In the dark of the night, the Republicans launch another attack in the war on women:
North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood.
The same lawmakers overrode Perdue’s veto and moved to defund Planned Parenthood last year, but a judge blocked the provision, arguing that a state can’t single out a particular health provider. This time around, lawmakers found a way to sidestep legal challenges by not specifically naming Planned Parenthood in the budget. Instead, the bill prevents the state’s Health and Human Services department from contracting with “private providers” of family planning services — effectively, but not explicitly, singling out Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, one of the state’s two Planned Parenthood providers, estimates that it will lose $200,000 as a result of the new budget. Because no state money is used for abortion services, the funding cuts will affect the clinic’s ability to provide affordable birth control, cancer screenings, pap smears and other services for low-income women in the state.
So while Republican governors are actively avoiding implementing ACA, House Republicans are working to make sure it can not be implemented, all Republicans are screaming for repeal with no plan to replace it and basically screwing 50 million Americans, NC Republicans walk back a previous commitment to women’s health and throw low income residents out on the street.
Anyone anywhere who votes Republican, registers as a Republican, or calls himself a Republican is quite simply a sociopath. They know what they are aiding and abetting and don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore.
beltane
And yet they’ll still support the candidate who made money off of the disposal of human fetuses…
HyperIon
JC wrote:
Uh, no.
I get that you’re upset but you can’t tar everyone with that brush. Try it with Catholics…doesn’t work.
But you have always loved over-the-top outrage.
I blame Republican camp.
YoohooCthulhu
OT:Does anyone know if there’s a direct link to the mobile site? I’ve tried all the reasonable web address iterations…
BGinCHI
The only upside is the hope that this will lead to a sweeping out of these assholes from state legislatures. I think the tell is Snyder in MI vetoing that voting law. He seems to be the first to read the wind and see that it blowing against him. Unless someone thinks he did it for “the sanctity of voting rights” or some shit he said.
SiubhanDuinne
I simply don’t have the vocabulary to express what I think of these scums. Just so disgusting and mean that I want to shriek and throw things and do violence to every one of them. And I am a gentle person, but not when I read shit like this.
Todd
After spending a fair number of years of my life prior to ’06 voting GOP, donating GOP, promoting GOP and acting as activist GOP, I jumped off the bus. The best they can get out of me now is a nonvote – I simply can’t support them any more.
David Koch
No difference btwn Bush and Gore.
General Stuck
Campbell Brown wants to know why yer always picking on republicans over this doctored up ‘war on women’ malarkey. Republicans would be glad to meeT liberals and PP halfway with a glad hand, in a dark alley some place, around midnight.
Litlebritdifrnt
I agree with you John, these people are sociopaths, why anyone would vote for them is beyond me. Sadly though the RWNJs in my area do. We democrats fights as hard as we can to overturn what these moron do but it is an uphill battle.
Tonal Crow
Why do Big Government Republicans hate the private sector?
Violet
So true. Preach it, Brother Cole!
cathyx
To all North Carolinian women who are against this, move out of the state. If you can’t afford to, quit having sex.
Alison
@HyperIon: But one can just “be” Catholic without actually doing anything to support the church or whatever. I may have feelings about that but there’s not necessarily anything active required.
But to actively be a Republican…to CHOOSE to register and vote as one, for these reprehensible, bigoted, hateful spitemongers, to choose to specifically align yourself with them and to give them your money, your support, your vote…yeah, I tar them all with that damn brush, and happily so. Explain to me how someone who supports these fucks isn’t a terrible person.
Davis X. Machina
@efgoldman: Hey, no love for Frank Hatch? I voted for him, and against Ed King — only Republican I ever voted for, not being of age, or out of state, for the others, so I didn’t have to choose between Silber and Weld.
jrg
@HyperIon: Gonna have to agree with you on this. If nearly half of all voters are sociopaths, we’re well and truly fucked.
Never attribute to malice, etc.
