The Republican Party wants to be a religion. Well I want to be a heretic. Excommunicate me and all those like me. 2012 will then be a high water mark.
You remaining Republicans will long for the days when you only lost National elections by a few million.
I had a similar decision to make in Illinois in 2004. Theocon Keyes vs Communist Obama. I chose the communist as did a LOT of other Republicans.
If Republicans don’t want my vote I will oblige them. As I did in the last election. Unlike the last election I will make it my full time job to get others to avoid voting Republican as well. Under those circumstances I think it should not be too difficult to get the Republican vote to under 30% generally. What Keyes got in Illinois vs Obama.
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. Clive Staples “CS” Lewis
Mostly I prefer the oppression of the Communists. They are more fun at parties.
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Update: Eric makes a similar point in A “natural Republican constituency” which is unnaturally Democrat
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This was prompted by a commenter at The Republican Party Is On A Suicide Mission. Rather than give way on the weed question (which he holds to be of slight importance) he derided my position which was to follow the will of the people when it comes to med pot. So he (and those like him) have declared themselves tyrants on the issue. Fine. I now have a choice of tyrants. Excellent. I have chosen. We shall see how it works out.
And if it works out badly? Well frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.
Update: I couldn’t resist adding this:
Comments
12 responses to “I Am A Heretic”
I had a similar decision to make in Illinois in 2004. Theocon Keyes vs Communist Obama. I chose the communist as did a LOT of other Republicans.
You asked for him, you got him. Thanks a lot. Mr. Simon.
Recall that Keyes became the nominee after the Trib got Jack Ryan’s divorce records unsealed. Just as the divorce records of Blair Hull, Obama’s main opponent in the Democratic primary, got unsealed.
You got duped.
Uh. Not exactly. My State Senator Dave Syverson pushed Keyes (a carpetbagger) over the runner up in the primary Oberweiss.
If the Republicans don’t like the results they are getting they can give up being a religious party and go back to being a political party.
Given a choice of shit sandwiches I’ll go for the one the left offers. The Republicans could change if they don’t like the results.
And you might want to look at the numbers. I’m not the only one who made that choice. Getting under 30% of the vote (under 28% actually) takes some real effort.
Gringo:
Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.
Gringo,
If you do give a damn you might try convincing Republicans that they might win more votes if they tried to attract voters.
My vote? End the Damn Drug War. But I’m not greedy. They could start out small and stop the War on Med Pot. Endorsed by 70% to 80% of the voters.
Simon
….Gringo: Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn…. etc etc etc
Looks like I struck a nerve.
I notice you made no comment about the issue of unsealing divorce records, which is the main point how Keyes ended up being the candidate. I am not denying that Keyes was a poor candidate.
Mostly I prefer the oppression of the Communists. They are more fun at parties.
Rather lame joke. For the record, I have never been a churchgoer- nor were my parents churchgoers as adults. Bible thumpers scare me a lot less than unrepentant leftists, which is probably the result of having grown up in a small town with a disproportionate number of Iron Curtain refugees. There is a caution, a reserve common to such refugees, an attribute necessary for surviving the regimes they fled. In addition to remembering some moonbat insane statements of SDS types back in the day. In addition to my encounters with both Communists/communists and Iron Curtain refugees when I worked in Latin America.
From my experience, Bible Thumpers are much more willing to agree to disagree, to live and let live, than Commies are.
Very lame joke.
My vote? End the Damn Drug War. But I’m not greedy. They could start out small and stop the War on Med Pot. Endorsed by 70% to 80% of the voters.
Because of two violent encounters in my life with users of drugs- illegal and legal- changing drug laws is not one of my priorities. I would not object to the legalization of Medical Marijuana. But I am not going to spend any time advocating it.
When I was 6 years old, I was a passenger in a car involved in a fatal accident. I was sitting behind the driver when he was killed instantly from the collision with a drunk driver. Some years later in Berserkeley I was an innocent bystander to a kitchen conversation when I got a gun put to my temple. The person who whipped out the gun had asked to use someone’s rig/hypodermic needle [the first time I had heard the term]. When the use was denied, he had us all lie down on the kitchen floor while he trashed the house.
While you may get on your high horse about drug legalization, drug legalization is NOT one of my priorities, given the life-threatening experiences I have had with drug users.
No. You didn’t hit a nerve. I truly don’t give a damn. I am doing things.
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Ah. Yes. The live and let live attitude of socons. Except when it come to some formerly legal drugs.
