Let's ask the Republican National Committee what they think..

Have you ever wondered what kind of people Republicans are ? I have often wondered what makes them so different from a liberal Democrat.  I have especially wondered how some people, notably  the gays , can fall in line with a party that doesn’t believe they have the right to exist.  To me it’s like a black man joining the KKK, of course the KKK will take his money and take his vote if it furthers their agenda.. but they also want him wiped from existence in their world and would gladly do such a thing if they could.

Those kinds of questions are probably left to a psychiatrist couch. They probably have something to do with a need, going back to high school, to be accepted by what they perceive to be the ‘cool kids’. Why those who are fiscally conservative (and that’s the only reason they are a Republican) can’t just be a Blue-Dog Democrat is beyond me.  So those are questions that just have to remain unanswered.  The one we can now answer  though is more general, more encompassing.

What kind of people are Republicans and what kind of people donate to Republicans?  Well, thanks to the Republican National Committee…we have a list.

stef's diary :: :: Daily Kos

They are people driven by fear, they have extreme negative feelings, hate if you will, against the administration, they are weak and cave into peer pressure, they are brown-nosers who want access, they are ego-driven and most of all they are reactionary.

Ouch. I don’t care who you are, that has to hurt. Then again, most Republicans are probably so ego-driven that they don’t realize that they are in this list, to them this is a list of those ‘other’ Republicans.

I’d ask Mike where he fell in this list that his party has said he is a part of, but he’s so far into the kool-aid that even hearing what his religious leaders really think of him doesn’t matter.  Even  though this is what his own party thinks of him and the other members, he, like the others who are either driven by.. well pick something from  the list.. to turn their backs… Thou shalt have no other God beside the GOP and all.

On a happier note, we know what will be the issues for the coming up elections. Fear and we even know what kind.

stef's diary :: :: Daily Kos

and we got a sneak peek at the signs we can look forward to.

stef's diary :: :: Daily Kos

Fear of Socialism, huh.. that’s original

What’s sad is that there isn’t a single policy issue in the 72 pages of motivational material laid out by the RNC.  But even that is not as sad as not a single Republican noticing that. They are running on hate, peer pressure and reactionary impulses of the easily frightened, what do they need policy for?

The worst part of all is a party that thinks this of it’s members. Why would anyone stand with a group that thinks so little and so negatively of it’s own people?

While others are probably enjoying this issue for their own reasons, I find it insulting and frankly unconscionable, but after seeing everything we have seen since a black man took office.. I can’t deny that in many case the Republicans nailed it. That doesn’t mean I think all of their donors and supporters are like this, not like they obviously do, but you can’t watch Hannity or Beck, listen to Rush or Beck.. support Palin or Bachman and not have a few of those things on the RNC list in your make up. The fact that this kind of ‘Faux news’ and ‘rhetoric’ is so popular only shows the amount of reactionary, ego-driven, easily scared people that have become a part of the Republican party.

One thing is for sure, those must be some damn nice “tchochkes” they give out to donors to make people ignore what their party thinks of them.

**********UPDATE*********

Poltico is reporting that

“Rob Bickhart, the Republican National Committee official behind the embarrassing fundraising presentation reported this week by POLITICO, has been paid at least $370,000 since last June by the RNC in salary and consulting fees

wow..he “makes more than the President of the United States” and as if that wasn’t enough..

Between Bickhart’s salary – he is on pace to earn a little more than $196,000 annually – and his consulting fees – which tallied $240,000 in the second half of last year alone – it appears Bickhart could receive north of $500,000 per year from the RNC

That’s a lot of money given to someone who was only able to come up with a ‘fear’ campaign geared towards the ego-driven, reactionaries.

Here’s a question, I expect Mike and some other Republucans to believe him, but do we really believe that Michael Steele didn’t know how his very own “finance director” was planning to “urge top donors and fundraisers to use “fear” of President Barack Obama to raise cash”? While labeling party-members that way? Isn’t one of Steele’s job fundraiser? If so, would he really not know how the RNC was going to do that?  I don’t know that I buy that.

Not that Steele will lose his job, they need him as the scapegoat if they don’t take back the House and Senate like they have predicted. I do wonder how being labeled these horrible things by their own party will affect fund-raising  and thus their ability to finance the type of  “fear” campaigns they plan on running.

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Hoping for some Audacity

President Obama, you were not given the Oval office and the Congress solely for the purpose of trying to appease or make friends with the party that shut out an entire political section of the country for 8 years. It’s time to start acting like the majority elected you to act.

Yes we can!

