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This Is Not Progress, It’s A Pathology
Please forgive me for visiting yet again the clown car that the Republican Party has become, but I can’t help myself. Writing about these wackjobs is like shooting fish in a barrel, although I have to occasionally remind myself that this is not a political version of The Office but a bunch of . . . er, clowns who will stoop as low as it takes to try to deny our Islamofascist president an encore.
I initially welcomed Herman Cain’s entry into the race for the GOP presidential nomination knowing nothing about him other than he seemed to be a smart guy who had made millions selling pizzas. And huzzah huzzah huzzah! An African American was taking on the first African-American president. Now that’s progress!
Well, no its not.
This is because the right wingers who have the keys to the clown car have embraced a man who happens to be black (and in fact argues that he’s “blacker” than Obama) who is utterly and absolutely unqualified to be president but can spew out vapid policy ideas with a toothy Cheshire cat-like grin.
That the serial allegations that Cain came on to women in unwelcome ways and in one case groped a woman in return for the promise of a job have hardly affected his standing in the polls speaks volumes about the GOP’s disdain for women just as the Penn State students who rioted after Joe Paterno was fired spoke volumes about how the axing of a geezer in a blue and white windbreaker was more important to them than child rape.
I speak specifically of the white Southern men who pretty much represent the GOP’s shrunken base.
Many of them are career racists who become apoplectic at the thought of blacks getting near their woman folk but think that Cain’s alleged sexual assault of a white woman is okey-dokey. (And don’t give me any guff about calling it sexual assault.) To think that only a generation ago they wouldn’t let Cain use the same water fountain or lunch counter and only a few generations before that would have lynched him for even looking at a white woman.
This is not progress, its a pathology.
31 Responses to “This Is Not Progress, It’s A Pathology”
You are NOT forgiven.
dduck:
Well, at least we’ll have you to entertain us after the debates are over.
Hush money and settlements say Cain is more perpetrator than victim.
At least your not forgotten, Mr Mullen.
A rather “strong” post, Shaun. But I do have to fully agree on this:
“That the serial allegations that Cain came on to women in unwelcome ways and in one case groped a woman in return for the promise of a job have hardly affected his standing in the polls speaks volumes about the GOP’s disdain for women just as the Penn State students who rioted after Joe Paterno was fired spoke volumes about how the axing of a geezer in a blue and white windbreaker was more important to them than child rape”
Could not have said it better.
You guys are prolific writers, right? So what do writer’s call it when a less serious charge against, person #1, is put in the same sentence as a very much more serious charge against person #2? Sort of like a traffic accident and running someone down with your car; or is that a fair comparison. Does that downgrade, or seem to make person #1 a worse person?
Walking on eggshells, and, just askin.
You are a far better man than I Gunga Din. Thanks for trying.
When you have been banished, I will still be poking a stick at some folks.
Grow some smarts.
“Playing the role of gnat does not appeal to me.” Ha, I prefer to think of myself as Jiminy Cricket.
I’m still not seeing how you can say, or how Dorian can agree, that the Cain scandal and the fact that he is not yet at 0% in the polls “speaks volumes about the GOP’s disdain for women” and not also make the same argument about Democrats’ initial defense and subsequent and continuing excusal of Bill Clinton who committed much worse offenses than Cain is accused of. But we’ve been over that so I don’t expect an explanation this time either.
And your concluding argument contradicts itself. Are “many of” the GOP base racist or not, in your view?
AD, please don’t throw them off track with silly facts.
It may appear that some authors’ views of, and behavior toward,r conservatives and Republicans is the real disease here.
Not a disease, a right in political debates. All’s fair in love, politics and a free forum.
KP, This forum would be boring as all hell if there were only moderates (and, who really is one?).
I like the opposing views with their glimmers of truth and the manipulative rhetoric, so I can better understand motives of the players.
You are correct. We agree. I will work on developing a sense of humor. I thought the authors were seriously trying to change minds not simply win power and influence among other ideologues that agree with them.
Speaking of a sense of humor, I find it funny that none of the right leaning comments in this thread have actually responded to the point Shaun makes.
It’s easy to understand why… Shaun’s right on the money and nutters would rather wallow in excrement then admit to the truths in his post.
“Please forgive me for visiting yet again”
SK, Shaun admitted up front that the subject might be overdone, so why not score him on style.
duck, Is this your admission that you’d rather wallow in excrement or are you just trying to help me make my point?
Edit to add: Why not debate him on content? (god, there is some great quote on this but i’ve only 20 seconds)
At this point the excrement is flowing from your direction, and you know it.
The subject is overdone, everybody has made his/her points. To continue is wallowing in an old story.
So is this particular thread.
Steve K, speaking for myself, my comments are not right leaning. They are straight forward. This is not a right or left issue anymore than Penn State is a right or left political issue.
As to Shaun’s point: I agree with him that Republicans, Independents and Democrats should hold those bullying or attacking women accountable. I am 100% behind Mullen and Marsh on these issues. I am a man who has two daughters and has been married for 25 years. I see what they have endured.
