# Tired of Republicans. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810 "2020-05-14T22:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/41 "2020-05-15T12:09:51Z")
That old saying, ‘those who despise government, govern despicably’, rings true sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/42 "2020-05-15T12:34:44Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > That old saying, ‘those who despise government, govern despicably’, rings true sometimes. I’d never heard that saying, but yeah: you can’t expect people who fundamentally don’t believe in government to be any good at it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/43 "2020-05-15T12:35:23Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#): > > Every time the Republicans are in power, they run the country into the ground, and every single time, the Democrats have to clean it up. It’s like a bunch of little kids trash the house, and the parents have to clean up after them. > > At what point do you just kick the kids out of the house? Why can’t we just have consecutive Democrat presidents? > > Let’s look at the track record of Republican presidents: > [ul] > [li]Hoover, a Republican, caused the Great Depression[/li][li]Reagan and Bush Sr, Republicans, caused a war and a recession[/li][li]Bush Jr, a Republican, caused a war and a recession[/li][li]It looks like Trump, a Republican, will cause a recession, if not an outright depression[/li][/ul] > > At what point do people realize that Republicans are bad at governing? I think it’s a bit too much to say that Hoover “caused” The Great Depression. It was a long time coming, and he had a lot of help. And, to his credit, he did do things to alleviate it – just nowhere near enough, and his attitude and public stance made him look like an imperious snob. But I agree with your other examples wholeheartedly. And I don’t let Hoover completely off the hook. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/44 "2020-05-15T13:01:38Z")
I am Canadian, but know way more currently about American federal politics than Canadian. As they say, Trump is living rent-free in my head. I care because I believe the US has a leadership role to play in the world. I hate Trump, I hate his grimace face and how he breaks every constitutional rule without consequence. but I was resigned in January that he will win reelection. Then he bungles the Coronavirus response and at least half of the deaths in the US so far were unnecessary and I believe they can be directly laid at Don’s feet. I don’t know how he can show his face in public. This must be the end for him - no one will forgive this. But nope, his polls get stronger than ever. I just can’t believe it. Of course there will be a huge spike in deaths in fall, as infected people were encouraged to mingle. I feel so bad for the affected families, people in my family are also sick, but not from the virus. Somehow Trump seems most likely to win. And no, he is not good at governing, nor being a human being, nor being rich. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/45 "2020-05-15T13:06:04Z")
Where is it written that the US has a leadership role? It had money and hadn’t been destroyed after WWII so it sort of fell into that role, but it’s not a rule. They are a dying people. We should let them pass. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/46 "2020-05-15T13:22:01Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Where is it written that the US has a leadership role? It had money and hadn’t been destroyed after WWII so it sort of fell into that role, but it’s not a rule. They are a dying people. We should let them pass. I disagree they are a dying people. But their federal government seems broken. It needs to reformed, but they will never agree. I don’t mean to throw stones, most of the same arguments can be made in Canada. I care because someone will take a leadership position, and I prefer the US to China. China is going to win. China’s handling of the coronavirus would have put them back a decade or so, until Trump stepped in as bungler in chief, and now all the world is looking at the US handling of the virus in horror, making China look good in comparison. Again - not good at governing, but he knows his base. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/47 "2020-05-15T13:36:23Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > More like getting our asses kicked in November by guys (and not a few women) who seem to know the game a lot better than we do. But hey, there’s always a new Pit thread, right? That’ll show 'em. Who do you want to see instead of Biden, and how should we nominate this person? ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/48 "2020-05-15T13:50:34Z")
