Have Republicans/Tea Party Members gotten worse in the last few years?

[AsahinaKimi]

So many stories about Republicans (including Tea party members) booing people who are disabled, or disadvantaged. Hating on Veterans, and other specific groups including foreign born Americans and Visitors. Hating on Democrats and Liberals in various forms. Making outrageous and untrue statements via Fox News and Republican backed Radio Networks.

It just seems like it has totally escalated in the last few years, or has it been like this for a while? America seems more divided than ever..

22 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Time expired
	Yes
	19 (86%)
	No
	0 (0%)
	Not sure
	2 (9%)
	other
	1 (5%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[TexasTowelie]

1. I voted not sure because I think their vile disgusting behavior has remained constant over time.

I'm not surprised anymore by what they do and also see no hope that they might improve.

How have you been feeling AK? Are you holding steady since the last incident that you had about a month ago?

[AsahinaKimi]

4. I spent the entire day at the hospital yesterday

They prescribed for me new heart medication, and are having me keep a diary of blood pressure, blood sugar, weight and all kinds of stuff. I have been given Nitroglycerin in case I have chest pains, and instructed how to use it..in case of emergencies.. I am trying to watch my sodium intake, (no more Soy Sauce or Miso Soup) and staying away from canned foods. Its a bit scary.. they said with my heart its probably genetic.. though I dun recall anyone in my immediate family having this problem, but they told me that maybe is goes back to an earlier generation.

Trying my best.. ganbarimasu ne !

[TexasTowelie]

7. Oh my dear!

I was hoping to read that you were doing well and instead it appears that you are going through an ordeal. I admit that I'm not much of a fan of either soy sauce or miso soup, but if you are raised with it as a part of your diet then I'm certain it is a sacrifice to do without and have to contend with the cravings.

Oddly enough, I'm about to post a thread, but in light of your response I'll give you a preview. I have a suspicion that they won't be on your diet either.

Pepsi-Flavored Cheetos Now Exist

http://www.newser.com/story/172671/pepsi-flavored-cheetos-now-exist.html

Take care and keep us informed because you add so much coolness to DU. I'm a tall, skinny type-I diabetic so I can empathize with the blood pressure (usually too low), blood sugar (both hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic) and weight issues (I'm 6' 1" and my weight has ranged from 117 to 187 within the past five years). Good vibes are being sent in your direction.

[Half-Century Man]

12. Kiyotsukite Asahinakimi dono. Ogenki narite.

Boko no nihongo wa, mada jozu ja nai. Goman ne,

I can relate, my Dr. advised me to always carry aspirin with me and my rescue inhaler.

As too your post about Teabaggers; I think they have isolated themselves intentionally and in their isolation become emboldened by constant reinforcement of their message.

On a second sidenote; Romanjinized Japanese drives spellcheckers nuts.

[AsahinaKimi]

14. arigatou

honto desu. Yeah, I have to take aspirin every day now too.

[Rex]

2. I think they are far more desperate now.

nt.

[olddots]

3. TV has dumbed down the world

n.t.

[RKP5637]

26. Definitely. Many of the shows now are nothing less than a cast of fools IMO. TV is the

enabler on the march to total "Idiocracy" in the US.

[Scootaloo]

5. No, thy're the same as they always have been. They're just more public about it now.

[mick063]

6. I think the Tea Party influence upon public dialog is diminishing daily.

An opinion based upon perception more than political bias.

Gerrymandering and religious activism will keep the Tea Party relevant in isolated regions and districts though.

The greatest danger to Republicans is gaining power. They are their own worst enemy. Republicans in power commonly create media images of dissent. Marches, protest, and social media events typically ensue when a super majority of Republicans are reached.

It is why political extortion using fear of GOP power doesn't work well with me. It won't take more than a couple terms for swing voters to run them out of office in areas that are not deep red due to a gun and/or religious agenda.

