"Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party..."

[kentuck]

[PowerToThePeople]

1. And there I was thinking Republicans never had soul.

[malaise]

2. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah

You stole my post

[madrchsod]

7. yes they did....

there has been many republicans in the past who had a soul.

today's republicans are a whole different story.

[rtracey]

15. agreed

Look at Eisenhower, and his accomplishments, including sticking up for the seniors. Besides the national highway system, he was very big in the social aspect of this country..this best quote of his presidency (IMO) is...

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, l952-----

[pocoloco]

20. Well, Ike was sure right about the MIC but he has this wrong.

The splinter group is in control and they are not about to give it up.

[Diclotican]

25. rtracey

rtracey

It was posible true - in the 1950s, that is was a few ones - who was negligible and stupid - today they are many - but still stupid...

Diclotican

[maddiemom]

57. I was just starting school in1952 and my mom was active in local Democratic politics.

We lived in an extremely Republican area and my dad, who voted for the Democrats, always kept quiet and registered Republican for employment reasons (I know, WTF?). If I remember correctly, and discussed when older, both the Democrats and Republicans were courting Ike. When he went Republican my mom automatically wrote him off as one of the "bad guys." At the time it was my first memory of political craziness. I was way more liberal than my parents in the late sixties/early seventies. Over the years I have voted for local and state level Repubs. These days? Not a chance. The national party has gotten so repulsive that only those who are dropping away deserve voter consideration.

[PatrynXX]

17. Return Balance to the force?

Republicans didn't used to attack each other either. They are so utterly right wing right now things could go hard left and I'm not hard left either. Hard Right and Hard Left both not good. Having a party with zero moderates ... well as Biden says there is no Republican Party anymore.

[Plucketeer]

19. The real elephant is DEAD

All that's left is an elephant costume with a Tea-Partier in the front half and a Corker CONservative to fill out the ass end!

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

29. Yeah

That's pretty much it.

[lark]

63. +1

100% right

[caseymoz]

34. Not since 1876.

The Gilded Age corrupted the Republican Party, and it has never been a party with principles since.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

38. Yep...

... I realized that over 10 years ago. Massive corruption under Grant and those that followed, sent all the, "decent", Republicans of that time towards the Democratic Party and other progressive groups.

[defacto7]

45. Actually, the progressives mostly were found

on the Republican side at the turn of the 20th century. There were strong industrialist cronies on both the Democratic and Republican side and there were progressives on both as well. But the progressive push that lead to the first real reigning in of the out of control industrialists and the first hint of social welfare came from the Republicans via Teddy Roosevelt. His "Square Deal" policy was meant to make sure workers were treated fairly and humanely by the corporatists (trusts). It was very much an idea that was reflected the "New Deal" of Franklin Roosevelt during the depression. There was not much to say about the Democrats of that period as they were divided between corrupt labor shills owned by the industrialists and a weak progressive flank that backed Roosevelt.

Of course a lot changed later but neither the Republican party nor the Democratic party resembled anything we know by those names now.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

65. Thanks...

... I had forgotten to mention the populist parties, which I was intending to include.

[defacto7]

44. Well not so fast....

Read up on Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft... 1900 through 1912.

[hedda_foil]

43. They had a soul once upon a time, before they sold it to the Koch Brothers.

They got top dollar for it, though. With residuals.

[mgardener]

49. Just think of

Abraham Lincoln
Teddy Roosevelt

It was once a party of high ideals. No longer. It is rotten to the core.

[Armstead]

3. The glee has long been there. They just aren't bothering to pretend otherwise now.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Agreed.

That's frightening, though.

They don't seem to think they HAVE to cover it up anymore.

[tiny elvis]

32. said lady macbeth,

what need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

47. Good one.

[Plucketeer]

18. A real ....

IN YOUR FACE sorta Glee!

[arely staircase]

5. soul? nt

[GoCubsGo]

6. They never had a soul. n/t

[another_liberal]

8. They had a soul when they championed the end of slavery.

That was, of course, a century and a half in the past.

[rwsanders]

11. Today's republicans have no claim to that legacy...

First, I saw a brilliant post somewhere that said "we never ended slavery, we just exported it", and today's republicans are quite OK with that. Or did I miss an uproar from the right over the deaths in the factory in Bangladesh?
Second, I think if they try to claim that legacy, they should have to explain why they refuse to acknowledge some of their leaders between now and then. What I mean is, how many of them go around quoting Eisenhower? Remember the last republican presidential primary debate? Then looked like a bunch of morons when they were asked about their favorite past president and like a bunch of parrots (sorry for the insult parrot lovers), they all squawked "Ronald Reagan". So Reagan was better than Eisenhower? An actor better than the man who helped win WW2? What a bunch of losers.
I'm tired of them trying to claim the legacy of Lincoln on one hand and promoting death, destruction for the 99% and extreme wealth for the 1%.
We need more like Grayson and Sanders who will pin them down and show them for what they are.

