# So when exactly did the Republican party start becoming "insane"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747 "2015-12-07T22:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/81 "2015-12-08T22:15:18Z")
Good question. When was **adaher** born? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/82 "2015-12-08T23:43:16Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > What you are seeing is an increasing polarization of the electorate. The Republicans are moving to the right, and the Democrats are moving to the left. > > Your main presidential candidate says that businesses donā€™t create jobs. Does she? Or are you jumping on a verbal slip because actually arguing her positions is hard? > [@](#): > > Your second main candidate is a declared socialist. If you donā€™t understand what he means when he says _socialist_, you should educate yourself before comment. Because from here it looks like you want to associate him with communism, and thatā€™s not what I would call talking clearly. > [@](#): > > Left wing kids on campuses have gone bat-shit crazy. Oh no, teh kids! > [@](#): > > Black Lives Matter - and no others. This is such absurdly incoherent nonsense, I donā€™t even want to address it. If your house is on fire, and I say, ā€œSam Stoneā€™s house is on fire.ā€ do you stand up defiant and cluck out, ā€œALL HOUSES ARE ON FIRE!11ā€ The very notion that pointing out a problem in one area, suggests that you donā€™t care about other areas is goofy. > [@](#): > > Identity politics rules the day. Youā€™d prefer ignoring marginalized groups? > [@](#): > > The Democrats seem to now believe that you can always fix an economy by borrowing and spending more money, and that you can heavily tax and eventually ban the key ingredient of industry without hurting the economy, because of ā€˜green jobsā€™. No, they donā€™t believe that. The GOP believe that all tax cuts are good, and that, via magic, the more you cut, the more the govt. makes. It is to laffer. Dems want to raise our historically low taxes to something they resembled when America had upward mobility. > [@](#): > > Democrats seem increasingly contemptuous of the rule of law and the constitution. \*Seem \*is a pretty flexible word. > [@](#): > > They have lost in court on gun control repeatedly, but keep coming back to it. Itā€™s still a problem. And nothing the dems want to do is unconstitutional. > [@](#): > > Speech codes on campus, lack of due process for the accused in rape trials, an imperial president pushing the boundaries of executive power, an Attorney General hinting that she might try to prosecute speech that ā€˜goes over the lineā€™, some Democrats suggesting that climate ā€˜deniersā€™ should somehow be silenced or punished, etc. Thereā€™s a depressingly authoritarian aspect to the left that seems to be getting worse. Individuals want some harsh things. So? Weā€™re talking about policy, not what some scientist wants, because the GOP and RW media have been lying about his lifeā€™s work for decades. > [@](#): > > Democrats think the problem with America is that itā€™s not regulated enough. In some ways itā€™s not. The GOP wants to undo regulations that are proven successful. Regulation isnā€™t a dirty word. Only a fool thinks we donā€™t need any. > [@](#): > > They think Capitalism is a dead political system ripe for ā€˜replacementā€™. Horseshit. > [@](#): > > I could go on. Of course you could, because this entire post is just wind. An attempt to take the perfectly justified criticism of the GOP and the American Right, flip it around, and cry helplessly that, ā€œBoth sides are the same!ā€ > [@](#): > > The left has gone left, and the right has gone right. Because youā€™re on the left, you donā€™t see your own shift and you tend to exaggerate the shift on the other side. No, it really hasnā€™t. On social issues society has evolved, and the left has spearheaded it, but on the economy or defense? > [@](#): > > As a reminder, it was only 8 years ago that Barack Obama was against gay marriage, and Clinton was still proud of the Defense of Marriage Act. Pot legalization was pretty much unthinkable a decade ago. Socialism was considered a failed political system, and capitalism had won the day. You again are trying to paint Sandersā€™ position as the same as communism. > [@](#): > > You guys are fond of saying that Ronald Reagan could not be elected as a Republican today. By the same token, Bill Clinton of 1994 - the guy who reformed welfare, who declared the era of big government to be over, and who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, couldnā€™t get elected dogcatcher in todayā€™s Democrat party. The blue dogs are all gone - Jim Webb is the most conservative Democrat I can think of, and heā€™s gone. The country has evolved socially. It is a good thing that gays can marry, and that sickening bigots gnash their teeth over it. The Dems lead social change, because the GOP is generally full