Faced with changing demographics that undercut their popularity and ability to win some statewide and national elections, the geniuses behind the party that brought you, “Shutdown at the Oh No Corral” have embarked on a new, stealth charm offensive…apparently not understanding that phrase quite so well (“So we need to be offensive in a charming way?”)
Republicans launched their new “You Can’t Spell Contemptuous Without ‘Us'” campaign under the radar last week to win over hearts and minds…then realized that their base would see that as excluding them so they decided just to win over feet and bowels.
Phase 1 was planned to go after the “Frustrated That There’s Not Enough Gay Hatred Legislation” demographic which Arizona Republicans took on in passing their Religious Freedom Bill. The logic behind it is unassailable, we all recognize that it’s wrong to limit others’ freedoms to limit others’ freedoms. In concert with this, the GOP is using MC Escher works to illustrate their logic.
Next on the list to check off was the “Women Are Not Viewed Enough As Just Human Motels For Babies” demographic which was deftly courted by Virginia State Senator and Barefoot and Pregnant Magazine publisher Steve Martin who responded to a Valentine’s Day plea by pro-choice supporters for his support with the following:
VA STATE SENATOR STEVE MARTIN: “I don’t expect to be in the room or will I do anything to prevent you from obtaining a contraceptive. However, once a child does exist in your womb, I’m not going to assume a right to kill it just because the child’s host (some refer to them as mothers) doesn’t want it.”
As a complimentary outreach to this demographic, the GOP has arranged a licensing deal with Parker Brothers to introduce a new version of Fundamentalist Monopoly where all the houses and hotels look like pregnant women.
So, addressing voters who are gay and/or support equality in our society? Check! Addressing women voters? Check! All that’s left for Republicans to address this week in the decisive demographics arena is the Latino vote and what other state would Republicans look to for that? You guessed it, The Loon Scarred State, Texas!
Texas Republican Chris Mapp who’s running against John Cornyn in the GOP primary for U.S. Senator, cleverly slipped in the following in an interview with The San Antonio Express-News:
[He] stood by his comments that “wetbacks” should be shot by ranchers and that President Barack Obama is a “socialist son of a bitch”.
Mapp first made the remarks at an editorial board meeting with the Dallas Morning News last week, but told the San Antonio Express-News on Friday that using the derogatory term for Mexican immigrants is as “normal as breathing air in South Texas.”
And what could be healthier than breathing the air in South Texas?
So, after hitting a trifecta, consider Week 1 of the new GOP Charm Offensive a big success! Stay tuned for Week 2 (spoiler alert: Don’t worry black voters, they haven’t forgotten about pursuing you!).
I’ve been following this on Twitter, watching the GOP make complete asses of themselves at every turn. The ‘best’ one is Arizona’s attempt to legalize picking on gays, which received a long of angry attention from our old pal George Takai, aka Uncle George, aka Sulu. I’ve always had my issues with conservatives, but the current GOP are complete monsters. Evil Incorporated. Someone suggested that the current GOP are the 21st Century equivalent of the Mafia. Just as evil. Just as criminal, except that they’ve bastardized the rules to where they more or less do what they want without prosecution, that is until enough people decide that they shouldn’t. Which begs the question: isn’t there some rule, some law against telling outright lies about people. public or otherwise, that the GOP is constantly breaking? Correct me if I’m wrong.
jj – I wish there was a law against public figures intentionally spreading lies but unfortunately not, it’s all covered by the 1st Amendment.
There are laws in a couple of states including OH, against malicious lies in political advertising but they’re not well constructed or enforced.
I look at the GOP as more like mindless hitmen working for the wealthy and corporations who are the actual mafia. The wealthy put out a “hit” on black voters or the poor and the GOP takes their money and tries to politically assassinate them.
Looking at the current Republican politicians though, looks like the ammunition they’re using are dum-dums.
I like your points Adlib. The GOP are spraying a lot of nastiness around, but it’s not sticking very well. They did the same during the Clinton administration and it didn’t work very well then either.
JJ, it does seem like their act is wearing thin on most people. Just the hard core mindless followers seem to be buying their ugliness. And as time goes by, the Republican Party keeps shrinking.
