GOP or GOD? (It's Now The ReBIBLican Party)

Out of Touch

By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 1, 2009

Not only has the G.O.P. spent years trying to fool everybody in sight with its phony-baloney, dime-store philosophies, it’s now trapped in the patently pathetic phase of fooling itself.

It’s not a party; it’s a cult. I’m no fan of Arlen Specter, but if I were a Republican, I wouldn’t be shoving him out the door and waving good riddance. This is the party of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Newt (“I’m trying to rise from the ashes”) Gingrich, and the dark force who can’t seem to exit the public stage or modify his medieval ways, Dick Cheney.

It’s a party that doesn’t seem to care about anything other than devotion to a set of so-called principles that never amounted to more than cult-like rhetoric.

After awhile, it became all but impossible to overlook the madness of these true believers and the incalculable damage they had done to the country. Voters who hadn’t sipped from the Kool-Aid themselves couldn’t help but recognize that the G.O.P. was bizarrely detached from the real world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/opinion/02herbert.html?_r=1




GOP: Even more of a rump regional southern party

by kos
Tue Apr 28, 2009

So what's left? How can a regressive, reactionary party continue to function as a national going concern when its message appeals to a shrinking and aging base, and when the nation's youngest voters reject it by a margin of over 30 points?

Specter is center-right, and he's made clear that the GOP is no longer hospitable to him. Sure, his party switching is rank opportunism at its worst, but he was forced to do it because his party moved far to the Right. There's a reason that 200,000 moderate Republicans in Pennsylvania switched to the Democratic Party last year. Arlen has been left chasing those 200,000 voters, which are essentially his base. The Toomey crowd, the ascendent reactionary wing of the GOP, isn't going for "center-right". Their brand of conservatism is of the "far-right" variety, grossly out of step with the American (and Pennsylvania) mainstream.

Lindsey Graham wishes his party was a national one, but until it radically changes to become more in tune with changing social mores, changing demographics, and the newest generations, it'll continue seeing its numbers hail just from the most regressively conservative states.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/28/725399/-GOP:-Even-more-of-a-rump-regional-southern-party




The Incredible Shrinking Party

2009 April 29

In its wild careen to the right, the remainder of the Republican Party is losing more ground every day.

... the Republicans have been in complete decline as a national party, losing heavily in the last two elections. But like a giant anaconda, the Religious Right is maintaining its iron grip on the GOP, squeezing what little life is left from its gasping lungs. The confused and befuddled remnant of GOP leadership is stymied as to a course out of the bramble thicket. It knows that to abandon its social-conservative base will lead to an even smaller number in the next poll and sure defeat next year in the mid-term elections. But what alternative does it really have? The rest of the nation has rejected not only the GOP’s support of greedy CEOs and bankers who have stolen the life blood of our country, but also the mean-spirited social agenda pushed by the Religious Right. But in the grip of fear, the GOP careens farther and farther to the right, clinging to their toxic base unto death.

http://lefteyeonthemedia.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/the-incredible-shrinking-party/




GOP death spiral?

April 29, 2009

The GOP has a huge problem on its hands right now. Recent polls have shown that only 21% of Americans identify as Republicans, and the party seems to be doing everything in its power to shrink that number even further.

5) Ideological Rigidity: Rush Limbaugh and his talk radio cohorts have become the de-facto heads of the Republican party, and their brand of conservatism is both psychotic and extreme, and their relentless quest for ideological purity has only shrunken the party's base. They've driven away the moderates and left only a shell of a party that is coextensive with an ignorant, biblical-fundamentalist minority mostly centered around the American South. The GOP snake is swallowing its own tail and it doesn't even realize it.

http://patriotsquill.blogspot.com/2009/04/gop-death-spiral.html




Republicans, Limbaugh drifting further from opinions of mainstream America

By Jessica Opoien | Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Gone is the focus on traditional Republican values like fiscal conservatism, small government, and personal freedom. Today’s GOP is increasingly marginalized and is in grave danger of becoming the Limbaugh Party — a party driven by the Religious Right’s fundamentalist-Christian-rooted, anti-gay, nationalistic, anti-science policies. Policies pushed with fearmongering tactics and accusations of fascism and terrorism for those who oppose them.

http://www.iowastatedaily.com/articles/2009/04/28/opinion/doc49f7b1ac3b167426619129.txt

They spent so much time demonizing "the others" to rile up their base, they wound up completely alienating almost everyone who wasn't a white Southern Christian or a rich white corporate executive.

