Charles Barkley: "I was a Republican until they lost their minds"

Charles Barkley: John Mellencamp right, "Conservative means discriminatory"

When John Mellencamp let loose with a rip on the Bush administration in the middle of an celebrity golf tournament event concert, sending ex Vice President Dan Quayle marching for the exit, he may have shot a few shockwaves through the American Century Championship. But one of the biggest celebrities in the Lake Tahoe field - a man who used to be one of America's biggest Republicans literally - wasn't shedding any tears for Quayle.

"He's right," Charles Barkley said of Mellencamp. "The word conservative means discriminatory practically. It's a form of political discrimination. What do the Republicans run on? Against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That's all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain."

...................

"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," Barkley said.

more at:
http://www.travelgolf.com/blogs/chris.baldwin/2006/07/17/charles_barkley_john_mellencamp_right_co

"The Democrats have done a horrible job," Barkley said. "A really crappy job. They spend all this time and energy getting on George Bush. They're going after a guy who's on the way out in two years no matter what they say anyways. He can't run again. He can't get fired. Why are you worrying about him?

"Democrats have wasted the last two years going after this guy and two years from another election, we don't have a frontrunner or a plan."

Sounds like Barkley is just echoing Repub talking points.

.... who besides Dean and DFA are working on getting the party's shit together for '08 ?


:shrug:

So there's no one else supposed to be getting the party's shit together. Barkley said Dems have no plan. They do have a plan. Clinton had one that worked long before Bush was even elected. Healthcare, fiscal responsibility, environment, and all the other stuff the Bushies overturned.

The "no plan" thing is a repub talking point as far as I am concerned. Don't bite the repub apple too!

:eyes:

Every Democrat is doing everything in his or her POWER to do what they believe is right. The fact that the power they have is very small is not their fault.

I've always liked Charles Barkley, he speaks his mind and usually has a valid point to make, and he makes decisions with his heart. And it's usually a good heart. But his understanding of things doesn't go very deep. That's why he was a Republican for so long. That's why he's not now. It's a good sign for Dems--it means people who only vote on superficial issues (most voters) are turning against the conservatives. Barkley doesn't really understand government, or ideology, or the big picture. The big picture is the Dems have no power to do anything BUT complain. They can--and do--propose postive legislation every day. They plot and plan and scheme and work for their goals every day. But the only power they have is to complain about what's going on.

The Democrats getted blasted when the "remain silent" on Bush (even though they haven't) and now they get blasted because they criticize Bush. I think that proves that the Dems in office are true believers--no one would sign up for that job if all they wanted was power, fame, or money.

Like when Barkley says Dems are just against Bush. Being against Bush's policies doesn't mean we're anti-Bush or strictly against everything he does. It's his policies that are #$%@, and the Dems are right to stand-up and fight against them.

It's the headline that counts.

The Democrats should remain focused on 2006, and beat down any idiot pundits trying to postulate who will be the nominee in 2008.

Barkley is just demonstrating the same lack of insight that made/makes him a Republican. (Someone to be thrown in the "bad" celebrity spokesman bucket.)

and if his party wasn't so corrupt and chickenshit they'd be doing it right now instead of blathering about burning flags and pushing their god where it doesn't belong.

all over themselves voting to commend Israel for their current rampaging reign of terror, Barkley may have a point. If the Republicans get kicked out, it won't be because of any great strategy by the Democrats.

But, let me make this clear, I am very pro-Democrat. I just wish that they were a more forceful and productive opposition party to the Republicans.

that we could not get rid of W in 2004 is a strong statement about the Democratic party. Not only should we have been able to get someone who could kick out W, it should not have even been close.

I have a friend who is still convinced that the Republicans stole the 2004 Presidential election. I look at the Ohio numbers, the Florida numbers, and I do not agree. The link of assumptions needed to make it mathematically possible are mind-boggling. However, my stronger response is:

Perhaps a party can steal a close election, ala 1960 or 2000. But in 2004, it never should have been that close. W was more vulnerable than any President since Carter, yet he still came out on top. The Republicans did not need to steal the election in 2004, the Democrats gave it to them.

This is not a Republican talking point, this is me, a liberal in the classic sense, praying that we see a change in our leadership in the party. I am absolutely confident that Dean can not bring us what we want.

FH

Barkley would STILL not get it. They are only responding this way because they finally are embarrassed about electing this dufus. Don't stop now.

house then these pukes would run out and vote for more of the same in 06

(they should be embarrassed--to such a degree that they all stay home in november)

I feel the same way about Bush. By the time we impeach him, he'll be out anyway.

Let's focus on providing real solutions to the problems at hand...and that will give us both houses of congress and the presidency.

However, the fact that Bush will be gone in 2 1/2 years, with still 62% of his 2nd term remaining, does not mean that we should accept his policy decisions blithely.

Warrantless spying is wrong (and illegal, to boot); we need to get off foreign oil and waiting for a mythical fuel cell future is not a policy with sufficient regard for reality or urgency; subsidies and handouts to the ultra-wealthy via tax liens on our children and grandchildren is not fiscal sanity, it is piracy and embezzlement. Bush's policies are for $%#@, and must be fought.

