The GQP: Trumpist Death Cult

[Hank Scorpio 17712]

This is a very good (and long) article about Trumpism/Republicans/youth. It sums it all up nicely: 

Trumpism’s pitch to young white men is thus a stirringly amoral sort of syllogism: we can’t give you anything material, because we stole it all and are hoarding it, but we can create a world in which you can regularly act on your worst impulses and get away with it.

Legitimizing complete irresponsibility is also exactly why the mainstream, respectable GOP eventually embraced Trumpism. It’s a force that protects the monstrously unfair world they’ve built. They want to ensure that righteous mobs don’t dismantle the institutions that crank out Jared Kushners and Brett Kavanaughs, so they go along with the big lie, aimed at their lessers, that the people who want to destroy those elite institutions are also determined to punish “your son.” A movement that is designed to preserve the privilege of teens like Brett Kavanaugh to behave poorly and still run the country is telling less-privileged white teens that it’s actually fighting for their much more meager privilege to be racist and piggish and not face consequences.

 

https://thebaffler.com/salvos/teenage-pricks-pareene

[Chad Fuck 17503]

21 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

If they are in Germany, Austria, or parts of Switzerland, they aren’t offended, they are aroused.  

Why wouldn't they be?

[Nivek 16808]

Did anyone not already know this?

[Pescado_Rojo 19327]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

Why wouldn't they be?

4,2,1,3

[Brisketexan 104465]

11 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

4,2,1,3

But 4....she knows what she's doin'.  Ain't no ramp-up required there.

[Biff Tannen 45478]

14 hours ago, Bruh Man said:

 

Yeah, this is not ok.

[bolverk 29360]

8 hours ago, UTDD said:

Not a shock, and I bet a huge majority of them only speak English.  It's quite a difference if you travel to many Euro/Asian countries where it is quite common to meet people that speak multiple languages versus so many parts of America.  It's also not just language but the breath of knowledge/interests/curiosity/etc as well.  I often feel like the very smartest Americans are right up there with anyone else in the world and why we still thrive as a nation, but that the average say college graduate American is generally stupider than the average college graduate in places I have visited in the past.

Let me preface this by saying I speak French nearly fluently, lived about 25 miles north of Notre Dame de Paris for a year, have a BA in French, and taught French for a couple of years. I will, however, defend Americans' general lack of aptitude in speaking foreign languages.

In Europe, it's a near necessity to be bilingual in, at least, English and your mother tongue if you work in business or a service industry due there being so many different countries with a multitude of languages in such close proximity. Over there, you get accustomed to hearing lots of languages because it's absolutely commonplace. For example, the French-speaking part of Europe, an area that's about the size of Texas geographically, shares direct borders with the following major and minor languages: Breton, Dutch, German, Romansh, Italian, Catalan, Spanish, and Basque. It may as well also share borders with English for all practical purposes. Moreover, that list doesn't include other dialects (that some would count as languages) like Flemish, Luxembourgish, or Alsatian.

Of course, there is a need to have a lingua franca (in the past it was French) for people to communicate. It's not unusual to see, for instance, a person from Germany speaking to a person from France in English, because it's just simply understood that there's a likelihood the other will also speak it. That said, the French are notoriously bad at speaking foreign languages in general, but that's another story.

Here, in the US, we are genuinely isolated from such a variety of languages with Mexico to our south and Canada (Quebec) to our north. Moreover, our particular language is spoken worldwide by billions of people to one degree or another. We generally don't speak other languages because we don't have to as a matter of course in doing business, getting around, or socializing like they do in Europe.

With all of that said, the fact that so many Americans would actually take offense at hearing another language spoken in public is a testament to not only our general isolation but also our laziness, our lack of curiosity, and our superiority complex. My personal motivation for learning French was to overcome the barrier of isolation and try to get to know other parts of the world first-hand. Sadly, there's a chunk of our population that just doesn't give a shit about learning faget stuff about the outside world and is content with remaining ignorant - an attitude that naturally reflects those in the Republican base and is actively encouraged in some quarters.

