# Repub claims "Liberals hate real Americans who work hard, believe in God!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008 "2008-10-22T02:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/1 "2008-10-22T02:42:47Z")
So, children, what have we learned so far from the Republicans? Of course, we already knew that Real Americans live in small towns. Now we can add to this knowledge the fact that Real Americans aren’t liberals – or at least, liberals aren’t Real Americans. Liberals also don’t work hard, and liberals don’t believe in God. Plus? Liberals _hate_ “real Americans” for doing all of the above. Where am I getting this from? Here’s the story. Continuing the rightwing’s vicious attack on .. well, anyone who doesn’t fit their narrow view of what is Good and Right and Real and American, a North Carolina rally for McCain on Monday opened as follows (_warning! irony overdose may result after reading the below quote!_): > [@The Observer](#): > > First, Representative Patrick McHenry cheered what he called the “biggest crowd John McCain has gotten in North Carolina” and emphasized that this was a critical election with a stark choice between the candidates. > > “It’s like black and white,” someone in the crowd at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center yelled out, laughing. McHenry let the remark pass and finished his speech. He yielded the microphone to \*\*Representative Robin Hayes, who prefaced his comments by saying it was important to “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.” \*\* > > **Republicans, he reminded the crowd, were kind people.** Plus, he added, the liberal media had shown itself eager to distort such remarks. **With the crowd duly chastened and put on best behavior, he accused Obama of “inciting class warfare” and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”** After this account was published in the Godless Commie Fake American City Observer – whoops, sorry, I mean the [New York _Observer_](http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/damn-polls-mccains-irreducibles-beg-differ) – Rep. Hayes vociferously denied having used these words. Later, when this story was repeated in [Politico’s The Crypt](http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1008/GOP_Rep_Liberals_Hate_Real_Americans_That_Work_And_Achieve_And_Believe_In_God.html?showall), the blogger followed up with other reporters who were there, and sure enough, they said they heard it, too. Hayes’s spokesperson denounced the blog as irresponsible journalism. Alas, Hayes apparently never heard about this newfangled invention called AUDIO. (You can hear it in the link in the above paragraph; scroll down to the little audio controls at the bottom of the post.) Confronted by irrefutable evidence, Hayes now admits that he said it, but claims he doesn’t _remember_ saying it, and he was just trying to pump up the crowd. I must say that this is a good defense. Republicans are _great_ at pumping up crowds these days! Whipping up hatred and racism and even violence is just an unfortunate side effect, I guess. Is there any doubt that this is an intentional part of the narrative that the Republicans are trying to sell us: Small town good, big city/liberals bad? South/Midwest good, Northeast bad? Class warfare bad, geographical/ideological/religious warfare good? Palin apologized for her crap, but I’m sure Republicans will continue their hate-flinging, divisive ugliness, because that’s pretty much all they’ve got left. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/2 "2008-10-22T02:44:26Z")
Well, **Der Trihs** hates Americans who believe in God. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/3 "2008-10-22T02:45:24Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/4 "2008-10-22T02:50:03Z")
Politician says something stupid to appeal to their supporters. Nothing new here. Ask Obama about “spreading the wealth around” and “making the rich pay their fair share.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/5 "2008-10-22T02:54:58Z")
Hmmm? _Poly looks at résumé, assorted Bibles and other religious readings_ Wait a minute! You mean, I’m not eligible to be a liberal? Why don’t people tell me these things? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/6 "2008-10-22T02:56:44Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Politician says something stupid to appeal to their supporters. Nothing new here. Ask Obama about “spreading the wealth around” and “making the rich pay their fair share.” I’m sorry, **Rand** , you seem to have confused ‘stupid’ with ‘divisive and hateful’. Here, let me get you a new dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/7 "2008-10-22T03:05:27Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Hmmm? _Poly looks at résumé, assorted Bibles and other religious readings_ > > Wait a minute! You mean, I’m not eligible to be a liberal? Why don’t people tell me these things? Its OK, you can still be a radical. The Boss was. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/8 "2008-10-22T03:06:58Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Politician says something stupid to appeal to their supporters. Nothing new here. Ask Obama about “spreading the wealth around” and “making the rich pay their fair share.” I do not think that asking for payback from a group that is benefiting more with the bailout is the same as asking for hatred to liberals, liberals that include people that are also rich BTW. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/9 "2008-10-22T03:07:31Z")
I don’t even know why I’m bothering with the AynBot, but let’s take a stab at it… > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Politician says something stupid to appeal to their supporters. Nothing new here. Ask Obama about “spreading the wealth around” and “making the rich pay their fair share.” How can you seriously equate “spreading the wealth around” with crap like “Liberals hate real Americans” who “believe in God”? There’s ‘stupid’ (arguable to call Obama’s words that, but whatever) and there’s divisive bullshit intended to foster hatred, bigotry and emnity towards half the country just because they don’t believe the same things Republicans do. If you don’t see a difference you’re even scarier than your posting history here has led me to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/10 "2008-10-22T03:08:22Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > I’m sorry, **Rand** , you seem to have confused ‘stupid’ with ‘divisive and hateful’. Here, let me get you a new dictionary. The two statements from Obama I posted most definitely qualify as divisive and hateful. Also, people who make over $250k per year are a much larger group than those that do not believe in god, so Obama’s statements arguably bring the hate on more people. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/11 "2008-10-22T03:12:35Z")
> [@choie](#): > > I don’t even know why I’m bothering with the AynBot, but let’s take a stab at it… As some people love to point out, not everything I think or say comes from Ayn. > [@](#): > > How can you seriously equate “spreading the wealth around” with crap like “Liberals hate real Americans” who “believe in God”? There’s ‘stupid’ (arguable to call Obama’s words that, but whatever) and there’s divisive bullshit intended to foster hatred, bigotry and emnity towards half the country just because they don’t believe the same things Republicans do. > > If you don’t see a difference you’re even scarier than your posting history here has led me to believe. Well, guess I’m a proverbial shithouse rat then. Obama hates rich people. Many of his supporters do too. What’s even worse is that he’s running for a position with the power to enforce his ideas. Palin can’t make anyone act like a “real American” or believe in a god. The bottom line is that the speech is just bullshit that would of course be offensive to people that prefer a different brand of bullshit. To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/12 "2008-10-22T03:12:44Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > The two statements from Obama I posted most definitely qualify as divisive and hateful. Also, people who make over $250k per year are a much larger group than those that do not believe in god, so Obama’s statements arguably bring the hate on more people. Even granting your (dubious) point, those who make $250K a year are most certainly _not_ a larger group than liberals, who are the group being maligned here. So, no, sorry, Hayes and Palin and Bachmann are attacking a way bigger group. (As if it fucking matters; your definition of “hateful” and “divisive” is hilariously wrongheaded anyway.) > [@](#): > > The bottom line is that the speech is just bullshit that would of course be offensive to people that prefer a different brand of bullshit. To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. Well, it’s official. You’re batshit insane and a frightening individual. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/13 "2008-10-22T03:18:09Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Even granting your (dubious) point, those who make $250K a year are most certainly _not_ a larger group than liberals, who are the group being maligned here. So, no, sorry, Hayes and Palin and Bachmann are attacking a way bigger group. Ah. OK. Makes sense. I retract my earlier statement. > [@](#): > > Well, it’s official. You’re batshit insane and a frightening individual. OK, whatever. How much of Ayn’s stuff have you read? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/14 "2008-10-22T03:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=The Observer via choie] Republicans, [McHenry] reminded the crowd, were kind people. […] and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.” [/QUOTE] Republicans are obviously kind only to those who have duly earned the right to kindness. It’s not something you’re born deserving, it’s something you have to work for. That’s what were coming to. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/15 "2008-10-22T03:27:46Z")
I beg to differ. We [hate the homeless](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=488819), apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/16 "2008-10-22T03:32:45Z")
> [@Rand Rover](#): > > Also, people who make over $250k per year are a much larger group than those that do not believe in god, so Obama’s statements arguably bring the hate on more people. Sorry, but this is ridiculous. Households with a pre-tax income of over $250K constitute nearly [the top 5% of all American households](http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2008/03/16/average-income-pretax-vs-aftertax-2005/). Atheists, agnostics and others with no theistic religious beliefs constitute [about 14% of the US population](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States). So even if you’re comparing only the numbers of the super-rich and the non-theists, as opposed to the super-rich and liberals in general, it is still flat-out wrong to say that the super-rich are “a much larger group”. And the idea that proposing to raise taxes on the small percentage of taxpayers who qualify as super-rich is the same thing as “hating” them is simply ludicrous. The super-rich have seen their incomes increase immensely over the past few decades, while the incomes of the non-wealthy have stayed steady or declined. In an economic crisis like the present one where more tax revenue is desperately needed to keep us from bleeding ever more of our resources into servicing our ballooning debt, a small tax increase for the super-rich is the most practical and least painful way to start getting our finances in order again. And I don’t hate rich people and don’t want them to suffer. I support a moderate tax increase on their incomes precisely **because** I **don’t** think it will cause them to suffer. As Warren Buffett himself points out, he can afford to pay a little more in taxes, and so can the other top-bracket taxpayers; it won’t hurt them. If I thought Obama’s plan **would** do something that would genuinely hurt the super-rich, I wouldn’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/17 "2008-10-22T03:35:24Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Obama hates rich people. That’s completely false. He thinks that they should do more financially to support the country. > [@Rand Rover](#): > > The bottom line is that the speech is just bullshit that would of course be offensive to people that prefer a different brand of bullshit. To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. Really. A populist slogan is as offensive as a racial epithet with a horrible history in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/18 "2008-10-22T03:37:17Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. Okay, so how would a person express that idea using language that you’d find inoffensive? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/19 "2008-10-22T03:41:36Z")
> [@Rand Rover](#): > > To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. :rolleyes: Then you **are** crazier than a shithouse rat. A reasoned proposal to make the federal tax system a little more redistributive, based on reasonable arguments about the benefits of widespread prosperity that are endorsed by most mainstream economists, is not remotely comparable in offensiveness to attacking somebody with a derogatory racial epithet. This is just another example of how far some right-wingers, particularly of the libertarian-extremist variety, have become divorced from the world of reality. Talk about the alleged “offensensitivity” and “victimhood” propensities of **liberals**! These posturing loonbots like **Rand Rover** who consider it appropriate to respond to a tax policy proposal that they happen to disagree with as though it were a filthy racist slur are the shrillest, prissiest _offenderati_ of them all. ---
**Author:** ![Mustafa\_Al-Habib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mustafa\_Al-Habib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mustafa_Al-Habib)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008/20 "2008-10-22T03:43:05Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > To me, saying"we need to spread the wealth around" is as offensive as someone calling Obama a nigger. So you’re saying poor people don’t deserve any help? I hope you end up on the street, and we’ll see how you feel about it then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repub-claims-liberals-hate-real-americans-who-work-hard-believe-in-god/469008.md?page=2)