Poll: Republicans: Your take

[DevilWolf47]

The republican party as of late is nothing short of a perverted joke. There is no central intelligence or creed, most of the Republican policies seem to be "Fuck anyone who disagrees with us." With their recent spending cuts specifically targeting NPR, family planning, and the EPA and their obscene anti-union laws, the Republicans can't even claim to be defending the Constitution anymore.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

I am a conservative, and a Republican.

With that said, I believe in government staying out of our lives as much as possible, and less taxes.

I believe that if we, as a nation, are punched (so to speak), we should punch back ten times as hard, and knock the guilty party on their collective butts. Otherwise, we should keep to our own business.

I believe that the welfare system is a crutch that is slowly destroying our country, and it needs significant changes. I also believe our healthcare system needs to be fixed, but Obamacare is like trying to help someone with mental issues by giving them a lobotomy.

I agree with a previous poster, this is most DEFINITELY a left leaning crowd here on these forums, and thats their right. However, you dont see me constantly on here slamming their views and opinions, like I see my conservative beliefs getting trashed almost daily. At least I do come across a poster every now and then that I might debate with, and it stays civil, and interesting. I do enjoy those instances.

 

[BreakfastMan]

First off, shouldn't this be in R&P?

Second, I really do not care if you are a republican or not. Yes, you might hold many contrary views to me, but that does not mean we cannot be friends, or I consider you an imbecile/racist/homophobe/warmonger. Just so long as you are respectful of my views, I would not mind talking to you about them. That is my take in a nutshell.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I lean more left than right, but I don't understand how anyone can not take a stance of moderation when it comes to politics. Republican and Democratic extremism are both ridiculous in different ways. Each side has good points, now let's work together and compromise. Too bad that never happens.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

i don't have any problem whatsoever with Republicans who are consistent in their views. i.e. saying they're in favor of small government, lower taxes, and greater personal freedoms. what drives me crazy is when people say they're against big government, but then fight to keep gay marriage (and other consensual bedroom issues) illegal. newsflash: smaller government=less government interference in people's lives.

of course, the same applies to Democrats.

 

[Gardenia]

Republicans: A few smart, educated people who may or may not be right in their opinions, and a whole fuckton on uneducated, bible-thumping racists.
At least that's what it looks like from over the pond.

 

[Hyper-space]

I am a conservative by nature, yet at the same time I understand that liberal individuals have helped further society along as well. Both sides have good and bad natures to be honest, the problem is that we're dictated by the extremes more often than not. I know (at least from a US perspective) that most people often see the Republicans as holding back the true potential of this country whereas most often view the democrats as those who've "helped" the poor and the middle class, but overall my viewpoint is lenient towards both sides.

When will people learn that moderation is the only way to go? its the same with capitalism and socialism, they both work best when joined together, 50/50.

 

[Meowshi]

Republicans talk a lot then don't actually do much. Democrats talk a lot and then go and fuck things up. I prefer neither.

Basically, i know Republicans are a little more traditional/right wing and Democrats are more progressive/left wing. Is that right?

I can't say i'm particularly savvy with the intricate ins and outs of the republicans and the democrats (i'm from the UK). But i watched this guy on You Tube called Bill O Reilly and i thought he was a complete tosser for the way he treats people on his shows. Is he a republican or a democrat? I'm not going to base my whole opinion structure on that one person, but i'd just like to know.

Bill O'Reilly is non-partisan.

Oh right, thanks!

No, Bill is a republican. I don't know where you get the idea that he is non-partisan...

(protip: if there's a Fox News logo located in the vicinity of a newscaster, then they are a Republican)

Yeah and if any other American news show is on you can assume they are liberals.

Besides MSNBC, who are you talking about?
HLN is actually quite conservative and CNN is definitely centrist.

 

[Fawcks]

The republican voters / individuals who believe in that ideology: No problem with, so long as they're educated and actually KNOW the facts and logical basis.

People who scream death panels / whatever Fox News feeds them, and the Republican elected officials, I hate. The ignorant ones because they're... Well, ignorant, and the elected officials because they're simply not honest. They're bought. 100%.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I am a ?Republican? in the sense that I usually vote for that party and am registered as such, but I am more of a Traditional Constitutionalist Conservative Libertarian in political views.
I worked on a Republican Party campaign in Missouri back in ?08 (State Senate Elections), but I did so because the candidate wanted a freeze on the estate tax and property taxes, two things that I supported. I would vote for a Democrat if I agreed with their views, more so than the Republican candidate views.

 

[Callate]

Individual Republicans I've known have been perfectly reasonable, decent, likable people. And while I trend strongly liberal, I recognize the need for political balance, especially on a fiscal level.

But on a party-wide level, many of the most prominent members are deplorable, and the scorched-earth, anything-to-win tactics are despicable.

