# Repubs have formed an openly racist caucus **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 17, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207 "2021-04-17T12:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/301 "2021-04-19T02:17:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > So you’re agreeing that the people who made the statement you’ve been defending are white supremacists? First off, you flatly stated that I’m not remotely willing to believe that they could _possibly_ be white supremacists. I have to ask: why the heck didn’t you just, y’know, _ask?_ Second, you’re now jumping from “possibly” to “are”. I mean: you _see_ that, right? You introduced the word, and I replied accordingly, and now — this? I’ve been having a hard time taking some of the replies I’ve seen in this thread seriously — but I’ve been hoping that, _hey, maybe some of it is them responding not to what I’m writing, but to what they’re expecting; and, heck, maybe some of it is me being unclear, and I should redouble my efforts._ But you’re effectively responding to what _you_ wrote: you’re jumping from _your_ “possibly” all the way to “are”. And, well, that’s just kind of disheartening. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/302 "2021-04-19T03:13:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I have to ask: why the heck didn’t you just, y’know, _ask?_ OK. Do you agree that the people who made the statement you’ve been defending are white supremacists? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/303 "2021-04-19T04:07:06Z")
Other\_Waldo has a point. It’s possible to see the good and bad in any party or party document while studiously ignoring wider context and code-words. The Republican Party doesn’t see things that way - [and are furiously backpeddling](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/greene-cancel-launch-america-first-caucus), but maybe under some circumstances it makes sense to pass over vile sentiments and twist words to make them sound reasonable. I’ve heard that Hitler was a great dancer. Also the [Mississippi Declaration of Secession](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_missec.asp) has some aspects worth pondering, though of course I part company with their defense of slavery and explicit opposition to black equality. For example, it objects to invading a state and surely they are correct that violence is wrong. It notes that, “the whole popular mind of the North is excited and inflamed with prejudice.” Well I’m against prejudice, etc, etc. You’ve got weigh both sides and look for the best in every person, political ideology, or cartoon villain. All that aside, I suspect that even the GOP recognizes that WASP supremacy is a losing proposition - there are too few of them. Demagogues always have a strong sense of demography. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/304 "2021-04-19T07:47:02Z")
Also, look at how many catholic presidents we’ve had. Biden is the second in history. And the first one wasn’t elected until 1960. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/305 "2021-04-19T09:15:33Z")
It took longer to build the tunnel from the Vatican to the Whitehouse than anyone expected. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/306 "2021-04-19T10:05:09Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > I have to ask: why the heck didn’t you just, y’know, _ask?_ > > OK. Do you agree that the people who made the statement you’ve been defending are white supremacists? That’s the way I’d bet about the people who made the statement — both the parts of the statement that I like, and the parts I dislike. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/307 "2021-04-19T10:13:15Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I suspect that even the GOP recognizes that WASP supremacy is a losing proposition Hey now, they’re just pro-Anglo-Saxon (and likely Protestant): why you gotta bring race into it with that White business? They’re not WASPs. They’re ASPs. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/308 "2021-04-19T10:23:29Z")
At the worst, wASPs. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/309 "2021-04-19T13:15:19Z")
My thought, too. It reminded me of the trial lawyer who asks a horribly out-of-bounds question, knowing the other side will vigorously object, and then simply says, “Withdrawn.” There’s often value in the bell that can’t be un-rung. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/310 "2021-04-19T13:31:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But that’s my point: if you’re asking about legal immigrants — either now or in the past — I’d say that our elected officials based their decision on the idea that, hey, _these are the folks we’ve chosen to allow in, presumably because we think it’d be for the benefit of the country_; and if you’re asking about _illegal_ immigrants, now or then, I’d say that our elected officials have decided that, _oh, yeah, these folks, we haven’t chosen to allow them in, because we don’t think it’d be to our benefit._ This is about as repulsive as it gets. Does the Emma Lazarus poem go “Give us your huddled masses, as long as there’s something in it for us?” You don’t allow people in solely on whether they can immediately contribute. There are people who face great danger in their native land and bring their children here so that they might actually live to adulthood. Throughout US history, people immigrated because they faced famine or war or persecution at home. We didn’t ask them “what’s in it for us?” The notion that there is an Anglo-Saxon culture in the US that is under siege is racist and reprehensible. There is no monolithic US culture, it’s a hodgepodge of cultures brought in from all over the world as seen in the great variety of ethnic restaurants, in the music from diverse backgrounds, and so on. Let’s be honest, “Anglo-Saxon” is being used as a proxy for “white”. If you’re uncomfortable with people coming in who don’t look like you, pray like you, eat like you, and so on- YOU’RE the one with the problem. Grow the fuck up and until you do, let the adults run the country. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/311 "2021-04-19T14:26:04Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > That’s the way I’d bet about the people who made the statement — both the parts of the statement that I like, and the parts I dislike. While it’s certainly neither necessary nor wise to dislike dogs because Hitler liked them, when I find that something I’ve been agreeing with is strongly favored as part of a despicable policy, I back up and take a good hard look at it to make sure a) that I really do agree with it and b) that it can in practice be separated from the despicable policy. Sometimes I do stick with my opinion. But what I don’t do is to start voting for the despicable policy because the people who have been promoting it have been doing their best to associate it with something that I agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/312 "2021-04-19T14:33:35Z")
