# I almost feel sorry for the Republicans
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [September 3, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813 "2008-09-03T04:07:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/1 "2008-09-03T04:07:59Z")
Through no more than the most meagre fault of their own at best, and through no brilliant strokes on the part of the Dems either, really…
• Hurricane Gustav comes roaring in and causes them to tamp down and virtually cancel the first day of the Republican convention
• That prompts the newsfolks to remind anyone who’d forgotten it, all about Katrina and heckuva job Brownie.
• [del]But the Republicans move to act compassionately and somberly in the face of this Category 5 disaster so at least they can demonstrate that they care[/del] or rather they would have except that Gustav more or less wandered off and did very little.
• News media, deprived of Gustav horrors to spray all across page 1, give a fair amount of attention to Sarah Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy, plus the metastory about whether or not this story will have any political fallout to speak of for the Republican ticket.
• And that, in turn, leads them to include a few more mentions of Troopergate than they might otherwise have done, and at least a few mutterings to the effect that the McCain ticket is floundering and failing to define itself.
well, OK, their politics dismay me enough that I’m mostly gleefully watching all this, but at least a _little_ part of me feels sorry for them for just not being able to catch a break…
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/2 "2008-09-03T04:15:53Z")
Calculated evil deserves no breaks.
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### Author:  [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/3 "2008-09-03T04:18:58Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> • [del]But the Republicans move to act compassionately and somberly in the face of this Category 5 disaster so at least they can demonstrate that they care[/del] or rather they would have except that Gustav more or less wandered off and did very little.
Well, they _might_ have, but they [actually didn’t](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rni6G7RRFkk).
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### Author:  [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/4 "2008-09-03T04:36:16Z")
> [@Shayna](#):
>
> Well, they _might_ have, but they [actually didn’t](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rni6G7RRFkk).
Just when I think you couldn’t get more pathetic, you do. Well done. I hope you’ve managed to get yourself a good meal by now after that stale bread and water diet you’ve been on because of New Orleans.:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/5 "2008-09-03T04:55:30Z")
> [@magellan01](#):
>
> Just when I think you couldn’t get more pathetic, you do. Well done. I hope you’ve managed to get yourself a good meal by now after that stale bread and water diet you’ve been on because of New Orleans.:rolleyes:
I didn’t make any grandiose claims that I’d refrain from celebration, unlike the Republicans who did, then didn’t follow through on. It’s rather hilarious that you take such great offense to posting a link to a news report, though.
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/6 "2008-09-03T05:33:13Z")
> [@magellan01](#):
>
> Just when I think you couldn’t get more pathetic, you do.
**Moderator’s Warning:** **Magellan01** , this is out of line for the forum. No personal insults or else take it to the Pit; you know better.
**Moderator’s Note:** That said, I don’t really see much of a debate here, or much chance of one developing, so as of now I am moving this from Great Debates to the BBQ Pit.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/7 "2008-09-03T05:44:53Z")
Don’t feel too sorry for us, **AHunter3**. It’s true that things haven’t exactly been going swimmingly for us lately, but it’s shaping up to be a much closer race than you might think and you just might find yourself congratulating us in a couple of months instead…should you be able to rise to the occasion and do so.
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### Author:  [@MrBerious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBerious)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/8 "2008-09-03T06:15:19Z")
Save your pity for the rest of us just in case he gets in! Welp
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/9 "2008-09-03T12:36:03Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> Don’t feel too sorry for us, **AHunter3**. It’s true that things haven’t exactly been going swimmingly for us lately, but it’s shaping up to be a much closer race than you might think and you just might find yourself congratulating us in a couple of months instead…should you be able to rise to the occasion and do so.
Does that go both ways, big guy?
-Joe
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/10 "2008-09-03T13:11:05Z")
Do not pity. Show no mercy, for it is sure you will receive none. Such is the mentality one needs to face the GOP and its smear machine. I used not to feel this way, back when the GOP actually had some morals and integrity (that would be pre-Reagan).
I sure wish those GOP people would care about hurricanes when there isn’t a convention scheduled. But their “response” to it was such a typically “compassionately conservative” (sorry, I still can’t say that phrase without chuckling) one: express concern, sympathy and the desire to help, all while making a futile and impractical gesture that means nothing in the end. Oh, and actually do nothing to truly effect the problem–but it sure looks good! I feel warm and fuzzy all over…
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### Author:  [@papaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaw)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/11 "2008-09-03T13:14:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Calculated evil deserves no breaks.
