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Make no mistake: The Republican Party is a clear and present danger, Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald

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Here’s what we’re not going to do here. We are not going to indulge the lazy rationalizations, false equivalence, cheap gaslighting and other forms of rhetorical chicanery that have become so common to political discourse in this era. Our country is in crisis, and we owe it better.

The warning is for those who claimed offense at the following observation, made in this space a few days back: “What Americans have lost — to be painfully accurate, what Republicans have trashed in pursuit of power — is the willingness and ability to share a common national identity.” It would seem to be self-evident truth. But not everyone agrees.

“Constantly blaming Republicans,” griped one respondent.

“You ONLY blame the Republicans,” complained another.

“You exclusively blame Republicans,” grumbled yet another.

Well, there’s a reason the Republicans get the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative. It’s because — pay close attention here — they deserve the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative.

Sorry, but Hunter Biden’s laptop didn’t do that. Black Lives Matter didn’t do that. Whatever thing Fox “News” last told its audience to fear did not do that.

The Republican Party did it by a campaign of demonizing dissent, shredding norms and boundaries, embracing a politics of white resentment and fear and, perhaps most corrosively, delegitimizing the very idea of knowable fact, so that an ordinary birth certificate becomes an object of suspicion, an ordinary election a seedbed of distrust and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol an innocent visit by tourists.

Is it mere partisanship to hold the party accountable for this? Or are we not talking about something bigger and more foundational than political gamesmanship? Note how many of the GOP’s ardent defenders — George F. Will, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Kathleen Parker, Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Mitt Romney, Jonah Goldberg — have become, to various degrees, estranged from it in recent years. None of those worthies may be credibly accused of being anti-Republican.

But what they are is conscientious enough that they cannot deny self-evident truth when it is right before them. Some of us prefer to peddle misguided both-sideism, to spew non-responsive non-sequiturs or stick metaphorical fingers in metaphorical ears going “la la la la la la la” until the truth safely passes them by.

Meantime, one party steers the ship of state toward jagged rocks.

Political scientists Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein once observed that, “The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

They wrote that in a 2012 book called “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.” Ten years later, it’s even worse than that.

It’s important to be clear on that, not to “blame” the GOP, but because James Baldwin was right. You cannot fix what you will not face. And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.

Confronting that does not make you a partisan.

It makes you a patriot.
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald.
 
' "You cannot fix what you will not face." And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.'

Absolutely and totally true. And the Dems are not facing this clear and present danger to American democracy. Not messaging the truth in the defense nor the betterment of democracy. The Rep/cons are totally rolling over them.
 
“Constantly blaming Republicans,” griped one respondent.

“You ONLY blame the Republicans,” complained another.

“You exclusively blame Republicans,” grumbled yet another.
They always want to be put in the same barrel as the Democrats, don't let them.
 
The democrats control all the power levers at the federal level but it's the republicans fault. The Biden administration has failed every challenge they have faced. So let's put all the blame on the mean and nasty Republicans. Let's see how this works out in November?

Okay go ahead with this silly thread.
 
This thread is hysterical.............and just dumb.

The Republicans are a clear danger??? Please! ....Everyone with a brain knows that the "Clear danger" to our country is progressivism.

All you have to do is talk to a progressive for a couple of minutes and you know that progressivism equals mental illness.

Progressivism is just evil!!!
 
Here’s what we’re not going to do here. We are not going to indulge the lazy rationalizations, false equivalence, cheap gaslighting and other forms of rhetorical chicanery that have become so common to political discourse in this era. Our country is in crisis, and we owe it better.

The warning is for those who claimed offense at the following observation, made in this space a few days back: “What Americans have lost — to be painfully accurate, what Republicans have trashed in pursuit of power — is the willingness and ability to share a common national identity.” It would seem to be self-evident truth. But not everyone agrees.

“Constantly blaming Republicans,” griped one respondent.

“You ONLY blame the Republicans,” complained another.

“You exclusively blame Republicans,” grumbled yet another.

Well, there’s a reason the Republicans get the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative. It’s because — pay close attention here — they deserve the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative.

Sorry, but Hunter Biden’s laptop didn’t do that. Black Lives Matter didn’t do that. Whatever thing Fox “News” last told its audience to fear did not do that.

The Republican Party did it by a campaign of demonizing dissent, shredding norms and boundaries, embracing a politics of white resentment and fear and, perhaps most corrosively, delegitimizing the very idea of knowable fact, so that an ordinary birth certificate becomes an object of suspicion, an ordinary election a seedbed of distrust and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol an innocent visit by tourists.

Is it mere partisanship to hold the party accountable for this? Or are we not talking about something bigger and more foundational than political gamesmanship? Note how many of the GOP’s ardent defenders — George F. Will, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Kathleen Parker, Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Mitt Romney, Jonah Goldberg — have become, to various degrees, estranged from it in recent years. None of those worthies may be credibly accused of being anti-Republican.