[deac_tracy 513]

This is just awesome. Watching this journalist throw Shapiro's grift right back at him is great stuff

Best line of the whole thing is the journalist's last comment.

[tucker 238]

 

[NBMisha 224]

Don't call our policies dark ages!  Not out loud!  Seems keeping this con going is his main concern.  He is a perfect representative.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20342]

Report: Oil and Gas producers are pushing so much sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere that it's reaching dangerous levels.  Your Republican state legislators can't be bothered to measure it.

https://www.texasobserver.org/report-oil-and-gas-producers-may-be-pushing-the-permian-basin-past-federal-air-quality-limits/

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Continental Op 3934]

On 5/9/2019 at 1:28 PM, Hank Scorpio said:

It's always fun when people learn about Jonathan Stickland. 

That's former fetus Jonathan Stickland to you, Mr. Scorpio.  

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20342]

So many victims!

 

 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Yes Pence, I shun and ridicule all that force their civil liberty limiting ideology down everyone's throats. 

[gmr548 16463]

So many victims!

 
 

LiBeRaLs aRe SuCh TrIgGeReD SnOwFlAkEs

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[4th&Five 41457]

 

[DigglerontheHoof 21022]

7 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

One of my goals in life, as it pertains to travel, will be to never set foot in Alabama ever again.  Seriously, what a shithole state filled w/ shithole people.  

[Hank Scorpio 17712]

This is a good article summing up the Republican party in light of the crazy shit they are doing in GA and AL. 

Spoiler

How is it that, against the will of the public, a minority sect of religious zealots can be empowered to essentially ban abortion in an entire state? This is the product of a grand bargain that keeps our political system permanently broken. We often don’t notice until it kills us or throws us in jail.

What is the existential purpose of the Republican Party? The existential purpose of the Republican Party is to serve the interests of the rich. The reason why the Republican Party has the incredible resources and power that it does is that rich people, who by definition have many resources, are willing to fund the Republican Party as an investment that will make them money. And politics pays off handsomely. Tax cuts and business deregulation alone make the Republican Party a great investment.

In a fair direct democracy based purely on the will of the majority, a party serving the interests of the rich would lose every election. Not only are the rich a small minority of the population, but their interests are very often in direct opposition of the interests of the vast majority of people. This is why America was designed as a republic, rather than a direct democracy—to protect the political power of the rich. This is also why, to this very day, the Republican Party engages in the widespread, systematic pursuit of policies that will thwart the will of the majority. This is why voter suppression exists; this is why gerrymandering exists; this is why our campaign finance system allows the wealthy to buy elections; this is why the U.S. Senate exists, as a body that gives much more power to rural states than to urban ones; this is why the Electoral College exists, as a body that has a proven track record of overruling the popular vote. In a nation with only two major political parties, one of those parties exists to serve the interests of a tiny minority of people. And yet it must get more than half of the votes. Most of the blatant injustices of our broken political system can be traced back to this fact.

How does the party of the rich attract the votes of the non-rich? It does so primarily by waving the flag and the cross. Patriotism and religion are the tools the Republican Party uses to gain mass support. Forcing you to work two jobs in order to pay the rent so that hedge fund investors can buy third vacation homes is not popular, but God and Country are. And so the Republican Party makes its public face patriotic and Christian, even as its real business is to funnel as much of America’s wealth as possible into the pockets of its donor class. Guns? Abortion? Standing for the national anthem? These are the issues that the Republican Party loves to talk about most. They appeal to the basic sensibilities of millions of Americans, and inflame their passions, so that they do not notice they are being robbed.

