# You're protesting people going to a PLAY? Idiots! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 30, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184 "2004-08-30T04:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/41 "2004-08-31T21:21:45Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The point still stands, the Republican “big tent” is a lie and people who buy into it are suckers. So, the answer to my previous question is…you? Is that what I am to understand? ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/42 "2004-08-31T21:26:17Z")
> [@avabeth](#): > > Errr…both Wicked and RENT are very popular. I’ve been to RENT about eight times, and each time, all but a few seats were filled. And Wicked is sold out many nights. So yes, I think they’re both very popular and something that people can and want to identify with. And honestly, I wish the people who don’t identify with it would stay the hell out so I don’t have to listen to teenaged girls saying “ewww…gross!” every time the lesbians kiss. > > Wicked’s the ‘feel good’ family show of the season. I’m not sure how it didn’t pass the Republican muster, but I really think they’re reaching with the whole ‘anti-government’ crap. But it _does_ have mass appeal - otherwise, their ticket sales wouldn’t be so high. Again, I never said they were bad shows, I rather enjoyed RENT, but you’re not talking true “mass appeal” here. When’s the last time you saw a RENT DVD for sale at a Shell gas station? The Lion King on the other hand… It’s all semantics, really, but it matters in terms of numbers. What I don’t get is people protesting a theatre, inside or outside, just because certain people happen to be in attendance. The mucisicans on strike? OK, fine. You think the play is a detriment to the fabric of American society? OK, fine. But because certian people attend? That has to be one of the most obtuse things i have ever heard. Stupid. Really. Regarding the ongoing row between Otto and Dave; I think the point that no one is making is that both Dems and Pubs are full of absolute shit. Yeah, the Republicans exclude and appease. Think the Democrats don’t? Both parties will put up whoever they need to, to appeal to their widest audience. A political candidate in 2004 has to say, what he has to say to get elected, just like he did in 1904. You can add all the stereotypical remarks you can muster up, but the fact is, someone trying to be popular (i.e. get elected) will try and be the guy that appeals to the widest demographic, pure and simple. We’re being taken for a ride on this bullshit merry-go-round, and being kept fat and happy means that no matter the party affiliation, the bastards on the hill will continue to win, while the little guy gets the shaft. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/43 "2004-08-31T21:38:59Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > So, the answer to my previous question is…you? Is that what I am to understand? No dumbass, I don’t get to decide who calls themselves Republicans. I had thought you understood that the question was so absurd that it didn’t require an answer. Of course anyone who wants to can call themselves a Republican. That doesn’t make the R’s big tent lie any less of a lie. In the case of gay Republicans the party has done everything except hang a sign on the tent flap that says HOMOS NEED NOT APPLY. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/44 "2004-08-31T21:41:35Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > Yeah, the Republicans exclude and appease. Think the Democrats don’t? Who do the Democrats exclude? Against whom has the Democratic Party written discrimination into their platform? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/45 "2004-08-31T22:02:35Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > Again, I never said they were bad shows, I rather enjoyed RENT, but you’re not talking true “mass appeal” here. When’s the last time you saw a RENT DVD for sale at a Shell gas station? The Lion King on the other hand… One reason for that is because we don’t have future-glasses. The film [RENT](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294870/) is supposedly still in production and won’t even be released in theaters until 2005. Another reason is because the gas-station impulse buying market is not the one measure of “true mass appeal”. Everybody has heard of the play RENT. That’s “true mass appeal”. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/46 "2004-08-31T22:14:10Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > So, who gets to determine who is allowed to be a Republican? I know black Republicans, I know gay Republicans. Are they now to be told “Sorry, you have to chose another party because we don’t think you’re smart enough to know what you’re doing since you think you’re Republican”? I was a Republican from 1972 until last spring, when I finally had it. Sure they let you in the tent - and then they’ll stomp on you and crap on you, up until the time they need to drag you onto the podium to show how moderate the party is. They gave more anti-terrorism money per capita to Montana than New York, but love Bloomberg to make them look moderate. Why don’t you let me know how the moderates have influenced the platform? Yeah, there are Log Cabin Republicans - I hope they love the platform too. The only way the Republican party is going to get back to the center and the mainstream is if they get whupped. The reactionaries had not trouble abandoning Bush Daddy, so the moderates should dump Bush Junior. What did the moderates get for their little charade? Anything of use? Or are the things they care about going to get kicked more? And you might want to think about who the extremist is. In an independent study of voting records and recorded support only one candidate is an extremist relative to the party - Dick Cheney. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/47 "2004-08-31T23:19:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Yeah, there are Log Cabin Republicans - I hope they love the platform too. [Not so much](http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/08/083104rncDay.htm). > [@](#): > > Speaking outside the Republican National Convention Monday, LCR Executive Director Patrick Guerriero said the “radical right” has “hijacked” the Republican Party and that simple integrity requires gay Republicans to fight back. > > \ > > “The Republican Party has to make a choice,” Guerriero said. "We can be the party of Giuliani, McCain and Schwarzenegger or we can be the party of Falwell, Santorum and Buchanan. We can unite on those things that bring us together or we can continue the politics of intolerance and fear that only lead to hate. > > “The Republican Party can’t have it both ways,” Guerriero said. “We cannot have the voices of exclusion crafting a vicious and mean-spirited platform, while at the same time putting the voices of inclusion in prime time [at the convention].” ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/48 "2004-09-01T06:27:40Z")
The only reason Giuliani is at the RNC is because of 9/11. He was on his way to getting bounced on his ass because of his extremely low popularity with New Yorkers. Even though he did squeak his way to a second term, there’s no way he would have been able to move to a bigger stage because every reporter in NYC would have nailed his ass. Then 9/11 happened, and _nobody_ in the media had the balls to point out all the monumental fuckups that happened because of Giuliani’s lack of prior leadership, because this country assumed a ‘we all must stand together’ viewpoint. Hundreds of firefighters died because Giuliani decided that putting an emergency command center 23 stories up a building that had _already_ been targeted by terrorists was a great idea :rolleyes: The days after 9/11 also gave the rest of their country their first real look at Giuliani when he was being fawned over, and that still carries over to this day. But if you look at what the man actually stands for with regards to social issues, he is a Democrat with values that bear no relationship to the Republicanism of today. Just like the DNC played to the center, the folks running the RNC know they have to do the same thing in an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the undecided voters, which is why you see moderate Republicans who support gay rights, abortion rights, and fiscal conservatism giving speeches. But it’s just a smokescreen. Should Bush win this upcoming election, Republicans will continue to pull to the right, and their next presidential candidate will not be anyone like Schwarzenegger (I know he’s not eligible), McCain, Pataki, or Giuliani, unless those men are willing to kowtow to the born-agains. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184/49 "2004-09-01T06:34:39Z")
The only reason Giuliani is at the RNC is because of 9/11. He was on his way to getting bounced on his ass because of his extremely low popularity with New Yorkers. Even though he did squeak his way to a second term, there’s no way he would have been able to move to a bigger stage because every reporter in NYC would have nailed his ass. Then 9/11 happened, and _nobody_ in the media had the balls to point out all the monumental fuckups that happened because of Giuliani’s lack of prior leadership, because this country assumed a ‘we all must stand together’ viewpoint. Hundreds of firefighters died because Giuliani decided that putting an emergency command center 23 stories up a building that had _already_ been targeted by terrorists was a great idea :rolleyes: The days after 9/11 also gave the rest of their country their first real look at Giuliani when he was being fawned over, and that still carries over to this day. But if you look at what the man actually stands for with regards to social issues, he is a Democrat with values that bear no relationship to the Republicanism of today. Just like the DNC played to the center, the folks running the RNC know they have to do the same thing in an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the undecided voters, which is why you see moderate Republicans who support gay rights, abortion rights, and fiscal conservatism giving speeches. But it’s just a smokescreen. Should Bush win this upcoming election, Republicans will continue to pull to the right, and their next presidential candidate will not be anyone like Schwarzenegger (I know he’s not eligible), McCain, Pataki, or Giuliani, unless those men are willing to kowtow to the born-agains. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-protesting-people-going-to-a-play-idiots/262184.md?page=2)