Meet a Romney Extremist in Virginia

[demmiblue]

Source: The Progressive

<snip>

I ask for some clarification: what do you mean, just starve them out? What if people can't find work? Let them starve?

"Look, there's always something you can do. You telling me people can't make a choice for a better life? We have to help all of them? No. I'll tell you what really need to do with these illegitimate families on welfare—give all the kids up for adoption and execute the parents."

I stare at him and blink in a glaze of shock.

Just to be sure I heard him right, I ask him to repeat it, twice.

"Yes, I mean it. Get rid of all of them, give the kids up for adoption, execute the parents, and you get rid of the problem.” (When I call him back to revisit the issue, he elaborates: “put the children up for adoption and execute the parents, and word would get out soon” that poor people shouldn’t have kids.)

This is a local Romney headquarters in swing-state Virginia, not some far-right Tea Party fringe group (or maybe that’s what the GOP has become). This is, at least in growing part, today's mainstream GOP.

Read more: http://www.progressive.org/meet-romney-extremist-in-virginia


Chilling, just chilling. It is really hard to believe that people like this exist.

[annabanana]

1. Ah yes. Compassionate Conservatism

The saddest thing about this is that he has any support AT ALL.

[CrispyQ]

2. "...poor people shouldn't have kids."

Wow. Just. Fucking. Wow.



on edit: The hatred of the poor in this country is stunning. Being poor is right up there with being an atheist. Maybe worse.

[porphyrian]

3. I like the execute the parent of illegitimate parents bit.

It's totally insane, but it would kill a bunch of republicans by their own policy, which is poetic.

[bluestate10]

8. That guy in Romney's campaign office doesn't realize that if his policy is implemented,

one half of his base, minimum would be wiped out.

[yardwork]

31. It's racism. People who believe this also believe that all poor people are black.

They also believe that "illegals" are draining the country dry. It's racist paranoia. White people living in all-white enclaves who believe that "those people" are taking all their money.

[freshwest]

60. They've no idea what losing all their money is, only know inconvenience. To hell with 'em.

[yardwork]

62. +1

[Skidmore]

67. We have people who have shown up here essentially

arguing similarly that you should only have children if you can support them at what appears to be middle class level. So many good people have come from impoverished backgrounds.

[CrispyQ]

68. IMO, at the very least, government should provide ALL citizens

three hots & a cot
health care
child/elder care
education

There! Problem solved!

The pisser is that we have the money for it, too! I'm sick of the "we're broke" bullshit. We're not broke. We have huge debt & we spend our money foolishly, but we also have incredible revenue & we have even more revenue streams if we would just tap them!

[MysticLynx]

71. But

they should not have access to affordable birth control, or abortions either which would enable to avoid having children. Virginia which I like to remind people of is the birth place of Thomas Jefferson, and public education, has really lost its way

[CrispyQ]

72. Makes your head spin, doesn't it?!

Arghhh!!



Welcome to DU!

[LonePirate]

4. The Right to Life crowd delivers another whopper

Hypocrites and liars every last one them and not a single heart to be found among any of them.

[reformist2]

5. So now the economy is doing great, and there are lots of jobs? Repugs want it both ways.

Either the economy is bad and there aren't enough jobs to go around, or the economy is doing well and "those people" are just lazy and don't want to work. Tell them they can't have both.

If they don't see the logic in that, it's time to just walk away...

[rfranklin]

6. Wasn't that the final solution somewhere else?

Except he is not for killing the kids. That's a compassionate conservative!

[JHB]

55. Yeah, I was wondering about the color of his shirt...

I think the American version wore Silver, but there's always the old reliables: Italian Black and German Brown.

[RichGirl]

7. I see people taking responsibility....

...all the time and more and more. They stand on a busy highway holding a sign: WILL WORK FOR FOOD...I toss them a few bucks if the traffic isn't too fast.

Seriously, someone needs to take a picture of one of these guys/girls and caption it with: Mitt, is this your idea of taking responsibility?????

[treestar]

41. True. Someone who does that ought to get a job right away.

At last within the day, since it's a form of advertising your are available for basic labor. According to the way Rs see it, that guy made the effort and should get a job. There must be one, no?

If they were sincere, they'd set up a job bank somewhere.