Christian fundamentalists in America have made a deal with the devil. That deal is to throw their political support wholeheartedly behind the Republican Party. The party will seek to ban abortion, and persecute gay people, and prop up Christian schools; in exchange, the Christian right will ignore the rather un-Christian true face of the party of the rich, as it steals from the poor and starts wars. The spectacle of devout Christians feverishly supporting a self-worshiping billionaire who has committed every sin is just the most recent absurd manifestation of something that has been going on for a long time. This grand bargain has served the narrow interests of both sides well, even as it has been detrimental to humanity as a whole.

Women in Alabama and Georgia will suffer, and probably die, because they now live in kingdoms controlled by religious zealots. History is full of examples of religious zealots causing misery among the masses when they assume power—that much is not surprising. It is important to focus on the question of how these people came to be in charge of us all. The most basic answer to that question is: They came to be in charge because, in a roundabout way, it serves the interests of the rich. They came to be in charge thanks to the support of a vast, decades-long national program to suppress the will of the majority in favor of the desires of a small minority. They came to be in charge because the rich need the Republican Party, the Republican Party needs 51% of the votes, and that means they need all those good Christians to turn up at the polls for something. They probably won’t be motivated by the need for lower taxes on pass-through entities. So they must instead be motivated by the chance to assume control of the female body, on behalf of god. In order to maintain our treasured free enterprise system that allows billionaires to keep the majority of their wealth, some things must be sacrificed. Today, it’s women.

This happens, and will keep happening, because of that deal with the devil between the Republican Party and its non-rich voters. That may sound distasteful. So let’s call it, instead, a deal with Jesus. The outcome is exactly the same

 

https://splinternews.com/the-deal-with-the-devil-that-got-us-here-1834779762

[Slade 263]

There's a type of synergy going on with these evangelicals, MAGA, alt-right with these draconian abortion laws in places like Alabama and Georgia and with voter suppression places like South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The shared goal is the restoration of rigid hierarchies of gender and eventually race. 

 

[Js1 85056]

 

[WhatTheBuck 28700]

This life they care about:

This life, not so much:

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

They don’t care about the fetus either.  Don’t kid yourself, abortion is a weaponized political tool to give the republicans some illusion of a moral high ground while they get away with every other crime known to man. 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Hank Scorpio 17712]

 

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

24 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

This life they care about:

This life, not so much:

Those liberal tears though.

[JimmyJames 12271]

3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

This is a good article summing up the Republican party in light of the crazy shit they are doing in GA and AL. 

  Hide contents

How is it that, against the will of the public, a minority sect of religious zealots can be empowered to essentially ban abortion in an entire state? This is the product of a grand bargain that keeps our political system permanently broken. We often don’t notice until it kills us or throws us in jail.

What is the existential purpose of the Republican Party? The existential purpose of the Republican Party is to serve the interests of the rich. The reason why the Republican Party has the incredible resources and power that it does is that rich people, who by definition have many resources, are willing to fund the Republican Party as an investment that will make them money. And politics pays off handsomely. Tax cuts and business deregulation alone make the Republican Party a great investment.

In a fair direct democracy based purely on the will of the majority, a party serving the interests of the rich would lose every election. Not only are the rich a small minority of the population, but their interests are very often in direct opposition of the interests of the vast majority of people. This is why America was designed as a republic, rather than a direct democracy—to protect the political power of the rich. This is also why, to this very day, the Republican Party engages in the widespread, systematic pursuit of policies that will thwart the will of the majority. This is why voter suppression exists; this is why gerrymandering exists; this is why our campaign finance system allows the wealthy to buy elections; this is why the U.S. Senate exists, as a body that gives much more power to rural states than to urban ones; this is why the Electoral College exists, as a body that has a proven track record of overruling the popular vote. In a nation with only two major political parties, one of those parties exists to serve the interests of a tiny minority of people. And yet it must get more than half of the votes. Most of the blatant injustices of our broken political system can be traced back to this fact.