Turgidson
The weird thing about the assault on Planned Parenthood is that in several arguments I’ve had with pro-life people, I ask how they can support the GOP policy of forcing women to have children they know they can’t properly care for, and then basically say “don’t expect government to lift a finger to help you deal with this baby we just forced you to have, slut”? The response I got from most of these pro-lifers was “that’s what Planned Parenthood is there for!”
Leaving aside the fact that PP, for all the wonderful services it provides, isn’t a full-time child care facility and thus isn’t “the answer” these pro-lifers claimed it to be, the fact that pro-lifers said this at least showed they had a flicker of understanding that the abortion issue isn’t purely abstract.
But now they’re on the warpath to destroy PP too. Monsters.
bemused
Republicans aren’t fit for office. There was another Perdue veto override on fracking last night. A Democrat hit the wrong button but Republicans would not allow her to change her vote. Win by any dirty trick is a badge of honor with these sociopaths.
Steeplejack
@YoohooCthulhu:
Don’t know for sure if this will work, but try this (assuming you are trying to get to the mobile site from a “mobile” device, not your regular computer):
Clear your browser’s cache (“clear history,” or however it phrases it), then close the browser, then reopen it and go to http://www.balloon-juice.com. You should end up at the mobile site automatically.
Note: There has been a little weirdness on the site lately (e.g., no edit buttons on comments), so there may just be something screwy going on with the mobile site.
Mr Stagger Lee
If you are a woman, a racial minority, or LGBT and vote Republican(unless you are wealthy) You deserve every heap of scorn, plus whatever pain that the (White Nationalist, patriarchal, Plutocratic)Republicans deal on you, and no Jesus is not coming to save you.
MikeBoyScout
If our dear republic makes it through this Republican led death spiral, the backlash in 25 years will be horrific.
karen
And yet there are people this year who intend to show how pissed off they are that Obama isn’t Kucinich by not voting. I guess 2010 wasn’t enough for them.
Violet
@Alison:
I have some elderly relatives who vote Republican and most likely send them money. They’ve always voted Republican and there’s no way they’ll change now. They are not terrible people, but they are not young and it would be psychologically devastating to them to admit what “their” party has become.
Other people vote Republican out of habit, because their family does, because they’re low information voters, because they’ve been convinced Democrats are soshulist atheists, etc., etc. They are not sociopaths, but they are woefully uninformed, easily persuaded and most likely led by fear.
So I can see how low information voters can vote Republican. I don’t excuse it, but I don’t put them in the same column as well-informed voters who understand what the GOP is doing and still send them money and vote for them.
Mino
Now if Democratic concern trolls will stop telling women that their problems are a social issue and that we all want a big tent, don’t we…
I blame Bart Stupak for this.
beltane
@General Stuck: Just because Campbell Brown gets paid to sleep with a Romney campaign adviser doesn’t mean anyone has to listen to her thoughts on sex and contraception.
General Stuck
OT
Florida
Ain’t that America, for you and me.
danimal
I agree with the sentiment here. They (GOP voters) may not be sociopaths themselves, but they are sociopath-enablers. I want to bash the David Brooks types at their cocktail parties, winking at the crazies while attempting to distance themselves. There is no distance anymore.
The GOP has become a collection of vicious, unthinking, crazed crackpots. The real issue with “both sides do it” is that it serves as cover for these Republicans who want respectability but won’t denounce the craziness in their midst because they may have to give up power temporarily in the process. They need to choose between political power and respectability; the middle ground has disappeared.
HyperIon
@Violet wrote:
Thank you for saying what I would have if I hadn’t continued to read the comments.
Heliopause
Somebody’s aiming for a Moore Award.
danimal
@efgoldman: Snarky Pierce is great fun, but eloquent, thoughtful, reflective Pierce is extremely moving. Thanks for the link.
Anya
John, the majority are ill-informed. They don’t know anything about of these issues. Also, too, browns and gays will completely destroy their beautiful America, if the God fearing republicans don’t stand up to them.
Tonal Crow
@bemused:
Exactly. They are crazy. The idea of a Republican running for office should be greeted with howls of derisive laughter. They have substantively delegitimized themselves by indulging in crazy until it permeates their entire beings. Now we have to rhetorically delegitimize them by pointing and laughing again and again.
cathyx
@efgoldman: Write a love letter to your wife. I bet she’ll think that of your writing.
