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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIndiana Republican: ‘No One Has the Guts’ to Let the Poor ‘Wither and Die’
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/indiana-republican-one-guts-let-poor-wither-die/For almost three generations people, in some cases, have been given handouts, Johnston said. They have been enabled so much that their paradigm in life is simply being given the stuff of life, however meager.
What you see is a setting for a life of misery is life to them never-the-less, he continued. No one has the guts to just let them wither and die. No one who wants votes is willing to call a spade a spade. As long as the Dems can get their votes the enabling will continue. The Republicans need their votes and dare not cut the fiscal tether. It is really a political Catch-22.
But Johnston didnt stop there, The voters are the ones in charge. However when only 10-11 percent show up to vote, not much will change. People simply are not hurting enough, or simply happy enough that they will do nothing. Consequently the dole continues.
stranger81
(2,345 posts)And I bet this asshat calls himself a "Christian," too.
Who would Jesus let "wither and die?"
Moron.
villager
(26,001 posts)...against those who disagree, will necessarily follow...
Blue Owl
(50,355 posts)<?uuid=R9iKqBPJEeK6g6ejluaypw>
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Journeyman
(15,031 posts)"Oh, from what you said at first I was afraid that something had happened to stop them in their useful course."
"I don't think you quite understand us, sir. A few of us are endeavoring to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth."
"Why?" asked Ebenezer Scrooge.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Helping poor people survive is enabling them as he claims.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)That kind of giving to the poor is just peachy.
factsarenotfair
(910 posts)The Lucky Sperm Club, on the other hand, EARNED everything they inherited.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)winstars
(4,220 posts)Sorry but this RACIST FUCK is not even bothering to pretend.
Unreal...
I grew up in NYC hearing this shit from uncles and my friends fathers etc...
Has nothing changed since the 1960's...
Depressing.
djean111
(14,255 posts).......
Erasmus, the renowned humanist and classical scholar, translated the phrase "to call a fig a fig and a trough a trough" from Greek to Latin. And in so doing he dramatically changed the phrase to "call a spade a spade." (This may have been an incorrect translation but seems more likely to have been a creative interpretation and a deliberate choice.) "Spade" stuck because of Erasmus' considerable influence in European intellectual circles, writes the University of Vermont's Wolfgang Mieder in his 2002 case study Call a Spade a Spade: From Classical Phrase to Racial Slur.
"To call a spade a spade" entered the English language when Nicholas Udall translated Erasmus in 1542. Famous authors who have used it in their works include Charles Dickens and W. Somerset Maugham, among others.
To be clear, the "spade" in the Erasmus translation has nothing to do with a deck of cards, but rather the gardening tool. In fact, one form of the expression that emerged later was "to call a spade a bloody shovel." The early usages of the word "spade" did not refer to either race or skin color.
Whenever I hear it used, I honestly think of a shovel.
winstars
(4,220 posts)Whenever I hear it used IN THIS CONTEXT I think of George Wallace in a doorway, fire hoses being used on people and so on...
Read the rest of his words, IMHO, its not shovel this scum is referring to.
Again, IMHO...
Hekate
(90,667 posts)When a person is referred to as "a Spade" there's a reference to the blackness of the Ace of Spades or Jack of Spades or whatever.
Saying that you "ought to call a spade a spade" is a reference to a shovel, unless you are American and use the term "shovel" in the first place.
What the politician said in the first place was bad enough, and probably does have racist undertones. No need to digress.
winstars
(4,220 posts)without intending to to mean people of color, thats fine with me.
But please do not try to tell me the context I have heard this phrase used my whole life by assholes like this guy. Its no accident, again, IMHO.
So, if I have heard many many times the word spade used interchangeably with the N word (and other terrible words) and its usually preceded by the the words "that f---ing..." should not my race baiter antenna go up when I hear some asshole spouting off a bunch of BS and he JUST HAPPENS to use this phrase?
Sorry, I ain't buying it.
He is not talking about dictionary definitions of this phrase, he is not talking about playing cards and he is not talking about shovels.
He is talking about people of color "on the dole" and he thinks he is real clever to slip in this stupid phrase.
And like I said earlier, this is my opinion only based on what I have heard thru the years. We can agree to disagree, thats cool.
Where is Richard Pryor when ya need him?
(sorry for the poor quality)
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)And from his photo at the link, I don't think he's done much actual shoveling. No, this one walks, flaps and quacks. No doubt in my mind Johnston is making a veiled reference to race.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)Send them all on a one way rocket trip into the sun.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)'Let them eat people.'
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,703 posts)Florida has a bottom-feeder industry that lives to undermine the less fortunate.
eShirl
(18,490 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Also wants to privatize education to make it all expensive as possible so the poors don't bother going.
