The caption of this post was too good to pass up - especially since it is true in its description of far too many of today's Republicans. Sadly, the party base embraces ignorance - - actually, celebrates it - gushes bigotry, and is motivated b fear: fear of gays, fear of blacks, fear of Hispanics, fear of Muslims and fear of modernity itself. Enter the GOP clown car of GOP presidential candidates and the result is almost guaranteed to be a train wreck. A piece in Politicususa.com looks at the the fruits of the failed policies of the GOP and the bigotry and hysteria of the GOP base which has only intensified since November 13, 2015. Here are highlights:
It is really difficult to discern what kind of character flaw is driving a fair number of Americans to abject fright and dependency on being in a near-perpetual state of panic; most recently over a single incident in Europe that is repeated around the world at the same frequency as mass shootings in America, almost weekly.
At first blush one assumes that social conservatives are pathologically addicted to fear, but it is so much more than that because a primary component of irrational fear is ignorance. The Republican base are also inherently stupid and it is a fact not lost on their leaders who are again taking advantage of that indisputable fact to manipulate them like a herd of terrified sheep.
[I]f the right were not so stupid, they would realize that the Republican fear mongering over Syrian refugees is precisely how George W. Bush convinced Americans to support invading two Middle East nations who did not attack America. They also supported giving up their privacy, opening the door to al Qaeda in Iraq, and creating the object of the Republicans’ fright du jour; the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL).
In his Friday column, Paul Krugman noted that since Barack Obama was sworn in as President, Republicans and conservatives have done nothing but “warn about imminent catastrophe.” Of course none of the fiscal crises, hyperinflation and economic collapse due to health insurance, gun confiscations, or imposition of Sharia Law have happened as predicted. And yet, the same Republican panic-mongers have their stupid base terrified of allowing refugees who are not “proven Christians” into the country.
All of this Republican-created panic and fear is going on in America while Parisians who were actually attacked are staying calm and going out to cafes to show that they are not intimidated like terrified Americans. President François Hollande even reaffirmed that, because France is a humanitarian nation, they will continue taking in Syrian refugees and increased the number.
According to right-wing social conservatives, all they require to be courageous and intimidating is god and guns, and although they have those in abundance, a tough guy like Erickson is too much of a coward to venture out to the local multiplex. All the while, Parisians are back to their routines and Republicans are terrified of refugees; unless “they can prove beyond a doubt that they are Christians.”
Krugman is not alone in his assessment of Republicans and their conservative punditry. President Obama rightly mocked Republicans for claiming they intimidate world leaders and yet are “scared of widows and orphans.”
Mr. Krugman makes a very valid point in noting that panic is the only thing Republicans have and that the presidential nomination will go to “whoever can most effectively channel that panic.” Krugman comprehends, like Republicans and their conservative pundits, that their social conservative base is driven by fear, stupidity and cruelty; especially toward Muslim people whether they are Syrian refugees or American citizens.
There is a major election coming up and with nothing to run on Republicans are reverting to what they know works best; frightening Americans who are too cognitively challenged to know they are being manipulated yet again. It is not a testament to Republicans’ expertise at reading the people, just a revelation that a fair portion of the population is stupid enough to fall for the exact same fear tactics. If they were not imbecilic morons they might be embarrassed but they are not; that in itself is embarrassing.
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