In 2008 after Barrack Obama won the election many on this site said that the GOP were in their death throes as a party. In 2012 we see how that sentiment was hopeful but still delusional.
Since the election there have been some posts and comments made that we need to feel empathy towards those Republicans that believed their own lies. I also see posts saying that there is no way that the Republicans can grab the Latino vote, especially with the GOP imploding due to internal civil war. To these posts and comments I say do not let your hopes and dreams delude you.
Below I will share my personal interaction with a close friend, who is a staunch Republican, and why what he has told me after the election should shock you out of your 2008 delusion.
“The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
― Maya Angelou
Let me give you a little back story about my friend. My friend, lets call him Jay, grew up a Catholic fundamentalist with me, an Atheist raised Jewish, from 1st grade until now where we are both 29. We were more like brothers than friends because from 1st till 5th grade we were in the same class together. Every Christmas he has invited me, and later on my significant other, over for his family's Christmas party and recently I was a part of his wedding party (his biological brother was his best man).
Jay is currently my only conservative friend. The rest were just associates who were easy to shake off because the conflicting personalities didn't have a cushion of shared personal history. This is important because in the months before the election Jay and his wife started to post politically on Face Book. Normally I am the type of person who will read a post and just grumbly ignore it, however, this was the time around the campaign where Romney was in full lie mode and I had, had enough of Romney's lies and Jay's hypocrisy.
With utmost respect I began to post responses back, and then full posts of my own. I made sure each post I made did not personally attack him and only broke down his hypocrisy and the lies Romney was making. I even went out of my way when I began to let Jay know that in any post I make I am not mad at him and was enjoying our debate. He agreed.
The posts were interesting and unnerving, however it was the posts made after the election that are the most important and provide the most learning for me and for all of you.
After the election Jay wrote:
"A few positives for the night:
1. ~ Only 2,000 more voters voted for Obama, so there is no clear mandate for his policies.
2. The House and Senate composition barely changed, so his policies can be further stonewalled.
3. No one can claim over the next 4 years that Romney's policies caused anything that occurs."
I wrote back:
1) Sorry bush won less of the popular vote and your guys said he had a mandate. This is a mandate.
2) So you admit that republican stonewall Obama from enacting any legislation. Thank you for finally admitting that republicans are not bipartisan
3) So you voted for a man that you knew or know would have had policies you don't want to be associated with?
What Jay said next is what you all need to pay attention to:
Never said they were bipartisan. I'm not trying to compromise, I've got an agenda here. The war is not yet over.
I responded by saying:
I did not realize we were at war... Wow. That is sad. I thought we were all Americans... Continue to think you are at war with most of the American people and the more seats of power your party will lose. We want to work with you guys, but like any relationship we need to have compromise. It was just an election, not a war....
Jay responded:
What else would you call an oppressive force attempting to overwrite and overrun the values and principles of your country?
If I were the only one left.....I'd still do it. No reason to compromise my principles because of everyone else.
I know this is just one person, but I believe he is not an outlier. I think his beliefs are those of a majority of the Republican Party.
They are at war, at war with us! Their beliefs are so strong you could try and help them and they will think you are trying to hurt them. This occurred with anything Obama tried to push forward in his previous term. Let us not continue this delusion of having empathy for them, they do not have empathy for me, for you or for us. They are at war with us and as such even after this election it is time for us to step up and help them be pushed off of the relevancy cliff that they created.
Again I quote Maya Angelou "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them." Jay and his fellow Republicans have shown me many times that they believe we are the enemy, that they are at war with us and that as the enemy they will do anything, even kill, to get rid of us. Let's use this information to help us not be as complacent as we were in 2008 and help push them out of what little power they hold.
Mon Nov 12, 2012 at 6:44 AM PT: Update:
I woke up this morning surprised to find my post on the community spotlight and recommended lists.
Back to the main point of the post. Republicans love to be the Martyr. My friend Jay said: "If I were the only one left.....I'd still do it." They thrive when they lose because they have such a strong persecution complex. We on the other hand are, as tofumagoo below has said more likely to live and let live. Our side does not see this as a war as my friend does and most likely other Republicans do too.
I want this post to help those of you who think we can ever compromise with people who in Jay's words: " I'm not trying to compromise, I've got an agenda here." believe them and realize they do not want to compromise. They believe they are at war with us and as such we need to find ways to fight them back even when there are no elections going on.
Here are some ideas I have on fighting them:
1) Democrats Hire, Republicans Fire: Lets start funding progressive companies that will showcase the differences between Republicans and Democrats. We could also begin this movement by helping those fired by companies like Pappa Johns find new and better jobs while pointing out that we are sorry that their Republican boss fired them.
2) No Child Failed for Profit. Use the test companies propaganda against them. The main corporate interest in public education right now are test companies. Many are owned by news media companies hence why many know test companies make a lot of money but not the details. Did you know that all standardized tests can be created and implemented for free? I am not lying, with the technology we have we could destroy all private test companies profit margin and thus help save public education.
3) Do not back down if you see a post on Facebook. My friend Jay and his wife are not posting anything on Facebook politically now. Might not stay this way in the long run but for now they have not. Why have they stopped? They stopped because they learned that if they post their beliefs on FB with the hopes of changing other peoples beliefs that they will now have to deal with other people responding in ways they do not like. After I began posting, other friends of mine, and theirs began commenting too.
These are just a smidgen of my ideas. I will read over everyones comments and answer and questions I see there. Please share yours.