You were elected and given the keys to your success because you promised us change during your campaign. You were given a friendly congress because we knew the losing party would do everything in their power to discredit and demonize you. To prevent the loss of any political capital, you were given massive support, money, votes and Congress… so what are you waiting for? Use the tools you’ve been given already! You have tried and failed at extending your hand across the aisle and now it is time to give them the finger. This failure, like the disastrous condition of every aspect of the government, foreign and domestic, is not your fault. You were given a ‘Handy-man’s special’ and while you’ve made some improvement just by being there, you have a long way to go before this country is back up to ‘code’

Mr. Obama, you expected to come into Washington and work with adults, only to find nothing but spoiled children running through the aisles.  Every day you spend trying to bring your opponents into your circle, they are spending theirs  eating your political capital  like a fat girl eating chocolate flavored bacon-bits.

Change you can believe in!

Had the Holocaust Museum shooter been Muslim, your presidency would have been over. You would have not only been the country’s 1st black president, but after weeks of allowing Dick Cheney to call you every form of dangerous and venting about  your lack in the ability to keep us safe, you would have become the country’s fastest Lame Duck President ever.You have let this kind of abuse go on for too long and now you are seeing a drop in your poll numbers.

I understand your strategy of letting them become the party of “NO”. I understand that the more ‘right’ they go the more ‘centered’  you look and the more Independent voters you pick up.  But what I don’t understand is this need for all ‘political correctness'( so to speak) in the face of such outrageousness.

“It may include groups and individuals

that are dedicated to a single-issue,

such as opposition to abortion or immigration,”

the warning says.”

A few weeks ago your Head of Homeland Security had to  apologize for a report that said ‘right-wing extremists’ were on the rise and their chatter was reaching higher levels.   The GOP went apoplectic in its anger over such extreme “Liberal MSM-type” spin and accusations. Even some Democrats screamed about being ‘dumbfounded’ by this report. Michael Steele of the R.N.C told Fox news

“This is the height of insult here,I mean to segment out Americans who dissent from this administration, to segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration, and labeling them as terrorists and then to call into question the service of the men and women who are right now standing on that wall defending our freedom and linking them to terrorism while you refuse to call the terrorists — the real terrorists — terrorists, to me it’s the height of insult.”

In the height of irony, not “insults” as Mr. Steele put it, this report that the GOP went into seizures over, warned  that

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in “rightwing extremist activity,” saying the economic recession, the election of America’s first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.

A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines “rightwing extremism in the United States” as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority

Since that report and the GOP’s temper tantrum over it, we’ve seen not one, but  two atrocious acts that we were warned about. While the party of “NO” has a record in ignoring threats and warnings when given to them,  that doesn’t mean you, Mr. President, should have your people apologize to them for being right.

Doctor Tiller was murdered in a sanctuary, his place of worship by exactly the person the report warned against. A week later, James Von Brunn, who was a Navy officer during World War II and after leaving his notebook with a list of places he planned to hit and a statement saying “You want my weapons – this is how you’ll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews,” decided to shoot anyone in his way.

I know saying “We told you so” is not the politically savy thing to do, but had Mr. Brunn been of Arab decent, how fast do  you think Dick Cheney would have been on Fox news saying exactly that?

Misters Brunn and Roeder, Dr. Tiller’s murderer, are not the first extremists to meltdown since you took took office. As I’ve blogged about before, another unstable radical believed in the same insane,violent and dangerous rhetoric of the Right when they said you were going take  away his guns. So he went out and murdered 3 police officers.

“Friends said 23 year-old Richard Poplawski feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.”

Mr. President, it’s time to put an end to this trying to reach across the aisle.  As PAUL KRUGMAN of the New York times says; There is an ‘upsurge of right-wing extremism’ that is being “fed by the conservative media and political establishment.” Your ideal world in which Republican and Democrats can live in harmony is a wishful Utopia that will not exist until a generation has passed from the extreme partisanship the Bush Administration spread throughout this country.

There are some of course, like Shep Smith on the FNC channel, who see this hate and are fearful of the level in which it is being amped up to.

But just as fast as he can bring attention to this hate and anger, others paint over it by saying Smith is ‘”whining and moaning and complaining about emails”, while making it about themself and in then  justifing  the hate they and others  spread throughout this country. You cannot reach out to these types of people. Their motives are clear, with blood on their hands from their ‘hate speech’ they only speak louder,harder, angrier. They put their hands up and say “Wasn’t me” like they haven’t been the one rattling the cages of most extreme of their extremists. They are spoiled and dangerous children who cannot be appeased by rational thought and/or actions. These are not the moderate GOP persons you want in your circle. Even those people see what is being done and are appalled by it, but they cannot stop it because they understand this ‘hate’ will spread to them next.

“If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican,

I’d go with Rush Limbaugh.

I admire your tenacity in continuously  trying  to bridge the partisan gap in the face of such mounting and dangerous rhetoric, but there comes a time when it’s OK to use the popularity you’ve been given. You promised change, you have been given all the tools necessary to bring about this change, you do not need 100% cooperation when 51% wins the race. We who you convinced to  stand behind you, who believed in you and voted for you are still standing here waiting to support you. We are waiting for you to remember what you promised us…. Yes we can Mr. President… Yes we can.

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