[peacebird]

9. I bet that southern gentleman considers himself a good Christian too....

[1-Old-Man]

10. Forget Party affiliation for a moment, this is a very sick man and one who simply does not think

No thinking person would say something like that. The man clearly does not think, and may not even be capable of it.

[Doctor_J]

17. "forget party affiliation for a minute"

there aren't any liberals, Dem, or Obama supporters with thought like these, 1OM

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. He's a retired nuclear engineer

and I don't think the county Republicans are going to let a man with dementia run their website. He appears to still have full use of his faculties. He is just a Nazi. This is a time when the comparison is just - he wants to execute law-abiding citizens that he looks down on.

[obamanut2012]

50. This

[avebury]

11. I would like Romney to be asked at the debate

if he supports the idea of executing parents and adopting out illegitimate children as a way to get people off of welfare and does he agree that poor people have no right to have children.

[Oilwellian]

12. I live near Bedford

It's one county over and deep in the heart of Falwell country. I can say emphatically, this is they way a lot of people think in SW Virginia. They go to church every Wednesday & Sunday to pray to God & Jesus, and the rest of the week they hate on liberals and poor people. Jesus would be so proud.

[mike dub]

29. I second your statement, Oilwellian

My wife's best girlfriend lives a few hours north of us, in Roanoke ( a lil west of Bedford). Her fundie coworkers hate on liberals, gays and the poor all week long on the job.

[Oilwellian]

45. I'm very near Roanoke

That's all I hear from the right wing in this area as well. They're a very nasty bunch and I hate having to be near them at times. Fortunately, Roanoke is fairly liberal and I can go there for fun times.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. I had a portent of this back in the very-late 70s or early 80s when I

bumped into a friend who had converted to fundamentalist Christianity and who told me, in all seriousness, that he thought all homosexuals should be rounded up and burned alive. I told my brother about it and when my brother asked him about the comment a few days later, this former friend tried to laugh it off as 'just joking'. But he was deadly serious in his exchange with me. So I agree that it is chilling and shows exactly what the stakes are should the ConservaNazis and ChristoFascists ever achieve their dream of a one-party state.

[TahitiNut]

28. That's when "fascist" is an understatement and "Nazi" is an empirically correct term.

The "Final Solution" did not just target Jews. It targeted gays, gypsies, and victims of birth defects (such as fetal-alcohol syndrome) as well.

I'm often appalled by what folks must think is the Question or Problem when I hear such "answers" or "solutions."

[treestar]

43. And they really think it is that simple

That it would be easy and "fair" (in terms of identifying homosexuals) and that there would never be any homosexuality ever again.

[Whovian]

14. Worth reading the entire piece at the link.

[beac]

18. It is. But now my blood is BOILING.

What a hateful ignorant man. Disgusting.

[Kookaburra]

15. Jonathan Swift must be spinning in his grave.

[Doctor_J]

16. I think this is mainstream Repuke thought at present

you have to remember that there is very little tolerance for thinking in their party. Anything that any of them says comes from Rove, via Hate Radio and Fox "News". So it pretty much feeds on itself - all Repukes feel that way BECAUSE all Repukes feel that way. They get rationalization from each other. Once a few of them take another step into the unthinkable, others join in and pretty soon it's common knowledge among "conservatives".

I feel right now that anyone who votes for Rmoney or any other Repuke this time around is not much better than a rabid dog - completely consumed by fear, hatred, and mental illness.

[geckosfeet]

20. They exist alright. Troll a few rw sites. You will be far more than chilled.

[obxhead]

21. "or maybe that’s what the GOP has become."

That's exactly what the GOP has become. The 1% have pushed so far to the extreme right that there is no longer room for logic. The only acceptable platform is hate and total annihilation of every social program.

Luckily, this is becoming a smaller and smaller group here every year in VA. VA is likely to go to Obama, Kaine is running a close race, and some other down ticket races are showing real promise.

[Oilwellian]

46. It's northern Virginia that's turning the state blue

Let's hope it bleeds south where the majority are still, very much, ass backwards.

[obxhead]

48. I live in Cantors district.

The blue is heading south. VA beach area is also predominately blue as well as parts of the Richmond area.

I doubt it will ever get down to the panhandle area, but overall the state is shifting left. Or maybe the GOP is shifting so far to the right that R's are finding themselves siding with D's. Some days it's hard to tell.