How does the party of the rich attract the votes of the non-rich? It does so primarily by waving the flag and the cross. Patriotism and religion are the tools the Republican Party uses to gain mass support. Forcing you to work two jobs in order to pay the rent so that hedge fund investors can buy third vacation homes is not popular, but God and Country are. And so the Republican Party makes its public face patriotic and Christian, even as its real business is to funnel as much of America’s wealth as possible into the pockets of its donor class. Guns? Abortion? Standing for the national anthem? These are the issues that the Republican Party loves to talk about most. They appeal to the basic sensibilities of millions of Americans, and inflame their passions, so that they do not notice they are being robbed.

Christian fundamentalists in America have made a deal with the devil. That deal is to throw their political support wholeheartedly behind the Republican Party. The party will seek to ban abortion, and persecute gay people, and prop up Christian schools; in exchange, the Christian right will ignore the rather un-Christian true face of the party of the rich, as it steals from the poor and starts wars. The spectacle of devout Christians feverishly supporting a self-worshiping billionaire who has committed every sin is just the most recent absurd manifestation of something that has been going on for a long time. This grand bargain has served the narrow interests of both sides well, even as it has been detrimental to humanity as a whole.

Women in Alabama and Georgia will suffer, and probably die, because they now live in kingdoms controlled by religious zealots. History is full of examples of religious zealots causing misery among the masses when they assume power—that much is not surprising. It is important to focus on the question of how these people came to be in charge of us all. The most basic answer to that question is: They came to be in charge because, in a roundabout way, it serves the interests of the rich. They came to be in charge thanks to the support of a vast, decades-long national program to suppress the will of the majority in favor of the desires of a small minority. They came to be in charge because the rich need the Republican Party, the Republican Party needs 51% of the votes, and that means they need all those good Christians to turn up at the polls for something. They probably won’t be motivated by the need for lower taxes on pass-through entities. So they must instead be motivated by the chance to assume control of the female body, on behalf of god. In order to maintain our treasured free enterprise system that allows billionaires to keep the majority of their wealth, some things must be sacrificed. Today, it’s women.

This happens, and will keep happening, because of that deal with the devil between the Republican Party and its non-rich voters. That may sound distasteful. So let’s call it, instead, a deal with Jesus. The outcome is exactly the same

 

https://splinternews.com/the-deal-with-the-devil-that-got-us-here-1834779762

This article, while not 100 percent factually correct, is essentially correct. Enough so anyway.

The top .0001 percent that ultimately controls the Republican Party has used social issues such as race, abortion, immigration, and gays for 40 years to their delightful advantage to control the Republican Party so that they can further enrich themselves. The social issues, they could not care less about, but they manipulate the uneducated to accomplish their goals. Props to them on their success, I guess. 

In a realpolitik sense its absolute genius. Hell if you are an amoral super rich asshole, why choose any other way?  Johnny sack gives his approval. 

So what’s the answer? Better education? I’m afraid that ship may have sailed. As trump said, he absolutely loves the uneducated and as a country we have failed in that endeavor. It would be nice to start stopping the bleeding but I don’t see it happening soon. Basically because we are so racially divided that the whites don’t have a problem if “the others” don’t get an education. Just move to the suburbs instead, which they’ve done. 

Frankly, the only solution going forward is to never vote republican again, ever. Whether it be president, senator, head of the appraisal district or local dog catcher. 

It’s at least a start. 

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

3 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

This article, while not 100 percent factually correct, is essentially correct. Enough so anyway.

The top .0001 percent that ultimately controls the Republican Party has used social issues such as race, abortion, immigration, and gays for 40 years to their delightful advantage to control the Republican Party so that they can further enrich themselves. The social issues, they could not care less about, but they manipulate the uneducated to accomplish their goals. Props to them on their success, I guess. 

In a realpolitik sense its absolute genius. Hell if you are an amoral super rich asshole, why choose any other way?  Johnny sack gives his approval. 