And when he makes and ass of himself on the international stage, we should laugh at the buffoon that is our pResident.

If he has the right ideas.

I'm worried that if we take both houses that we'll waste a lot of time trying to impeach Bush. God knows he deserves it, but I'd see it as unproductive time, time that will result in the American public going against democrats, like they did Clinton.

at least Big Butt Barkley came to his senses and woke up...not a good time to be a Repig is it?...

same general idea, anyway.

But to not pay attention to the war in Iraq is like saying those people's lives don't matter, and I'm not willing to do that.

It's because bush is so damn inept..if he weren't so INEPT nobody would have to hold him so consistently accountable!

Democrats need to talk issues. The guy makes more sense than most DUers.

I always wanted to like Charles but could not because of his repukeness.

He's an interesting guy.

Never a dull moment with Sir Charles in the mix

saying that he didn't know that Quayle was there - but if he'd known - he would have said what he said anyway.


That is a good quote, "I was a Republican until they lost their minds"


(for former Republicans, that is)

but welcome home, Sir Charles :applause:

That makes it sound like they had minds to begin with. They didn't.

They certainly did have minds at one point.

The last person to have their koolaid should make sure the lights have been turned off.

m

I am just wondering. Welcome back to the light CB.

eom

I've gotten really jaded since yesterday.

I saw him at a club once & got his autograph - I didn't know he was a Republican then, now I'm glad he's waking from his darkness.

n/t

Hey Barkley. The Republicans have always been out of their minds. You were just to ignorant to notice until now.

Don

Careful with that, someone might call you ignorant.

I knew someone else like that once who washed his hands real frequently?

Don

I just find it a little pretentious when someone calls another person they really don't know "ignorant". I was about to point that out when I noticed you were ignorant of the correct use of the word "too", so I thought I would help you out a little. Thanks for the free diagnosis though.

... for the last 30+ years. Have the Republicans changed all that much, or has Barkley's retirement from basketball or some significant event (Katrina?) awakened him to Republican policies?

began to see the ugly side of conservatism.


p.s. Not to say that conservatism has a pretty side. :-)

People probably don't mouth off around him alot.

incident was on Bill Maher's old show "Politically Incorrect".

Barkley is correct on that. The Repuglican Party needs to be discredited. They can't be allowed to de-Bushify themselves and re-image themselves into another set of lies that Rupert Murdoch would like folks to believe.

And we need to fight the DLCers in the primaries and not let them spew their own propaganda that primaries are somehow undemocratic or that a primary fight is somehow bad for the Democratic Party when an elected Democrat lost their own mind, as LIEberman has.

May the wisdom spread far and wide.

We're so far past the point where conservative had anything to do with conserving anything, with the sole exception of their own power, no matter what the cost.

"Anything less would be uncivilized" I have heard this promotion for a while on my local affiliate KOKE1600 in Austin....

Not surprised.


But he makes some sense, I wouldn't go after Dean, I think he's our great hope.

(no sarcasm). He's straightforward, no-nonsense, call-it-as-i-see-it, and compassionate. Always liked him - he just doesn't square with conservatism. It was only a matter of time before he switched.

If he's only just now beginning to see some light, he's missing the progressive fundamentals I'd like to see in a candidate.

I'm a pretty big basketball fan and I wish he would just shut up. He was the worst example of a professional athlete I have ever seen, no discipline, no ethics, no professionalism (well maybe a few worse). Now he sits at the table (for TNT) talking like he has something valuable to contribute. He is (was) not a good roll model and he is no sir.

Certainly more selfish people than him have walked the court. He did do some stupid things, like spitting on the girl, but he made amends for it, and he's also done a lot of good for charity and people who have been left homeless by natural disasters.

Personally, I think he added a lot of "flavor" to the game. It's only too bad that he didn't meet Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Finals more than once with the Suns.

Someone was interviewing him and asked where he stood politically or something like that. Charles responded that he was a Republican. The interviewer came back and said "A Republican? But aren't they the party of rich?"

And Charles responded: "Well, I'm rich."

:rofl:

what Limbaugh thinks about this. He used to fawn all over Barkley about him being a Black Conservative.

I remember Charles Barkley on The Tonight Show right after he retired from the Houston Rockets.

Jay asked him what he'd be doing next. "Politics maybe? I know you're a Republican."

Barkley half-joked that he'd run for President with "his good friend" Rush Limbaugh as his VP (a comment he repeated frequently).

But I've got a lot of respect for him.

Do we really care what a guy like Sir Charles thinks. This is a guy that threw someone through a glass window front. Basically he's your typical fiscal conservative. He voted for Bush so he could get has tax cut then started to pay attention to all the Neocons bad ideas.

sticking up for John Mellencamp! From the mouths of former basketball stars comes words of wisdom.

"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," Barkley said."

Funny, that's what attracted them to traitorho.

Nixon? Reagan? Poppy Bush? Gingrich? Norquist? Give me a break, Barkley.

i consider you a fair trade for dennis miller