of angry assholes that want to keep the prejudices of the past alive and well. > [@](#): > > Joe Lieberman was drummed out of the party. He was a bit of a twat. > [@](#): > > Difficult times cause polarization. Thatā€™s what weā€™re seeing now. From my perspective, Bernie Sanders is every bit as crazy as Donald Trump or Ben Carson Your perspective is not in comport with observed reality. > [@](#): > > , and the Democrats following him are in denial that heā€™s electable, Many are. He is, however, adjusting the playing field. Pulling that Overton Window to the side of sanity. > [@](#): > > just as Trumpā€™s followers are. Heā€™s a crazy 77 year old man with wild hair and a set of beliefs recycled from the ash heap of history. His beliefs are backed by the other first world social democracies. Itā€™s the libertarian goofballs that want to instill a nation that has never existed, and has no example in all of history. > [@](#): > > That he has as much support as he does means the same for the Democrats as Trumpā€™s popularity means for the Republicans. No. Because he advocates proven policies that work the world over. Trump is a racist cunt who knows nothing about policy and is just acting the buffoon for the angry, ignorant base of the GOP. > [@](#): > > The other factor driving all this craziness is that we have probably the worst political class in my lifestime. Washington (and Ottawa) is full of idiots, ideologues, and corruption, on the left and the right. The people are getting sick of it all and are looking for something different. Mostly on the right though. Both sides arenā€™t the same. I can see why you want them to be, because you donā€™t want to accept that youā€™re a booster for the morally bankrupt team. ---
**Author:** ![Grsz11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grsz11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grsz11)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/83 "2015-12-08T23:52:14Z")
Did Lobohan just mic drop? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/84 "2015-12-09T00:57:01Z")
> [@](#): > > MSNBC has a liberal bias If that were even partially true in the past, it certainly isnā€™t true now. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/85 "2015-12-09T00:58:36Z")
There may be signs of improvement, crazy Ted Cruz had a denial of science hearing that was made less defective because many Republicans failed to show up, so democrats had more chances to support the only defender of science and he was a no take prisoners Admiral. [http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Navy-climate-change-expert-sees-opponents-6401711.php](http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Navy-climate-change-expert-sees-opponents-6401711.php) > [@](#): > > As the U.S. Navyā€™s former top expert on man-made climate change, retired Rear Adm. David Titley says he deals in evidence, not belief. > > ā€œI tell people this is basic science. And that people from all around the world are coming to the came conclusion,ā€ said Titley, a Schenectady native who headed up the Navyā€™s Task Force on Climate Change. During his 32-year military career, he was also the Navyā€™s chief oceanographer, responsible for tracking science on global oceans. > **[Senate Hearing Live Blog](http://rabett.blogspot.com/2015/12/senate-hearing-live-blog.html)** > > So the Cruz follies are on the air , feel free to add your comments Christy, Curry, Happer and Steyn, with Dave Titley for the forces of ... > [@](#): > > Next up is Udall (D). \*\*Cruz canā€™t get his R colleagues to come to the meeting. \*\*Udall points out that this meeting is an attack on scientists. > > Asks Titley if there is any time. Titley says that there is nothing as useless as the runway behind you. Points out that even Curry said that more research on energy is needed. > > Asks Titley was he always convinced. Titley says that not always, because he comes from a weather model background. Uses initial value vs. boundary value point. When asked by CNO to look at this, like a reformed smoker, he saw all these independent lines of evidence. > > ## Asks Titley if science has progressed. Titley says progress in science is not linear. Overall level of confidence in basic GHG theory has increased > > Another Democrat (Markey) \*\*\*If there was an R in the room it would have been his or her turn. Every Republican hates Cruz and wonā€™t show up. > > * * * > > Asks Titley about weather 2014 was record year. > > Answer is yes. Senator turns to COP 21. Calls committee last redoubt of denial. Points out that the panel has 4 deniers and 1 scientist. Tells Titley that, unlike Galileo he will get his apology faster than Galileo. Cruz in the end just told everyone that he learned nothing. Will have to wait if other Republicans were just avoiding being on the record now or if they continue to be as deniers as ever, but not just as rabid as Ted Cruz. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/86 "2015-12-09T01:16:39Z")
