A Blast From The Past

I like to check back once in a while to see what (if anything) changes over the few months that practically every talking head in the Chatter-verse always tells us is a lifetime in politics.

Here's a Semi-Oldie from Addicting Info posted way back in April 2014:

Republicans complain about video games and Hollywood, routinely whining that the influence of the mainstream media on the next generation is ‘destroying America.’ They claim that the ‘unGodly‘ and the ‘sexually immoral’ are encouraging young people to become degenerate, God hating heathens, bound for eternal damnation.

Who is really destroying the fabric of American society? Is it the gays with their ‘homosexual agenda,‘ and Disney with their top secret plot to corrupt the minds of all children via cartoon feature films with catchy theme songs? Or is it another segment of society altogether? A segment of our population that teaches American youth that violence is the answer to all problems; one that role models disrespect for everyone, from teachers to the police, to the president; a segment of our population that pretends to be ‘Godly,’ but values wealth more than humanity and role models that truth in everything they say and do?

Republicans are horrible role models for America’s young people. Representatives of the GOP promote an agenda which is racist, classist, sexist, violent and uneducated. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Here are the top ten reasons that Republicans make horrible role models.

It’s OK to degrade women.

1. Sexism. Republicans have consistently voted against the equal pay for equal work act. Republicans have repeatedly stood againstthe Violence Against Women Act. They consistently pass legislation that attempts to take away a women’s right to determine what happens to her own body. They blame single mothers for the ills of society, almost as often as they blame gays, liberals, atheistsand the devil.

What republicans role model is nothing more than arrogance and egotism. They attempt to disguise these character flaws behind terms like ‘traditional family values.’ They teach boys to disrespect their mothers, sisters and female classmates. They teach girls that it is their duty to allow others to disrespect them. They teach young men that they aren’t required to control themselves sexually. They teach young women that if boys look at or touch them in a way they don’t like, it must be their own fault.

These are not lessons that most parents hope their children will learn. They are lessons that lead to girls and women being harmed, and to boys and men doing jail time. They’re lessons that lead to lawsuits and harassment suits and personal injury suits and lost wages suits and lots of other things that aren’t good, for either boys or girls to learn.

Try violence first.

2. Violence: Whether they are demanding that the United States get involved in another war, calling for the killing of Muslims in the streets, marching around like Nazis showing off their guns or threatening to kill the president, the Republican mentality is one that teaches children that violence is the answer to all problems.

‘Negotiation is weakness.’ ‘Diplomacy is for sissies.’ ‘Just shoot and kill everyone you don’t like.’ This strategy is to be applied to people who hold different religious views, different political views, people who come from other cultures, those who have different skin colors or those who are ‘not the same‘ in any other way.

Let’s not forget that conservatives believe that the only way to deal with criminals is to kill them. Also, the only way to deal with someone who makes you uncomfortable is to kill them, under Stand Your Ground laws, another barbaric product of the GOP shoot first and shoot last mentality.

Needless to say these are not lessons most parents would choose to teach their children.

Disrespect for authority is good.

3. Disrespect; Republicans role model disrespect in everything they say and do. Disrespect for the President and members of his cabinet. They show disrespect for public workers,  fire fighters, teachers, and just about every other person of authority, namely those who most Americans try to teach their children to respect.

Republican attitudes toward the police are conflicting. If you’re talking about paying taxes to fund them, they hate the police. On the other hand, if you’re talking about militarizing them so they can kill unarmed black or Hispanic children, they can’t praise them enough.

To republicans, even our men and women in uniform are not worthy of respect or compassion. Instead they’re just props to be used in the latest production of the never ending GOP political theater. They are the first to send US troops off to war, and the last to fulfill their promises to them, once they’ve returned back home.

You don’t have to play well with ‘others’.

4. Racism; Most parents don’t want their children to grow up full of hate. They don’t want their kids to judge others based on the color of their skin or their country of origin. But Republicans consistently resort to using the Southern Strategy, a strategy originally created by the GOP to woo racist southern voters. It’s used to manipulate and divide people, by turning the races against one another.

Republican party leaders cultivate a culture of fear, envy, hate and bigotry. They sell their base a distorted version of reality, full of paranoia, mistrust and suspicion. These are not traits most parents want to cultivate in their children, but the message is always there. “That guy is out to get you.” “Those people want to take stuff from you.” “Someone over there is plotting something that threatens your entire existence.”

Do not get an education.

5. Education: Republicans are strongly opposed to learning. They generally oppose public education, and specifically oppose anyone learning anything that falls outside the established guidelines of their personal religious beliefs. Republicans deny science, despise math, reject facts, alter history, condemn reading and even oppose teaching critical thinking in schools. Let’s not even discuss sex education.

While GOP leaders pander to religious extremist’s demands for government enforced and funded religious indoctrination, their reasons for wanting to dumb down the populace are motivated by other factors. Promoting the idea that being educated is a bad thing, an anti-God thing, a ‘liberal elite’ thing, makes being uneducated seem appealing, especially to those who are uneducated.