Please cite the evil you infer.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/12 "2008-09-03T13:48:38Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> Don’t feel too sorry for us, **AHunter3**. It’s true that things haven’t exactly been going swimmingly for us lately, but it’s shaping up to be a much closer race than you might think and you just might find yourself congratulating us in a couple of months instead…should you be able to rise to the occasion and do so.
It does look like media coverage at this point has moved more to topics of which the Republicans would approve. I do not wish you good luck, but may the race elect the better candidate.
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### Author:  [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/13 "2008-09-03T13:54:53Z")
It’s clearly a sign that God favors the Democrats. After all, God starts with a G, and so does Gustav, and whenever a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast it’s an incarnation of God’s will. Yes, I am certain of this. 😃
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### Author:  [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/14 "2008-09-03T14:04:25Z")
If you feel sorry for the Republicans, then the terrorists have already won.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/15 "2008-09-03T14:13:53Z")
> [@papaw](#):
>
> Please cite the evil you infer.
Here’s what the Republicans did to a certain John McCain in 2000:
The battle between Bush and McCain for South Carolina has entered American political lore as one of the nastiest, dirtiest, and most brutal ever.
…
Bush allied himself on stage with a marginal and controversial veterans activist named J. Thomas Burch, who accused McCain of having “abandoned the veterans” on POW/MIA and Agent Orange issues: “He came home from Vietnam and forgot us.”
…
McCain ran ads accusing Bush of lying and comparing the governor to Bill Clinton, which Bush complained was “about as low a blow as you can give in a Republican primary.”
…
An unidentified party began a semi-underground smear campaign against McCain, delivered by push polls, faxes, e-mails, flyers, audience plants, and the like. These claimed most famously that he had fathered a black child out of wedlock
…
During a break in a debate, Bush put his hand on McCain’s arm and reiterated that he had no involvement in the attacks; McCain replied, “Don’t give me that shit. And take your hands off me.”
> **[John McCain 2000 presidential campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain_presidential_campaign,_2000)**
>
> The 2000 presidential campaign of John McCain, the United States Senator from Arizona, began in September 1999. He announced his run for the Republican Party nomination for the presidency of the United States in the 2000 presidential election. Although McCain declared himself a candidate in April 1999 during the Kosovo crisis, the campaign's formal kickoff did not take place until September 27, 1999, in Nashua, New Hampshire.
> McCain was the main challenger to Texas Governor George W. Bush, wh...
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/16 "2008-09-03T14:26:51Z")
> [@Shayna](#):
>
> Well, they _might_ have, but they [actually didn’t](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rni6G7RRFkk).
You know, I’m not a fan of Republican politics by any means, but every time I catch a glimpse of TV news I am really stunned by how anti-Republican it really is. Am I just missing the anti-Obama stuff, or is it really all that bad?
That piece wasn’t journalism, it was just tabloid/trash media that served no purpose whatsoever other than to drum up false outrage. Some lobbyists threw some parties. Like that never happens on the Democratic side? Bizarre.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/17 "2008-09-03T14:37:20Z")
Another series of Republican sins were committed against Max Cleland.
[http://www.thenation.com/blogs/bivens\_outrage?pid=1262](http://www.thenation.com/blogs/bivens_outrage?pid=1262) :mad:
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/18 "2008-09-03T14:38:36Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> but every time I catch a glimpse of TV news I am really stunned by how anti-Republican it really is.
Apparently you missed the part where they said they were following up on last weeks expose on the Democratic convention.
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### Author:  [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/19 "2008-09-03T14:40:55Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> You know, I’m not a fan of Republican politics by any means, but every time I catch a glimpse of TV news I am really stunned by how anti-Republican it really is. Am I just missing the anti-Obama stuff, or is it really all that bad?
I can’t view that link here at work. With that said, bwah? All the news seems really right wing these days.
Maybe that’s just because my local Dunkin Donuts plays Fox News all day.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-almost-feel-sorry-for-the-republicans/461813/20 "2008-09-03T14:43:31Z")
> [@papaw](#):
>
> Please cite the evil you infer.
Imply. IMPLY.
I feel better.
Carry on…
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