I keep wondering how and why the knuckle-dragging base of the GOP continue to support the Republicans. Every time that the base sponsors bills or policies that they are rabid about, they get beaten back when those policies interferes with profits.
The “shut-it-down movement” was itself shut down when the closure of the government started affecting profits.
Future threats to not raise the debt ceiling have been squelched because such an act would destroy the personal wealth of the billionaires.
Lastly, the religious freedom laws were totally obliterated when businesses in those states realized that the backlash would manifests itself in the form of 50s and 60s-style boycotts.
By now the GOP base should realize they are being used and that they are being manipulated to increase the wealth of a few families while decreasing the overall mobility of themselves and their families.
Moreover the GOP’s support of the base’s so-called “traditional values” and “religious principles” is a facade since those values are immediately and unceremoniously discarded like soiled toilet paper as soon as there is a hint that half of a red cent in profits will be lost.
It is shameful and disappointing to see so many people bamboozled…….
Do not underestimate what the GOP is doing. We rightly mock them, BUT THERE IS A METHOD TO THEIR MADNESS.
This is deliberate and a well-thought out strategy. After the 2012 election, there were two competing theories circulating among the GOPers. Theory 1: the GOP antagonized minorities and got punished in the polls. Theory 2: GOP failed to turn out the poor, lower-educated whites (Schafly-Redstate-Buchanan- theory). It seems that the proponents of Theory #2 have won. Hence, the GOP, at the state level, have implemented a religious freedoms-voter suppression strategy that is really crafted to stoke fears and to mobilize lower educated whites who the GOP presumes are motivated by prejudice and religion.
If you doubt it, look at the recent comments on blogs and by conservative pundits; they are all advocating that businesses and people should have the right to discriminate against anyone for any reason including race
Never underestimate the power of fear and ignorance…The GOP strategy just may work…………..
“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public” H.L. Mencken
The conservatives can dish out the nastiness but can they take it? Don’t they usually whine like babies when anyone gets in their way?
LOL! The dreamed of GOPTP “big tent,” will soon be a pup tent. (for white pups and litter producing bitches only) Woof woof!
KT, the GOP doesn’t have a tent anymore, let alone a big tent. All they have now is just a white hood that only fits on their own heads.
Oh, don’t kid yourself Ad. The tent may not be as large as it once was, but there are still too many of them. Not a big tent, but they still have their shelter.
There are many, very deep rooted ideologies that have lasted for decades, that still remain among far too many racists, homophobes and religious fanatics. These people aren’t about to go quietly. They’ve just rid themselves of the actual hoods. They’ve just disappeared in an underground of political correctness. Some of them have even discarded any pretense of PC.
These fanatics should never be underestimated. I don’t advocate outright paranoia about these cretins, but I do advocate constant vigilance.
I don’t know that I’m underestimating them, I was just joking that to be a committed Repub nowadays seems to be the same as a KKK member.
There is no room for diversity in such an authoritarian and extremist party, you’re either with their extremism or you’re against them.
And it is both disappointing and a relief that they represent about 25%-30% of the population but their numbers are shrinking each year as they cling desperately to “White Male Power” and only supporting the wealthy.
They are unfortunately sustaining an over-representation nationally and in mostly Southern states but demographics will change that before too long and by the time TX turns purple (within 15-20 years?), they will either change to become more moderate or they will become as extinct as the do-do bird.
In the meantime, FL is getting closer to becoming a bluish shade of purple and when that gets locked in, it will be nearly impossible for Repubs to win the WH again unless or until they become sane again.
As always, right on target, AdLib.
I suppose that they have never heard about “barking up the wrong tree”?
Being as everything they say and do is offensive to someone, maybe they should read this that I posted on Sunday, and quake in their self-righteousness. The majority of Americans are not buying what they are selling..
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Focus on Religious Right hides dwindling number of US churchgoers
As research suggests just 25 per cent of Americans now attend church weekly, Republicans must cater for increasingly secular mainstream without alienating evangelical base
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10655833/Focus-on-Religious-Right-hides-dwindling-number-of-US-churchgoers.html
Kalima, it does seem like the over-representation of the extremists is all that’s keeping them from sinking into the ashes of history. There is such an unhealthy disconnect between what the majority of Americans support and oppose and what the RW fights for. They are such a de facto minority nationally but thanks to their media outlets and gerrymandering, they have far more power and influence than they should.
