Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:04 AM

Zorro (14,371 posts)

We have to destroy the Republican Party in order to save it

Opinion by Max Boot

“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” That famous, if probably apocryphal, quote from the Vietnam War describes how I feel about the Republican Party. We have to destroy the party in order to save it.

As a lifelong Republican until Nov. 9, 2016 — and as a foreign policy adviser to three Republican presidential candidates — it gives me no joy to write those words. It’s true that the party had long-standing problems — conspiracy-mongering, racism, hostility toward science — that Donald Trump was able to exploit. But he has also exacerbated all of those maladies, just as he made the coronavirus outbreak much worse than it needed to be.

I have watched with incredulity the GOP’s descent into collective madness. Many Republicans I know began by holding their noses and voting for Trump because of judges and taxes and their hatred of Hillary Clinton. Now the whole Republican Party seems to inhabit the Fox News Cinematic Universe, an alternative reality where President Barack Obama spied on Trump and Joe Biden is a socialist who will let “anarchists” and “arsonists” run riot.

The party has even become infected by the lunatic QAnon cult, whose followers believe Trump’s opponents are blood-drinking, Satan-worshipping pedophiles. In one recent poll, half of Trump supporters said top Democrats are involved in child sex trafficking. Georgia’s Senate primary offers a disturbing snapshot of the state of the party: Rep. Douglas A. Collins promotes his endorsement from two convicted felons (former Trump advisers Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos) while Sen. Kelly Loeffler touts her support from Marjorie Taylor Greene, a soon-to-be House member who questioned whether the Pentagon was really attacked on 9/11.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/28/we-have-destroy-republican-party-order-save-it/

I'm OK with just destroying the Republican Party.

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12 replies	Author	Time	Post
We have to destroy the Republican Party in order to save it (Original post)	Zorro	Oct 2020	OP
Agree. Destroy it.	stopbush	Oct 2020	#1
But skip the "saving" part.	lastlib	Oct 2020	#8
The problem with any "new" conservative party emerging	stopbush	Oct 2020	#10
I'm definitely not advocating a new conservative party....	lastlib	Oct 2020	#11
How about the current D Party be the moderate party	stopbush	Oct 2020	#12
Let's destroy the Republican Party in order to save the world.	klook	Oct 2020	#2
Suits me. (nt)	Paladin	Oct 2020	#3
Let the destruction begin. Please. n/t	Laelth	Oct 2020	#4
Fox/News Corp/Hate Radio have devolved repubicans into the village idiots party.	IADEMO2004	Oct 2020	#5
I'm more than happy to help with the first part.	lagomorph777	Oct 2020	#6
Why does the republican party need saving?	Alpeduez21	Oct 2020	#7
Nothing good comes from Republicans. Let them work it out as	Baked Potato	Oct 2020	#9

Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:07 AM

stopbush (24,065 posts)

1. Agree. Destroy it.

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Response to stopbush (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:52 AM

lastlib (19,480 posts)

8. But skip the "saving" part.

Destroy it. Scatter its ashes at sea. Salt the ground where it stood--heavy on the alkaline.

It'll be okay to build a new moderate party to replace it, but keep a leash on it and test frequently for old diseases--scorch and salt when necessary.

As I told a Republikan acquaintance on Facebook: you can choose to stand under the umbrella of tRump, or you can step out from under it. Your choice--your consequences.

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Response to lastlib (Reply #8)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 12:26 PM

stopbush (24,065 posts)

10. The problem with any "new" conservative party emerging

is that the founding members would for the large part be the same tRump-fellating sycophants who brought the R Party to ruin.

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Response to stopbush (Reply #10)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 12:33 PM

lastlib (19,480 posts)

11. I'm definitely not advocating a new conservative party....

Conservatism should be buried with Reagan. I advocated a MODERATE center-right party, eschewing the racist, bigoted, misogynistic, Islamophobic, Christofascist, nationalist elements of the current conservative movement.

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Response to lastlib (Reply #11)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 12:34 PM

stopbush (24,065 posts)

12. How about the current D Party be the moderate party

with a more-leftist party as political counterweight?

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:08 AM

klook (10,960 posts)

2. Let's destroy the Republican Party in order to save the world.

The world can do without the Republican Party. Some future center-right party? Ok. But we need all these crooks and cheaters out of power ASAP.

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:15 AM

Paladin (25,178 posts)

3. Suits me. (nt)

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:18 AM

Laelth (32,013 posts)

4. Let the destruction begin. Please. n/t

-Laelth

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:24 AM

IADEMO2004 (4,740 posts)

5. Fox/News Corp/Hate Radio have devolved repubicans into the village idiots party.

Nothing they are fed that they won't believe.

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:27 AM

lagomorph777 (30,613 posts)

6. I'm more than happy to help with the first part.

The rest is up to them. They can decide to become decent people, or they can disappear entirely.

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 11:27 AM

Alpeduez21 (1,225 posts)

7. Why does the republican party need saving?

May as well save the Nazi party. Losing the Khmer Rouge was a tragedy as well.

Trump is merely a symptom of the disease that is Republican. There has not been one benefit in my 55 years of repuke policy helping me. EVERYTHING they want is detrimental to forward progress. If conservatives had their way the American revolution would not have been fought. Slavery would not have been abolished. Women could not vote or even have a fucking credit card. Jim Crow laws would be in far greater effect than they are today. LGBTs would be locked up and unable to hold jobs or serve in the military. Christianity and the bible would be the law of the land. Civil rights violations are the result of conservative rule. The republican party is the haven of conservatives. Fuck republicans and those that support them. I will not intentionally harm repukes. I will not vote for them not to have health care, decent jobs or a living wage. They can benefit from roads and schools paid for by taxes. They can have the benefits of science in improving and saving their lives.

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Response to Zorro (Original post)

Fri Oct 30, 2020, 12:04 PM

Baked Potato (5,987 posts)

9. Nothing good comes from Republicans. Let them work it out as

Democrats progress.

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