Florida State Seminoles

[bluetick]

Yokels vs elites isn't great but it beats mouthbreathers vs bedwetters.

Who among us have never at one time breathed through their mouth or wet a bed?

[Professor Tiger]

Still a better percentage than the former, of which 100 percent are complete and utter idiots and getting worse by the day.

There it is. Right there. This^ should be the new slogan of the Democrat party. And these smarter-than-anyone-else, self-declared "geniuses" wonder why they and their party are so despised by people who don't live within 25 miles of an ocean.

[bluetick]

Reflections on How the GOP Became the Stupid Party

1. Republicans adopted an anti-intellectual strategy. Political historians have noted the long-term political consequences of Richard Nixon’s southern strategy which peeled Southern white voters — particularly evangelical Christians — away from the Democratic Party. What hasn’t received as much attention is the fact that southern evangelicals are not intellectual: they believe in the literal true of the Bible; for that reason, they believe the universe was created in seven days and decry evolution and science. Writing in The Weekly Standard, Henry Olsen observed the GOP southern strategy caused the “dumbing down of conservatism.” “Evangelicals have long shied away from engagement with the less-devout world... as a group they tend to lack intellectual curiosity and rigor.”

2. Republicans accepted racism. When the GOP adopted the southern strategy, they tacitly accepted racism. With Trump this racism has come out in the open. Writing in Psychology Today, David Niose linked anti-intellectualism and racism:

Critically thinking individuals recognize racism as wrong and undesirable, even if they aren’t yet able to eliminate every morsel of bias from their own psyches or from social institutions. An anti-intellectual society, however, will have large swaths of people who are motivated by fear, susceptible to tribalism and simplistic explanations, incapable of emotional maturity, and prone to violent solutions.

Ana Marie Cox commented on the state of today’s Republican Party: “You can’t spend 40 years tacitly making racists feel welcome in your party and expect the intellectual atmosphere not to suffer, or for that anti-intellectualism to stay bounded with race.”

In 2015, Donald Trump brought racism out of the GOP closet. He damned "political correctness" and brought his hate-filled bigotry into mainstream political discourse.

3.Republicans enabled hate. Writing in Mother Jones, David Corn observed that starting with Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential campaign, GOP politicians and their cohorts in the conservative media launched a campaign of hatred towards President Obama (and scorched-earth obstructionism of his agenda): “It’s been a long run of Republicans accepting, encouraging, and exploiting uncivil discourse, anti-Obama hatred, and right-wing anger.”

The New York Times observed that Donald Trump fed into this hatred by encouraging violence at his rallies.

Writing in The Weekly Standard, Henry Olsen observed that over the past two decades Republicans have created “an alternative conservative media universe... [that] led to a conservative ghetto where well-meaning conservatives can live without ever coming into contact with people who disagree with them.”

Since 1874 an elephant has been the Republican symbol. A better symbol for the current Republican Party would be the mushroom: voters who are kept in the dark and fed bullshit.

[bluetick]

(cont)

4. The Republican rank-and-file separated from the Washington elite and embraced anarchy. The candidacy of Donald Trump is a logical outcome of the Tea-Party movement that first decried the Washington establishment and then bemoaned the failure of Republican congressional leadership to keep promises made during the 2012 and 2014 elections (abolish Obamacare; reduce the size of government; etc.).

The GOP rank-and-file embraced Trump because he is an outsider — someone with no government experience — who embraces the core Republican values: anti-intellectualism, racism, nativism, and sexism. They love Trump because he is opposed to political correctness and tells them it is okay to be white.

First came the stupid party. And then came Donald Trump.

Broad strokes, nothing too specific. Nothing about climate change deniers or the anti-choice/anti-contraception/anti-sex ed crowd. Nothing about continually voting against one's own self-interest ( tax giveaways for the rich come immediately to mind).

[Toemeesleather]

The past several years under Mr. Obama have not been kind to Democrats. When he took office in 2009, Democrats had an effective 58-seat majority in the Senate, had a staggering 256 seats in the House and held 28 governorships.
They lost the House and ceded the majority of governorships in 2010, held serve in 2012 with Mr. Obama’s re-election, then lost control of the Senate in 2014 and control of the White House this year. All told, Democrats have shed 63 House seats, 10 Senate seats and 12 governorships.



Not to mention several state houses going red......ALLLL because of racism.....got it.

