# The Republican Party is the Party of Evil **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 4, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187 "2021-03-04T17:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/321 "2021-03-20T01:00:18Z")
So don’t have one. There, I fixed the abortion issue for you. ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/322 "2021-03-20T01:24:47Z")
I view every abortion as the end of a unique person. I cannot be flippant about extinguishing a beautiful thing that is human life. End of hijack. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/323 "2021-03-20T01:38:03Z")
> [@MrMrmrmr](#): > > I view every abortion as the end of a unique person. I cannot be flippant about extinguishing a beautiful thing that is human life. > End of hijack. - You should do your part to prevent abortions. Get snipped. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/324 "2021-03-20T02:13:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No. They are complicit in that evil. Maybe they are active proselytizers of that evil. They deserve nothing but scorn. They should be shunned by every decent human being. No defense of them can be accepted. > > It’s that simple. One might go so far as to say they ARE shunned by every decent human being. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/325 "2021-03-20T02:17:17Z")
This seems more evil than stupid so I picked this thread: [https://apnews.com/article/legislature-voting-rights-ted-cruz-legislation-elections-6270306f67108ac16f4ee7b45a8afdb3](https://apnews.com/article/legislature-voting-rights-ted-cruz-legislation-elections-6270306f67108ac16f4ee7b45a8afdb3) > [@](#): > > Democrats are trying to expand voting rights to “illegal aliens” and “child molesters,” he claimed, and Republicans must do all they can to stop them. If they push through far-reaching election legislation now before the Senate, the GOP won’t win elections again for generations, he said. > > Asked if there was room to compromise, Cruz was blunt: “No.” > > “H.R. 1′s only objective is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election, that they will win and maintain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and of the state legislatures for the next century,” Cruz said told the group organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed, conservative group that provides model legislation to state legislators. > > Cruz’s statements, recorded by a person on the call and obtained by The Associated Press, capture the building intensity behind Republicans’ nationwide campaign to restrict access to the ballot. From statehouses to Washington, the fight over who can vote and how — often cast as “voting integrity” — has galvanized a Republican Party in search of unifying mission in the post-Trump era. For a powerful network of conservatives, voting restrictions are now viewed as a political life-or-death debate, and the fight has all-but eclipsed traditional Republican issues like abortion, gun rights and tax cuts as an organizing tool. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/326 "2021-03-20T02:23:00Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > > Any intact apples we can find are very happy currently sitting in the rotten pile, and will not dare point out the rot. > > See, this is _my exact point_. You don’t say that there are too few, or that there‘s not anywhere near enough to matter, or whatever; you just declare that, nope, _not one_ will dare point out the rot. So if I run across one who will, uh, “dare point out the rot,” then — what? I’m looking at what you wrote, and thinking, _jeez, man, all you had to do was phrase it so a counterexample or two wouldn’t be relevant; but, instead, you wrote it like that?_ Because no one but you would interpret the word “nobody” as meaning literally nobody. All the rest of us know there are a few exceptions. And, yes, that “no one” is also not literal. I used it without even realizing it. That’s just the normal way people talk. Hyper-literal parsing is a very common disingenuous argument technique. It’s a great way to distract from the original point. You would do well to stop employing it. There are several posters who think you’re a troll. Presumably that’s not something you want. It means they won’t take your arguments seriously. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/327 "2021-03-20T02:27:20Z")
What about when a guy pulls out and shoots sperm all over the sheets? I mean, technically sperm is ‘alive’ and could become a unique person. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/328 "2021-03-20T02:29:21Z")
I saw one a few years ago that TALKED. And it sounded like Bruce Willis! ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/329 "2021-03-20T02:33:57Z")
I did. My doctor was in a plane crash and had badly scared hands. He said I was the only person to bring a book to read during the procedure. I didn’t want to think about what was happening, so why not keep my mind occupied? ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/330 "2021-03-20T02:34:40Z")
Do you know the difference between could and is? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/331 "2021-03-20T02:40:07Z")
Yeah, a fetus could become a natural born person, but that doesn’t mean it is now. ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/332 "2021-03-20T02:58:40Z")
Let’s get back to bashing people who you assume the worst of, and fail to appreciate alternative reasons why one would not back a bill. McCain voted against a vet Bill, not because he hates vets, but because he thought the Bill did not do enough. Similarly, voting against a Bill were the majority of the money doesn’t go to the stated purpose of the Bill , does not make one evil. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/333 "2021-03-20T11:26:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Hyper-literal parsing is a very common disingenuous argument technique. It’s a great way to distract from the original point. You would do well to stop employing it. > > There are several posters who think you’re a troll. Presumably that’s not something you want. It means they won’t take your arguments seriously. And I could say much the same about folks who toss various absolutist claims around: _that_ strikes me as a disingenuous technique, one that can let folks who are so inclined make what _look_ like bold and provocative statements built around sweeping claims, and then (a) if questioned, cheerfully deny that they meant what they actually said, while accusing _others_ of being disingenuous by taking stuff literally, sheesh; or, if it goes unquestioned, (b) just leave the false assertion there, unchallenged. And the flip side of that is, what you seem to be proposing strikes me as being plenty _worse_ in the event that they _did_, as it happens, actually mean it. Because then I’m reading what they wrote, and — as you said — _not taking them seriously,_ because I’d be chuckling while thinking to myself, _oh, he clearly doesn’t mean that, it’d be silly of me to take that literally as he’s surely not silly enough to think it; I’ll just declare victory and go home, since I can figure he agrees with me that it’s not 100% — even though he’s saying it’s, y’know, 100%._ And, well, _that_ seems like one heck of an easy road to arguing in bad faith: engaging not with what’s _said_, but with what I figure he’d say if he bothered to word it accurately, tra-la-la. You say that what I’m doing can distract from the original point; I say that wording it badly can distract from the original point — and that, while I could then guess at what the original point is, I’d rather ask for clarification. And then there’s this: **Euphonious\_Polemic** writes that “Any intact apples we can find are very happy currently sitting in the rotten pile, and will not dare point out the rot.” And when I ask about those who ‘dare point out the rot’, he asks: “What exactly happens to Republican politicians who point out the rotten apples?” And — wait, _what is that?