To be clear, the Democrats unquestionably use some less than wonderful tactics as well, making small issues into big ones and so on. But when it comes to wholesale demonization of not just individuals but entire classes of people, the GOP takes the cake.

 

[Wrds]

You talk about coming out as a republican as if it we're an STD.

Its just a political party, and in the past couple decades both parties have been pretty similar once in office.

 

[Meowshi]

There's a lot of talk about biasis in the media these days: Walmart underpays women, black men are targetted by the police, straight men are being corrupted by Dragon Age, etc. Today though I want to ask you about initial reactions to a simple demographic, one that encompasses about 50% of Americans - Republicans. Sure, that number's a bit off, but that's not really the point of this thread, what is is how you feel towards Republicans. What is your gut reaction to them? What is your perception? Would you date one, and would you feel different if a friend "came out" as being one to you? I ask this to you Escapists because let's be honest, this is a very Left-leaning website, and I'm curious just how much weight the "do not judge" mentality holds in the face of the Right Wing.

I wouldn't trust anybody who identified with any aspect of politics like that. Someone who says they're a republican, or a democrat, or left/right wing, or a this or that or whatever, to me, all that tells me is that they've restricted their thinking to a particular narrow window defined by somebody else, and excluded the potential for other ideas to enter their head. To me that's a closed-minded individual. I wouldn't shun them but I wouldn't necessarily believe anything they say either.

ps thread belongs in R & P.

Or they are just someone who largely agrees with the ideologies of the Democrates or Republicans.

In my opinion, you are the one being very close-minded.

 

[FactorySlave]

I'm an a very right winged conservative, but only in so far as basic definitions or in a theological way; that is to say that I beleive in the ideal of Conservative meaning the government is small and mostly unintrusive when possible.

In a realistic sense, I don't vote. Theres never been a politician that's swayed me, or proved they aren't going to bumble along and not really do anything.

Nor would I necessarily vote Right Wing if I did indeed vote.

 

[Togs]

Snip

It wasnt a haiku, it was me trying to sum up what I believe in short slogans.

And I disagree with you so severely I dont think Id be able to to do so with decorum, so Im going to try and keep it short- noone in history has achieved anything without relying on others- the richest businessman got rich off their workers, the most powerful politicians can only do their job thanks to their secretaries and civil servants.
Im not demonising hierarchy, its a fundemental aspect of human nature and in my opinion its where the left goes wrong, I just want those on top to remember their responsiblity to those beneath them and to remember their basic human compassion.

(think I failed on the short thing)

 

[Meowshi]

No, Bill is a republican. I don't know where you get the idea that he is non-partisan...

(protip: if there's a Fox News logo located in the vicinity of a newscaster, then they are a Republican)

I'm sorry, I don't even know how to respond to such an ignorant statement. I guess you get a point for blowing my fucking mind.

Ok, maybe not all the newscasters are conservative; but any time the channel provides political commentary, it's a safe bet that its from a republican/conservate/right-wing viewpoint. O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity, Huckabee... the list goes on.

O'Reilly is non-partisan. Beck is a Libertarian. Hannity and Huckabee are Republicans. But that's like, what 4 people out of everyone they employ? And you only got 2 right?

You're being disingenuous. They are all conservatives, regardless of what they personally (and erroneously) identify themselves as.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

I honestly don't mind conservatives from Australia, Europe, Canada or Asia, but the US is such a massive leap to the right of everyone else's political spectrum, that the republican party are just unimaginably right-wing for us. Heck, even the Democrats are unimaginably right-wing for us. You guys call your new health-care system 'socialist' when our most far-right party would never ever even consider putting in something like that because it would be too far to the right for Australians - national and tax-funded healthcare and education are just taken for granted as the minimum for a civilised society. Similarly, capital punishment has been banned for many decades because it is barbaric. You have a tax system where low income earners can end up paying a greater proportion of their income into tax than the high income earners. Your infrastructure is falling apart because you won't pay enough tax to maintain a first world nation, and yet your people are so poorly informed that they think they are over-taxed. They've had a hand in many of the world's atrocities during the latter half of the 20th century: the overthrow of democractic governments in south america, arming and supporting brutal dictators in Cuba (pre-Castro, being happy to support the prior military regime that was far worse than Castro, and that's saying something, and then suddenly playing the democracy card when the military regime is replaced by a less awful marxist one), Venezuela, Iraq and elsewhere, a policy of 'American Exceptionalism' which by itself negates any notion of respect for other nations/peoples, need I go on?

By logical syllogism, that makes the supporters of such atrocities - i.e. the Republicans and all but the most left-leaning of the Democrats, barbaric. Again, I'm not particularly leftist by most first-world standards. It's just that the US really is founded on a different set of political values than the rest of us, and some of it's core principles are utterly unacceptable.