[obamanut2012]

61. No, big bunches of the rest of the state are bluer than NOVA

Richmond and Charlottesville especially, and the Hampton Roads area, and parts of VA Beach.

A friend worked for Emily Couric before her death, and has close ties to the VA Dem leadership, and he says the most consistent blue areas are Richmond and Charlottesville, because chunks of NOVA are full of rich GOPers (Leesburg, etc.).

[Oilwellian]

63. LOL...well,

when you live as far south as I do, everything is north of me. Roanoke city is pretty liberal. The newspaper is also quite liberal. I do see progress being made in SW VA.

[olegramps]

22. Well, if they can't find anyone to adopt them, they could have a big barbecue. Problem solved!

[abelenkpe]

23. Find any article on yahoo or CNN or another news outlet

That has a comments section and you will see hateful extreme comments like that disparaging the poor, minorities, women, muslims and the lgbt community. It doesn't even need to be an article about politics! There are some seriously deranged people out there pushing hateful hard right rhetoric everyday everywhere one looks. Especially prominent on economic news sites and blogs and among ayn rand devotees and libertarians. Sick sick people.


Last night I was talking with my own looney toon VA based birther mother and got her to admit that corporate welfare costs more and is more of a problem than programs to help those in this struggling economy. A breakthrough! She did tell me that many defense contractors were giving out layoff notices to employees telling them that if Obama is reelected they will lose their job because of sequestration. So hope that the campaign in VA is doing all it can to counter this....

[nxylas]

25. There's a big difference between an internet troll saying something...

...and the spokesman for a state Republican party saying it.

[abelenkpe]

32. Spokesman for republican party wouldn't feel comfortable

Saying such thing if it wasn't considered normal among republican/conservative/libertarian voters. The guy is a reflection of his supporters and media outlets are complicit in allowing this level of discourse to gain such prominence by not moderating such insane and hateful comments.

[TahitiNut]

24. "there's always something you can do."

It's too bad that's not the attitude of employers.

[SemperEadem]

26. it's too bad Clifford Russell wasn't captured on video saying that

but it's good that his name is out there.

Now he has to explain to the sane ones just how his christianity dovetails into violating that "thou shalt not kill" commandment his God gave to him to follow.

I do believe their God said "be fruitful and multiply", not "don't be poor when you multiply".

I'm sure he believes in judgement day--how ever will he explain himself out of this one.

[Deep13]

27. Yup,that's pretty bad. On the other hand...

...at the local D. HQ in 2004, a retired teacher who was volunteering there told me that in anticipation of the Sept. 11 attecks, all the Jews had left the WTC.

[yardwork]

30. Read the entire article to hear the entire right-wing belief system in one place.

I can confirm that this is what right-wingers around the country believe, every word of it.

[yends21012]

33. What do the following have in common

Scrooge (before redemption)
Grinch (before redemption)
Voldemort
Captain Hook
Henry Potter (Bedford Falls)
Hedley Lamarr
Cruella de Vil
Republican extremist

Everything.

Republican extremists are the villains in the story.

[Chorophyll]

34. So if poor people shouldn't be having kids...

The Repugs should be handing out birth control like candy on the street corners, right? And offering to pay for abortions?

The assholery does not cease to amaze.

[stillwaiting]

58. Nope. Poor people don't get to have sex because birth control is not allowed either.

That is just an incredibly sane and rational position for them to take, isn't it? It's such a perfectly reasonable position that one should certainly expect to get stellar results from having these guidelines laid down for the poor, huddled masses to follow.

Of course, if they succumb and have sex we can just execute them!!

Their worldview and thinking possesses no humanity within it.

[Chorophyll]

59. True; and presumably the execution part would be a lot of fun for them.

Short of that, I guess the watching-people-starve part would be okay too.

[MsPithy]

35. Time to revisit Jonathan Swift.

From 1729! It is horrifying that these themes keep repeating and repeating over and over.

A MODEST PROPOSAL

For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a
burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to
the publick.

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1444499

[RBInMaine]

36. Would anyone here be surprised by this? (Really don't these posts. We already know they're whackos.)

[grantcart]

37. "I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this mess . . Holy goshdarns get that knucklhead out of my hdqrts".