Linda
@Violet: All good points. Changing those habits of thought and voting are like turning a battleship around, but little by little, it’s happening.
If so, Republicans will have to pass some laws to keep those pesky dames from voting. The 19th admendment will be tough to get rid of, but I’m sure ALEC is working on it right now.
MattR
An interesting side effect of this is that Planned Parenthood will feel pressure to keep the number of abortions they do the same so they don’t give any ammunition to the “tax dollars are being used for abortion” crowd. At the extreme, you could even say there is an incentive for them to encourage abortions if they are falling short of that number. It will be interesting to see how the citizens of North Carolina react when the number of abortions stays the name, but cancer in women increases. Sadly, I would have to guess the effect will be minimal.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman: That’s a thing of beauty. Thank you — I had assumed from something he posted yesterday that he wouldn’t be around much over the holiday.
Mike in NC
In 2010, the NC legislature turned Republican for the first time in over 100 year. Is there no reason that determined people cannot vote out a bunch of Tea Party assholes, overwhelming wealthy
white males over the age of 65?
Ash Can
I for one am willing to say that there are still Republicans in this country who are decent people. Ray LaHood comes to mind. So does Judy Baar Topinka, who I can guarantee would have been a better governor than Blahgo. But then, this is the state of Chuck Percy, Jim Thompson, and Jim Edgar. And the fact remains that, at this point in our nation’s history, I’d hate to be put in the position of having to assemble enough moderate, sensible Republicans to field a complete baseball team.
celticdragonchick
@Todd:
That about sums it up for me.
MD Rackham
@Violet:
There sure is a lot of the “Good German” defense around here today.
Or if that’s too Godwin for you:
There sure is a lot of the “Good Catholic” defense around here today.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
TN, MS ….
Violet
@Ash Can: The issue isn’t that there are not one or two sane Republicans remaining. There may well be. The problem is that the party itself is run by sociopaths and crazy people. The one or two sane people will either be primaried out of the party or pressured to vote with the party. So a vote for a sane Republican is most likely going to net you more radical legislation. There’s just no upside.
Violet
@MD Rackham: I don’t think people in their 80’s and 90’s should necessarily be tarred with the “Good German” brush.
MikeBoyScout
The call to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment begins in … 5-4-3-2…
Ash Can
@efgoldman: That’s precisely the point of the second half of my comment. I can think of a grand total of two Illinoisans, who follow in the proud tradition of sensible and moderate Illinois Republicans (going back, of course, to you-know-who). From other states? Can’t think of any. Other national-level Republicans? Not even close, other than Jon Huntsman, who proved himself suspect by even entering the GOP presidential sweepstakes, let alone what he said during his campaign. And as for Illinois, I can only hope that Joe Walsh and his ilk are an aberration, rather than a trend, although there’s no way I’d bet anything of value on it.
EIGRP
@Violet: Violet, you explained why they vote that way. You haven’t explained why they aren’t terrible people.
Or, now that I re-read my last sentence with the double negative, it becomes “You have explained why they are terrible people”
Eric
Ash Can
@Violet: Oh FFS, OF COURSE I know that. That’s why I would NEVER vote for a Republican for national office. Note that, of the two current office holders I named, one is on the state level and the other was appointed by Obama (and is not from my district anyway).
Cacti
North Carolina to Arizona was a lateral move in many ways.
Violet
@EIGRP: So someone who is uninformed is a terrible person? Why?
stickler
@Violet: Yeah, unless they were actually German citizens when it all went down.
Which would, of course, include members of the Hitler Youth who didn’t resist following orders…
Oh. Did I just piss off a bunch of Catholics with that oblique reference? Whoops.
Vodkamuppet
John, you voted republican until you were into your 30s. Sorry pal but STFU. Voting republican does not make one inherrantly evil or sociopathic as you well know. When i first started reading BJ, I wondered why people flame you so much. Now I get it, you’re an asshole.