Then it is jail if we catch you. Well actually jail mostly for blacks no matter who is caught.
Clever of them to hide their racism as drug control.
Watch the first few minutes of this video (up to minute three I think) to see that it is official (if unannounced) policy.
http://youtu.be/HmgeCeGk–I
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Well yes. Of course you have had life threatening experiences with a drug user. Had he been able to easily get what he wanted none of that was likely to have happened.
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My brother was killed in a drive by. I’m against prohibition.
Well yes. Of course you have had life threatening experiences with a drug user. Had he been able to easily get what he wanted none of that was likely to have happened.
Having had a gun placed to my temple, I beg to differ. I doubt it was difficult at the time on Telegraph in North Oakland to get a rig/hypodermic needle. It was just that he wanted a rig and he wanted it NOW. Yes we must indulge those who have no inkling of what delayed gratification means. Sarc. Sarc. Sarc.
Try this on for size, with only one word changed from the above quote:
Well yes. Of course you have had life threatening experiences with a thief. Had he been able to easily get what he wanted none of that was likely to have happened.
Just like the riots in Great Britain last year. Give them all the running shoes, iPads, and all the whatnot that they want.
Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Sarc Sarc. Sarc.
Just like this makes a lot of sense:
Mostly I prefer the oppression of the Communists. They are more fun at parties.
While it was most likely a joke, it was a rather lame one. As I previously said.
You have not made the case to me that ending drug Prohibition would be an improvement over what we currently have. The tens of thousands killed in alcohol-caused automobile accidents every year do not make the case that ending alcohol Prohibition had mostly benign effects. Considering all the other problems we face, I prefer to focus on higher priority items.
Bad link on the video.
Ciao.
Well OK. Drug users are mass murderers and deserve what ever they get. ALL of them.
If one is a bad person that proves they all are equally bad.
What ever.
Ever consider he might have had very bad PTSD? Some people use heroin for that. But of course you are right. It’s the dope..
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Whether I make the case with you or not is irrelevant. I know quite a few officers who were in the thick of the Drug War who say legalize it all. Their point of view is winning with pot and it will in time prevail with everything else.
This works:
http://youtu.be/HmgeCeGk–I
All I can say is that I’m no longer interested in being a Republican. And I intend to take as many as I can with me.
They offer me nothing except empty words.
“Smaller government” – it is to laugh. “Fiscal sanity” – haven’t seen it in my lifetime.
“An end to prohibition” – it won’t be the “small government party” in the lead.
From now on I’m voting to make a statement.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2012/11/why_did_asian_americans_vote_for_president_obama.html
Libertarian.
[…] Classical Values » I Am A Heretic describes the Republican party as a religious movement. It is one that I may reject for different reasons than Simon. But neither one of us is believer in that particular dogma. (Most Republicans don’t want me in their damn party anyway.) Classical Values » An issue as ahead of its time as counting chickens before they hatch. Not satisfied with the smack down they received in the Indiana and Missouri Senate races, the Republicans (at least some of them) are about to double-down on an issue that is a non-starter for most of America. Person-hood. Life begins at conception. Whatever. The plain attempt to make one brand of conservative Christian philosophy the law of the land. (See the item above, regarding dogma.) Que Akin on the subject of “Legitimate Rape,” and Mourdock on “god’s will.” […]
Simon:
Well OK. Drug users are mass murderers and deserve what ever they get. ALL of them.If one is a bad person that proves they all are equally bad.
That is not what I said.Please do not put words in my mouth. What I said is that the following comment of yours, with respect to to the gun to my temple, appeared absurd to me:
Had he been able to easily get what he wanted none of that was likely to have happened.
I would suggest that had YOU gotten a gun to your temple, you would not have made such a senseless remark.
Andate pue’.
I was waiting for that. I did get a gun to my temple once. A M1911.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up the guy and I remained friends.
But OK. Some crazed guy puts a gun to your head and thus prohibition must continue. Lucky thing he didn’t throw a pot of boiling water at you or you would be on about outlawing water, pots, and fire.
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Say. Maybe you should favor outlawing guns. That was definitely a major element in your problem. More central than drugs.
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Well I’m going to do my best to destroy Republican prospects from now on. Why? Well it seems that they find reality really bothersome and want the government to solve it for them.
Republicans of a certain sort are on about faith in God but the real object of their faith is Government. I intend to do my best to destroy that faith.