post
    Does the fact no one has directly addressed the items in the OP mean they're not contended? Is it a yeah-it's-fucked-up-but-you-should-see-the-other-guy(s) attitude?
    I suppose the latter? I guess? A person's political perspective is necessarily subjective and personal. It can't be characterized as right or wrong. And yeah, anyone can find things to dislike in the goals or actions of a party. The bigger the tent *both in relative and in absolute terms* the more things one can find to like or dislike, as the party's size forces it to address more and more things in a fully realized manner.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  20. #20
    De Oppresso Liber CitizenCain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GGT View Post
    I don't like the GOP because they've become a religious party, deciding their platform and picking their candidates based on who's "Christian" and who's not.
    So, you dislike the GOP because they're less bigoted than the Democrats? Well, thanks for that refreshing honesty, but most people prefer less bigotry, not more.

    Quote Originally Posted by RandBlade View Post
    Exactly, that list implies that 5 years ago, not 30, she was a GOPer.
    I personally find her being a GOPer even 30 years ago to stretch plausibility too far.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ziggy Stardust View Post
    Does the fact no one has directly addressed the items in the OP mean they're not contended? Is it a yeah-it's-fucked-up-but-you-should-see-the-other-guy(s) attitude?
    Well, I can't speak for others, but even if I were so inclined as to jump in and defend the GOP, I don't really think that trying to have a factual discussion with the poster in question to be a particularly worthwhile endeavor. Time better spent hunting unicorns and all that. But Loki pretty much nailed it when he said they're all either silly exaggerations and/or apply equally to the Democrats, so... meh.
    "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

    "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

    -- Thomas Jefferson: American Founding Father, clairvoyant and seditious traitor.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    So basically GGT is lying about her voting history? Or she made up her mind in the last five years? Or the GOP has been too religious only for the past five years? Or she made up her mind more than five years ago? Why on earth was this thread moved to D&D??
    My voting record is older than Atard forums (Loki). I voted for Reagan and Bush, Sr. if that matters, and plenty of Republicans for senate and state offices, Dick Lugar is one well known name. But that was before the party began its obsession with religion.

    The GOP became more religious-oriented since The Moral Majority, and it's only gotten worse in recent years. The campaigning for 2012 began in Jan. 2009 by calling Obama a Muslim (from Kenya) Now they're vetting who's "most Christian" as decided by Fundamentalists and Christian Coalition, who don't consider Mormonism to be Christianity.

    That's the first test a GOP candidate has to pass on the way to getting the nomination, followed by being pro-life/anti-abortion. It's a ridiculous way to elect candidates---first elimination round based on religion. The Democratic Party doesn't begin choosing candidates the same way.

    Where are the Republicans ready to defend or deny that the GOP has become the Christian Conservative Party, first and foremost?

  22. #22
    Actually, the GOP alliance with evangelical groups started with Reagan, whom you claimed to have voted for. And Bush Sr. was the guy who said that atheists shouldn't be regarded as citizens.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  23. #23
    He said that?! I thought that was just an unproven rumor...
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  24. #24
    You're right; didn't realize it was unconfirmed.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    You're right; didn't realize it was unconfirmed.
    More than just an uncredited rumour though, its a sourced quotation just not proven. Considering its sourced as accredited journalist saying it was said, has Bush or anyone else denied that it was said?

  26. #26
    De Oppresso Liber CitizenCain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GGT View Post
    Where are the Republicans ready to defend or deny that the GOP has become the Christian Conservative Party, first and foremost?
    And the last serious DNC nominee who wasn't a mainstream Christian was...?

    Hell, by having a serious contender who's a Mormon, the GOP's shown more diversity on the issue than the DNC has, so really, you ought to voice your support by voting GOP this election cycle. Unless, as Loki postulated, this is just your attempt to convince yourself and/or others that you're "open minded," when you're about as close-minded as can be.
    "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

    "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

    -- Thomas Jefferson: American Founding Father, clairvoyant and seditious traitor.

  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by CitizenCain View Post
    And the last serious DNC nominee who wasn't a mainstream Christian was...?

    Hell, by having a serious contender who's a Mormon, the GOP's shown more diversity on the issue than the DNC has
    Meh, not really. The GOP has yet to actually nominate a Mormon, while the Dems have actually nominated three Catholics. One of 'em even won the election.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  28. #28
    They nominated a lunatic as a VP; lunatics make up a smaller percentage of the population than Catholics.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    They nominated a lunatic as a VP; lunatics make up a smaller percentage of the population than Catholics.
    Citation needed!
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    The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

  30. #30
    Fine, I'll bite.

    Quote Originally Posted by GGT View Post

    Senator McConnell stating the GOP's main goal is to make Obama a one term president. Parroted by Michele Bachman and others.-- Is this any different from what any opposition party does when it's in the opposition? It's not.

    Abuse of filibusters and congressional rules to obstruct legislation. -- Is this any different from what any opposition party does when it's in the opposition? It's not.

    Refusal to pass legislation once advocated by the GOP, if Democrats also agree. -- Eh? I mean, I'm sure it's possibly happened, but is this some kind of regular thing not explainable by long/medium-term shifts in views?

    Too many Republicans having taken an oath to serve Grover Norquist instead of serving their constituents. -- While I think pledging to be inflexible isn't smart, I don't think the mere act of making a pledge is some kind of problem. Every politician makes pledges.

    The ridiculous vetting of candidates that begins with religion, where only Christian conservatives make the grade. -- This seems a bit silly for you to have beef with, considering the front-runner is a Mormon.

    Dominance of religion and social conservatism over any type of actual governance. -- This election seems pretty distant from social conservatism and religion. I think that's a good thing.

    Anti-federal stimulus unless it means paying (their) state debts with federal monies. - Fair point, but most states are basically unable to say no to federal funding.

    Proclaiming the way to growth is to cut all taxes. -- Positively not what is being argued.

    Involving our nation in two Wars of 'questionable merit', while cutting taxes. -- The idea that high taxes are patriotic is pure sophistry. And the idea that we should be arguing about the Iraq and Afghani war now, and that they are uniquely Republican issues, is also a bit meh. Both parties voted for both wars.

    Inability to admit when policy was wrong, and refusing to take responsibility for their part. -- This is politics, right?

    Idolizing Ronald Reagan as a conservative while denying his role as a moderate. -- Agreed.

    Suggesting only Republicans are freedom loving patriots, and all Democrats are SSSocialists. -- I think you're projecting.

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