[DooKSucks]

Clinton was a yokel, but to his credit he didn't want to remain one...

True. I guess I should edit to say something along the lines of wanting to rise above to some elite level or what the fuck ever

[crashcourse]

voters who are kept in the dark and fed bullshit.

that seems to be a running theme when you watch 95% of the media stories
almost everyone out there wants to be the organization that finds the missing link with russia that takes down trump
now because of fake story after fake story credibility from those doing the feeding ie 95% of the media is who provides the bullshit

and tells them it is okay to be white.

that's a message that certainly has been in jeopardy for awhile. being white automatically makes me racist doesn't it? voting republican or voting for trump labeled me as a racist a long time ago if you listen to the media. and labeled me the traits of "anti-intellectualism, racism, nativism, and sexism." labeled 1/2 the country that actually

after reading donna brazilles book looks like the dems are the stupid corrupt sexist racist elitists kept in the dark and fed bullshit group

[Professor Tiger]

The past several years under Mr. Obama have not been kind to Democrats. When he took office in 2009, Democrats had an effective 58-seat majority in the Senate, had a staggering 256 seats in the House and held 28 governorships.
They lost the House and ceded the majority of governorships in 2010, held serve in 2012 with Mr. Obama’s re-election, then lost control of the Senate in 2014 and control of the White House this year. All told, Democrats have shed 63 House seats, 10 Senate seats and 12 governorships.

Not to mention several state houses going red......ALLLL because of racism.....got it.

Correct. The "Everybody who is not a Democrat is a racist sexist homophobic Islamaphobic climate-denying deplorable religious nutcase yokel!" campaign slogan has been in full swing since Obama got elected. In that time, they have lost the House, the Senate, the White House, and too many state/local offices to count. So as a campaign slogan, it would appear not to be working. In fact, it is turning the Midwest red. I sincerely hope they never figure that out, and keep shrieking that same old tired cant, always hoping for a different result.

[Saint]

Still a better percentage than the former, of which 100 percent are complete and utter idiots and getting worse by the day.

There it is. Right there. This^ should be the new slogan of the Democrat party. And these smarter-than-anyone-else, self-declared "geniuses" wonder why they and their party are so despised by people who don't live within 25 miles of an ocean.

Except that I am not a Democrat, never have been, and live about 100 miles of the ocean. I live right in the middle of complete and utter idiocy. I'm not a fancy dan like yourself.

[Cletus]

In this country, at least for the moment, the yokels elect the elites - which is a good thing since at least half of the latter are complete and utter idiots.

I can think of no better way to stick it to the elitist fat cats than by electing Donald Trump president. He's truly a man of the people and has your best interests at heart.

[Professor Tiger]

I spoke of elites who are complete and utter idiots. Here is the inaugural inductee into the "Hall of Fame" for that genre, Ted Kennedy. An article in GQ from way back in 1990:

https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile

Excerpts:

As Gaviglio enters the room, the six-foot-two, 225-plus-pound Kennedy grabs the five-foot-three, 103-pound waitress and throws her on the table. She lands on her back, scattering crystal, plates and cutlery and the lit candles. Several glasses and a crystal candlestick are broken. Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodd's lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. As he is doing this, Loh enters the room. She and Gaviglio both scream, drawing one or two dishwashers. Startled, Kennedy leaps up. He laughs. Bruised, shaken and angry over what she considered a sexual assault, Gaviglio runs from the room. Kennedy, Dodd and their dates leave shortly thereafter, following a friendly argument between the senators over the check.

...and...

In a downtown office, a former congressional page tells of her surprise meeting with Kennedy three years ago. She was 16 then. It was evening and she and her 16-year-old page, an attractive blonde, were walking down the Capitol steps on their way home from work when Kennedy's limo pulled up and the senator opened the door. In the backseat stood a bottle of wine on ice. Leaning his graying head out the door, the senator popped the question: Would one of the girls care to join him for dinner? No. How about the other? The girls said no thanks and the senator zoomed off. Kennedy, the formal page said, made no overt sexual overtures and was "very careful to make it seem like nothing out of the ordinary." It is possible that Kennedy did not know that the girls were underage or that they were pages and, as such, were under the protection of Congress, which serves in loco parentis. Nevertheless, the former page said she did find Kennedy's invitation surprising. "He didn't even know me," she says. "I knew this kind of stuff happened, but I didn't expect it to happen to me."