“Party A promotes pro-choice policies, which I favor, but a lower cap on asylum seekers, which I oppose. Party B promotes a stronger focus on infrastructure development, which I favor, but the legalization of eating babies, which I oppose. So both parties have their pros and cons.” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/313 "2021-04-19T15:16:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > This is about as repulsive as it gets. Does the Emma Lazarus poem go “Give us your huddled masses, as long as there’s something in it for us?” You don’t allow people in solely on whether they can immediately contribute. Oh, on _that_, RW commenters and even actual officials of past Administrations _ **already** _ went there: _"Give me your huddled masses who can stand on their own two feet. It was put there by and for Europeans. It was added after the statue was built; it was supposed to be us enlightening others not asking them to come. Right next door at Ellis people_ were _being already excluded."_ And so forth. > [@](#): > > The notion that there is an Anglo-Saxon culture in the US that is under siege is racist and reprehensible… Let’s be honest, “Anglo-Saxon” is being used as a proxy for “white”. If you’re uncomfortable with people coming in who don’t look like you, pray like you, eat like you, and so on- YOU’RE the one with the problem. Like the “war” on Christmas/Christianity. They feel persecuted and endangered by merely having to accept that there may be other ways to “be American”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/314 "2021-04-19T15:24:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Also, it doesn’t help that you were pushing the whole victimhood narrative. Before it was just some of your friends who was Republican. But now you were sure that comments about Republicans were referring to you. > > You’re misremembering, of course. But, as it happens, that discussion is what prompted me to speak on my own behalf: at the time, I made true remarks about a Republican I know — and, man, did I ever get pushback from people who didn’t seem to believe it. Which goes nowhere; it sidetracks a potential debate about issues to instead bucket about claims that can’t be proven true. And so I figured, _hey, wouldn’t it be more useful to relay my own beliefs going forward?_ I’m misremembering, yet you describe exactly what I said—you claimed a friend was the one who was the good Republican. I don’t know why you think you can get away with all these games. But it doesn’t work. You’ve just admitted you think these guys are racist. And we’ve already established (since you didn’t disagree with me) that what they are saying is of a racist motivation. Yet you say you agree with them. You agree with people who are racist, saying things out of a racist motivation. Do I really need to spell out my conclusion? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/315 "2021-04-19T15:50:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > So you’re agreeing that the people who made the statement you’ve been defending are white supremacists? > > First off, you flatly stated that I’m not remotely willing to believe that they could _possibly_ be white supremacists… ["_ **Hello, good people on both sides**!"_](https://youtu.be/aYUEOSbh4IE?t=30) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/316 "2021-04-19T16:07:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > > > Also, it doesn’t help that you were pushing the whole victimhood narrative. Before it was just some of your friends who was Republican. But now you were sure that comments about Republicans were referring to you. > > > > You’re misremembering, of course. But, as it happens, that discussion is what prompted me to speak on my own behalf: at the time, I made true remarks about a Republican I know — and, man, did I ever get pushback from people who didn’t seem to believe it. Which goes nowhere; it sidetracks a potential debate about issues to instead bucket about claims that can’t be proven true. And so I figured, _hey, wouldn’t it be more useful to relay my own beliefs going forward?_ > > I’m misremembering, yet you describe exactly what I said—you claimed a friend was the one who was the good Republican. I don’t believe I did. Post the quote, if you think you can find one. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/317 "2021-04-19T16:46:27Z")
“Let’s talk about this other thing, rather than how I agree with racists” ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/318 "2021-04-19T21:10:10Z")
Friends, this is the poster who literally and seriously advocated SLAVERY for immigrants who get deported and return to the US. That is not hyperbole. You are wasting your time. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/319 "2021-04-20T14:15:21Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > I guess I’d say that illegal aliens are _arriving_ en masse; “imported” seems like an odd way of phrasing it, but that seems like a quibble compared to the fact of it. > > > [@](#): > > > > _Illegal_ immigrants. > > So you agree with the statement, as long as you can add and subtract words to make it mean what you imagine it means? You think these are ‘quibbles’? > > “foreign citizens are being imported en-masse” is the same phrase as “illegal immigrants are arriving en-masse”? The difference in wording that you’ve introduced is immaterial to the intent of the speaker? > > Also, I’m struggling to understand what you find “sensible” about this paragraph. Still trying to understand the following: > > > [@Eonwe](#): > > > > How does this threaten “political unity”? What does “political unity” mean? > > > > How does it threaten “societal trust”? What does “societal trust” mean? Still wondering if you’ve got answers to any of this? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207/320 "2021-04-20T14:46:08Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Friends, this is the poster who literally and seriously advocated SLAVERY for immigrants who get deported and return to the US. That is not hyperbole. You are wasting your time. Wait, what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repubs-have-formed-an-openly-racist-caucus/940207.md?page=17)