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marmar

(76,985 posts)
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 11:24 AM Dec 2014

There’s Good Reason To Hate Republicans


from In These Times:


There’s Good Reason To Hate Republicans
In our era of polarization, one party is guiltier than the other.

BY SUSAN J. DOUGLAS


I hate Republicans. I can’t stand the thought of having to spend the next two years watching Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell Issa or any of the legions of other blowhards denying climate change, thwarting immigration reform or championing fetal “personhood.”

This loathing is a relatively recent phenomenon. Back
 in the 1970s, I worked for a Republican, Fred Lippitt, the senate minority leader in Rhode Island, and I loved him. He was a brand of Republican now extinct—a “moderate” who was fiscally conservative but progressive about women’s rights, racial justice and environmental preservation. Had he been closer to my age, I could have contemplated marrying someone like Fred. Today, marrying a Republican is unimaginable to me. And I’m
 not alone. Back in 1960, only 5 
percent of Republicans and 4
 percent of Democrats said they’d
 be “displeased” if their child married someone from the opposite
 party. Today? Forty-nine percent 
of Republicans and 33 percent of
 Democrats would be pissed.

According to a recent study 
by Stanford professor Shanto
 Iyengar and Princeton researcher 
Sean Westwood, such polarization has increased dramatically 
in recent years. What’s noteworthy 
is how entrenched this mutual animus is. It’s fine for me to use the word “hate” when referring to Republicans and for them to use the same word about me, but you would never use the word “hate” when referring to people of color, or women, or gays and lesbians.

And now party identification and hatred shape a whole host of non-political decisions. Iyengar and Westwood asked participants in their study to review the resumés of graduating high school seniors to decide which ones should receive scholarships. Some resumés had cues about party affiliation (say, member of the Young Republicans Club) and some about racial identity (also through extracurricular activities, or via a stereotypical name). Race mattered, but not nearly as much as partisanship. An overwhelming 80 percent of partisans chose the student of their own party. And this held true even if the candidate from the opposite party had better credentials. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/17426/theres_good_reason_to_hate_republicans



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First Speaker

(4,858 posts)
1. We're in a Cold Civil War...
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 11:33 AM
Dec 2014

...and are coming to hate each other as much as Americans did in the 1850s. And we all know how *that* turned out... I fear above all else another GOP attempt to steal a Presidential election. If they do, God alone knows what might happen...

Response to First Speaker (Reply #1)

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
2. "Do it in the name of heaven"
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 11:43 AM
Dec 2014

(try to) "justify it in the end"

I kinda have to laugh at how the author praises the Republicans of old - basically for being DLCers.

They still wanted to screw the working class and poor and help the rich (they were, after all, fiscally conservative) but that was cool. No big deal to screw the working class, the important thing was, they were socially liberal.

blm

(112,920 posts)
3. Good read. The 'all the same' mantra never really passes the reality smell test.
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 11:48 AM
Dec 2014

And I think those relying on that lazy minded mantra are doing a disservice to this nation, knowingly or not.

It's a shame, though, that we are so desperate for SANE Republicans these days that we have to go back so far to praise past ones who weren't exactly champions of the working class, though they were much less punitive than this current crowd of psychopaths.

Response to marmar (Original post)

n2doc

(47,953 posts)
7. Until they wise up to the propaganda stream, they won't change
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 01:23 PM
Dec 2014

No matter how shitty their lives become under republican rule, they always will blame democrats, liberals, minorities, and illegal aliens for all of their troubles.

I don't expect any mass awakening.

Response to n2doc (Reply #7)

SamKnause

(13,043 posts)
5. There are numerous reasons to dislike
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 12:04 PM
Dec 2014

Republicans and their policies.

I think they are the greatest threat this nation faces.

I do not hate anyone.

I find them repugnant and as a rule do not associate with them.

I have several in my family, but I am trying to open their eyes and turn them around.

Response to SamKnause (Reply #5)

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
8. I disliked Republicans in the 70's too. Nixon, Agnew, Reagan. The current theme 'Republicans used to
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 02:26 PM
Dec 2014

be super moderate goodness' is simply not supported by history. Back in the 70's was Vietnam, Watergate, protesters shot, Cambodia, no rights for LGBT people at all but plenty of Republican voices shouting their bigotry from the rooftops. And they said 'hate' even if they did not use the word.
In the 70's I started voting, and my second ballot had on it the Briggs Amendment, a Republican effort which asked the people of California to fire all the gay teachers and all others who supported gay rights. That is the Party this woman is telling me was moderate and did not deal in hate. 'We don't hate you, we just want to fire all of you and all of your allies as well, out of moderate style love and affection'.
Is she also selling the Brooklyn Bridge? I'm so sick of this shit. I understand she was on the side of Nixon and I was on the side of Abbie Hoffman, but shit.

maxrandb

(15,192 posts)
9. Only 33% of Democrats???
Mon Dec 15, 2014, 02:36 PM
Dec 2014

We need to get much more pissed than that

No wonder we can't get people out to the polls to vote.

But on a serious note...this all started with Nixon's Southern Strategy, Hate Radio and Faux News.

If I hear one more Democrat talk about how we "can disagree without being disagreeable", I will scream.

For decades, Conservatives have been told non-stop that the "only good liberal/Democrat, is a dead liberal/Democrat".

You can't reason with that shit. All you can do is work your ass off to defeat it!

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