Most parents hope to see their children do well in school. They want their kids to get all A’s, and that includes getting good grades in Science and math. They would like to see their kids develop critical thinking skills. Parents also want their kids to know about STD’s, where babies come from and how to keep from getting one. Ignorance just breeds more Republicans.

The value of a person is based on the amount of wealth and possessions they own.

6: Materialism: Stuff matters. What you need is more stuff. The more stuff you have the more important you are. People who don’t have stuff are worthless. The Republican model for American children is superficial, materialistic and centers on the accumulation of money and things, always at the expense of other people.

Parents have a hard enough time trying to teach their children that they don’t have to get stuff all the time. Thankfully, the “stuff phase” is one kids usually outgrow with age. Republicans, on the other hand, really believe whoever has the most toys in the end wins. They never got the message, “you can’t take it with you.”

Most parents don’t want their child’s identity and sense of self worth tied up in how much stuff they do or don’t have. They hope for something better, like that their kids will turn out to be compassionate, generous, honest, kind, well mannered, that they will do well in school (see number five), become a valuable member of a community, and most hope that their kids will aspire to make the world a better place. To put it another way, greed and selfishness are not character traits that most parents hope to see flourish in their kids.

Don’t give a hoot, go ahead and pollute.

7: Environment: Just throw your trash wherever you want. (God will clean it up?) While many parents strive to teach their children to appreciate nature and respect the earth, water and wildlife, the message Republicans send is quite different. The GOP philosophy is that there’s nothing about the earth in and of itself, that is valuable. If you can’t rip it up, siphon it off, drill it, frack it, mine it or exploit it in some other way, it’s worthless. Everything on earth is meant for monetary gain. If it can’t be bought and sold it has no value. 

Name calling is a good substitute for reasonable debate.

8: Less Than Civil Discourse: This is a constant. While most people would prefer that their children not call names or hurl insultsat other people, Republicans have made this standard procedure for the adults in government. Debating facts and statistics or engaging in civil discourse are things of the past. If you disagree with someone, spew all sorts of verbal insults, scream over them, cut them off when they are speaking or just dismiss what they are saying as ‘lies and propaganda‘. If that doesn’t work, shout Benghazi and run.

Never listen to the other person. Instead of thoughtfully considering other views, do whatever it takes to silence them. If someone attempts to express a point of view that falls outside the one you espouse, just shout words like traitor, commie, Nazi, feminazi, fascist, un-American, liar, anti-God, Obamabot, etc… If it’s a woman, call her a whore. If it’s a man, call him a lazy moocher, feminine and weak or just go with whatever else comes to mind. If it’s the president, you can always fall back on the n-word.

GOP role models include the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Chris Christie, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Louie Gohmert and many others, all cut from the same cloth. The message is you don’t have to respect others who disagree with you. The loudest, rudest, most obnoxious person wins, not on the merits of the argument, but because they successfully shouted over opposing voices.

Honesty is not the best policy.

9: Lying: One thing almost every parent wants is for their children to grow up to be honest. Republicans are notorious for lying. Whether they’re lying about Obamacare, fictional death panels and guillotines, or inventing scary stories about FEMA camps and lizard people, honesty is not something Republicans have developed a reputation for.

Republicans lie as a matter of policy. From lying to kids about sex to lying to their followers about ‘Benghazi,’ distorting the truth is a way of life for the right wing. It’s hard to keep track of all the things that Republicans lie about, from trickle down economics to President Obama’s record, not even the fact checkers can’t keep up.

Here’s a newsflash, even though republicans claim to be the ‘family values party’ (the biggest lie of all?) dishonesty is not a trait that most families value.

Say one thing, do another.

10: Lack of Integrity. The level of hypocrisy in the Republican party is totally astounding. Whenever a GOP politician is caught doing the exact same thing they campaigned against, the standard excuse from the GOP is ‘dems do it too.’

Admittedly, Democrats aren’t perfect, but it’s rare to find one who ran on a platform of “vote for me, and I’ll outlaw stuff based on my righteous right-winged feign devotion to God and the Bible.” It’s also rare to hear Democrats campaigning against other people’s supposed sins, homosexuality, drug use, their religious beliefs or some other perceived evil.

Once you’ve gone around trying to convince everyone that you’re a devoted religious fanatic who will save America from its sins, it’s a totally different ball game when you are caught doing drugs, cheating on your wife, having a same sex fling, ripping off your own supporters or doing a host of other things that are supposed to be against your own religious beliefs (the ones you tried to shove down everyone else’s throats). That’s the definition of hypocrisy.

Integrity is doing what you say. It’s living by the same standards you seek to impose on others. Most parents hope to instill some sense of integrity in their children. A good way to avoid raising children who lack integrity is to keep them away from republicans.

So yeah - pretty much just the way it's been for what's getting to be a very long time.