All sane people agree that rape and harrasment are wrong. But when we get into specifics accusations it might be best to go slowly. I think the Duke case was a good example. I can tell you for certain, I will not vote for Cain, nor would I vote for Clinton if what is said about them is true.
I don’t see this as a right or left issue. That is where I think the author errors. I hope that clarifies my position and answers Shaun’s article. Thanks.
SteveK,
To clarify, am I nutter? If you are going to insult my character and/or sanity, I’d rather you come right out and do it without hiding behind ambiguity. If you didn’t mean to include me in your broad brush, then I’d ask that you show me the same respect that you ask others to show and respond to my counter-points.
Regarding the points in Shaun’s post, I believe I’ve responded to them. Except for the point that people tend to defend those that they have come to respect, which is of course obvious and indisputable.
Beyond that, his points are: Cain remaining one of the leading contenders demonstrates that Republicans hate women, and that Republicans are racists (or selective racists, as demonstrated by the fact that they are not acting as racists here, which somehow supports Shaun’s point that they are racist?). I’ve responded to both of those.
Boy howdy adelinesdad… I don’t think I mentioned you but you’re more than welcome to feel bad about the comment you posted.
With Cains history would you trust him with Adeline… or with OUR country?
Mr. “D. Duck”: Is what’s fair (all) for some different than for others here?
Hello there
read the commenter’s rules at the top of the page. This is NOT a place for attacking writers, commenters. Read the rules. Follow them for civil discussion and all will be well. If not, there are literally millions of places on the web that allow incivility. If you dont like the TMV rules, there are all those many other places. Others hold to the rules here. No one will be given an exception. We work to keep this space as laid out in the commenter’s rules which have been in place for many years. Follow the rules and all will be well. I am saying last warning. Dont want to read and follow the rules? Your choice.
I would just like to say that this forum was MUCH better when it had more moderates. Many of them have left, sadly. The first platform change really hurt this site. We lost a lot of moderates when people couldn’t post for a long period of time.
While I don’t think it is right to say that all Republicans are racists or sexists… I would go far enough to say that a large concentration of such behavior can find found in older southern men, black and white.
This sort of historical cultural learned behavior takes generations to defeat. With each new generation of educated southern men, we see less and less of these attitudes….I can also say the same for the mid-west, at least in certain corners…and believe me, I’ve lived it. Ever walked into a house and see a KKK flag hanging on the wall???? I have.
I would not vote for Bill Clinton again either (in fact, I voted for Perot in the 1996 election). However, let’s remember that Cain is accused of sexual harassment while Clinton was accused of asking a witness to lie in court about a (seemingly) consensual act. Those are not the same thing. I am not defending Clinton, I am simply pointing out what the record shows.
As for the hypocrisy of many of the conservative pundits and law makers; one only has to watch Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show to see that in action.
SteveK. No, you didn’t mention me specifically. That was my point.
Rcoutme, you are correct with regards to the impeachment. However, Clinton *was* accused of sexual harassment and settled out of court (sounds familiar). Furthermore, his extramarital affairs, while not illegal, certainly would garner the disaffection of anyone claiming to be a champion of respect for women.
Some Democrats do hold his offenses against him, but the fact remains that he remains a beloved figure by the Democratic party as a whole.
With regards to Jon Stewart, I am a fan and he frequently hits the nail on the head, the way no pundit could, on hypocrisy and generally stupidity in politics and the media. And there is plenty of it.
He also, as I think he would admit, distorts, exaggerates, and takes things out of context in order to get a laugh. So, it’s a double-edge sword and I wouldn’t say we “only” need to watch him.
Sentry said: Mr. “D. Duck”: Is what’s fair (all) for some different than for others here?
It just seems that way sometimes.
But no doubt, the posters do get in first licks, especially the ones that use inflammatory headlines.
@adelinesdad: I did not suggest that one should only watch the Daily Show. In fact, I generally assume that anyone reading the comments section of TMV gets news from real news sources (while Jon S constantly reminds his viewers that his show is a FAKE news show). I was suggesting that if one only watched the Daily Show (and nothing else) they would still get a clear idea of the hypocrisy.
I watch the Bill Maher show in addition to O’Reilly and Maddow, among others. Last nite, Maher had two of the most die-hard liberals on, Barney Frank and (wait a minute,having a Perry moment) and Chris Mathews (I asked my wife). Fortunately, Andrew Sullivan, who I now have renewed respect for, showed some balance and spunk among this liberal bastion of rhetoric.
P.S. I think Colbert is the best of the comic-pundit-political crowd.
Sentry, the only good thing about your scenario is that Obama is currently afraid to do a lot of things and keeps kicking a lot of cans down the road (today, for instance, the oil pipeline job creator), because he is a only trying to get reelected. If he wins, he will have had four years to learn the ropes and he MAY act more like a president and less like a campaigner.