_ Let’s say you’re right: that, instead of asking a question, I should’ve dismissively figured he didn’t mean what he wrote about how any of them Will Not Dare; oh, no, surely he already agrees with me that _some_ Will Dare, and it’d be silly of me to take that literally. But instead of making _that_ rejoinder, which sure would’ve put me in my place by making your point, he — moves on to asking what happens to them. Seriously: _what the fuck?_ If his original point, worded incorrectly, was merely that _many_ Will Not Dare, then, sure, clarify that some will, and maybe throw in a snarky quip about how damn few will, and then let’s move on to this new point. But his response flowed so naturally that it truly had me wondering if _that_ was his original point: _not_ that they literally won’t dare, that of _course_ they’d so dare, but that all along he was only ever thinking of what happens to them when they _do_ dare. And I could’ve dismissively ignored _that_ as phrased, the way you advise — figuring that he of course knows the answer is, _uh, they’ve kept serving in the Senate; it looks like some folks thought about censuring Sasse, but then decided against it_ — but I’m genuinely trying to discuss this in good faith, while doing my best to treat him like he’s doing likewise: responding to his posts as he chooses to write them, instead of putting words in his mouth. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/334 "2021-03-20T11:54:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > while just pointing out whatever looks like a _false_ claim whenever I happen to see what looks like a false claim. > > Yes, yes, we get it. You’ve beaten it into the ground. You’re arguing a side point that absolutely nobody else cares about while studiously avoiding the real issue that everybody else here is talking about. > > Just come out and say it. Is the Republican Party evil or not? See, here’s the thing: I don’t want to misleadingly say “yes,” and then have you pop in a day from now or a week from now or whatever to when I post approvingly about some action taken by a Republican — or by a majority of Republicans in the House and the Senate, or by right-wingers that Republicans voted on to the Supreme Court, or whatever. I want — what’s the term that gets thrown around so often around here? Subtlety And Nuance? I want to lead with clarity instead of clarifying later, or getting asked to clarify later: you’ve posted in this thread that you’re taking about a _through and through_ kind of evil, with folks who didn’t vote for Trump being “just as guilty” as those who did. You write: “Everyone who supports, enables, abets, encourages, donates, speaks for, or votes for Republicans is equally complicit.” You write: “There is no moderate sector of the party; it is all loony right to fascist right.” You write: “The Republican party that been on the wrong side of history on every issue since the Southern Strategy. That pre-Trump party.” I could take **BigT** ’s advice and figure you don’t literally mean any of that, and I could reply by expressing similar sentiments while figuring that anyone would know not to take me literally either; but I’d rather make clear that, while I disagree with plenty of positions advanced by the Republican Party — and would brand those as evil — I favor some of their positions, and so I still go into election after election asking whether I should vote for the Republican or the Democrat. But enough, for the moment, about how I approach voting; you write, of me, that, “you won’t concede that they are still Republican and will vote Republican. Nobody should ever vote Republican.” I disagree with the first part; I of _course_ concede that they are still Republican and that they will vote Republican; if I take you literally, you seem to be so glaringly incorrect that **BigT** may well be on to something. Now, granted, I also disagree about the second part; but that first part seems so bizarrely false that I don’t get how you came up with it to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/335 "2021-03-20T14:57:19Z")
I literally mean nobody should ever vote Republican. You say you will vote Republican. You will not brand the Party as evil. I say you should be shunned as complicit with evil. I believe that with every fiber of my body. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/336 "2021-03-20T15:09:46Z")
I know. **BigT** suggested that I should disregard that sort of thing — figure you don’t literally mean it, casually let it go by, what have you — but I take you seriously, by figuring you’re posting in good faith and responding in kind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/337 "2021-03-20T18:00:58Z")
Breaking news. Complicit Republicans are finally being shunned. > **[Trump aides seeking jobs 'blocked everywhere'](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/trump-aides-seeking-jobs-blocked-everywhere)** > > You can count on two hands the number of top aides to former President Donald Trump who have landed new jobs. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/338 "2021-03-20T19:21:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ugh. Yes, Republicans are **against** abortion and **for** increasing barriers to it. I agree that Republicans are for increasing barriers to abortion\*, but I’m not sure how much they are actually against abortion. There are a lot of policies they could work for that would decrease abortions, and they have not only shown no interest in supporting those policies but have often actively opposed them. Let’s start with providing birth control, subsidized as needed, to anyone who wants it. Then let’s move into the many services that could be provided that would remove much of the economic reasons for an abortion. You know, things like accessible and affordable pre- and postnatal health care, affordable child care, safe housing, etc. Once Republicans work towards those policies I’ll start believing they really are against abortion. - Republicans are for increasing barriers to _safe_ abortion for lower and middle income women. The rich will still be able to fly to another country to get an abortion. It goes without saying that overturning Roe v Wade, which is clearly their primary (and perhaps only) goal will eliminate most safe abortions. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/339 "2021-03-20T19:58:26Z")
Anti-abortion legislation is rarely about being against abortion; it’s fake piety, the true purpose of which is to use the law to restrict the liberties of others. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187/340 "2021-03-20T20:12:16Z")
Yeah. They seem highlight this by their sudden lack of concern for a baby once it’s born, especially if it dies due to the poverty of the parents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-party-is-the-party-of-evil/937187.md?page=18)