So what’s the answer? Better education? I’m afraid that ship may have sailed. As trump said, he absolutely loves the uneducated and as a country we have failed in that endeavor. It would be nice to start stopping the bleeding but I don’t see it happening soon. Basically because we are so racially divided that the whites don’t have a problem if “the others” don’t get an education. Just move to the suburbs instead, which they’ve done. 

Frankly, the only solution going forward is to never vote republican again, ever. Whether it be president, senator, head of the appraisal district or local dog catcher. 

It’s at least a start. 

 

And then Trump runs as a democrat.  

I hate to go both sider here but simply not voting for the republicans isn’t going to cut it.   We can see right now the democrats are weak as fuck and not capable of tackling the challenges we face either.  We need better people in it for the right reasons. It doesn’t matter which party.  As long as they’re not cowards, racists, hypocrites, or frauds and genuinely work to serve the public as a whole, we would be light years ahead of where we are now. 

The parties can change over time and we’re clearly in the middle or on the cusp of a dramatic ideological realignment in both parties.

[JimmyJames 12271]

6 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

And then Trump runs as a democrat.  

I hate to go both sider here but simply not voting for the republicans isn’t going to cut it.   We can see right now the democrats are weak as fuck and not capable of tackling the challenges we face either.  We need better people in it for the right reasons. It doesn’t matter which party.  As long as they’re not cowards, racists, hypocrites, or frauds and genuinely work to serve the public as a whole, we would be light years ahead of where we are now. 

The parties can change over time and we’re clearly in the middle or on the cusp of a dramatic ideological realignment in both parties.

Sorry but I respecfully and completely disagree.

Despite what the trolls on here like to state, I am not and have not ever been a democrat.

I admit I appear to be so because I am completely opposed to trump and the current state of the Republican Party, which has gone completely off the rails.

The dems are not perfect by any stretch and there is much of which I disagree with, but they are at least acting somewhat sane. The republicans, not sane at all. Lunacy. 

There is no both sides here. The republicans, in their current state, are an enemy of our Republican ideals. They must be stopped or things will get much much worse. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by JimmyJames

[atomheartbevo 89362]

1 hour ago, Slade said:

There's a type of synergy going on with these evangelicals, MAGA, alt-right with these draconian abortion laws in places like Alabama and Georgia and with voter suppression places like South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The shared goal is the restoration of rigid hierarchies of gender and eventually race. 

The goal is to turn out the ever-shrinking base in order to win the next election.  That means suppressing the other party’s vote and pushing the buttons of the base.  

[JimmyJames 12271]

Just now, atomheartbevo said:

The goal is to turn out the ever-shrinking base in order to win the next election.  That means suppressing the other party’s vote and pushing the buttons of the base.  

Apartheid 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

8 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

Sorry but I respecfully and completely disagree.

Depsite what the trolls on here like to state, I am not and have not ever been a democrat.

I admit I appear to be so because I am completely opposed to trump and the current state of the Republican Party, which has gone completely off the rails.

The dems are not perfect by any stretch and there is much of which I disagree with, but they are at least acting somewhat sane. The republicans, not sane at all. Lunacy. 

There is no both sides here. The republicans, in their current state, are an enemy of our Republican ideals. They must be stopped or things will get much much worse. 

I agree with your analysis at this moment in time.  I won’t be voting republican until every last one now in Congress is no longer in office.  I’m just saying, the democrats are susceptible to being subverted by an amoral charlatan tyrant too because they are also WEAK. 

Why can’t ANY elected official stand up to Trump?  He’s a clown and a fraud.   He made his way to power by lying about the previous president and not one person in power wants to take it to him with the truth. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Bama Chick 28596]

The goal is to turn out the ever-shrinking base in order to win the next election.  That means suppressing the other party’s vote and pushing the buttons of the base.  

And with these shitty abortion laws, more women will be made into felons.

And felons can’t vote!

Controlling our bodies AND suppressing votes with one fell swoop!