[another_liberal]

13. Agreed on that!

No claim, none whatsoever.

[maddiemom]

59. LOL times a thousand. Eisenhower was their last, best president. Even Nixon was

better for the country than St. Ronnie. Making Reagan their saint over the last couple decades says it all for the Republican party: so pathetic that it seems they may finally be backing off a bit with the Reagan worship.

[Bluegene]

60. Yes please send a few dollars Graysons way.

Yes please send a few dollars Graysons way. The 1% realizes how smart he is and is really giving him a run. So even if it is $5 or $10 every little bit helps.

[BlueinOhio]

9. In a word

Schadenfreude

[sadoldgirl]

10. Now they don't hide anything,

on the contrary they are proud of ruining the country. I hope, that they will not win in 14 or 16; however, if they should do do, I bet that they will start spending again as under Reagan or W.

[calimary]

12. WHAT soul?

Seems to me this is evidence enough that some of these people have no soul at all. Certainly no heart!

[fleabiscuit]

14. To be fair, the Democratic Party could use a new slogan.

Considering how the party has slid to the right too I would suggest:

VOTE DEMOCRAT > We're just like the Republicans you used to vote for without the crazies.

To long?

[eridani]

51. How about "Vote for the cowards, not the sociopaths"? n/t

[fleabiscuit]

64. lol

Maybe there's just not a good way to spin it.

[The Wizard]

16. Radioactive death cult (NT)

[mountain grammy]

21. Maybe it should be "sole," you know, as in swimming with the fishes.

[Oilwellian]

55. I was thinking along the line of...

the bottom of my shoe.

[mountain grammy]

56. True that, and they've stepped in it.

[alfredo]

22. They have stopped pretending they care.

Their honesty is refreshing

[Ned Fenwick]

23. Remote control - that's all it could be

Yes, they look foolish and childish, and at times embarrass themselves by being self-contradictory, but I think these guys are doing this mystifying, destructive, self-destructive stuff because they have this sword hanging over their heads - that is, the tons of money of the traitorous, amoral super-rich who hate and have contempt for everybody else. You know who they are. These republican politicians have no choice. They have to do what they're told. It's no secret. They're what E. Warren calls captured.

[Enthusiast]

24. They have decided to follow Ayn Rand.

Their patron saint.

[VA_Jill]

26. It has a soul?

Well, maybe it did once. It sold it long ago in exchange for power. Maybe sometime around 1972.

[blkmusclmachine]

28. ,

,

[Politicub]

30. They are terrified of the modern world

So they constantly try to destroy it and create as much suffering as possible.

And the poor in the red states that cast their lot with the GOP cry out for more boots to the face.

[Kingofalldems]

31. Two of their heroes: Ayn Rand and Rush Limbaugh.

[Pakid]

33. What soul

If you can hold your nose and vote for a Republican then you no longer have a soul.

[chknltl]

35. Offering them up a little more sole:

&feature=player_detailpage

[russspeakeasy]

36. + 100000000000000000000

[liberalmuse]

37. They haven't had a soul in a long time.

Eisenhower took it to the grave with him.

[3catwoman3]

39. Something terrible has happened to the Republican...

...party all right - people vote for their candidates.

[bkanderson76]

40. A Rabid Animal Frothing at The Mouth Where Any Other Demography Would have It Laid Down....

[BlancheSplanchnik]

41. there's a graphic that hits home.

Paul Krugman. You are the best.

[ismnotwasm]

42. Soul?

You mean that fecalith they use?

[defacto7]

46. There's a lot of universal "they" going on.

If "they" is the "they" of the last couple of decades... understood. But capping either party with the same hat historically is absurd. What we have now is what we have now. What was before on either side is comparing apples and asparagus. There's no congruency.

[ananda]

48. I wasn't aware that the Reeps ever had a soul.

..

[mwb970]

50. I cannot STAND today's republicans. They are appalling. /nt

[liberal N proud]

52. Krugman assumed they have a soul

They are heartless bastards.

[ck4829]

53. Yep. Obsessed with punishments, putting up red tape against the poor, creating fear and doubt, etc.

"More skin in the game" is just one codeword for this sadism they now preach.

K&R.

[My Good Babushka]

54. The last stage of human depravity

"It is said that he had arrived at the last stage of human depravity, when cruelty becomes pleasing for it's own sake, when the sight of pain, as pain, where no advantage is to be gained, no offense punished, no danger averted, is an agreeable excitement." -Thomas Babington Macaulay

[niyad]

58. this, and lady mcbeth's quote, pretty well sum up the current state of affairs.

[valerief]

61. Republican Party never had a soul but it has lots of soles.

Big ones. They crush people every day.

[jmondine]

62. GOP: The Party of Joffrey