This is just a partial list of the people the Republicans shat on over the years:

Women -- can't control their own bodies, don't deserve equal pay protection, etc.
Gay People -- don't deserve rights, threaten "real" Americans
Minorities -- "welfare queens," etc.
Labor -- how dare they challenge corporate management and multi-millionaire CEOs? Lazy, whining workers.
Immigrants -- "illegals"
Well-educated people -- "elitists"
East and West Coasters -- not part of "real" America
City dwellers -- snotty urbanites, also not part of "real" America
Environmentalists -- "tree huggers"
Opponents of the illegal invasion of Iraq -- "anti-American, anti-military"
Non-religious people -- George H.W. Bush, for example, said that atheists should not be considered citizens nor patriots
Latte sippers, arugula eaters, Volvo drivers, etc. -- un-American effetes

This is just a partial list of the people the Republicans shat on over the years:

Women -- can't control their own bodies, don't deserve equal pay protection, etc.
Gay People -- don't deserve rights, threaten "real" Americans
Minorities -- "welfare queens," etc.
Labor -- how dare they challenge corporate management and multi-millionaire CEOs? Lazy, whining workers.
Immigrants -- "illegals"
Well-educated people -- "elitists"
East and West Coasters -- not part of "real" America
City dwellers -- snotty urbanites, also not part of "real" America
Environmentalists -- "tree huggers"
Opponents of the illegal invasion of Iraq -- "anti-American, anti-military"
Non-religious people -- George H.W. Bush, for example, said that atheists should not be considered citizens nor patriots
Latte sippers, arugula eaters, Volvo drivers, etc. -- un-American effetes


:puke:

...but they'll fight like hell for torture, illegal wars, subverting the Constitution, illegally wiretapping
law-abiding Americans and privatizing Social Security.

No wonder these complete nimrod buffoons are going the way of the dinosaurs.

... didn't want to be "raptured."

These, ahem, morans would welcome an asteroid hurled by Jesus.


:nuke:

An asteroid hurled by Jesus.

:rofl:

:)

The Far Right's First 100 Days: Getting More Extreme by the Day

By Sara Robinson, Campaign for America's Future. Posted May 6, 2009.

The far right wing has been laying the groundwork for violent action for decades. Long before they turn dangerous, political and religious groups take their first steps down that road by adopting a worldview that justifies eventual violent action. The particulars of the narrative vary, but the basic themes are always the same:

First: Their story is apocalyptic, insisting that the end of the world as we've known it is near.

Second: It divides the world into a Good-versus-Evil/Us-versus-Them dualism that encourages the group to interpret even small personal, social or political events as major battles in a Great Cosmic Struggle -- a habit of mind that leads the group to demonize anyone who disagrees with them.

This struggle also encourages members to invest everyday events with huge existential meaning, and as a result sometimes overreact wildly to very mundane stuff.

Fifth: Communities following this logic will also advocate the elimination of their enemies by any means necessary in order to purify the world for their ideology.

http://www.alternet.org/democracy/139825/the_far_right%27s_first_100_days%3A_getting_more_extreme_by_the_day

consideration because they're not NORMAL anyway...

...to use on right-wing relatives I'll see this summer:

"Trickle down. Weapons of mass destruction. Torture. Deregulation. You name it. The Republican-conservative know-it-alls of the past several years (all-too-frequently with feckless Democrats following closely behind) brought destruction and heartbreak to just about everything they touched."

Be ready. I'm sure they'll have quotes ready from Rush.

:)

Thanks for posting it.

:P

had a Bible thing goin' on.:)

:)

...intended to make the rubes stop thinking.

Ever wonder why the prospect of global warming wiping out humanity does not even register with them?

They are a suicide cult and money is their God.

By FRANK RICH
Published: May 2, 2009

But the former party of Lincoln and liberty has now melted down to a fundamentalist core of aging, rural Dixiecrats and intrusive scolds — as small as 20 percent of the populace in the latest polls. Its position on the American spectrum of ideas is somewhere between a doomsday cult and Scientology.

Despite that rout and many more like it of similar right-wing candidates throughout America, the party’s ideological litmus test is more rigid than ever. The G.O.P. chairman, Michael Steele, and enforcers of Republican political correctness like William Kristol and the blogger Michele Malkin jeered Specter and cheered his departure. A laughing Limbaugh seconded e-mail from listeners commanding Specter to “take McCain with you — and his daughter.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/opinion/03rich.html

The Grand Old Party is in the process of imploding. It is now almost exclusively identified with reactionary, white southern males. It would seem that Weeda Peeple are starting to wake up to some seriously nasty little realities. One of those realities is the fact that these hideously foolish people have done more damage to this once-great nation than Osama bin Laden could ever have hoped to do. Once upon a time it was cool (at least to some minds anyway) to be a Republican. Today it is down right embarrassing. They have become the political equivalent of the powder-blue, polyester leisure suit.

Arlen Specter's defection from that hideous party should not shock anyone (although it is a pleasant surprise). He always seemed to be an imperfect albeit perfectly reasonable man. It was more-than-apparent that he was uncomfortable at times associating with the ideological jackasses his party affiliation forced him to come into contact with on a daily basis. His occasional defense of the indefensible always appeared halfhearted at best. Who can blame the poor guy for getting the hell out of there while the getting is good?

http://tomdegan.blogspot.com

Is when the janitor knocks over the mop bucket.

If you want to see an excellent documentary that shows just how crazy the Republicans have become...watch "Jesus Camp". I don't think Stephen King has ever penned anything more terrifying!

Powell Says Shrinking GOP Should Return To The Center

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

by Chris Strohm

The Republican Party is in big trouble and needs to find a way to move back to the middle of the country, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday.