But what they are is conscientious enough that they cannot deny self-evident truth when it is right before them. Some of us prefer to peddle misguided both-sideism, to spew non-responsive non-sequiturs or stick metaphorical fingers in metaphorical ears going “la la la la la la la” until the truth safely passes them by.

Meantime, one party steers the ship of state toward jagged rocks.

Political scientists Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein once observed that, “The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

They wrote that in a 2012 book called “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.” Ten years later, it’s even worse than that.

It’s important to be clear on that, not to “blame” the GOP, but because James Baldwin was right. You cannot fix what you will not face. And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.

Confronting that does not make you a partisan.

It makes you a patriot.
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald.
In the interests of complying with the requests made in the OP, I fully agree that Republicans are a clear and present danger to not only America but to the global population as a whole. Because of thet they MUST be eliminated, with extreme prejudice. We can never have democracy and freedom as long as people disagree with the liberal agenda. To that end, fire up the ovens and start the cattle cars!! The fate of a free nation awaits!!
 
' "You cannot fix what you will not face." And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.'

Absolutely and totally true. And the Dems are not facing this clear and present danger to American democracy. Not messaging the truth in the defense nor the betterment of democracy. The Rep/cons are totally rolling over them.
Know for certain that if we get two Republican Houses in November and Trump is the nominee, it for sure won't matter how you vote.

Hopefully we will never find out.

Hopefully though displeased, the voters will come to their senses.

If any of this matters with covid and war.

The catty swing voter doesn't know who's responsible for the position we're in.
 
Why would I care about Hunter's Laptop.

He could have all the money in the world on it and I wouldn't care.
Well the US attorney and the Federal Grand jury in Delaware seem to care?

Remember when they lied and said the lap top was Russian disinformation?
One more big lie pushed by most of the MSM.
 
In the interests of complying with the requests made in the OP, I fully agree that Republicans are a clear and present danger to not only America but to the global population as a whole. Because of thet they MUST be eliminated, with extreme prejudice. We can never have democracy and freedom as long as people disagree with the liberal agenda. To that end, fire up the ovens and start the cattle cars!! The fate of a free nation awaits!!
It's the Republicans who aren't getting along, they're the one's to spank.
 
Well the US attorney and the Federal Grand jury in Delaware seem to care?

Remember when they lied and said the lap top was Russian disinformation?
One more big lie pushed by most of the MSM.
Am I the courts, no, so truly, I don't care.
 
and all the while here's what they put on their houses...


1650301039247.png
 
It's the Republicans who aren't getting along, they're the one's to spank.
Spank them? Heck, I was hoping that we could round them up and kill them all. How can you expect me to ever be free if I have to deal with opinions and crap that offend me?
 
The democrats control all the power levers at the federal level but it's the republicans fault. The Biden administration has failed every challenge they have faced. So let's put all the blame on the mean and nasty Republicans. Let's see how this works out in November?

Okay go ahead with this silly thread.

The Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Is that your idea of losing all controls at the federal level?
 
D: "You're the problem with this country!"

R: "No, you are!"

D: "No, you are!"

R: "No, YOU ARE!"

D: "You're the problem and I'm going to do what I think is right!"

R: "You're the problem and I'm going to undo everything you did!"

China: <cleans our clocks with meticulously planned 5-year-goals>
 
In the interests of complying with the requests made in the OP, I fully agree that Republicans are a clear and present danger to not only America but to the global population as a whole. Because of thet they MUST be eliminated, with extreme prejudice. We can never have democracy and freedom as long as people disagree with the liberal agenda. To that end, fire up the ovens and start the cattle cars!! The fate of a free nation awaits!!
Spank them? Heck, I was hoping that we could round them up and kill them all. How can you expect me to ever be free if I have to deal with opinions and crap that offend me?

Remember when interpreting any comment about violence by the above poster: he is an active defender of the Trumpist attempt to murder democrats in congress, murder the Vice President, and install an unelected person as Dear Leader.

He doesn't seem to understand the concepts of standing or moral high ground, which isn't surprising: he's got neither when it comes to politics, political violence whether real (1/6) or imagined (his posts).

He also does not seem to understand that pretending that he and his fellows are just as unfortunate as victims of mass extermination does not actually put him on the moral high ground, but instead immediately discredits anything else he says.




I was hoping that we could round them up and kill them all.

As a Jewish person, I find your playacting as a victim of the Holocaust to be as puzzling as it is repulsive.
 
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The democrats control all the power levers at the federal level but it's the republicans fault. The Biden administration has failed every challenge they have faced. So let's put all the blame on the mean and nasty Republicans. Let's see how this works out in November?

Okay go ahead with this silly thread.
It is Republicans fault, not covid, or the war, but no, the voter only is responsible for listening to me in 2000 when I said vote for the one behind.

