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Are extreme conservatives harming the party?


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  • Gerald W
    2015-02-27 08:45:56 PM
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    I'm a moderate conservative. I wasn't always so, I use to be middle of the pack conservative. Responsible government spending, Christian, right to bear arms, free market capitalism etc. But over the years, the GOP, at least the ones that get elected and become mouthpieces for the party, have be spouting this entrenched, no compromise, our way or the highway rhetoric that seems to be shifting the party out from under me.

    Granted, there are some things that shouldn't be compromised, but that doesn't mean they can't be discussed. Perhaps there are angles your opponents haven't considered and perhaps there angles we haven't considered. But the current GOP seems so focused on making sure the other side fails that they don't care about any success at all.

    I guess that one of the reasons I'm here, looking for rational political discourse.
  • TJ
    2015-02-27 11:02:16 PM
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    Well GW, I hope that you find a variety of views and a variety of explanations as to why it's thought to be so. An open mind is a good thing. Welcome.
  • lonely bird
    2015-02-28 12:00:13 AM
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    Interesting. To answer your thread's question one must say no. Why? Because radicals ARE the Republican Party. The Republican Party of rational government, of belief in government, of moderation has been destroyed over the course of 50+ years starting with Goldwater. The idea that goldwater would not be welcome in the Republican Party today is false imo. He started the government is bad meme that distorted the republican party.

    What is of more concern is such a radicalized party is a sign of decline of a society. It isn't gay marriage or any such nonsense. It is strident, rigid ideology clinging to a revisionist history that never happened while sabre rattling whenever possible to show the world how "strong" we are when in fact the military us sapping our strength.
  • eternal flame
    2015-02-28 09:20:31 PM
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    Gee Lonely Bird -- You just explained something very complex, while being clear as a bell, and wasting no time. Congratulations!! I will sign up for lessons, as soon as possible : ) Somehow I can never be concise enough. How come you guys are so perfect?

    To the New Member: Welcome aboard, I hope we can have some lively discussions, But Beware: The guys here are all fabulous, brilliant, & wise. (And they bribe me well for saying that : ) : )
  • pr
    2015-03-01 07:26:01 AM
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    A very timely essay on how Republicans hate of truth, facts and education have been destroying the USA for well over the past 75 years, can be read here:

    www.salon.com/2015/03/01/its_worse_than_scott_walker_and_ted_cruz_secrets_of_co.../
  • L.A. Citizen
    2015-03-01 08:07:13 AM
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    Gerald W Wrote: I'm a moderate conservative. I wasn't always so, I use to be middle of the pack conservative. Responsible government spending, Christian, right to bear arms, free market capitalism etc. But over the years, the GOP, at least the ones that get elected and become mouthpieces for the party, have be spouting this entrenched, no compromise, our way or the highway rhetoric that seems to be shifting the party out from under me.

    Granted, there are some things that shouldn't be compromised, but that doesn't mean they can't be discussed. Perhaps there are angles your opponents haven't considered and perhaps there angles we haven't considered. But the current GOP seems so focused on making sure the other side fails that they don't care about any success at all.

    I guess that one of the reasons I'm here, looking for rational political discourse.
    Gerald

    First: How are your religious beliefs in any way relevant to you being a conservative? (republican)
    Right to bear arms? The GOP doesn't give a shit about your right of having a gun. They represent gun makers, not citizens, As long as their companies make money off murder....."HEY. I'm for the second ammendment". They have you idiots believing that they really care about your rights.
    Free market capitalism doesn't apply to the shop owner trying to make a living. They only give a shit about financial instruments at banks and the right to ship manufacturing jobs overseas. So unless you own Bear Stearns or have a huge shares in Apple....doesn't apply to you.

    Start giving a shit about your own interests....How is it that you and a billionaire have the same interests? Funny....stupid hill billies voting the interests of people who have made it to where southerners are mocked at for not having teeth. Hill Billies walking around praising the lord and flag waiving.....and have no dental coverage,

    The poorest states in this country usually have the most churches.......