Having been persuaded that this well was truly poisoned right from the get-go, Iā€™m moving this to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/87 "2015-12-09T01:51:26Z")
Letā€™s look at McCarthyism in the 1950s. Wasnā€™t this an instance of insanity on the part of Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/88 "2015-12-09T03:56:11Z")
I think ā€œHamster Kingā€ nailed it. Yeah, theyā€™ve always had their crazies, so have we but on their side the inmates are now running the asylum. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/89 "2015-12-09T05:06:02Z")
> [@Cadae](#): > > (Mods, please change title to ā€œRepublicanā€, durrr) > > Iā€™m a political moderate and independent who would easily consider voting Republican for the right qualified candidate. In my lifetime however, the Republican party has drifted not just rightward, but also in an increasingly loonier direction. Iā€™m not referring to anything related to, for example, guns, defense, or abortion. These are difficult questions with intelligent people on both sides. > > No, Iā€™m talking about > > 1. Spending an exorbitant amount of time and public money on brinksmanship, character assassination, and political theater. > 2. A philosophical platform centered more around how to defeat the Democrats and roll back their accomplishments than a plan for the direction of the country. > 3. A disturbing anti-intellectual streak. > 4. And of course, the candidate who publicly demands a wall at the southern border paid for by Mexico has the overwhelming lead in the polls. > > When did this start and what caused it? I donā€™t think the Republicans are insane. But the major problems the party has started when we got in bed with the religious whackjobs. The whackjobs now dominate the party and true conservatives are in the minority. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/90 "2015-12-09T05:36:17Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I donā€™t think the Republicans are insane. But the major problems the party has started when we got in bed with the religious whackjobs. The whackjobs now dominate the party and true conservatives are in the minority. High five! ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/91 "2015-12-09T05:42:18Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Having been persuaded that this well was truly poisoned right from the get-go, Iā€™m moving this to the Pit. Raises hand. Is the mod instruction in post #45, now rescinded because this is now the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/92 "2015-12-09T06:18:12Z")
Oh, this is in the pit now? Oh goodie. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > What you are seeing is an increasing polarization of the electorate. The Republicans are moving to the right, and the Democrats are moving to the left. > > Your main presidential candidate says that businesses donā€™t create jobs. > > Your second main candidate is a declared socialist. > > Left wing kids on campuses have gone bat-shit crazy. > > Black Lives Matter - and no others. > > Identity politics rules the day. > > The Democrats seem to now believe that you can always fix an economy by borrowing and spending more money, and that you can heavily tax and eventually ban the key ingredient of industry without hurting the economy, because of ā€˜green jobsā€™. > > Democrats seem increasingly contemptuous of the rule of law and the constitution. They have lost in court on gun control repeatedly, but keep coming back to it. Speech codes on campus, lack of due process for the accused in rape trials, an imperial president pushing the boundaries of executive power, an Attorney General hinting that she might try to prosecute speech that ā€˜goes over the lineā€™, some Democrats suggesting that climate ā€˜deniersā€™ should somehow be silenced or punished, etc. Thereā€™s a depressingly authoritarian aspect to the left that seems to be getting worse. > > Democrats think the problem with America is that itā€™s not regulated enough. > > They think Capitalism is a dead political system ripe for ā€˜replacementā€™. > > I could go on. The left has gone left, and the right has gone right. Because youā€™re on the left, you donā€™t see your own shift and you tend to exaggerate the shift on the other side. > > As a reminder, it was only 8 years ago that Barack Obama was against gay marriage, and Clinton was still proud of the Defense of Marriage Act. Pot legalization was pretty much unthinkable a decade ago. Socialism was considered a failed political system, and capitalism had won the day. > > You guys are fond of saying that Ronald Reagan could not be elected as a Republican today. By the same token, Bill Clinton of 1994 - the guy who reformed welfare, who declared the era of big government to be over, and who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, couldnā€™t get elected dogcatcher in todayā€™s Democrat