EIGRP
@Violet: I didn’t say that, and I don’t necessarily subscribe to that point of view.
Still, please explain why they aren’t terrible people if they are enabling Republicans.
Eric
scav
“Mommy Mommy, why is the car crashing over the cliff!”
“Shhhh, Dear, no one wants to break it to Grandma that her security blanket can’t actually drive.”
Violet
@EIGRP: Someone who acts out of ignorance and ends up doing something harmful is at fault, but not a terrible person. They have committed harm, but they did not know they were doing it. They might even think they are doing a good thing, like someone who overwaters a plant, thinking they are helping it but instead are damaging it.
So someone who votes Republican, but is poorly informed, has been misled, and so forth I do not consider to be a terrible person. They know not what they do.
Alison
“Ill-informed”, “low-information” is a bunch of bullshit.
We often talk about how these people vote against their own interests. They are poor or lower-middle-income and they vote for people who want to raise their taxes and cut taxes for rich people. They’re old and they vote for people who want to gut Social Security. Etc etc.
Why do they do this? Because even though I’m sure your grammie and grampie are super nice to you, they are quaking in their fucking slippers about the browns and the queers and the hussies out there, so they vote for these GOP fuckwads because they say all the right things about those awful awful people. They are NOT low-information, they are voting precisely because of that information – because they care more about not letting gays marry and keeping the dirty Mex-ee-cans out of their white bread towns.
So tell me why that’s not terrible? They support these fuckers because these fuckers support their prejudices. That’s the whole basis of the “voting against their interests” concept. So I’m sorry, I have no sympathy for stupid old fucks who are so afraid of a changing world that they lash out through their bigotry in the form of a ballot. Fuck them.
Alison
@Violet: But WHY are they voting for those Republicans? What are their motivations? See my previous comment. Their motivations are their fears and ingrained prejudices that they refuse to let go of. I don’t give a fuck how old someone is. Saying “Oh they’re old so it’s okay that they still say “colored people” and don’t like gays” is a lame ass cop-out.
Beauzeaux
@Violet:
My 85-year-old uncle still has all his marbles and he cuts the GOP no slack whatsoever. Just being elderly doesn’t automatically make you stupid.
(I just turned 70 and I’m still here and as pissed off at their mendacity as I ever was.)
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
I miss Everett Dirksen.
Violet
@Alison: I don’t know what people’s motivations are. Maybe they think Republicans “support the troops” better than Democrats and they’ve got a kid in the military. Maybe they’re evangelical Christians and have been told by their church who to vote for. I don’t know what motivates any individual to vote the way they do.
chrome agnomen
@efgoldman:
i have never, and will never vote republican, at any level of government. my first vote was for mcgovern. get off my lawn, wingnuts!
beltane
@Alison: I have to agree with you. As shocking as it may be, even many of those people who have been found guilty of crimes against humanity were nice to their dogs, good to their families, and kind to members of their own race/class/religion, etc. Big deal, they are still bad people, thus the phrase “the banality of evil”.
AA+ Bonds
North Carolina grows more terrible daily. A bad trajectory for a state that has made its name as “We’re Not As Bad As . . . “
Nellcote
Chris Christie weighs in:
Just before the midnight deadline on July 1st, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed $7.5 million in family planning funding which would have funded mammograms, pap smears, cancer screenings, and birth control.
It wouldn’t have funded abortions, and it wouldn’t have forced the state budget into the red. He vetoed it just because.
Democrats in the state had tried to restore money for social services but Christie wasn’t having it. All said he vetoed $7.5 million into women’s clinics, refused to return $66 million in energy tax revenue to cities, and vetoed a proposal to beef up tax credits for the working poor after slashing them previously in 2010.
As Robin Marty reports, the $7.5 million proposed would have come from the over $500 million budget surplus the state is projected to have. Those funds will instead go to increase the state’s cash reserves.