> [@Mikemike2](#): > > I care because someone will take a leadership position, and I prefer the US to China. China is going to win. China’s handling of the coronavirus would have put them back a decade or so, until Trump stepped in as bungler in chief, and now all the world is looking at the US handling of the virus in horror, making China look good in comparison. Again - not good at governing, but he knows his base. You know, I don’t want to hijack this thread, and I’m wary of predicting the future, but I just don’t see China winning in the long term. Yes, the Belt and Road Initiative worries me, and yes I do believe that their administration is smarter than our administration, but I just don’t see China overcoming its internal problems to the point where it can beat the world. Beat the US, certainly, but not the entire world. Again, with the qualification that _no one_ can predict the future to that extent, I have two contenders in mind: India and, interestingly enough, Latin America. Latinos are VERY hardworking and thrifty, VERY family-oriented, and they are united by a religion, if not by culture and heritage. If the Latinos can use that to their advantage, if they can overcome corrupt governments, outside meddling, and infrastructure problems to realize Bolivar’s dream of a united (or at least a MORE united) Latin America, they have a shot. I already believe that the Latinos are going to have a dominant influence in the USA in the coming generations, and I also believe that’s a good, good thing. I just wish I could live to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/49 "2020-05-15T13:53:09Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Who do you want to see instead of Biden, and how should we nominate this person? No one we’re going to get at this late date, and it beats the hell out of me. But as that 900-page Trump rant in the Pit shows, you don’t have to have a solution to have a complaint, right? Maybe it’s _my_ turn to scream into the void. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/50 "2020-05-15T14:04:19Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > You yell, and you scream, and you prevaricate, and it’s all the Republicans’ fault, right? It’s never Hillary’s fault. It’s never Biden’s fault. It’s never the party’s fault. It’s never YOUR fault! Actually, **Linty** , it’s _your_ fucking fault. You and all the bitchy-whiny entitled assholes who ceaselessly yammer about how much the Democrats suck and how they don’t fight for the right things and how they’re just as beholden to the power structure as the Republicans and bullshit bullshit, plus bullshit and did I mention bullshit? It’s all of that magnification of Democratic faults paired with the perverse overestimation of Democratic agency to make change in the minority and an accompanying blithe and seemingly intentional ignorance of how our government actually fucking works that keeps a substantial plurality of possible allies for progressive action discouraged with the only party even interested in promoting such action. That plus the hand waving of Republican intransigence and the assignment of blame to “both parties” and it’s a nice formula for depressing voter turnout. _Fuck_ the fucking fucknuggets doing this shit. Try shutting the fuck up for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/51 "2020-05-15T14:17:15Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > You’re never going to get anywhere with this factual crap. :mad: > Yes, practically everyone on this board is aware of it, yet Republican presidential candidates keep getting elected. I can’t understand it. “I can’t understand how Nixon got re-elected. I don’t know _anyone_ who voted for him.” — Pauline Kael, film reviewer, _The New Yorker,_ 1972 ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/52 "2020-05-15T14:17:27Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > Actually, **Linty** , it’s _your_ fucking fault. You and all the bitchy-whiny entitled assholes who ceaselessly yammer about how much the Democrats suck and how they don’t fight for the right things and how they’re just as beholden to the power structure as the Republicans and bullshit bullshit, plus bullshit and did I mention bullshit? > > It’s all of that magnification of Democratic faults paired with the perverse overestimation of Democratic agency to make change in the minority and an accompanying blithe and seemingly intentional ignorance of how our government actually fucking works that keeps a substantial plurality of possible allies for progressive action discouraged with the only party even interested in promoting such action. That plus the hand waving of Republican intransigence and the assignment of blame to “both parties” and it’s a nice formula for depressing voter turnout. > > _Fuck_ the fucking fucknuggets doing this shit. Try shutting the fuck up for a minute. Damn, I take back what I said about this board. _Any_ board where Harvey Keitel has 5,000+ posts is far from dying. And I’m not going to shut up, OK? Why should I shut up? Am I telling you something you don’t want to hear? I’m going to speak my mind. And then I’m going to speak it again. And then I’m going to speak it again and again and again and again until you get it through your head that we are in the situation we are in now, because the Democrats are broken. Kaputt. Abgefuckt. And it’s not going to get better until we get better. I know perfectly well how the government works, thank you. I’ve actually seen it work. We elected Obama. Twice. Don’t go typing in fuck-speak and sweating all over your keyboard and tell me it can’t be done. I’ve watched it done. As far as depressing voter turnout, well do you think I’M bad, Harve? Then don’t watch the news for the next six months, because as bad as I am, I’m ultimately on your side. I’m nowhere NEAR as bad as the Republicans are going to be. If a guy like me can get to a guy like you, maybe there’s a reason that doesn’t involve the malice of Republicans. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/53 "2020-05-15T14:51:52Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > No one we’re going to get at this late date, and it beats the hell out of me. But as that 900-page Trump rant in the Pit shows, you don’t have to have a solution to have a complaint, right? Maybe it’s _my_ turn to scream into the void. I get that this is the pit, but I’ve seen you make posts in posts outside the pit. I agree that Biden’s not a sexy opponent for a variety of reasons, but what’s fascinating is that he won the primaries by spending a lot less money than Bernie Sanders. Shit he didn’t even campaign in Massachussetts - talk about getting bang for the buck. But anyway, who’s fault is it that Joe Biden is the nominee right now? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/54 "2020-05-15T16:38:26Z")
I know people who should know better who don’t blame republicans for being bad. They are on a high horse about how bad the dems are too and want to lecture you on the fact that they will not vote for Clinton ever, or Biden ever or who ever. They are the lost. THey dont’ feel like they have any real meaning in their lives except to “object” to those around them for narcisistic fuel. Someone just told me that Trump is no worse than Obama and that he does not watch trump on tv cause he doesn’t have to, he has other “sources” He’s not even watching the pandemic response and he is equating O and T. And he says he’s to the left of me! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/55 "2020-05-15T16:40:21Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > who’s fault is it that Joe Biden is the nominee right now? You don’t see yourself in that mix? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/56 "2020-05-15T17:05:01Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You don’t see yourself in that mix? Sure, but I voted for Biden. I’m cool with it. I didn’t see better options out there that were realistic. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/57 "2020-05-15T17:41:33Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Sure, but I voted for Biden. I’m cool with it. > > I didn’t see better options out there that were realistic. How many times have you gone back and revisited the word “realistic” in the last 4 years? I do it every day. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/58 "2020-05-15T17:43:04Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#): > > At what point do people realize that Republicans are bad at governing? > [@elbows](#): > > That old saying, ‘those who despise government, govern despicably’, rings true sometimes. Democrats believe that the government can solve many of our problems, and ask you to vote for them to prove it. Republicans believe that the government is the source of all of our problems, and ask you to vote for them to prove it. > [@DigitalC](#): > > In fact if Trump had done the right thing and prolonged stay at home orders the economy would suffer the more for it. He still should have, but the recession was inevitable. Starting the stay at home earlier would have been far better, both from the medical and the economic standpoint. If we had just done the low level of social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, staying apart, reducing capacity at restaurants and bars, we may have never needed to go to the great lengths that we have had to. > [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > No one we’re going to get at this late date, and it beats the hell out of me. But as that 900-page Trump rant in the Pit shows, you don’t have to have a solution to have a complaint, right? Maybe it’s _my_ turn to scream into the void. My solution is to support the Democratic Party, both in giving them my vote this fall, and encouraging others to do so as well. Your solution seems to be to throw a tantrum if you don’t get everything exactly as you wanted. My solution may fail, but yours doesn’t even try. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/59 "2020-05-15T17:59:17Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Democrats believe that the government can solve many of our problems, and ask you to vote for them to prove it. Then when we put them in the White House and give them majorities in both houses of Congress, they handcuff themselves by leaving the filibuster in place, drastically limiting how much they can do to solve those problems. Then they wonder why many of their voters stay home when the midterms roll around, and the GOP retakes Congress as a result. 1994, 2010, and all too probably 2022. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810/60 "2020-05-15T18:41:09Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > How many times have you gone back and revisited the word “realistic” in the last 4 years? I do it every day. I appreciate the Socratic method as much as anyone, but do you have a point to make or are we just askin questions? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tired-of-republicans/853810.md?page=4)