party. The blue dogs are all gone - Jim Webb is the most conservative Democrat I can think of, and heā€™s gone. Joe Lieberman was drummed out of the party. > > Difficult times cause polarization. Thatā€™s what weā€™re seeing now. From my perspective, Bernie Sanders is every bit as crazy as Donald Trump or Ben Carson, and the Democrats following him are in denial that heā€™s electable, just as Trumpā€™s followers are. Heā€™s a crazy 77 year old man with wild hair and a set of beliefs recycled from the ash heap of history. That he has as much support as he does means the same for the Democrats as Trumpā€™s popularity means for the Republicans. > > The other factor driving all this craziness is that we have probably the worst political class in my lifestime. Washington (and Ottawa) is full of idiots, ideologues, and corruption, on the left and the right. The people are getting sick of it all and are looking for something different. **Sam** , Iā€™m no expert on Libertarian policy. As a result, I used to give some of your screeds on the subject more credence, because you seemed to know what you were talking about, and gave really deep, detailed analysis. This post proves that that was _wholly_ unwarranted. Youā€™re a massive dunce, the needle of whose political compass is stuck firmly in his mindā€™s arse, who knows _nothing_ about any of the issues you expound on here. You know _nothing_ about anything you speak of here. You do not even show the most cursory understanding of Black Lives Matter, of Sandersā€™ political views (or, alternatively, of the political reality in places like Denmark and Sweden), or anything else you expound on. You _lie_ about what democrats believe, much in the same way that that shit-for-brains **Waymore** did. If your posts on climate change werenā€™t enough of a giveaway to everyone else (and lord knows, they should have been for me), this damn well should be. Youā€™re a complete nincompoop. Iā€™ll take this shit from Waymore, because he never fucking posts and/or is a new poster, and his bullshit is at least amusing. From you? From you I expected better. Now my expectations are at least reasonably adjusted, thank you for _that_ at least. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/93 "2015-12-09T06:47:40Z")
The stupidest bit (although thereā€™s a lot of stupid to choose from in that post) is this, IMHO: > [@Sam Stone](#): > > By the same token, Bill Clinton of 1994 - the guy who reformed welfare, who declared the era of big government to be over, and who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, couldnā€™t get elected dogcatcher in todayā€™s Democrat party. First, **Sam** , itā€™s ā€œDemocratic Partyā€: itā€™s odd that so many of you conservatives donā€™t know how to spell it correctly. Second, itā€™s flat-out ridiculous to think that you can reconcile that statement with the fact that the other national politician occupying the White House during the Clinton Administration, who was closely associated with that administrationā€™s policies and ideas, _is currently the frontrunning Democratic candidate for President_. In what crazy parallel reality do you imagine that Democrats support Hillary while rejecting Bill? Politically, ideologically, pragmatically, _theyā€™re basically the same entity_. Every voting-age Democrat knows that a new Clinton White House would be a combo of Bill and Hillary, just like it was the last two times. And thatā€™s not even taking into account the fact that [Bill Clinton is the most favorably viewed living ex-President](http://www.gallup.com/poll/171794/clinton-elder-bush-positively-rated-living-presidents.aspx), with 64%/34% pos/neg ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/94 "2015-12-09T07:07:48Z")
I think thatā€™s dumb, but really? Dumber than the bit about Sandersā€™ political views? That was some grade-A retardation, right there. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/95 "2015-12-09T07:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > ā€¦some Democrats suggesting that climate ā€˜deniersā€™ should somehow be silenced or punished, etcā€¦ Just this little tidbit, if youā€™ve got the time, seems to cry out for some citation and specifics. If youā€™re not too busy. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2015, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/96 "2015-12-09T08:01:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just this little tidbit, if youā€™ve got the time, seems to cry out for some citation and specifics. If youā€™re not too busy. He must be talking about Rep. Raul Grijalva a Democrat that asked for information about outside funding for seven university professors who stake out skeptical or controversial positions on climate change, He gave up his request for their correspondence with funders and others was an ā€œoverreach.