In many Southern states especially, they are more accepted and there’s not too much we can do about that u til the passage of time changes the balance of demographics there.
Sure would be nice though to not have to wait until 2020 to begin to address the gerrymandering that’s propped them up but that seems to be what would make the biggest difference.
Isn’t there a law against the GOP’s jerrymandering, it sound illegal to me at the pace that they are implementing it, and you must be blind if you can’t see the motives behind it.
The fact that all they have left is the RR and a few dumb Indies doesn’t seem to fluster them as they chant their constant “We speak for the American people” and “The American people don’t want this”. They have no idea what average Americans do want, or if they do, they don’t care.
I have never seen a political party so out of sync with needs of its citizens unless it is a dictatorship or another out of touch conservative government like in the U.K. and yet although they never change course, believing in miracles, people will vote for them because they once again believe the lying propaganda. Never fails to shock me that so many people can be fooled over and over again.
“My country, right or wrong,” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.”
Gilbert Chesterton
I agree, Kalima. Their tin ears for their own idiotic gibberish is appalling, too. Do they not think before they run their mouths? Women are “hosts”? I hope the nitwit has no daughters because is he going to tell them they have no value other than as empty vessels?
Having dealt recently with self congratulatory Emos, I know that self delusion exists on all sides, but the sheer nastiness of the Tea Party exceeds belief. If they have thirty followers screaming for their words of wisdom, they think it’s a landslide approval from all of us.
They need to be called out then they need to be turned out. They are the first legislators I’ve ever met who seriously are unfit to govern.
Even conservatives deserve a whole lot better than what they’re getting. And the rest of us sure do, too.
It’s kind of a false data set – quite a number of churches in the mainline progressive denominations are growing. Oh, not rapidly, no megachurch phenomenon, but growing nonetheless. But even the newest members don’t go to church weekly. As you know, I work for a large faith organization, and I don’t go to church much at ALL. But the loyalty to those progressive congregations and to the teachings is very real. That said, I do know that Pew found that “The Nones” are the fastest growing group meaning that yes, truly unaffiliated to utterly alienated are the real core. And yet the RW extremists cling to the belief that they’re the majority and that they set the American values in play. They think anything they say or do is acceptable because their sycophants tell them so.
I seriously hope they’re in for a very rude awakening. I’d love to see the turned out in all states and have hopes that we can do that. It would be lovely never to hear from these nasty minded evil doers again.
I agree cl, and have read that many on the fence Catholics are returning to the Church because of Pope Francis. Btw, going to Church every week doesn’t necessarily make you a good Christian. I know many people like me who find it physically impossible to do that, and God is wherever you choose to pray as long as your heart is good. We consider ourselves to be good people because of what we say, do, and think, not by the number of times we have been to Church in our lifetime. From experience there are many bigots and hypocrites who attend Church just to convince the neighbours that they are good. Then they go home and beat up their wives and children, or are secretly members of an organisation akin to the KKK.
Yes, I join you in that hope of getting rid of that insane trash, America will be so much better off without it.
I have no say in the country I call home, so I will feed off your victories, however small, because I care.
Working on it incrementally as fast as we can!
I’m so sorry you’re muzzled there. Are you permitted to BECOME a citizen even? Not that you’d necessarily want to be, but is it even possible?
Must be INCREDIBLY frustrating often! So sorry that is happening to you!
I know you are working hard on it, and for my many American friends, I thank you.
No, I would never consider becoming a citizen, it took long enough to get a British passport, and with it I have the freedom to go almost anywhere on this planet, so giving it up would not be an option.
The Abe government is like any RW government anywhere, but the rest of the political parties are so weak and disorganised, that people are afraid to vote them back in. It’s a vicious circle here, and corruption is rife, as is the sudden increase in nationalism. Not good.
Hey CL. With Jerry Falwell’s creation of the “Moral Majority,” in 1979, came the opposing phrase, “the moral majority is neither.” I believe that phrase was also applied to bumper stickers.
Truer words were never on a bumper before that!