{"id":19,"date":"2015-04-30T17:48:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T17:48:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-11-11T22:07:01","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T04:07:01","slug":"the-dope-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"The Dope Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As far as I can tell, one of two things is currently plaguing the GOP. \u00a0Either they have the most inept polling and PR agencies in the history of the universe, or they have polling and PR agencies that are actively out to destroy them. \u00a0These are the only explanations that make sense to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As I’ve stated many time before I do not identify as a Republican or a Democrat. \u00a0I vote for people- not parties. \u00a0I think that people who vote straight party lines without putting any thought into it are at best misguided and at worst just plain lazy. \u00a0So, before you send me angry hate mail keep that in mind.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I know a lot of Republicans. \u00a0I grew up in a staunchly Republican family- my uncle was Minnesota’s first district chairman for some time and was a delegate to the national convention in 1988. \u00a0I work with Republicans. \u00a0I have friends who are Republicans. None of these people think we should reject all scientific, social and medical progress made since the 1940’s. \u00a0Yet today that’s the message that the GOP is sending out loud and clear and that their Presidential hopefuls (declared and rumored) are shouting from the rooftops.<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span>I just don’t get it. \u00a0Why on Earth would any woman want to vote for someone who doesn’t think she should have access to birth control (fyi I do NOT include abortion in this category)? \u00a0 \u00a0Why would any parent want to vote for someone who doesn’t think maybe, just maybe, using more clean\/ green energy might be a good way to ensure their grandkids have air to breathe? \u00a0Why would anyone who is gay or has a gay family member or friend (aka damn near everyone) want to vote for someone who thinks that marriage equality will bring on Armageddon? \u00a0 Why would anyone who isn’t a gabillionaire what to vote for someone who thinks that making the rich pay taxes in line with their incomes is a terrible idea? Why would anybody who likes living on this planet want to vote for someone who doesn’t understand climate change and therefore states it doesn’t exist?<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Again, I am NOT claiming that this is what the average person who identifies as Republican thinks- in my experience they are much, much smarter than that. \u00a0Rather, this is what their “leaders” either truly believe or at least think this is the way they need to present themselves publicly. \u00a0To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy (he was referring to Southerners) the GOP can’t keep the dumbest among them off the television. \u00a0And that’s too bad. \u00a0My friends and family members deserve better. \u00a0The United States deserves better.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As far as I can tell, one of two things is currently plaguing the GOP. \u00a0Either they have the most inept polling and PR agencies in the history of the universe, or they have polling and PR agencies that are actively out to destroy them. \u00a0These are the only explanations that make sense to me. \u00a0 As I’ve stated many… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t