We Lost the Battle for the Republican Party’s Soul Long Ago

[Shirley]

https://twitter.com/NPapantonisWFTV/sta ... wsrc%5Etfw

[jfish26]

Opinion - The party of big, intrusive government? That would be the GOP.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... overnment/

[Work requirements (and documentation of meeting work requirements) as a condition to receiving government aid is] just one way that the push to have government spend less money can wind up making government more punitive and intrusive in people’s lives. Now, let’s consider some of the other things Republicans have been doing lately:

Making it illegal for women to get abortions in Republican-run states, including trying to ban minors from traveling to another state to get an abortion

Trying to stop women in every state from accessing medication abortions

Outlawing medical care for transgender youth that their parents want for them

Outlawing medical care for transgender adults

Banning drag performances

Banning websites Republican legislators don’t like

Banning books from schools and public libraries

Forbidding discussions of systemic racism in schools and universities

Banning diversity efforts in higher education

Attempting to make it illegal for fund managers to consider environmental, social and governance goals in some investment decisions

Making it unlawful for liberal cities in conservative states to pass their own laws according to their residents’ wishes

Going after individual companies that don’t toe the conservative line

In most of these cases, there isn’t much question of how much money the government is going to spend, at least not directly. After all, banning books costs almost nothing; it’s certainly cheaper than educating children. But a party that actually believes in “limited government” doesn’t tell you what you can read, what you can say, what clothes you can wear or what medical care you can get.

There’s a good case to be made that the GOP never really favored limited government; it has always been an idea Republicans apply only to goals and purposes they don’t like in the first place, just as they only begin complaining about the deficit and debt when Democrats are in power.

During his Wall Street remarks, McCarthy used the word “spending” more than 25 times, often modified with words such as “reckless,” “excessive” and “out-of-control.” That’s how he would like to portray government when it’s trying to provide things such as health coverage or food: a gigantic, lumbering beast, squashing your freedom under its massive weight.

But spending money isn’t the only thing that makes government “big.” Today’s Republicans have a vision of a government that provides fewer social services but is vastly more invasive in everyone’s lives. You can call it many things; just don’t be fooled into thinking it’s small.

[KUTradition]

lotsa culture war issues there

but, i thought it was the dems that were stoking such things?

[jfish26]

It's just a good illustration of how the party has fundamentally shifted over the last few generations.

I think it's basically true that we're seeing what happens when culture war bullshit goes from a tool used to animate people to donate/vote, to what they think government is actually supposed to do.

[TDub]

lotsa culture war issues there

but, i thought it was the dems that were stoking such things?

everybody is....its a damn shame

[zsn]

BTW, this work requirement for welfare is just a way for Republicans to put their big donors on welfare. The “enforcement” is basically outsourced to private companies who get paid no matter what they do. It’s a scam run by Republicans to grift legally, like they do with prisons and student loans.

[jfish26]

BTW, this work requirement for welfare is just a way for Republicans to put their big donors on welfare. The “enforcement” is basically outsourced to private companies who get paid no matter what they do. It’s a scam run by Republicans to grift legally, like they do with prisons and student loans.

It's also barbaric and very much an exercise in cutting off noses to spite faces.

[PhDhawk]

lotsa culture war issues there

but, i thought it was the dems that were stoking such things?

everybody is....its a damn shame

Seems to be true of Cancel culture too.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Hey MICH - You know these peeps?

https://twitter.com/Sky_Lee_1/status/16 ... 0127845376

[Shirley]

Hey MICH - You know these peeps?

https://twitter.com/Sky_Lee_1/status/16 ... 0127845376

The Grand Old, "family values", "moral majority" party, that wants to force their religious views and gun fetish down every American's throat, on full display.

But, I feel like this was only a rehearsal, because it's missing the requisite anti-Semitism and racism we've all come to know, and love.

[randylahey]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQM85stq6J ... MyMTA2M2Y=

[Shirley]

"I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too." Thomas Jefferson

Christo-fascism isn't "coming to America", it's already here, in Florida. And in their unrelenting daily quest to outperform each other so they'll make the nightly news cycle on Fox "News", there's every reason to expect this wherever republicans control the levers of power and can get away with it. It fits right in with the republican war on intellectualism they've been waging for the last > 50 years.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."

https://youtu.be/CXr9YcMU_WU

[jhawks99]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQM85stq6J ... MyMTA2M2Y=

Unless you're matt gaetz.

[KUTradition]

so which priest is first to the gallows?

[KUTradition]

but, but…FREE SPEECH!!!

FIRST AMENDMENT!!



https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna80573

[randylahey]

so which priest is first to the gallows?

Make a list and check it twice


Also. Does the church still not allow them to marry or have sex with adults? Cause that's wild. Chosing to be priest doesn't mean you aren't still a person lol

[TDub]

the Christian church eradicated and demonized pagan "seers" as ridiculous but promote priests and monks as direct conduits for god....which is essentially the same thing.

I just have such a hard time getting behind anything that claims to know everything.

I think multiple gods make sense, I think no gods make sense.....I think a single all-powerful one probably makes the least amount of sense.

I have no idea. There is much we dont know....anyone who claims to know otherwise is a damn fool.

[Overlander]

The earth is our true god.

And we piss all over its face.

[jfish26]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQM85stq6J ... MyMTA2M2Y=

This is...not something to be celebrated.

[TDub]

The earth is our true god.

And we piss all over its face.

I think that should be a sign at the next climate protest. But...without the explanation...

it should just say

"We Are R. Kelly"