Christie offered the following response
“The budget I signed reverses irresponsible funding decisions, establishes funding levels based on realistic and responsible revenue assumptions and increases our surplus. I am unwilling to surrender the gains we have made to establish fiscal responsibility in the state budget.”
rikyrah
AMEN
AMEN
AMEN
jwb
@chrome agnomen: Then again, we have a real idiot Democrat as our current County Council representative and the only hope of getting this person replaced is if the non-wingnutty Republican can defeat the Councilor in November. This Republican was on the Council previously and never did anything wingnutty. Still, I can hardly bring myself to vote for anyone who is willing to put an R by his or her name. I may compromise by not voting in the race.
Mark
@Violet: this still isn’t making sense. If what’s underlying a republican vote is bigotry, be it against blacks, gays, women, muslims, you name it, it’s evil, not stupid. Are the 70% of republicans who think Obama was born outside the country not evil?
Aren’t republicans all about personal responsibility? Why are you making excuses for them?
Cap'n Magic
Hey COle: Now that you got juice, how about mentioning the fact that LIBORgate is about to explode in the Mittsters face, as the CEO not only fell on his sword, but canceled a Romney fundariser?
Oh, and that Romney’s campaign took in the max on individual donations from many in Barclay’s executive ranks?
Violet
@Mark: You said:
in response to me saying:
How did you get bigotry out of “supporting the troops” or religion? You went there. I didn’t.
I’m not supporting voting for Republicans in any way whatsoever, just to be clear. I will do everything I can to make sure Republicans are not elected to office.
Valdivia
@Nellcote:
see this is why the Boss should like Christie, and support him. His policies go so well with the message of his music.
Alison
@Violet: You mentioned them being evangelical Christians told by their church who to vote for.
And what would motivate a pastor at an evangelical church to support a certain candidate? Bigotry against gays, non-Christians, etc. Not exactly hard to get from A to B there.
ryan
This sounds like the modern day GOP
Profile of the Sociopath
Glibness and Superficial Charm
Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as “their right.”
Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
Incapacity for Love
Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others’ feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.
Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet “gets by” by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.
Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.
Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.
Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.
Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.
ryan
This sounds like the modern day GOP
Profile of the Sociopath
Glibness and Superficial Charm
Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as “their right.”
Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
Incapacity for Love
Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others’ feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.
Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet “gets by” by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.
Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.
Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.
Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.
Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.
jwb
@Alison: Don’t forget the church donations from the rich and powerful.
Linda
@Nellcote: Well, sure. Those broads wouldn’t be growing the economy, like the private halfway house owners whose houses spring giant leaks. Nor do they bring in the bucks like ever-failing ginormous mall projects. So screw them.
gvg
Over the top goes to far and I despise republicans. Socipaths is too specific by the way. there are many reasons for voting republican, mostly bad ones IMO, but they don’t all equal socipath.
Stupid-really really stupid is one. I have this infuriating relative. She’s always been rather dumb. Evangelical Christian and anti abortion. Frankly I think she rather resents intelligent arguments because she struggled in school and encountered …a lack of sympathy for her biblical view against evolution etc. She does try to be kind because that is Christian but frequently blunders because she doesn’t understand any other view than the one she was taught. the anti abortion thing is a really big deal to her and other Christians I’ve talked with. Somehow even the more intelligent ones really don’t understand how anyone at all nice can support abortion rights. It starts from somehow just managing to ignore the science about fetal development and brain…to me brains make a human, to them it’s the “soul”. I’ve have had more successful conversations with more intelligent christians, who actually asked instead of assuming. On the other hand one of the truly nicest people I know who is plenty smart, is still a devoted Republican voter. It’s abortion for all 3 of the ones I’m thinking of. They really think it’s murder. False conclusion, but very sincere.
Violet
@Alison:
Abortion is a big issue for evangelical Christians, at least the ones I have met. That may be the one issue on which they vote. Voters can be single issue voters. I did mention the evangelical Christians, but you and others made the leap to bigotry. They are not one and the same. You are ascribing bigotry to people that may or may not be bigots.
@gvg:
I’ve had the same experience. Single issue voters and abortion is the single issue.
Chris
@Violet:
This.
Asking whether there are sane Republicans left is like asking whether there were any Nazis who weren’t antisemetic. Yes, obviously there must have been, no group is completely uniform even among totalitarian movements. But it’s a moot point, because antisemitism was so integral to the Nazi platform that anyone who supported that party was de facto supporting antisemitism whether or not that was there intention.
The current Republican Party is racist, nativist, sexist, homophobic, fundamentalist and economically royalist to the bone. Not all people who vote Republican embrace all of these things, some of them embrace none of these things, but all of them are enabling these things and empowering their supporters by continuing to vote Republican. Any rationalization they may have to the contrary is just self-delusion/bullshit-designed-to-let-them-sleep-at-night.
Crazy c
Wonderful, guess its time to do that regular monthly donation thing…
Ruckus
Anyone anywhere who votes Republican, registers as a Republican, or calls himself a Republican is quite simply a sociopath. They know what they are aiding and abetting and don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore.
So now it’s E. All of the above.
Insane, stupid, evil, sociopath.
Chris
@Vodkamuppet:
No, voting Republican does not make you inherently evil or sociopathic, any more than supporting the NSDAP did back in the day (and this is not snark). It did, however, resolutely make you part of the problem, and it didn’t do any good to pretend otherwise.
dww44
@chrome agnomen: Good to meet someone like me, except I’ve got about 10 years on you. Can’t think of a single Republican for whom I’ve ever voted. Oh, I use to give lip service to the idea of voting for the person and not the party, but in the voting booth, voting for that “R” was just a bridge too far.
James E. Powell
The argument that the Republicans are waging a War on Women is a failure because women, as a group, do not agree on issues like abortion rights, funding for Planned Parenthood, or even the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Sure, women may say one thing or another, but when it comes to voting, around half of them either agree with the Republicans or they don’t care about these issues.
texascowgirl
@Alison:
THIS. All of this. Most people who vote Republican do it because that’s the party that encourages and validates their prejudices, bigotry and fears. That’s the way it’s been since 1965. Screw them. What we think is in their best interests isn’t what they consider their best interests. Their best interests is their whiteness, their being straight, their being male or whatever other historically privileged status they have had. That is what they are voting to protect. No more, no less. You can’t convince them that universal health care would be awesome for them because they would gladly go without health care insurance if it meant black/brown people couldn’t have it either. They thought public schools were awesome until they were desegregated.
I suppose I’d be a bit more conflicted if I had Republican family and friends, but I don’t so it’s easier for me to say fuck them all. I’m sick of them and they are the reason we can’t have nice things. They are the main impediment to anything that would make this country better.
bootsy
@James E. Powell: Wrong. Your argument from ‘some women don’t pay attention’ is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
Some #LGBT folk probably have no idea that their partners are not allowed visitation rights in the hospital – they’ve never been sick. Some women are rich and are not worried about the fact that their health care without Obamacare is more expensive than men. Some women, like Ann Romney even have pre-existing conditions that would make getting healthcare impossible without Obamacare (Romneycare :) — except that they are quite wealthy.
This is an organized War On Women and it has been since their was even a hint that the ERA would pass.
Darkrose
@dww44: I’ve voted Republican once. I voted for Bill Weld over the racist, misogynistic, rabidly homophobic jackass John Silber for MA governor. I’m not sorry.
StarStorm
@Violet:
So basically your argument is “they’re stupid and it’s better to not disturb their delusions”.
Citizen Alan
@Violet:
Yes. Yes, they are. They are elderly people who are voting to ensure that their children die in poverty and their grandchildren grow old in misery in a third world hell-hole. Stop coddling them.
Citizen Alan
@Vodkamuppet:
John was a Republican until Terry Schiavo, the moment when the Republican Party demonstrated on a national stage and beyond any possibility of debate that it was a party of monsters. I can forgive those who acknowledge their mistakes and repent. I won’t ever forgive those who insist on serving an evil cause until the day they die.
NCSteve
@HyperIon: I have to agree that not everyone who votes Republican is a sociopath. As a southerner, I can testify that many of them are simply imbeciles.
Violet
@Citizen Alan:
What do you mean by coddling them? How, exactly, do you think they should be treated? Tossed out on the street to die? Denied food and medical treatment? How is not interfering with their vote, a vote which is their right by law, coddling them? Do you think no one in the family talks to them about what they think and how they vote? How would you define coddling?
Linda
@Violet: No, I think Citizen Alant is saying “stop making excuses for them.” Not actually killing or imprisoning anybody. Our individualistic society encourages everybody–not just the old–to create a personal mythology of self-sufficiency, in which everybody else is a mooch and worthy of being thrown off “the dole.” You simply define the benefits you get from government, either direct or indirect, as something you earned or imagine them away.
Citizen Alan
@Violet:
If you and others in your family are standing up to them, pointing out when they are incorrect or even flat-out lying, and refusing to let them get away with bigotry and willful ignorance, that’s all I ask. I’m just so very, very tired of comments from self-described liberals that amount to “My crazy uncle watches nothing but Fox New, and he’s always spouting crazy, racist crap at family gatherings! He makes me so mad that one time, I almost said something out loud!“
Violet
@Citizen Alan: I’ve had plenty of conversations with these individuals throughout the years, but at some point you have to decide whether the relationship is more important or trying to convince them your side is right is more important. I’ve decided the relationship with these relatives is more important at this point. While I do mention political things from time to time and correct them if they are seriously misinformed, it is not worth it to me to try to change their minds. We mostly agree not to discuss politics and we both keep up our end of the bargain. They certainly don’t rant about things they saw on Fox News.
They are people who are dear to me, and they are very complex people, who, if you knew only their actions, you’d probably think they were leftist liberals (vegan, donate money to Planned Parenthood, Habitat for Humanity, establish small scholarships for needy college students, volunteer in poor schools, etc.). The fact they vote Republican has always baffled me, but they do and that’s that.
One thing they are not are bigots. I suppose everyone has some prejudices in them to a certain extent, but they are not bigots or racists. I distinctly remember going to someone else’s home for Thanksgiving one year and the man of the couple whose home it was made some comment using the N-word and my family member told him that he wouldn’t tolerate that word being used around him. I was very young and this was decades ago when you might still hear older white folks saying that word and they would not be looked at askance. They have always acted with respect to people who were different from them, be it skin color, religion, etc.
I gather from what you wrote that you are probably most upset with liberals/Democrats/progressives who won’t say anything when their family member rants about crazy Fox News stuff rather than being upset as much with the older relatives. Every family is different and in some families the dynamics make it really challenging to speak up. Many times the older people will not listen. Each individual has to decide for themselves whether they want to spend their time with their elderly family member quixotically trying to change their minds, or whether it’s just not worth it and a pleasant visit is worth more. Every family is different. There isn’t a one size fits all answer, I don’t think.
If you do not have these complex family dynamics in your family, count yourself lucky. They add a whole layer of complexity to family reunions and holidays.
TenguPhule
So, willfully evil rather the stupid evil.
I say give Republican voters 1 chance to repent before throwing them in front of the wall.
Which is one more then the Catholic Church gave heretics.
brantl
@Violet: Why not, if their brains still work? If their brains don’t work, then they are by definition imbeciles, and fair meat for the Republicans.
brantl
@Violet:
The relationship isn’t more important, if they continue to elect people that are surpressing other people.
Violet
@brantl:
You decide what’s right for you with any relatives you have who vote for candidates you don’t approve of and I’ll decide what relationship is right for me with relatives who vote for candidates I don’t approve of.
As far as “suppressing other people”, I’m certain any firebagger could find dozens of examples of how President Obama has done just that (drones, Guantanamo, Bradley Manning, etc.) and therefore we shouldn’t vote for him. You make your choices among those you’ve got, not in the perfect world in which you wish you lived.
I love these particular family members even though I disagree with their politics. I’m not going to disown them or refuse to have a relationship with them because of who they vote for.
@TenguPhule: Do you have any relatives who vote for candidates you don’t like? Have you thrown them in front of a wall? Should we be calling the police to turn you in for assault?