  • Dutch
    2015-03-01 09:41:49 AM
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    L.A. Citizen Wrote:
    Gerald W Wrote: I'm a moderate conservative. I wasn't always so, I use to be middle of the pack conservative. Responsible government spending, Christian, right to bear arms, free market capitalism etc. But over the years, the GOP, at least the ones that get elected and become mouthpieces for the party, have be spouting this entrenched, no compromise, our way or the highway rhetoric that seems to be shifting the party out from under me.

    Granted, there are some things that shouldn't be compromised, but that doesn't mean they can't be discussed. Perhaps there are angles your opponents haven't considered and perhaps there angles we haven't considered. But the current GOP seems so focused on making sure the other side fails that they don't care about any success at all.

    I guess that one of the reasons I'm here, looking for rational political discourse.
    Gerald

    First: How are your religious beliefs in any way relevant to you being a conservative? (republican)
    Right to bear arms? The GOP doesn't give a shit about your right of having a gun. They represent gun makers, not citizens, As long as their companies make money off murder....."HEY. I'm for the second ammendment". They have you idiots believing that they really care about your rights.
    Free market capitalism doesn't apply to the shop owner trying to make a living. They only give a shit about financial instruments at banks and the right to ship manufacturing jobs overseas. So unless you own Bear Stearns or have a huge shares in Apple....doesn't apply to you.

    Start giving a shit about your own interests....How is it that you and a billionaire have the same interests? Funny....stupid hill billies voting the interests of people who have made it to where southerners are mocked at for not having teeth. Hill Billies walking around praising the lord and flag waiving.....and have no dental coverage,

    The poorest states in this country usually have the most churches.......
    Yes, ................usually have the most churches and fewer theeth, so when they sing it sounds southern. Hallejuja praise the bourbon.
  • eternal flame
    2015-03-01 11:56:41 PM
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    Hello Gerald: Don't worry, they are just getting into gear for next Christmas. Every year at Christmas, we have full battle mode whether the baby Jesus, with his angels, or the Virgin Mary, with her donkey, or Santa Claus, with his reindeer, will make it down the chimney first. It can get BRUTAL. --- By the way, what kind of Religion do YOU prefer, if I may ask? I am always worried about all the "new" religions that have appeared lately. Some wear full head & face Masks & wild patterned costumes -- like Halloween. They seem to be cannibals, since they are always chopping off people's heads, But maybe all of mankind is getting so desperate, they are just searching around, trying to find somebody, anybody with a brain !! (believe me, I know the feeling) But all can Quit now,- It is totally Futile :

    I heard of one right-wing lady, who publicly admits that she can raise the dead!! That is one spooky lady, I would hate to have dead people walking around in my house, But this lady is in a Holy Roller church where thousands of people come to hear her preach, (for hours) about how miraculously she can bring dead people back to life. She never explains whatever corpses eat, or where they sleep. And whether or not they are allowed to VOTE, once they have arisen: )
  • Dutch
    2015-03-02 08:38:57 AM
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    eternal flame Wrote: Hello Gerald: Don't worry, they are just getting into gear for next Christmas. Every year at Christmas, we have full battle mode whether the baby Jesus, with his angels, or the Virgin Mary, with her donkey, or Santa Claus, with his reindeer, will make it down the chimney first. It can get BRUTAL. --- By the way, what kind of Religion do YOU prefer, if I may ask? I am always worried about all the "new" religions that have appeared lately. Some wear full head & face Masks & wild patterned costumes -- like Halloween. They seem to be cannibals, since they are always chopping off people's heads, But maybe all of mankind is getting so desperate, they are just searching around, trying to find somebody, anybody with a brain !! (believe me, I know the feeling) But all can Quit now,- It is totally Futile :

