# Republicans are like a jealous ex-boyfriend **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 11, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356 "2018-11-11T16:33:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/41 "2018-11-14T19:38:27Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > This is the slippery slope. If whites don’t vote for a black because they don’t think he’s qualified, does that make them racist? For every Barack Obama, there’s a Marion Barry. Black politicians can be just as corrupt as whites, like [Kwame Kilpatrick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Kilpatrick), who was just as hostile to the press when they covered his misdeeds as our current president. > > It’s part of human nature to side with those who resemble you, and the risk of being labeled racist for supporting one’s own race doesn’t help matters. I think Sanders was being honest and realistic. No amount of legislation or regulation is going to force people to prefer different races from their own. Candidates shouldn’t qualify for office just because of race. The way to win elections is to get more people to support you, not alienate them and force them to vote for you because of a sense of entitlement. The issue is that we see someone of our own race as “like us” more than someone of the same class, occupation, nationality, geographical region, gender, religion, sports fandom, educational background, handedness, feelings about pineapple on pizza, etc. We see a person different from us in every single way except skin tone as more “like us” than someone with whom we share everything except skin tone. That’s utterly arbitrary. That was an invention, designed to justify race-based slavery at a time when the potential profits from such were simply overwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/42 "2018-11-14T22:01:30Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Since when does someone seeking a bit of order around this place qualify them as a snowflake. People post shit in the wrong places around here all the time. Don’t assume my request for a move has anything to do with my personality, you dumb fuck. [whistling] _The cheese stands alone The cheese stands alone Hi-ho, the derry-o The cheese stands alone_ [/whistling] ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/43 "2018-11-14T22:50:38Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I was reading an article the other day about how, now that WI Gov. Scott Walker was defeated for re-election, the GOP is convening a special session of the legislature to pass laws that will hamstring the incoming Democratic governor. And I recall the North Carolina legislature pulling the same crap a few years ago when their Republican governor was defeated. Which got me to thinking, Republicans are like crazy jealous ex-boyfriends. When you dump them, they don’t just go away. No, they are sore losers. They have that “if I can’t have you, nobody can” mentality where they will burn your car, break into your house, hold you at knife point or gunpoint and generally just make your life a living hell because they don’t get what they want. > > At least, that’s kinda how it seems to me… Another parallel: now that they’ve lost their position of absolute power and might have to answer for the shit they’ve done, they’re all about bipartisanship. Mitch McConnell wrote a sad op-ed, [“Will Dems work with us, or simply put partisan politics ahead of the country?”](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sen-mitch-mcconnell-will-dems-work-with-us-or-simply-put-partisan-politics-ahead-of-the-country), and Democrats [immediately began pointing out his hypocrisy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/14/mitch-mcconnell-wrote-an-op-ed-calling-bipartisanship-people-are-not-having-it/). So, like the jealous ex-boyfriend who beat up the girlfriend, spent the night in jail, and is now all about making nice. “C’mon, just tell the cops I didn’t hit you so we can put this behind us!” Fuck that, and fuck the Turtle. Here’s the only thing that needs to be said in response to his whiny article: “MERRICK. FUCKING. GARLAND.” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/44 "2018-11-14T23:47:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Oooh. So you’re thinking he’s being polite with people he shouldn’t be polite with. > > Well, thing is, it really is not always racist. For many people the discomfort is the same whenever someone who’s not “the expected type” is found wherever. We often label these reactions racism (where “race” may refer to ancestry or to cultural identification) or sexism, but it’s actually a different kind of issue. It’s not a matter of “men shouldn’t be X” or “black people shouldn’t be X” as one of “this person doesn’t fit my mental image of what an X should look like”; if their mental image doesn’t include the possibility of tats, a person with tats would produce the same negative reaction despite otherwise fitting the mental image. That’s why seeing more of these “unexpected people” in whatever place they were unexpected lowers the rejection: it creates familiarity, the mental image gets redefined and widened. No, he’s justifying and excusing racism. If you think that “men shouldn’t be X”, then you are sexist, if you think that “black people shouldn’t be X”, then you are a racist. If a person doesn’t fit your mental image of what X should look like, and the reason for that is due to race or gender or sexual orientation or religion or national origin or any other characteristic that does not pertain to the job at hand, but only to what your “expected type” is, then you are a bigot against them. Always. Now, does that mean that you are a bad person? Not necessarily. Most bigotry is based on ignorance, rather than malice. If you can’t imagine a black person as president, you are an ignorant racist. If you can’t stand the idea of a black person as president, then you are a malicious racist. The ignorant racist _can_ be cured, but they cannot be cured by coddling, they cannot be cured by telling them that their fears are understandable, as that just reinforces them. This is what Bernie did. He validated their fears and concerns about supporting a person solely due to the melanin content in his skin. The malicious racists do tend to find cover among the ignorant, and when you point out the racist who spews hate, he gets the ignorant person standing next to him to take offense. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/45 "2018-11-15T08:37:10Z")
I think the pandering and coddling of white racism is a contributing factor to how we got Trump. Sanders’ generation was opposed to racism, up to a point. They helped make obvious and extreme racism less socially acceptable, but then called it a day. ---
**Author:** ![HelenTroy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helentroy/32/86_2.png) [@HelenTroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenTroy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/46 "2018-11-15T13:48:08Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think the pandering and coddling of white racism is a contributing factor to how we got Trump. Sanders’ generation was opposed to racism, up to a point. They helped make obvious and extreme racism less socially acceptable, but then called it a day. Amen. Then using the fact he marched once in the fucking 60s as if that makes him some civil rights champion is beyond offensive. I gave to Save the Whales once in 1990, but it doesn’t make me a member of Green Peace. Yeah, then he moved to lily white Vermont and has consistently written off “identity politics”. He is the exact type of person to soft pedal bigotry and try to put a nice spin on it. Not only isn’t he helping, his rhetoric actively undermines progress and i wish people would stop giving him a pass. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/47 "2018-11-15T14:25:12Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > The issue is that we see someone of our own race as “like us” more than someone of the same class, occupation, nationality, geographical region, gender, religion, sports fandom, educational background, handedness, feelings about pineapple on pizza, etc. We see a person different from us in every single way except skin tone as more “like us” than someone with whom we share everything except skin tone. That’s utterly arbitrary. That was an invention, designed to justify race-based slavery at a time when the potential profits from such were simply overwhelming. That was back when slavery was legal and considered an industry. Circumstances are different now, but it’s still impossible to force people to dispel their innate preferences for their own race. If you continue to hold the racist rubber stamp over anybody who dares to criticize a political figure who happens to be a different race from their own, you’ll only build more resentment. Remember MLK’s dream that no one will be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character? You risk equating the two. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/48 "2018-11-15T15:33:35Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The GOP has been pandering to white nationalists since the Southern Strategy. What’s changed is that now, it’s all the party is about. It’s not about fiscal responsibility, it’s not about small government. It is about white nationalism. I know I sound like a broken record, but look at what they did in Georgia: they used their control over the state to disenfranchise black voters and hold a sham election. If this was happening somewhere overseas, our state department would be condemning it. Trumpism is based on the realization that white America is losing its grip on power and deciding that they will not go quietly. I don’t think that is true. Its also about making the obscenely rich even richer. The tax cuts weren’t about white nationalism. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/49 "2018-11-15T15:46:18Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I don’t think that is true. Its also about making the obscenely rich even richer. The tax cuts weren’t about white nationalism. True, but that’s almost a remnant at this point. They’re still pillaging, but there is no one in the party interested in actually governing. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-like-a-jealous-ex-boyfriend/824356/50 "2018-11-15T18:43:45Z")
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