This is a pretty succinct description of the nuttery that passes for normal on the right nowadays.
The thing that is really driving conservatives crazy, I think, is that their identity politics just isn’t working like it used to. Their whole approach has been based on the belief that Americans vote as if they live in Mayberry, and fear and hate anyone who looks a bit different; now that the country just isn’t like that, they’ve gone mad.
It has to be noted that the most trusted man in Mayberry, Sheriff Andy Taylor, is on the Democratic side. Also, Sheriff Andy is against warrantless wiretapping and for the rule of law.
“vote the white way”-Cons
This is what I was saying in an earlier post. Right-wingers believe that ALL WHITE AMERICANS are inherently racist like they are. They truly believe all whites fear and hate minorities and gays and want America to revert to the “good ol’ days” where whites only interacted with minorities at sporting events and possibly work.
So they try these identity politics just KNOWING that they’ll work on these low-educated, racist, “christian”, “real Americans”. That’s who Sarah Palin was talking to back in the election.
But the truth is, those whites are only about 22%-25% of whites in this country. THAT’S their “base”. Everyone else just simply isn’t like that. Then of course, them using all of their coded language is pretty much cutting minorities off from their “big tent”.
The Republican party is a walking-dead party.
This reminds me of the time when I stupidly agreed to fill in for a game on a friend’s softball team after having not done anything remotely athletic in the prior 3 years.
This is why, though it was tight and took a week, it was so important that North Carolina go for Obama. Yes, I know, McCain won a majority of white voters, but not overwhelmingly so. The body politic here now knows something it did not previously know … it’s all coalition now, and that stuff is for the past. Jesse Helms (who, let’s remember, only took his first run against Harvey Gantt by a whisker), wouldn’t have a prayer today. Even a nimrod like Richard Burr knows he has to pretend to nod to the middle.
Oh please. Is there anything more hilarious than the left accusing conservatives of engaging in identity politics?
And talk about crazy. The guys at Oracle and Microsoft would shudder at having to catalog the list of left wing moonbattery craziness that existed between November 2000 and January 2001.
Heal thyself, please.
Also, Sheriff Andy is against warrantless wiretapping and for the rule of law.
Obama supports warrantless wiretapping. How about that contradiction? Of course, the left burst blood vessels when Bush did the wiretapping. Obama not only continues to the practice but EXPANDS the legal defense of doing it to shield people from lawsuits and the reaction from the bots is a collective shrug.
Shrieks over military tribunals when Bush does it. Obama does it? Shrugs.
In fact, there’s a number of policies that Obama is continuing that were started under the Bush administration. Of course, all we ever hear from Obama supporters is that every single thing Bush ever did was bad, so why would Obama continue such policies?
Picking a few dorky comments here and there about Sonia Sotomayor and using them to smear all conservatives is par for the course.
Accusing the right of identity politics? Pot, meet kettle.
Yep, you folks sure are oppressed.
That’s fair, Jay and yo. We practice identity politics too.
But look at Krugman’s argument…what’s driving the right wing insane is that their identity politics no longer work. Because the identity politics used by conservatives today lack nuance and reason, and in many cases lack support.
The right’s current attempts to label Democrats “socialist!” relies on (a) people not understanding the full breadth of socialist thought, and (b) people still caught up in Cold War fears of the commie threat. This fails in large part because the evidence doesn’t completely support the case.
Attempts such as “fascist!” or “baby-killers!” or “anti-Amercan terrorist-lovers!” fail because they’re over-the-top. Most reasonable people don’t demonize as such even those they disagree with.
The label that the Dems have thrown at the Republicans has boiled down to one thing: “Wrong.” After eight years of Bush, this is a label that the GOP built for itself, and is going to struggle to get out from under as long as their efforts consist mostly of saying “Nuh-UH.”
You want to shed the label of being the racist, homophobic bigot party? Rein in your racists and homophobes. This is not rocket science.
Is there anything more hilarious than the left accusing conservatives of engaging in identity politics?
You guys really have no idea what he’s taking about do you?
Oh yippee! Another game of “I know you are but what am I?”
Picking a few dorky comments here and there about Sonia Sotomayor and using them to smear all conservatives is par for the course.
Yeah, I mean why would we think the words of the most influential conservative commentator, the right’s biggest Supreme Court group, or the Republican party chairman meant anything?
I don’t deny liberals said some crazy things during Bush’s presidency, but we had the good sense to not have the party chairman, senators, etc. saying those things.
What it’s come to. . . .
My reliably right of center seventy year old Republican neighbor (who has been trying to convert me for fifteen years back to “The Party of Lincoln” and thinks most liberals are a bit akin to Stalin) stopped me on my walk and complained that she couldn’t take it anymore. She said the political landscape was a nightmare–and it was making her sick to her stomach.
I inhaled and waited for the Obama and the Democrats hate speech to come. She’s damn good at making the speeches and I must say painfully funny–sometimes.
Then she said, “I’ll be damned, but they’ve run me clean out of my own party. I consider myself an Independent now.”
And I have to admit—I’m just a little bit sad, for her and the
GOP. But not so much that any sleep will be loss.
In ten more years most of us old folks will be gone along with 85% of the anti-gay bigots who also vote Republican.
Sorry to tell the right that their constituency is getting smaller and smaller…and Mayberry will be paved over in favor of a strip mall featuring a yoga ashram and a juice bar.
The only people who are still in the Republican party are idiots and people who are paid to be there. I assume that Jay Tea is the former. I assume yo mama is the latter.
Oh please. Is there anything more hilarious than the left accusing conservatives of engaging in identity politics?
You’re a vicious little pervert who hates America. That’s your identity. It’s also your politics.
Right winger “Jay”: “Picking a few dorky comments here and there about Sonia Sotomayor and using them to smear all conservatives is par for the course.”
“Picking a few dorky comments here and there” from “Sonia Sotomayor and using them to smear” her very long and commendable career “is par for the course” for right wingers.
[corrected]
For the GOP, fringe =base.
Don’t see how any wing-nutter can deny this.
After eight years of the right wing’s slavish support of an incompetent and ignorant Republican President, right winger “Jay” makes the absurd complaint that the left isn’t complaining about Obama’s continuation of Republican Bush’s policies.
The left’s complaints about the continuation of Republican Bush’s policies can be read online, heard on the radio, and watched on TV.
Even I’ve posted several long complaints about Obama’s continuation of some of Republican Bush’s policies on Oliver’s blog.
And if right winger “Jay” actually read Krugman, he’d know that Krugman’s been a consistent critic of Obama for over a year.
“Jay” is either being dishonest or isn’t paying attention.
I should note that while the left has been quite shrill at attacking the continuation of Republican Bush policies under Obama, that’s at worst one day out of seven.
Six days out of seven much of the “left” is either OK with what Obama is doing, understands or accepts his compromises, or is more preoccupied with the right wing’s dishonest and ignorant attacks on Obama.