    I heard of one right-wing lady, who publicly admits that she can raise the dead!! That is one spooky lady, I would hate to have dead people walking around in my house, But this lady is in a Holy Roller church where thousands of people come to hear her preach, (for hours) about how miraculously she can bring dead people back to life. She never explains whatever corpses eat, or where they sleep. And whether or not they are allowed to VOTE, once they have arisen: )
    I guess this lady was also involved in that a dead "Jesus" flew to Jupiter without an jet engine strapped to his limp dead corpse; indeed this is a wonderful world with wonderful people and drugs which makes you believe anything. Wow, give me her cell phone nr. so my wife can call her once I crook.
  • Schmidt
    2015-03-02 09:07:27 AM
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    L.A. Citizen Wrote:
    First: How are your religious beliefs in any way relevant to you being a conservative? (republican)
    Right to bear arms? The GOP doesn't give a shit about your right of having a gun. They represent gun makers, not citizens, As long as their companies make money off murder....."HEY. I'm for the second ammendment". They have you idiots believing that they really care about your rights.
    Free market capitalism doesn't apply to the shop owner trying to make a living. They only give a shit about financial instruments at banks and the right to ship manufacturing jobs overseas. So unless you own Bear Stearns or have a huge shares in Apple....doesn't apply to you.

    Start giving a shit about your own interests....How is it that you and a billionaire have the same interests? Funny....stupid hill billies voting the interests of people who have made it to where southerners are mocked at for not having teeth. Hill Billies walking around praising the lord and flag waiving.....and have no dental coverage,

    The poorest states in this country usually have the most churches.......
    L.A. Citizen -- You are, of course, right. The so called conservatives, many of them young people, in the audience that we watched on full display at the CPAC this past weekend are cheering and raving the likes of Rand Paul, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz. These candidates in turn suck up to the Koch brothers and other billionaires like Rupert Murdoch (Fox News) whose interests have little to do with the average person on the street. I continually scratch my head and say WTF.

    What the billionaire oligarchs have been immensely successful at is driving wedge issues in between the bottom 99 percent. They have made religion, any denomination of Christianity, the Republican brand while casting Democrats and liberals as "godless". It works. They have used guns as a wedge issue by portraying Democrats and especially President Obama as wanting to take their guns away...a phony outrage driven by ignorance. It works. They have successfully cast our own democracy form of government as somehow bad by casting it as BIG GOVERNMENT interfering with our "freedoms" by imposing regulations to control the unfettered "free market". It works. They have made unions the villains as somehow interfering in your "right to work". Scott Walker is the champion of this and he is heralded by the oligarchs. It works. They have made the American flag their patriotic brand waving it everywhere while casting liberals as "flag burners" or not cheering for "American exceptionalism". It works. They have made immigration a wedge issue playing to the ignorance and bigotry of the many Americans who don't understand one iota of what "no amnesty for illegals" really means. It works. And now they are seeking to drive a wedge between the Jewish Americans who largely vote Democratic but now are now being tested in their loyalty to Israel by making it a false choice...Republicans and Nethanyahu protecting the Star of David versus Democrats and Obama protecting Islam and Iran. It is working.

    Culture issues, religion, guns, patriotism, health care, wars, job creators, deficits and debts, are all issues that the billionaire oligarchs don't give a shit about in principle...only that they serve as wedge issues to divide the bottom 99 percent. And to do that they have vilified and demonized President Obama's every move on everything. And the fact that some 50 percent of the American public votes for the surrogates of the oligarchs is testament to how successful they have been in their messaging. Aren't all those 50 percent "Billy Bobs"?
  • Dutch
    2015-03-02 09:39:23 AM
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    Schmidt Wrote:
    L.A. Citizen Wrote:
    First: How are your religious beliefs in any way relevant to you being a conservative? (republican)
    Right to bear arms? The GOP doesn't give a shit about your right of having a gun. They represent gun makers, not citizens, As long as their companies make money off murder....."HEY. I'm for the second ammendment". They have you idiots believing that they really care about your rights.
    Free market capitalism doesn't apply to the shop owner trying to make a living. They only give a shit about financial instruments at banks and the right to ship manufacturing jobs overseas. So unless you own Bear Stearns or have a huge shares in Apple....doesn't apply to you.

    Start giving a shit about your own interests....How is it that you and a billionaire have the same interests? Funny....stupid hill billies voting the interests of people who have made it to where southerners are mocked at for not having teeth. Hill Billies walking around praising the lord and flag waiving.....and have no dental coverage,

    The poorest states in this country usually have the most churches.......
    L.A. Citizen -- You are, of course, right. The so called conservatives, many of them young people, in the audience that we watched on full display at the CPAC this past weekend are cheering and raving the likes of Rand Paul, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz. These candidates in turn suck up to the Koch brothers and other billionaires like Rupert Murdoch (Fox News) whose interests have little to do with the average person on the street. I continually scratch my head and say WTF.

    What the billionaire oligarchs have been immensely successful at is driving wedge issues in between the bottom 99 percent. They have made religion, any denomination of Christianity, the Republican brand while casting Democrats and liberals as "godless". It works. They have used guns as a wedge issue by portraying Democrats and especially President Obama as wanting to take their guns away...a phony outrage driven by ignorance. It works. They have successfully cast our own democracy form of government as somehow bad by casting it as BIG GOVERNMENT interfering with our "freedoms" by imposing regulations to control the unfettered "free market". It works. They have made unions the villains as somehow interfering in your "right to work". Scott Walker is the champion of this and he is heralded by the oligarchs. It works. They have made the American flag their patriotic brand waving it everywhere while casting liberals as "flag burners" or not cheering for "American exceptionalism". It works. They have made immigration a wedge issue playing to the ignorance and bigotry of the many Americans who don't understand one iota of what "no amnesty for illegals" really means. It works. And now they are seeking to drive a wedge between the Jewish Americans who largely vote Democratic but now are now being tested in their loyalty to Israel by making it a false choice...Republicans and Nethanyahu protecting the Star of David versus Democrats and Obama protecting Islam and Iran. It is working.

    Culture issues, religion, guns, patriotism, health care, wars, job creators, deficits and debts, are all issues that the billionaire oligarchs don't give a shit about in principle...only that they serve as wedge issues to divide the bottom 99 percent. And to do that they have vilified and demonized President Obama's every move on everything. And the fact that some 50 percent of the American public votes for the surrogates of the oligarchs is testament to how successful they have been in their messaging. Aren't all those 50 percent "Billy Bobs"?
    Schmidt; an exellent piece; compliments; yes 100% correct. The bad thing is only few people here see it that way; Education is lacking in your "bottom 99%"
  • eternal flame
    2015-03-03 02:21:25 AM
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    Schmidt: I always enjoy your posts & your efforts at campaigning for fellow Democrats. I wish I could do some of that with you. Maybe move to Colorado?

    But EDUCATION is one of the KEYS to winning future elections, & I'm afraid how that road may already be blocked by right wingers, who will "buy" software companies that produce educational materials for "home schooling" --- so the youth in some areas ONLY hear right-wing rhetoric & propaganda every day.
    Imagine what a mind-control brain-washing device that can be --- to subtly influence & control our children, before they are even old enough to really understand what they are being told . Young kids in low-income areas, have dual mind-warping devices 24/7 ---- Rush Limbo radio, & the right wing home-schooling TV.
    (Liberal thought, education about our Founders, and our democratic Christian values do not have a chance --- under these universal conditions).
  • Dutch
    2015-03-03 11:40:30 AM
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    eternal flame Wrote: Schmidt: I always enjoy your posts & your efforts at campaigning for fellow Democrats. I wish I could do some of that with you. Maybe move to Colorado?

    But EDUCATION is one of the KEYS to winning future elections, & I'm afraid how that road may already be blocked by right wingers, who will "buy" software companies that produce educational materials for "home schooling" --- so the youth in some areas ONLY hear right-wing rhetoric & propaganda every day.
    Imagine what a mind-control brain-washing device that can be --- to subtly influence & control our children, before they are even old enough to really understand what they are being told . Young kids in low-income areas, have dual mind-warping devices 24/7 ---- Rush Limbo radio, & the right wing home-schooling TV.
    (Liberal thought, education about our Founders, and our democratic Christian values do not have a chance --- under these universal conditions).
    Eternal, yes the media here is a poluting force; indoctrination starts at a young age; adds for the armed forces, killing movies, Fox news, Limbaugh, gun adds, Nintendo etc. all add to that. Also "buying" promotions all day; creates "greed" Real life, world wide views are seldom taught.
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