I don't recall any Democrats demanding Ted Kennedy resign from the Senate for that.

[bluetick]

Can't have a good whataboutism w/o a dead Kennedy.

Fearless prediction: tomorrow Alabama will vote Moore into office and the repercussions will be felt and measured for a long, long time.

[Cletus]

I spoke of elites who are complete and utter idiots. Here is the inaugural inductee into the "Hall of Fame" for that genre, Ted Kennedy. An article in GQ from way back in 1990:

https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile

Excerpts:

As Gaviglio enters the room, the six-foot-two, 225-plus-pound Kennedy grabs the five-foot-three, 103-pound waitress and throws her on the table. She lands on her back, scattering crystal, plates and cutlery and the lit candles. Several glasses and a crystal candlestick are broken. Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodd's lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. As he is doing this, Loh enters the room. She and Gaviglio both scream, drawing one or two dishwashers. Startled, Kennedy leaps up. He laughs. Bruised, shaken and angry over what she considered a sexual assault, Gaviglio runs from the room. Kennedy, Dodd and their dates leave shortly thereafter, following a friendly argument between the senators over the check.

...and...

In a downtown office, a former congressional page tells of her surprise meeting with Kennedy three years ago. She was 16 then. It was evening and she and her 16-year-old page, an attractive blonde, were walking down the Capitol steps on their way home from work when Kennedy's limo pulled up and the senator opened the door. In the backseat stood a bottle of wine on ice. Leaning his graying head out the door, the senator popped the question: Would one of the girls care to join him for dinner? No. How about the other? The girls said no thanks and the senator zoomed off. Kennedy, the formal page said, made no overt sexual overtures and was "very careful to make it seem like nothing out of the ordinary." It is possible that Kennedy did not know that the girls were underage or that they were pages and, as such, were under the protection of Congress, which serves in loco parentis. Nevertheless, the former page said she did find Kennedy's invitation surprising. "He didn't even know me," she says. "I knew this kind of stuff happened, but I didn't expect it to happen to me."

I don't recall any Democrats demanding Ted Kennedy resign from the Senate for that.

It was a different and worse world then. If this kind of stuff were happening now, like you know with Trump and Moore, and a political party were turning a blind eye to it, then you'd have a real story.

[Toemeesleather]

The real story is karma.

[Saint]

The real story is karma.

Actually, the real story is irony. As in the sore anuses of those who are going to get fucked by the GOP tax bill, end of net neutrality and a host of other things too numbingly numerous to enumerate. Maybe then the folks who thought Trump was the answer will figure out there is never going to be a politician that is the answer. But probably not.

[Professor Tiger]

"Whataboutism" is a Latvian word that means, "Quit pointing out my party''s rampant hypocrisy!"

As I have said before, I am not a Moore supporter. If I was still a registered Alabama voter (like I have been, twice, most recently three years ago), I would not vote for him. Not because of the fake news hysterics, which just encourage me to vote for him. But people I know in Alabama politics - Republicans - who are in a position to know, say he is exactly like his critics portray him. I believe them, not the fake news networks. I would rather he lost, even at the cost of giving the Democrats a Senate seat in one of the reddest states in the nation. A perv like that does not belong in the Senate.

But, if Moore does win, it would ALMOST be worth it to see the MSM heads explode, as the people of Alabama give a great big beautiful middle finger to the fake news media. ALMOST worth it. But not quite.

[Saint]

It's not the perv part or even the blatant racism part that makes me dislike Moore. It's the fact that he's a complete and utter asshole who thinks he's something special. All the other shit is window dressing, even his fake Christian bullshit, for his assholery. Fuck that guy. I'd kick him in the pussy if I ever saw him hanging around the mall.

[Cletus]

You believe his critics but not the "fake news" who are saying the exact same things as his critics (and have done the legwork to verify the stories)? That's odd.

[Cletus]

And, while I know I can't prove this, I'm sure you would vote for him if you were given the chance. He's been your guy since he was illegally bulling ten commandments monuments and denying gay marriage rights. But, when he said the US was better off when we had slavery, that's when he really earned your vote.

[sardis]

"Akayed Ullah, 27, chose the location because of its Christmas-themed posters..."

Well, we just need to take down those posters then.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/nyre ... quare.html