[David Dennison 18608]

3 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

And with these shitty abortion laws, more women will be made into felons.

And felons can’t vote!

Controlling our bodies AND suppressing votes with one fell swoop!

 

The Alabama law only criminalizes the doctor, no?

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

The Alabama law only criminalizes the doctor, no?

Yes I was referring to the Georgia and Ohio laws.

[triplehorn 2664]

 

[Brisketexan 104465]

54 minutes ago, triplehorn said:

 

Makes perfect sense.  I mean, if you were the coach of a team, and you had information that the mob was buying off all the refs for your next game....but they were paying them to throw calls your team's way....you would totally not call the FBI, and that would absolutely be the right thing to do.  Totally legal, totally cool.

The GOP isn't a political party anymore.  It's part of an organized crime syndicate.

[F250 28659]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Makes perfect sense.  I mean, if you were the coach of a team, and you had information that the mob was buying off all the refs for your next game....but they were paying them to throw calls your team's way....you would totally not call the FBI, and that would absolutely be the right thing to do.  Totally legal, totally cool.

 

 

[Anastasis 23375]

On 5/12/2019 at 5:09 PM, SmokeyTheBear said:

Yes Pence, I shun and ridicule all that force their civil liberty limiting ideology down everyone's throats. 

No you don’t. You just pick one subset of those who use government as a means to trample  civil liberties. You are willing to give a pass to many institutions, government and otherwise, as well as ideologies, that undermine individual civil liberties. 

Btw. This is intended not personally towards you as a poster but in a more general rhetorical sense. There are few that actually consistently advocate broadly for civil liberties. Most pick narrow issues to frame their advocacy around, and ignore the vast many others that don’t fit their political perspective. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23356]

Anarchy is so hot right now. 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

8 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

No you don’t. You just pick one subset of those who use government as a means to trample  civil liberties. You are willing to give a pass to many institutions, government and otherwise, as well as ideologies, that undermine individual civil liberties. 

Can you provide some examples of issues that would be under the umbrella of hypocrisy you are referencing?

[F250 28659]

15 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

No you don’t. You just pick one subset of those who use government as a means to trample  civil liberties. You are willing to give a pass to many institutions, government and otherwise, as well as ideologies, that undermine individual civil liberties. 

Btw. This is intended not personally towards you as a poster but in a more general rhetorical sense. There are few that actually consistently advocate broadly for civil liberties. Most pick narrow issues to frame their advocacy around, and ignore the vast many others that don’t fit their political perspective. 

I think we are in agreement on this matter.

It boggles the mind with how partisan both sides can be and then act in lockstep regarding issues of civil liberties.

The Patriot Act passed 98-1 in the Senate. The FISA amendment passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority as well as CISA.

I will give a shout out to Bernie, he has consistently voted against this shit.

[Anastasis 23375]

25 minutes ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

 Can you provide some examples of issues that would be under the umbrella of hypocrisy you are referencing?

A couple bipartisan examples in the post immediately preceding this one. There is no doubt that the surveillance apparatus in this country is a prime example. You have to strain very hard to find consistent voices advocating for a broad view of civil liberties. 

[Pancho 44359]

 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

44 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

A couple bipartisan examples in the post immediately preceding this one. There is no doubt that the surveillance apparatus in this country is a prime example. You have to strain very hard to find consistent voices advocating for a broad view of civil liberties. 

Then agreed

[Pancho 44359]

 

[Mdhorn 5908]

On 5/15/2019 at 8:08 PM, atomheartbevo said:

The goal is to turn out the ever-shrinking base in order to win the next election.  That means suppressing the other party’s vote and pushing the buttons of the base.  

New Jim Crow laws.  

[Message Board User 12389]

 

[Patrick Bateman 3903]

 

[Longhornfan1024 1707]

32 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

 

Weren't they running around arguing that Democrats should return Weinstein's donations?