Agreed. Of course they do. Who doesn't like money? And they try to excuse their selling out by pointing at the Republicans and claiming they had to in order to compete. Marc has a point that if the Republicans stop being serious competition, then this excuse will be less easy to get away with.
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Op Ed: conservative Max Boot calls for destruction of Republican party
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Agreed. Of course they do. Who doesn't like money? And they try to excuse their selling out by pointing at the Republicans and claiming they had to in order to compete. Marc has a point that if the Republicans stop being serious competition, then this excuse will be less easy to get away with.
Sarpedon
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I can't say when I realized the Republican Party was racist-I have never been a Republican. Realizing that American Culture is racist...that happened about midway through the first Obama Term.
One memory I have of the time before I came to realize this was seeing the Spike Lee movie "Bamboozled" (2000). I remember being offended and feeling that it was over the top in its depiction of white people eagerly embracing overtly racist culture. I no longer think that, now I think it was prophetic. Too bad I and everyone else didn't listen.
One memory I have of the time before I came to realize this was seeing the Spike Lee movie "Bamboozled" (2000). I remember being offended and feeling that it was over the top in its depiction of white people eagerly embracing overtly racist culture. I no longer think that, now I think it was prophetic. Too bad I and everyone else didn't listen.
Holy fuck, are you really using ano true Scotsman fallacy on Republicans?
It's a political party. It is whatever the majority of voters and politicians in that party decide it is, and Republicans have decided to be the party of white supremacists. They made that decision during the Nixon administration.
You yourself use flimsy arguments to defend racism in a manner very similar to those used by white supremacists, including one known fascist on this forum. Why would you of all people use a no true Scotsman fallacy here? You are among those who helped push the Republican party in this direction.
Huh?
I would vote for a true Republican. It's been many years since I voted for a "Republican" in the general election.
I don't think the Republican party simply decided to be the party of white supremacists, I think they were subverted by them.
WAB
Contributor
Sarpedon, if the republican party is racist, then what do you make of black republicans, of which there are many? Are these people racists? Very doubtful. Are they—which was imputed to people as bright as Larry Elder—Uncle Toms, coconuts, oreos (dark on the outside, white on the inside)? That to me seems patently absurd, not to mention egregiously slanderous, given the sheer number and intelligent coordination of black conservatives and republicans.
https://gop.com/groups/black-republican-activists/
**Note: I am not a republican.
WAB
Contributor
This is the second time I've asked a question about black conservatives, and the second time it hasn't been directly addressed.
Am I to assume that since black people are a part of American Culture, that they are racist? Given that you said, American Culture is racist? And, that that means all of us?
zorq
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The first time I registered to vote, when I turned 18, I registered as Republican. I was still mostly clueless about politics, but maybe I had been tricked by the slogan, "If you aren't a liberal at 25 you have no heart. If you aren't a Republican at 35 you have no brain." You see, I had a very emotional and troubled adolescence and in response, I had focused my efforts on intellectual endeavors as an escape from, and to suppress the emotions that troubled me. So this quote resonated with me because it was the heart that troubled me and the brain that gave me relief. So I chose the "brainy Republicans."
Unfortunately, Republican ideology and policy did not stand up to my intellectual scrutiny. By the time I had graduated from University, four years later, I was voting almost exclusively for Democrats.
It didn't help that I had cemented my position as an atheist over this period of time too. Watching Republican politicians blather on about faith and God, and trying to court the evangelical vote was disconcerting. Watching Pat Robertson and his ilk, degrade the Democrats and kiss Republican ass was nauseating. But even beyond this superficial (though insightful, IMHO) aspect, when I dipped into actual economic and social policy I couldn't help but notice that the Republicans weren't the party of fiscal responsibility or even fiscal prosperity. They certainly didn't have productive social policies.
Anyway, I looked up that quote I mentioned above and it has an unknown origin that probably dates back to around the 1870's in France. Apparently it has been making the rounds for nearly a century and a half. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/02/24/heart-head/
Unfortunately, Republican ideology and policy did not stand up to my intellectual scrutiny. By the time I had graduated from University, four years later, I was voting almost exclusively for Democrats.
It didn't help that I had cemented my position as an atheist over this period of time too. Watching Republican politicians blather on about faith and God, and trying to court the evangelical vote was disconcerting. Watching Pat Robertson and his ilk, degrade the Democrats and kiss Republican ass was nauseating. But even beyond this superficial (though insightful, IMHO) aspect, when I dipped into actual economic and social policy I couldn't help but notice that the Republicans weren't the party of fiscal responsibility or even fiscal prosperity. They certainly didn't have productive social policies.
Anyway, I looked up that quote I mentioned above and it has an unknown origin that probably dates back to around the 1870's in France. Apparently it has been making the rounds for nearly a century and a half. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/02/24/heart-head/
Sarpedon
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Yes, everyone has been affected by our culture. Some of us differently than others. Some black people, for example, have internalized the racist culture to a certain extent. These are likely to be the black republicans. Is that enough for you?
I really don't need to 'explain' black republicans. The idea that a party that discriminates against a particular group can't have any members of that group in it is faulty. It is your categories and definitions that are in error.
It is foolish to think that anyone can escape being affected by the culture they are raised in.
I really don't need to 'explain' black republicans. The idea that a party that discriminates against a particular group can't have any members of that group in it is faulty. It is your categories and definitions that are in error.
It is foolish to think that anyone can escape being affected by the culture they are raised in.
repoman
Contributor
Uncle Ruckus is hilarious.
Even the worst pro-segregation folks back home had a black friend or two. Hell, I have but two black friends back home. Both are old men that became friends through work relationships. They grew up share cropping in Jim Crow southern VA. They are VERY racist. But they still have a couple of white friends, people who they came to trust over time that they see as exceptions to what "white folks" are generally like.
I don't see anything overtly racist in the party platform these days though. So there is that.
I do see politicians running heavily on race and race fears and see that as a dominant meme machine in social media campaigns. The party may not be racist but it uses racism to political advantage.
Democrats tolerated Senator Byrd for a long time because he was the labor block. Those days seem to have passed. Democrats lost the racist vote of Alabama and company after 1964 but they hung on to the racist vote of coal country because labor. Well, that ended in 2016. Labor lost its clout and the GOP/Trump convinced enough coal country and rust belt voters that the Democrats were all about freebies for minorities and nothing for whites. The rust belt revolt against the Democrats was economics spiced up with a lot of racism.
WAB
Contributor
Quite the contrary. It is the excessive generalizations that certain posters here make about people that I am objecting to. I am not championing the idea of tossing individuals into categories; I am totally against it.
I asked the question about black republicans specifically to remind everyone to treat people as individuals, not as groups! We need to stop demonizing republicans, conservatives, libertarians, et al, as being sub-human monsters, without discriminating between who the monsters really are and who are just every day people, civil and decent, who happen to vote republican and have a different set of values than those on the left.
Naturally, you cannot explain black conservatives/republicans, NOR do you (or I) have any real business doing so; just as you (or I) have no business explaining white, Hispanic, purple or green conservatives or republicans.
^ And the same applies to explaining or judging the left, which should go without saying.
None of us are mind-readers, and no-one can know the minds of several millions of individuals.