NYC Liberal
(20,135 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)of Wisconsin voted for this boot-licking Koch head over Russ Feingold.
Republicans are the nastiest people I've ever come across.
This attitude is frequently on full display over at Discussionist.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)As you can imagine, lots of my FB friends are progressive. Some of them post stuff like this. I do my part by grabbing them and posting them here.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)spanone
(135,829 posts)Peacetrain
(22,875 posts)rustydog
(9,186 posts)The only time you'd hear "Jesus Christ" in this person's home is when a dish is dropped or Obama is on the news.
Warpy
(111,254 posts)When populations are forced into debt peonage because all wealth collects into a very few hands, there is revolution. During that revolution, men like Mr. Johnston might find themselves dying rather ugly deaths.
History is very clear on this account. This happens over and over again because men like Johnston think the world came into being with their birth.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)He doesn't dress it up with pretty lies.
I wish more GOP and Tea Party politicians would be so direct. Hell, the same goes for all politicians.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)cheapdate
(3,811 posts)but even his "clarification" is very revealing.
It reveals his belief that poverty is a result of moral weakness. It reveals the kind of parent he is. He is the kind of parent who believes in strict punishment. He would allow his own children to experience hardship and suffering just to "teach them a lesson" about morality and consequences.
He's a perfect example of the "strict father model" that underlies how conservative think about politics. In contrast, liberal thinking is based on a "nurturing parent model".
This guy is still more clear and honest about his beliefs than someone like Paul Ryan.
I'd love to see more liberals and Democrats confront these people over morality and the moral dimensions of public policy. Conservatives have gotten away with using perverted moral arguments for too long. We should welcome the chance to frame the issues in moral terms.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Larkspur
(12,804 posts)seriously.
This guy needs a visit before Christmas from the 3 Ghosts of Dicken's classic novel.
mikeysnot
(4,756 posts)has another hiccup in their re-branding efforts...
GoCubsGo
(32,080 posts)Looks like somebody accidentally blurted out his party's playbook: Make 'em hurt until they give into us, and screw the weak, poor ones. Let 'em die. Nothing new here, other than somebody actually admitting it in public.
Initech
(100,068 posts)"You need people like me so you can point your fucking finger and say that's the bad guy! Look out! Bad guy coming through! "
dawg
(10,624 posts)I'm not sure whether their 48% of the country agrees with them, or if they just aren't paying attention.
npk
(3,660 posts)I betcha we have another GOPer who pulled himself up by his penny-loafer straps.
ecstatic
(32,699 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)geardaddy
(24,926 posts)onecaliberal
(32,850 posts)Republicans demonstrate these feelings everyday. This particular evil bastard just so happened to have the intestinal fortitude to put it in words.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)Fuck the poor sideways with a beer bottle.
And just in case you needed further proof that Rep Shit-For-Brains really does have shit for brains, there are about 4.7 million eligible voters in Indiana, and in the 2012 Election, 3.3 million of them voted. That would be 70 percent of eligible voters going to the polls in person or by absentee.
Not even close to 10-11 percent.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)It all depends on who is counting the votes, as we have learned, to our sorrow, in Florida, Ohio and elsewhere.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)10 percent turnout, tet they keep "winning" elections. How mathematically improbably of them.
lpbk2713
(42,757 posts)It never was anything more than a catch phrase they would roll out at election time.
Now they can forget about it forevermore. It was just excess baggage anyway.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)No more hiding. They are out there and should be judged for their intentions.
Rex
(65,616 posts)government handouts to government personal. Government handouts to corporate CEOs...THAT is why they are so arrogant, they know still (sadly) many Americans buy into the propaganda of "social welfare" being poor people begging for money...when in fact it is BILLION dollar corporations getting subsidies, kickbacks, tax breaks, incentives, etc..
Social engineering by the GOP and it works sadly on many in this nation.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Hoppy
(3,595 posts)Last edited Mon Jul 28, 2014, 09:08 PM - Edit history (1)
We'll tell the rubes that gum'mint handouts are gonna be replaced with a thousand points of light so we can stop pubic welfare and you're supposed to give to one of them points of light so your taxes will be lower.
The rubes are too stingy and they won't give. Then the mooches will wither on the vine.
Problem solved until this stupid bastid made his speech.
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)go to hell.
locdlib
(176 posts)I visit. Lots of cons on it, so I'm sure they will attempt to torch me for posting it. It never works out for them, though.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)He says he grew up poor and abused. Family on welfare, etc. He apparently has no political background or experience at all. (why not start at the top?)
Interesting his politics have reached their current position. Guess he really repudiated his people.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)Normal dysfunctional Indiana Republican. . .