Remember Joe Republican?

[terminal_concept]

I found this on the net .I searched DU to see if it had been posted and it was posted here in 2004 but I couldn't bump the thread so I'll repost because it is that good.Someone said it came from Micheal Moores site so thanks to him.

A day in the life of Joe Republican.


Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

[patrice]

1. That's the guy alright!!

I'm a Liberal, but there ARE Conservative values I agree with. But how the heck do you work with anyone, to solve problems or whatever, when what they say and what they do makes absolutely no sense. It's crazy and impossible! And then apparently Joe and Josephine Republican do not have even the smallest ounce of self-awareness or they'd know that they appear very much to be hypocrits.

:hi: Welcome to Du terminal_concept! :hi:

[terminal_concept]

3. Thanks for the welcome

And I am sort of moderate on some issues myself when Republicans bother to explain them to me in a way that makes sense to me.I don't just automatically take the opposite side they do.

[buff2]

2. Thanks for posting this.

If you don't mind I want to make copies of this and hand them out to the ignorant CON-servatives who think Liberals are so bad and they are so great. :hi:

[ms liberty]

4. Thanks for re-posting this...

I remember when it was on here before, but it's good to read it again. There are a lot of newer members who probably haven't seen it.

And Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[izzybeans]

5. That is the before picture of Joe Republican.

The after picture is much worse.

Joe's water is brown. His healthcare, car, and home insurance now eats up 40% of his income. The car he drives got low safety ratings because he thinks buying a Chevy means it is American. He still can't get that job at the Honda factory down the street. Farm country is now a series of doll house suburbs with only entrances, no exits. The train station has been replaced by a gas station because deregulation has led to rail line closures and highway construction. His father is begging for a lethal cocktail of nursing home drugs because he can't take being left alone with strangers all day. The sidewalks in his town are eroding. He has gained 45 lbs. and a heart condition. Life sucks. And his talk radio is still running on repeat. Good thing he bought that gun.

[orleans]

7. omg! that is sooo chilling, this "follow-up" on joe republican

it goes straight to the heart of the matter.

[Catchawave]

6. Thanks for this post !

It's always good to recycle :hi:

:kick:

[emanymton]

8. "Joe" Really Believes He Has Done It On His Own!

As one talks with 'Joe' one realizes 'Joe' truly believes:

"I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

GOP message plays to 'Joe's' dream world. Waking 'Joe' to the truth (that no one makes it without the help of others) is dangerous.

[flamin lib]

9. Terminal & Izzie,

I did a riff on this and posted it here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2797345&mesg_id=2797345

Linked back to the OP and full credit to both of you.

Hope this isn't a breech of ettiquette or forum rules. If so please say so and I'll ask the moderators to delete it.

Some things just beg for elaboration.

[izzybeans]

10. Cool. I'll go read it.

[terminal_concept]

11. John Gray wrote it .

Yeah I looked at Micheal Moores site but I didn't find it.
I couldn't find a search feature so I typed into google.

"Joe Republican" site:www.michaelmoore.com

That's a handy way of searching just one site I learned recently.So I found John Gray was the author ,thanks to him.