Rob Kall: The Republican Habit-- like Heroin, it's hard to break, but dead

[Judi Lynn]

January 20, 2006

Rob Kall: The Republican Habit-- like Heroin, it's hard to break, but deadly and Destructive
by Rob Kall

~snip~
Yesterday I was at the gym, having finished showering and shaving, towelling myself dry, standing in a section of the locker room. It has lockers on three sides with a bench in the middle and enough room to stand up and turn around between the benches and lockers. That's the way locker rooms tend to be built. THere was another guy at about the same stage of getting dress as I. Along comes a third guy, coat still on, and he walks up to our aisle of the locker room. He sees both of us, filling up the aisles, but he keeps walking. It's clear that he has a favorite locker in this aisle. I can relate to him. If the aisles are clear, I have one too, in a different aisle than I'm using that day. But when the locker room is crowded, it just let go of my habit and go to my second choice, or third, and actually, yesterday, I actually went to my fourth choice.

I could see in this guy's eyes he was struggling with his locker habit. The other guy drying himself off and I, stood unmoving, as this guy with the coat still on gave us a once over. It became clear we weren't thrilled with the idea of getting cramped with another guy when enough other locker aisles were open. There was this pregnant pause, and then, the guy with the coat almost visibly shrugged his shoulders as he let go of his habit and moved to another aisle.

And it made me think about Republicans who have spent their whole lives thinking of themselves as conservatives, voting Republican, and how hard it must be for them to let go of their self image of being Republican, even when their party has become a toilet of filthily corrupted, unpatriotic extremist politicians whose primary loyalty is to corporations and extreme right wing religious fanatics and government parasite frauds.

Changing a little habit like a locker gives a moment's pause. Changing the lifetime habit, perhaps even the multigenerational habit of affiliation to a party. Some people define themselves by their political affiliation. Some define themselves by their aversion to and contempt for the other party. They have heroes who represent their party "habit." They have a community of friends built around their party "habit." They have builty their world "story," their perception or construction of reality upon their party "habit."
(snip/...)

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060120_the_republican_habit.htm

[wake.up.america]

1. I think you hit the nail on the head. The trouble of converting Reps...

is the same as trying to convert an addict. It is useless to use reason.

How much farther is "rock bottom" for the Republicans?

[aquart]

2. When their parents die for lack of drugs

And their children for lack of future.

[DarkTirade]

3. In other words: when it's too late

and the damage has already been done. None too encouraging there. :)