Independents

[hyphenate]

Anyone who voted for George W Bush twice is not an "independent." That person is a Repug, a tool of the right, an arrogant misuser of civil rights, whose sole intent in their political life is to keep kicking people down, if only because they want to make sure that they aren't on the bottom rung of the social classes themselves.

If social class were determined by empathy or goodwill, these people would only be above the grifters who take your soul in order to enrich their own pockets.




Sometimes, it's not what you say that makes you an enemy of people everywhere, it's what you don't say that makes all the difference.



(Just a small word change!)

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Thank you! You post truth to power! K&R. eom

[JoePhilly]

2. For some former "repugs" becoming an "independent" is a key step in recovery.

I have two friends who voted for Bush twice. And they were Republicans.

As the Bush administration's first term ended, they voted for Bush, but not enthusiastically. And as the Bush administration continued into its second term, each began to realize they'd screwed up.

And at around the same time, around 2006, both (separately) began to claim that they were really more "libertarian", and not really Republican.

And so then as they started to consider that label, but it did not take long for each (again separately) to began to realize that they weren't as "libertarian" as they thought either.

And so by 2007 each had become an "independent".

In 2008, both voted for Obama. And then, since then, both have became Democrats.

And it turns out, each is socially liberal, fiscally moderate (leaning far more liberal), think global climate change is man made and is a serious problem, completely against Citizens United, pro OWS, hate the Tea Party and ... they both think that the GOP has gone totally insane.

Their transformation took a while ... and shifting to independent was part of the difficult journey.

I'm not saying all of the GOP converts to "independent" can be saved ... but some of them can.

[Ship of Fools]

3. My husband went the same route.

R ---> Libertarian -------> Indie --------> Dem.

It is a recovery of sorts, imo. He's never been a man who cannot admit that he's wrong,
and that helps.

[JoePhilly]

5. Good for him!! My two friends, prior to their "transformation" ...

didn't like the democratic party. And so a direct switch was impossible. They'd bought into the GOP has the party of a strong America (military) ... and they were caught up in the false nationalism that the GOP pushes.

basically, the GOP loved America more then the Dems did. And so even as they were unhappy with the GOP, the last thing they wanted to do was join the party who "hated America". To be fair, I don;t think they really thought Dems hated America, but they did think that the democratic party didn't LOVE America enough.

Al Franken I (I think Al was the first to say this) said that conservatives love America in the same manner that a child loves their mother. The love is totally and completely unconditional, and nothing mom does could ever have been wrong. Dems he said, love America in a manner more similar to the way one spouse loves the other. This love is also unconditional, and yet, that love is also able and willing to engage, discuss, and debate, with a goal of improvement and growth.

The other thing that I think about here is that the transformation of these guys, even is slow, will impact their kids. Their kids will not grow up thinking that Dems hate America, or that Dems don't love America enough. That WALL will be gone.

The two guys are know are very intelligent, and neither is unable to admit mistakes. So your point about your husband sounds similar.

Of course there are the others out there, mad at the GOP ... claiming to be "independent" but rather than accept they screwed up voting for Bush (twice), they've gone Tea Party. They've dug in. They can't accept having been SO wrong.

And so they fight even harder for their failed policies, pretending to be "independent". I think that's a big part of the group the OP is referring to.

[hyphenate]

6. Yeah

I'm also referring to "issue" voters--those who pretend they're smarter than they are, who embrace the religious right, who hate gays, who hate those of other religions, who hate just about everyone in general.

[saras]

4. re Repub -> libertarian -> independent -> Dem - you don't have to change for that to happen

If you were a moderate Republican in the early seventies, who thought Nixon was kind of creepy personally but fairly mainstream for a Republican, not too snooty, not too progressive...

...and you held to your exact same political views...

that transition would have APPEARED to have happened to you, but in fact it was the parties that moved.

The Republican party went so far right it fell off the edge of the flat Earth.
The Libertarian capitalists won over the Libertarian socialists.
Independent just means "I stand here, and no party surrounds me"
The Democratic party now espouses those same moderate Republican principles as theirs.

[Ship of Fools]

8. I agree with you here.

My husband is well aware of the fact that there is no real choice.

He wants a third party right NOW. I'm not so sure I feel the same way, given all that the country stands
to lose (unless a strong prog stands up with REALLY strong resources). We're both so jaded, we want
to move north but lack resources to do it. He does work for a power company and thinks he might
be able to get some kind of work visa, though.

[Hutzpa]

7. It's just the smoke screen that some here put up

and they use it well too, I you can see it from their postings.