Obviously this guy doesn't represent even 10% of the Republican Party, however you can turn it around on the majority and simply ask them why they allow themselves to be identified with this lunacy, and the birthers, etc.

[heaven05]

38. !!!

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2012, 05:54 PM - Edit history (2)

what to do with repug/nazi thugs like this? They would fire up the ovens again to get rid of this type of poor people(code for black people) In regard to this thug I wouldn't hesitate for one second to do unto him as he would do unto others.

[1620rock]

39. "put the children up for adoption and execute the parents"

Did you ask him how many of "those" children HE would be willing to adopt?

[HopelesslyLiberal]

40. We may be seeing the last gasp of this kind of thinking

This kind of thought went out of style in the 20th century. Compassion crept in. Civilization progressed. Around the world, compassion became more the norm. The reactionary right has been fighting against this for decades. First they nibbled at the edges but that didn't have an effect. Then they tried flanking/coming at it tangentially. Then they simply started lieing. None of that has worked so now they are using the last weapon they have - the truth.

This is how they have always thought. They think they have made progress and they have. But now the backlash to the backlash has come. History repeats. It's the Great Depression all over again. Their policies don't work and people know it. But they think its now safe to speak their truths and the ugliness of their way of thinking is coming out.

They won't be gone for decades but this will be a major defeat for them.

[Bucky]

66. God I hope you're right. I suspect you're wrong.

When the leaders of a party send signals that compassion is unacceptable, disloyal even; when they take their leads from a hate spewing radio host, you naturally have to expect that some within the rank and file will take those cues and run a little further afield with it. I blame Republican leadership and Fox News lie-filled campaigns to pick up a few extra votes for this moral degeneration.

[Smilo]

42. Because if God loves you - he gives you mansions!

Really - OMFG - where do these people come from and where do they get these awful ideas?

You are so correct OP - it really is chilling.

[just1voice]

44. That's exactly the way repukes talk in VA

It's surprising to many people but I've had countless conversations with repukes that ended with the repuke saying "kill 'em all". They fully, 100% meant it too.

Repukes are pathetic excuses for human beings.

[Initech]

47. Execute the parents?????? WTF?????

[Skittles]

64. you know he only means the brown and black ones

alas, I'm being serious

[Care Acutely]

49. compassionate conservatism

Remember "compassionate conservatism?"

Ironically enough, I'm afraid the GOP could have made more inroads and expanded their base greatly if they'd run with this lead provided to them by Shrub - but they didn't. They hated him for it and they abandoned any pretense of it when they abandoned him and his embarrassing presidency.

Yes, the term was always a senseless oxymoron along the lines of "clean coal," but that's not the point. The point is that it held great appeal to the type of people who think Ronnie was a nice guy/pretty good president but are uncomfortable with the idea of taking medical care and food away from hungry children. You know, swing voters. The ones who are about to paint the country blue.

[Odin2005]

51. Oh. My. God.

[obamanut2012]

52. Naziesque Eugenics

Similar to what they did in Poland. And no, that is not exaggeration or Godwin's Law, or anything like that.

Round up everyone, execute ubermensch the parents, and adopt out and Germanize the children. That is what he is saying.

[WinkyDink]

53. Well, except for those Jewish children who all were SLAUGHTERED.

[obamanut2012]

56. ???

I don't understand your reply?

[aletier_v]

54. "Soylent Green" is brown people!

[spanone]

57. what a sweetheart....

fuck him

[Bucky]

65. We're opposed by an alliance of Catholic bishops, professional managers, and monsters like this

Strange bedfellows.

[Virginia Voter]

69. Bedford...voted "best place to live"

I live near Bedford and made an early morning call to the chairman of the Rep. Party headquarters mentioned in the article. He had not heard of the article, but does know Mr. Russell. I complained!!! A link for the article has been sent to the Virginia Rep. Party, the Roanoke Times and just for fun, the Bedford Democratic headquarters down the street from the Rep. headquarters in Bedford. The chairman of the Dem. headquarters responded and wants me to know that this man does not represent most of the folks who live there, which I can verify! It is interesting that the website for the Bedford Rep. headquarters was "down for maintenance" the last few times I went back and checked. I bet they got a lot of calls!!!

[cbayer]

70. Welcome to DU, Virginia Voter and thanks for the work you are doing.