Powell said the GOP is "getting smaller and smaller" and "that's not good for the nation." He also said he hopes that emerging GOP leaders, such as House Minority Whip Cantor, will not keep repeating mantras of the far right.

"The Republican Party is in deep trouble," Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc. The party must realize that the country has changed, he said. "Americans do want to pay taxes for services," he said. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."

http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/print_friendly.php?ID=cda_20090505_8843

SHOCKER!! GOP Christian Extremists kill efforts to bring party back to the mainstream

May 07, 2009 at 11:17:11 PM PDT

WARNING!!! THIS POST MAKES A VALID AND I BELIEVE IMPORTANT POINT - BUT I USE SOME CREATIVE LICENSE, SEXUAL HUMOR, AND EVEN A SWEAR WORD OR TWO WITH MY RAMBLINGS - AND WILL TRY TO SHOCK YOUR CONSCIENCE WITH THE INANE, HARMFUL AND UN-AMERICAN POSITIONS TAKEN BY THE REPUBLICAN-CHRISTIAN RIGHT. BUT ARE THE TWO HEADED FOR DIVORCE?

crazedandconfused's diary :: ::

OK - if you need to understand the level of disdain I have for the right wing of the Republican party you just need to take a look at a few of my previous posts. I've called them every name - and I think they deserve everything I've leveled at them - and then some. But in all fairness - I've tended to label all Republicans as right wing Neo-con Evangelical Christians. But just because most of them happen to suck the lifeblood from our Nation doesn't mean they all are that way.

There are actually middle of the road members of the GOP, many of whom focus their primary attention on making sure we don't spend in a way they deem wasteful, and are proponents of lower taxes. And although they may not want to watch two dudes going to town on each other in an airport bathroom - they certainly don't personally have any issue against allowing those same two guys to marry one another. And while they may prefer that pregnant teens carry their babies to term and allow them to be adopted by a loving family, they certainly understand that a 14 year old that who lives in a broken home riddled with abuse, poverty, and an abstinence only attitude toward sex education just might be better off not adding to the already unbearable home life by adding another child to the mix. They realize that not all young teens are prepared for the psychological scarring of bonding with a baby for 9 months, then having to live your life always wondering "what if". They immediately dismiss the ramblings of Bristol Palin and daddy Todd about the precious little mistake. On an only semi related note - am I the only one who finds it a bit creepy thinking of Todd taking his daughter, dressed in prom night gear to a purity ball? Yes - OK - I understand.

These Republicans understand that if the crazies on the right weren't so scientifically illiterate they'd know that mass distribution and education about the morning after pill would eliminate much of the problem. But no - the religious right won't bend on their ignorant position about the magic of conception and the "fact" that a soul is placed by god into that blastycyst the instant some horny teen "forgets" to pull out and accidentally shoots his wonder juice all over her incredible edible. If God is literally just sitting there watching this drunken backseat sloppy sex waiting to drop a soul at the moment of conception like so many right wingers say - well - God is a dirty bastard with some pedophiliac tendencies. Does he jack off while waiting to drop that soul a la Zeus? (who liked to take the form of a bull and impregnate women - the babies becoming the hero's we all know about). Each of these hero's moms is a god damned bull-fucker! But I digress. No - this Republican isn't stupid. I don't know if Mitt Romney falls into this category - or Jeb Bush, or any of the other guys trying to rebrand the party - but for this argument I'm going to assume they are. All Republicans who are trying to avoid the rotting death that is gripping their party has the same problem.

THEY MADE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - AND THE DEVIL HAS THEM BY THE BALLS!!

continued:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/8/729129/-SHOCKER!!-GOP-Christian-Extremists-kill-efforts-to-bring-party-back-to-the-mainstreambut-STUPID-p

...but not Christians.

nt

party of NO. No matter how much they try to wrap themselves in religion it's just plain ol Hypocricy.

McCotter co-sponsors Bible resolution

By Ed Brayton 5/11/09 1:50 AM

Rep. Thad McCotter is co-sponsoring House Resolution 121, which calls on President Obama to declare 2010 “The National Year of the Bible.” Unfortunately, the resolution contains historical inaccuracies that undermine its credibility. For instance, the resolution states:

Whereas shared Biblical beliefs unified the colonists and gave our early leaders the wisdom to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States…

We have had officially declared “years of the Bible” before, most recently in 1983. We will likely have them again. But let’s at least be historically accurate when advocating them.

http://michiganmessenger.com/18751/mccotter-co-sponsors-bible-resolution

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Under Rumsfeld, Pentagon published Bible verses on top-secret intel reports.

May 17, 2009

In a lengthy article on Donald Rumsfeld’s rocky tenure as Defense Secretary, GQ published never-before-seen cover sheets from top-secret intelligence briefings produced by Rumsfeld’s Pentagon. Starting in the days surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the cover sheets featured inspirational Bible verses printed over military images, “and were delivered by Rumsfeld himself to the White House” to the president, “who referred to America’s war on terror as a ‘crusade,’” GQ writes. Below are some examples of the Bible quotes (view the images here):

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

“It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

“Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, The nation that keeps faith.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/17/rumsfeld-bible-versus/