[B Calm]

8. I don't think they have gotten any smarter. They still say the stupidest things I ever heard.

[bearssoapbox]

9. Very much so.

And getting more vocal about their views.

But what's really bad is that the GOP's supposed leadership haven't done anything to tone it down or correct the out and out lies and stupidity that are so common in every facet of teabaggery.

Some actually seem to embrace it and revel in it's idiocy.

[RKP5637]

28. To me, your last sentence really sums it up. I really think many teabaggers

enjoy their ignorance and ridiculous political views ... and positions on life. ... and they reinforce each other. ... maybe the teabagger movement allows those of similar brain chemistry to clump together.

[4bucksagallon]

10. Yes but they have gone "Underground". eom.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Particularly racists have gotten emboldened in tweets and unguarded remarks. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

15. I have noticed that too

and that is so sad that such hate has to be on display for all to see.

[RKP5637]

29. Everything they represent, discuss, propose, and try to advance is always coated

in hatred, bigotry, bullying, racism and ignorance. They are a disgusting lot IMO.

[deutsey]

13. They no longer feel the need to put up a veneer of civility

like they used to when society leaned more to the left and they were seen as Archie Bunker-style buffoons.

With the left pretty much marginalized or vanquished, they've taken off their Reagan smiley mask to reveal who they really are.

[Cosmocat]

16. It is on about a three decade arc

It has been incremental, but they somehow find a way to outdo their stupidity a little bit more as time goes on.

People forget how bad the 90s where.

The 90s they were as bad as they are now, but it was not as united as it is now.

Bush/Cheney and 9-11 forced the party into complete unison.

And, as someone else has noted, over time they have give up even trying to act like they aren't raging jackasses.

There WAS a time in the 90s and early 2000s when they found a way to wrap some pretty sounding bullshit around their intensions, some catchy phrase or flag waving thing.

The biggest thing is, in the 90s, they pretty much were just parroting what the AM radio types were putting out. They did not think of what they were saying as actual reality, they just were hating on the evil liberal boogyman.

The biggest different now is that twits like Palin/Ryan/Rand Paul, ect they actually think all of the republican bullshit is actual reality.

[DeSwiss]

17. Yes, and now they claim that.....

...even their best sign-makers are losing their jobs to illegal immigrants.

- K&R

BTW: The SwordGirl.gif is awesome!

Hope you like this montage: Action Women- Derezzed (Movie montage)

[AsahinaKimi]

38. Great montage but..

Where was Lara Croft? Loved Angelina Jolie in that role!

[DeSwiss]

42. They go by so fast.....

...but I think I saw her at 0:30, 0:58 and 1:03.

- But my eyes ain't as fast as they used to be!

[Turbineguy]

18. The tea party seems to be going through

a process similar to visbreaking where the denser residual parts are left.

[Motown_Johnny]

19. Yes, as an example.. just yesterday

I was driving down the highway (I-696) and there was a group of them on an overpass with "Fire Obama" signs and Gadsden flags, waving to vehicles passing under them.

Why? I have no idea. I guess they just wanted attention.

Keep in mind this is in Detroit's north east suburbs. Besides the fact that we just had an election about 9 months ago and President Obama won 332-206, he won Michigan 54.3% to 44.8%. He even won the county I was in (Macomb) 51.6% to 47.6%.

I think this is worse than a few years ago. At least back then they would have some reason for a rally. This seems to be the political equivalent of a raised middle finger, so that is exactly what I stuck out the window in response as I passed by.

[blkmusclmachine]

20. HATE. It's the glue that holds today's GOPee together.

[blkmusclmachine]

21. And Ignorance.

[blkmusclmachine]

22. And Bigotry.

[blkmusclmachine]

23. And Militant "Christianity."

[blkmusclmachine]

24. And Money. Lots and lots of MONEY.

[AsahinaKimi]

39. oh.

You are soooooooooooooo correct!

[Enthusiast]

25. It serves a purpose. The crazier they act, the greater cover it provides

for the Democratic side to move to the right.

