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Back when Barack Obama won his second Presidential term, Rush Limbaugh went on the air and said that the reason that the GOP lost in 2012, was that Conservative Republican candidates were, “Not far enough to the right” to be seriously considered by voters.
Let me repeat this;
Rush Limbaugh, the squishy worm, shaped like a red blood cell, with mouth noises that would imply he is constantly eating something out of a cellophane wrapper, says that Mitt Romney lost in 2012 because his policies were not more saturated with the ideals that voters were rejecting in the first damned place.
I’ve never given conservatives a fair amount of points in the “acknowledging reality” category, so when I heard this, I simply laughed and went on with my life.
Little did I know that this is exactly what would happen with the advent of Donald Trump. The “Orange Crusader” (because every villain needs a cheesy comic book name), disguised as a not-so-mild-mannered businessman, recently made a series of campaign-drowning faux-pas that it would take a miracle to rise above to snag himself the presidency.
I am going to think out loud for the next few paragraphs, and what I’m about to propose may seem a little half-baked, but while the latest data suggests this, it doesn’t say it outright.
I’d like to say it outright, so that we’re all aware this is at least in the realm of possible.
Anyone who has been any kind of victim of assault, sexual or otherwise, who sees the latest admission of “Pussy Control” (as the late, great Prince would say) has literally been victims again—n the terms of PTSD episodes since hearing his admission. By the way, if you click on this link, the song will be in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome. Not to mention that they are seeing the same kinds of domineering traits in that of abusive husbands and relationships that spawned those types of assaults and attacks.
…if the Kardashian clan has taught us anything, there is no paucity of silly, misguided, jaded, racist, misogynists who can’t see past their own maladjusted (and usually, religiously fueled) worldviews.
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I think this is a fair assumption that Hillary Clinton is going to win this election cycle. At least, that’s what Nate Silver says However, I can’t be too insouciant about it, because if the Kardashian clan has taught us anything, there is no paucity of silly, misguided, jaded, racist, misogynists who can’t see past their own maladjusted (and usually, religiously fueled) worldviews.
At this point, if Hillary decided she was just not interested anymore, she would have to purposely shoot someone in the face. Then again, Cheney did that a few years ago and still kept his government post, never mind.
But, let’s assume she wins.
You look at the candidates that the GOP has pushed over the years and they seem to get more and more right-wing. You had Reagan, you had Bush Sr., Bob Dole, Bush Jr., McCain, Romney and now Trump. As time goes on, the further right things become. This, in itself, is not that big of a deal. If Republican lawmakers TRULY want to seize power next election cycle, then all they need to do is not screw it up. At this point, they could introduce Leatherface as a GOP nominee (with Pennywise, the clown from IT as running mate) and people will look at the television and say, “Well, alright. I don’t agree with all of his policies, but on the other hand, he’s not Trump.”
Having said that, HERE’S where the problem lies.
When Donald Trump says the word “huge,” then I notice George W’s accent a little less.
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Should Secretary Clinton win, all Republicans have to do during the next election cycle is resubmit a “normal”, everyday Republican back into the fray and it will be seen as a compromise. You’ll hear the phrase, “return to the values of Lincoln” quite often (aside from Glenn Beck, who brays that line at least twice an episode). When Donald Trump goes on about “grab[ing] ’em by the pussy”, all of a sudden Bobby Jindal doesn’t seem quite so horrific. When Donald Trump says the word “huge,” then I notice George W’s accent a little less. But, when he says about his daughter “Yeah, she’s really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father…”, all of a sudden I wouldn’t fight quite as hard if a snake-oil salesman like Romney comes in and tries to run for president.
The ignorance of the GOP electorate is not a hard instrument to play. It requires easy suspension of reasoning, when it comes to fact-based discourse and a willingness to prey on the most primal of our fears.
The fear of a foreign power attacking…
The fear of not being able to provide for your family…
Fear of a god-figure…
Fear of what private citizens do behind closed doors…
These things are frets on a guitar to members of the GOP.
If the GOP actually used facts instead of fears, they would have abandoned their platform years ago and we could be well on the way to fixing the major problems faced by this country. But, instead, we’re slathered in the blood of a political Dark Age, where reason is suppressed and those with unfounded beliefs, indefensible views and clear inadequacy issues are given much more power in government than they should be allowed to wield.
Within the “locker-room” talk exhibited by Trump in his latest foot-in-mouth moment comes an implication that he “grab[bed] ’em by the pussy” quite a few times, presumably manipulating women and sexually assaulting women into sex acts because he’s a celebrity.
THIS is the major issue I have.
Regardless of the politics between the left and the right, I prefer the woman who by certain accounts is difficult to get along with, over the man who would encourage sexual assault and coercion in the highest office this country has to offer.
Having Donald Trump in this office would not only be a giant step back, but would be a shotgun blast in the face of a hundred-year fight for equality between the genders.
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Being President of the United States is not a job, it’s a charge. It’s a call to leave this country better than you found it. Having Donald Trump in this office would not only be a giant step back, but would be a shotgun blast in the face of a hundred-year fight for equality between the genders.
The fact that Trump is even being considered for this position, sets the stage for the next election cycle where things might not be as clear as they are right now, and this is precisely what frightens me.
Then again, the same psychological mechanic that might allow the GOP to at least have a running shot at the White House in 2020, is the same mechanic persuading certain people that Hillary Clinton is the lesser of two evils. After all, when Alec Baldwin is legitimately making fun of you, it’s a pretty clear indication that you’re kind of a douche.
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But, you MIGHT just be the douche we deserve, not the one we need right now.
And just so we’re clear, I’m voting for me.
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Photo: GettyImages
“Mitt Romney lost in 2012 because his policies were not more saturated with the ideals that voters were rejecting in the first damned place”
Your sarcastic incredulity is cute and all… but you do know the republicans took control of the House of Representatives AND the Senate shortly thereafter… right? I mean if voters were so sick of Conservatives at the time one would assume this would be pretty damn hard for them to accomplish, and yet there we are.
I think the republicans are at a cross roads like the democrats were 30 years ago. They have to decide where they stand. I do have to ask if you’ve noticed what’s been happening on college campuses lately. 25% of freshmen at York University walked out on their consent “class” presented by the women’s center. I think it was the University of Chicago that told students that there won’t be trigger warning and you better “man up”. Gender studies has been dropped as a major at several universities. Male students have been filing Title IX lawsuits against universities. It’s not… Read more »
Fair enough. At the time of the 2012 election (which is what I was discussing), both the Senate and the House gained Democrat seats and lost Republican seats. Unfortunately, people afterwards equated an obstructionist Congress (which they were) with an inept President (which he wasn’t), and the results of the 2014 Senate and House elections were the result of that. It was hardly “shortly thereafter.”
At the time of the Mitt Romney’s campaign they were rejecting those values.
I remember the mid 80s / early 90s. There was a fight for the soul of the democratic party. You had Jessie Jackson agitating for the democratic party to do something for black people to earn their support. You had white democrats becoming republicans in Chicago because a black man, Harold Washington won the nomination for mayor. I was one of those sporting a Harold Washington button telling people that if the party was to survive, we had to be true to the party rules and support the elected candidate. The candidate I supported in the primary was Jane Byrne,… Read more »
I’m thinking out loud here, and I haven’t had my coffee yet, so I may be way off base., I realize how conspiracy theory-ish this sounds, but is it outside the realm of possibility that Democrat and Republican leadership have contrived this very scenario in order to accomplish exactly that? The one party system?
I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, but I think they’d see it as a happy byproduct. When I look back 30 years ago, there was a huge difference in where the parties got their funding. The democrats from unions and mostly poor and middle class individuals and republicans from the super rich and corporations. Now democrats have deep picket donors and links to corporate America. It’s already getting hard to tell the parties apart. One person thought that both parties should split and we’d have 4: a fiscal and social conservative party, a fiscally conservative and socially progressive party, a… Read more »
Funny thing is, every single election cycle, including midterm, I keep saying to myself, “I’m not going to write about it. I’m not going to notice it. I don’t want the stress. I don’t need the aggravation.” Damn if I don’t bite the hook EVERY time.