ā€ He is still defending his request for information about external funding for research and consulting. What it is asinine is that the Republicans are not only threatening more than that to the NOAA scientists, the Republicans declared that the scientists are committing fraud. And never mind that the Democrat pulled off at the recommendation of scientists too,\*\* the republicans are not listening\*\* to even more scientists that told Lamar Smith and others to deal with the science and not personal emails. Finally, what remains is that the request from scientists and others to get investigations going into the funding of denial does not mean that scientists are silenced, the targets are the ones funding disinformation. It is very important for a democracy to point at the conflicts of interest that contrarian researchers are getting money from when clear shoddy denier science is the result. > **[Greenpeace exposes sceptics hired to cast doubt on climate science](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/08/greenpeace-exposes-sceptics-cast-doubt-climate-science)** > > Sting operation uncovers two prominent climate sceptics available for hire by the hour to write reports on the benefits of rising CO2 levels and coal > [@](#): > > Sting operation uncovers two prominent climate sceptics available for hire by the hour to write reports on the benefits of rising CO2 levels and coal > [@](#): > > The findings point to how paid-for information challenging the consensus on climate science could be placed into the public domain without the ultimate source of funding being revealed. > > They come as government ministers meet in Paris this week to try to reach an agreement to fight climate change, and one month after it emerged that ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy were under investigation in the state of New York over claims of misleading the public and investors about climate change. > > Over the course of their investigation, Greenpeace posed as the representative of a Middle Eastern oil and gas company and an Indonesian coal company. In the guise of a Beirut-based business consultant they asked William Happer , the Cyrus Fogg Brackett professor of physics at Princeton University, to write a report touting the benefits of rising carbon emissions, according to email exchanges between the professor and the fake company. > > Happer is one of the most prominent climate sceptics in the US and on Tuesday was called to testify at a congressional hearing into climate ā€œdogmaā€ convened by Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential candidate and chair of the Senate science committee. He is also chairman of the George Marshal Institute in the US and an adviser to the Global Warming Policy Foundation in the UK. As I said, the republican party has gone full Lysenko. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/97 "2015-12-09T08:26:03Z")
It is interesting to me to see a few posters finally awakening to the fact that Sam Stone is nothing but the definition of a [Very Serious Person](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People), specifically definition c). ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/98 "2015-12-09T08:39:37Z")
> [@Cadae](#): > > When did this start and what caused it? Iā€™m not satisfied to blame this on the election of Obama and the tea-party takeover - the trend started well before. It started around the same time when Rush Limbaugh and FOX news started. Was that the early 90ā€™s? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/99 "2015-12-09T08:58:30Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I think thatā€™s dumb, but really? Dumber than the bit about Sandersā€™ political views? That was some grade-A retardation, right there. Yeahbut, the Sanders thing is mostly just an ignorantly simplistic conflation of different definitions of ā€œsocialismā€. I would argue that claiming that Bill Clinton ā€œcouldnā€™t get elected dogcatcherā€ by Democrats today because of an alleged Democratic leftward shift is not only factually wrong but _creatively_ stupid. It takes some truly ideology-inspired idiocy to be able to shut oneā€™s eyes to easily observable facts long enough to come up with a hypothesis like that. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747/100 "2015-12-09T09:50:26Z")
Well, it also takes a willingness to ignore how time marches on ā€“ most notably with gay rights, but also with many other things such as how we view the real and important subtleties of structural and cultural racism. These are shifts in SOCIETY since the Bill Clinton administration, not shifts in any one political party. Itā€™s a little different than pointing out his Nixon or Reagan would be far too liberal for todayā€™s Republican Party. _That_ does also reflect societal shifts, but mainly counter-trends to the bigger shifts ā€“ to paint a broad brush, fearful reactions to a changing world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-exactly-did-the-republican-party-start-becoming-insane/739747.md?page=6)