"Our" side can always say, "Look, we are not at all crazy like those other guys. We are reasonable and pragmatic."

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. Agree. In addition to pushing their own agenda they utterly neutralize a real progressive agenda by

making something that is not progressive at all - but simply less reactionary sound radical leftist in comparison. This is probably not the best example and I don't want to violate Goodwin's Law - but even Mussolini would have sounded like a raving liberal if you put him next to Hitler.

[Enthusiast]

33. Thanks.

Like the Affordable Care Act. They want us to think the ACA is some sort of wild eyed socialist plot to takeover the entire health care apparatus. While we should have had a single payer system modeled after one of the excellent Western European examples. It is becoming all too obvious.

I no longer concern myself with Goodwin's Law. It only serves those that don't want anyone to look too closely at the obvious 21st Century similarities to the early Third Reich.

[JustAnotherGen]

27. No

They are just as bad as when Nathan Bedford Forrest founded them.

[Douglas Carpenter]

30. I think keeping the crowd worked up requires a relentless upping the ante in rhetoric

Like the way special effects in science fiction movies have to keep getting more jaw-dropping or a shock jock has to keep getting more outrageous.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

32. No, Kimi. They are just more open and blunt about their shit.

BTW, I can't find the Asia Board. Could you PM please? I sort of enjoy posting there, as I live in Suzhou.

[AsahinaKimi]

40. un.

koko desu: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1250

btw, nihao ma?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

43. fei chang hao. wo de gao zhong de xue sheng shi hui lai ta men de shang ke

suo yi, wo xu ya shang ban zai wo de gong zuo.

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

34. Worse?

I don't think they've grown worse. I think their actual goals and ideas haven't changed much. They've become more overt and outspoken, deliberately obnoxious and vicious, however.

I think their side accomplishes several things by intensifying like this. They block new change in government and the culture, helping defend their gains of recent years while limiting Democratic accomplishments that they'll need to work against if and when they have greater direct governmental influence again. They help move the Democrats and the cultural discourse to the right. They block discussion of alternate ideas by being loud or shocking, thus dominating the discourse. They keep the various Republican factions focused and activated while that party has less power.

I think they also gain by keeping the culture as mean-spirited as possible, during this era. One of the first reasons that I favored Democrats over Republicans when I was younger, before I understood much of anything about politics or economics, was that the culture seemed notably (and unnecessarily) harsher and meaner whenever Republicans dominated government. If they keep the culture as mean-spirited as possible during a Democratic era, they can prevent anyone from favoring one party or another based on the broad cultural tone, or (if they become "nicer" once they have power again) invert that entire perception. I wouldn't be surprised if some deliberate effort to keep unemployment high and pay scales low during the Obama era plays a similar role of cultural manipulation.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Republicans have always been far right

wing bigots of the first division. Some here will claim they 'used to be' better, or that Reagan was 'moderate' but those posters are either blind or they were voting for Ronnie and need to claim he was not what he was. He was a vicious conservative. Vicious.
Oh, and there is no such Party as 'Tea Party' they are all just Republicans, I do not play their game by pretending there are sane Republicans and then this crazy Tea Party. There is not a Tea Party, all of their 'members' are Republicans. They want you to say 'Tea Party'.

[kentuck]

36. There's more of them.

So the situation has gotten worse.

[Sunlei]

37. Hobbits need more FOODD $$$$$$$. love that their crap costs the R social terrorists billions..

why won't the big-Rz pay their 'squidges' (republican stated name for their little r's)

thanks for the local economic boost republicans, hotels, pretty suits, open bars, benefits for all the republican tea party 'leaders' and a million a year for people like palin must add up to a lot of 'spending'

[Populist_Prole]

41. Ideology wise, about the same but much meaner and much MUCH more vocal

I'm hearing much more unsolicited spouting and politicization of every discussion about any thing the past few years too. They're obsessed. Like the adage "If you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail".