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Originally Posted by GateandGarden
I feel compelled to make generalizations sometimes. Okay, lots of times.
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I think the reason people make sweeping generalizations about the Republican party is because of the people they elect and choose to represent them, plus the people they embrace like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. When one of them is challenged, they turn to Jesus or 9/11. Pretty sad.
Look at the track record of the Republicans: Dubya, Bush #1, Nixon, Reagan, the list goes on. The only decent Republican president was Gerald Ford and they chose not to re-elect him. Let's not even get into senators and congressmen. Any party that would endorse the likes of Alan Keyes, Rick Santorum, Bill Frist, and The Gropefueher of California is bound to be a ****ty party. BUT - say any of that to a Republican and what do they do? They bring up Clinton. Rather pathetic. We could always bring up their daliances with little boys and other assorted "deviant" activities, but we don't.
Then you have the moderate Republicans who exclaim "The extremists don't speak for all of us," but what they don't realize is that they
do. Moderate Republicans who vote Bush are complicit and putting an extremist in the White House. Moderates who vote Santorum or Keyes are allowing extremists to shape this country to suit their views. Most Republicans I've met will NEVER cross party lines and vote for a candidate who is not a Republican. Even I've crossed Democratic party lines and voted for other candidates and I'm about as extreme as one can get.
My problem is that a lot of Republicans don't look at everything that their precious leaders are doing in their name. They love to espouse Bush love without knowing his record, then the minute you bring his record up, you're a "Bush hater." It's ludicrous. It's as if they feel you cannot question the man and his policies (even though they would be merciless in their attacks if it was a Democrat in the White House) or else you're a hater. I'm not the best exampple of an average Democrat or liberal who doesn't hate the man, just his policies. I truly despise him and make no bones about it. However, what the right-wingers do, and I've seen it on this board, is they take people like me or Carne or Gldstwmn and try to make it as if
we are representative of the Democratic party. They know it's utter ****, but they do it anyways. They take extreme views and pass off the lie that thsoe extreme views are represntative of the Democratic party, therefore it's an evil thing to vote for the Democratic candidate. But, and this is a fact, to make those same generalizations about the Republican party is blasphemy in their eyes. Only they can be the truly vicious ones and get away with it.
Look at the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (Lies, more like) controversy. There is not a single truth to any of the things they've said, yet Republicans are embracing them as if they are speaking the word of god. They cried foul over legitimate questions about Bush's military record, but now they're leading the attack on Kerry's exemplary war record. It's not only blasphemous, it's treasonous and unpatriotic. But it's okay with them because they have no shame. You can say what you want about the Democrats, but they NEVER do anything even remotely vicious like that.
My problem with Republicans lies not only in their lying ways, but their contempt for anyone who isn't a conservative. We're all sinners and are going to hell, in their eyes. They condemn gay people and say they're sinning or violating gods law, then turn around with a ludicrous statement like "I don't hate you, just your actions." Gimme a break. If they were people of god, theyd know that the bible clearly states that they have NO RIGHT to judge another person. Yet they do it anyways and say it's because they're god-fearing people.
They condemn liberals and call us communists, socialists, and other assorted whack labels. They say we're trying to corrupt the country and take it over. Why should I have respect for anyone who associates themselves with the kind of party that says these things? They've even gone so far as to say that gays were the cause of Nazi-ism! This isn't a party that desreves respect, it's a party that deserves extermination, starting with Shrub.