Look, Bush took a booming surplus and turned it into the Great recession and they went to hold back Obama, which cost us and put us in the position we're in. Then Trump did exactly the same thing and exactly same lending bubble forming. Now Biden wants to piecemeal your paycheck, instead of ripping up Trump like he should have and borrowing for anything else like said GW Bush.

Sick to take that healthy Obama growth and rev it up to **** all in rich people's pockets.
 
Remember when interpreting any comment about violence by the above poster: he is an active defender of the Trumpist attempt to murder democrats in congress, murder the Vice President, and install an unelected person as Dear Leader.
I'm pretty sure that I never supported such activities but you've got your agenda to promote and far be it from me to deny you your fun.
 
Spank them? Heck, I was hoping that we could round them up and kill them all. How can you expect me to ever be free if I have to deal with opinions and crap that offend me?
Is everyone in to sarcasm today?

Spank, by defeating them at the polls, it is the only avenue to spank a party, otherwise the bratty kid runs off with your fortune.
 
All of you posting the snark are proving points in the editorial.
They don't give a shit. The "but both sides" is just yet another shit deflection from the dishonest right to try and excuse their shitty behavior, and also to project since they don't have empathy so they think democrats must be as selfish and scummy as they are. But its politics. Bullshit, when one side's position is supported by facts, you can't just chalk it down to difference of opinion. One side has factless opinion and is pretty much always wrong
 
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D: "You're the problem with this country!"

R: "No, you are!"

D: "No, you are!"

R: "No, YOU ARE!"

D: "You're the problem and I'm going to do what I think is right!"

R: "You're the problem and I'm going to undo everything you did!"

China: <cleans our clocks with meticulously planned 5-year-goals>
A completely dishonest take. it's more like "republicans you are a problem in this country and here are the facts as to why, your beliefs, your actions, the facts that show otherwise"

"no you are stupid poopyhead" is the response of rthe republicans, void of any actual facts, logic or reasoning. Or they will simply make up some fake position nobody actually takes that and claim that's a reason why

Both sides is what factless hacks say who can't defend their position try to claim to justify how they have no facts, logic, or reasoning
 
Here’s what we’re not going to do here. We are not going to indulge the lazy rationalizations, false equivalence, cheap gaslighting and other forms of rhetorical chicanery that have become so common to political discourse in this era. Our country is in crisis, and we owe it better.

The warning is for those who claimed offense at the following observation, made in this space a few days back: “What Americans have lost — to be painfully accurate, what Republicans have trashed in pursuit of power — is the willingness and ability to share a common national identity.” It would seem to be self-evident truth. But not everyone agrees.

“Constantly blaming Republicans,” griped one respondent.

“You ONLY blame the Republicans,” complained another.

“You exclusively blame Republicans,” grumbled yet another.

Well, there’s a reason the Republicans get the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative. It’s because — pay close attention here — they deserve the blame for destroying any sense of common American narrative.

Sorry, but Hunter Biden’s laptop didn’t do that. Black Lives Matter didn’t do that. Whatever thing Fox “News” last told its audience to fear did not do that.

The Republican Party did it by a campaign of demonizing dissent, shredding norms and boundaries, embracing a politics of white resentment and fear and, perhaps most corrosively, delegitimizing the very idea of knowable fact, so that an ordinary birth certificate becomes an object of suspicion, an ordinary election a seedbed of distrust and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol an innocent visit by tourists.

Is it mere partisanship to hold the party accountable for this? Or are we not talking about something bigger and more foundational than political gamesmanship? Note how many of the GOP’s ardent defenders — George F. Will, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Kathleen Parker, Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Mitt Romney, Jonah Goldberg — have become, to various degrees, estranged from it in recent years. None of those worthies may be credibly accused of being anti-Republican.

But what they are is conscientious enough that they cannot deny self-evident truth when it is right before them. Some of us prefer to peddle misguided both-sideism, to spew non-responsive non-sequiturs or stick metaphorical fingers in metaphorical ears going “la la la la la la la” until the truth safely passes them by.

Meantime, one party steers the ship of state toward jagged rocks.

Political scientists Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein once observed that, “The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

They wrote that in a 2012 book called “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.” Ten years later, it’s even worse than that.

It’s important to be clear on that, not to “blame” the GOP, but because James Baldwin was right. You cannot fix what you will not face. And what America needs to face is the simple, chilling fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger.

Confronting that does not make you a partisan.

It makes you a patriot.
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald.
Why is it your party will go down in flames in November? I forgot.
 
Is everyone in to sarcasm today?

Spank, by defeating them at the polls, it is the only avenue to spank a party, otherwise the bratty kid runs off with your fortune.
Oh come on. If all we do is beat them at the polls then they can come back again and might win something. The only way we can ever have freedom is if we completely eliminate all resistance to the liberal agenda and do so in such a way that nobody in the future is ever inclined to think that way again. The destruction needs to be complete and needs to be done in such a way that anyone that might be wavering stops thinking that way.
 
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