Tuesday, January 24, 2012

South Carolina Republicans Are A Very Stupid People

For those of you who think I look down on a certain segment of the Republican base, you’d better close your eyes, because I am about to deliver a big pile of elitist smackdown.

Let’s start with the obvious. South Carolina Republicans are a very stupid people. There is just no other way of saying it. They’re ignorant, dumb, simple-minded, and misinformed. They are the glaring consequences of one of the worst educational systems in the United States – good ole South Carolina (state motto: “At least we are not Mississippi”).

If exit polls are to be believed, then 2/3rds of South Carolina Republicans chose Newt Gingrich because of the recent debates.  Yet, if I recall, and I do because I watched the debates, the rowdy mob watching the debates seemed the most boisterous during the following two Newt body slams:  1) his coded racial slur about food stamps and the “people” that use them and 2) his self-righteous and well-worn head shot at those evil, leftist, elitist, bloodthirsty media types. I mean, how dare they report Newt’s quest for free, guiltless sex?

The reason why South Carolina Republicans are so stupid is because they eat that crap up. For them, conservatism is not about a concrete governing strategy or conservative public policy positions. Rather, it is about slaying imaginary bogeymen, particularly ones that are not white, rural, and uneducated. It is breathtaking that in a day when unemployment is 8.5% and health care costs are rising rapidly that South Carolina Republicans greatest fears include the mainstream media and people on food stamps. They are like children listening to a scary, campfire story. The only thing missing from Newt’s repertoire was a flashlight under his chin and a slightly more ominous facial expression. “Ooh, John King, he wants to fundamentally destroy America and conservatism by asking about my previous life! Only I can save mankind!” I think his fear-mongering would be slightly more effective if he actually had King jump out from behind a podium and scare the audience. South Carolina Republicans are nothing but small-minded children that are easily influenced by this kind of cultural and religious demagoguery.

This weekend, I read an article from the Washington Post which interviewed a South Carolina Newt supporter. She explained that she voted for Newt because of his Christian worldview. That sounds strange, I thought. Newt is a lot of things, but Christian he is not. Perhaps she meant to say that she has a heathen worldview? A little further in the article and I found the key that unlocked the absurdity. This lady was scared that Muslims were taking over the country and was proud of Newt’s brave stand against the very spooky Sharia law. Of course anyone who has access to the outside world can understand that the chances of Sharia law taking over the US constitution are about the same as me voting for Newt Gingrich for President. The woman is clearly stupid, or more precisely brainwashed, primarily as a result of years of listening to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. I feel quite confident that Newt realizes how idiotic his conspiracy theories are. Nevertheless, it works like a charm as evidenced by the poor simpletons that flocked to the polls to vote for their bogeyman vanquisher.

Of course, the greatest crime from the rise of Newt is the near omnipresent view from Republican base voters that Gingrich is some kind of smart, ideas guy. I dare you, no, I will bet you $10,000 that you can’t recite more brilliant Newt ideas than the amount of fingers on your right hand (which by the way is how some South Carolina Republicans count). Newt really is what stupid people think a smart person sounds like. Smart people do not find Gingrich even remotely intriguing. They make fun of him like Andrew Sullivan latest post, “Newt’s Grandiose Ideas for Fundamentally Reshaping the Country on a Fundamental Way.” No, Barack Obama is not quaking in his boots at the thought of facing down Gingrich in a Douglas-Lincoln debate. Not only is Obama a hundred times smarter and more accomplished than Gingrich, Newt will be without the aid of racial slurs and media put-downs as tools to win over a foaming-at-the-mouth insane audience. Independents, as opposed to the children that voted in South Carolina, realize that real intellectuals do not have to misuse historical references and fill their speech with an excessive amount of adverbs to fake their intellectualism.

I wish I could describe Newt’s “big ideas” better than NY Times blogger (and, yes, conservative) Ross Douthat.

I have, for my sins, watched Gingrich make his pitch across what feels like seventeen thousand Republican primary debates, and I am at a loss to identify the “big ideas” and “big solutions” that he is supposedly campaigning on. Yes, he has an implausible supply-side tax plan, but you never hear him talk about it. He has technically signed on to some form of entitlement reform, but you never hear him talk about that, either. Instead, so far as I can tell, his “idea-oriented” campaign consists almost entirely of promising to hold Lincoln-Douglas-style debates with President Obama, grandstanding about media bias and moderator stupidity, defending his history of ideological flexibility much more smoothly than Mitt Romney, and then occasionally throwing out a wonky-sounding notion (like, say, outsourcing E-Verify to American Express) that’s more glib than genuinely significant. His last-minute momentum in South Carolina, which last night’s debate did nothing to derail, has been generated almost exclusively by the politics of : If he wins the Palmetto State primary, it will be because conservative voters don’t much like the mainstream press, and Gingrich has mastered the art of taking tough questions and turning them into dudgeon-rich denunciations of the liberal media and all its works.
If Gingrich wins the nomination, then I am out of the Republican Party for good. I will not participate in a movement completely fueled by cultural resentment. However, in some ways, I feel that it would be an injustice if Gingrich doesn’t win. He really does best represent today’s conservative movement. It would be a moment when the GOP will collectively look at itself in the mirror only to find Gingrich staring right back. Gingrich is the heart and soul of the GOP.

For years, Republican leaders stood back and said nothing while talk radio and Fox News got rich off of lies and innuendo. Now, some of those same establishment figures would like to take it all back. Sorry, you establishment types. It’s too late. Look at South Carolina. The mobs no longer do your bidding.

38 comments:

Terrye said...

I won't vote for Gingrich myself..but remember not every South Carolinian voted for this guy.

BTW, Douthat said that last night's debate did nothing to derail Gingrich's momentum..we shall see about that. I think it maybe it did..and a new poll came out today that showed Romney coming back up. I am holding out hope that Republicans will not nominate a sorry excuse for a human being like Newt Gingrich.

Lionhead said...

Pablo, you'll probably delete my comment so have at it.

I won't comment because I don't want to dignify it in any way. It "speaks" for itself. You have jumped the shark.

Pablo said...

Terry,

I could have said 40% of South Carolinians but I thought that might be implied.

And I am still fairly confident that Romney will eventually win the nomination but he is going to be so bloodied that his general election chances will not be as good. Plus, it really is the whole idea that Republicans want a Gingrich type that bothers me the most. It really makes me feel like I am in the wrong party.

Pablo said...

Lionhead, so you commented to tell me that you won't comment? I don't get it.

Ohio JOE said...

Well, Mr. Romney debated rather stupidly.

Anonymous said...

Pablo, I enjoyed the smackdown. Most of your detractors are just very naive. They will learn soon enough the full ugliness of the far right. At least you lived for many years in South Carolina and have first hand experience in the state, unlike the snarks from New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, and Arizona who hate you.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Mitt turned in bad debate performances last week. And Newt was forced out of the Speakership and censured $300,000 for ethics violations. Let's put those on a balance and you tell me with a straight face that Newt deserved that SC win.

Anonymous said...

I completely relate to your sentiment that if Gingrich wins then you feel like you are in the wrong party.

I always thought the conservative movement was about accountability, self-reliance,respect for laws and your fellow citizens and working hard to get ahead.....Newt is no conservative,he is a clever man who knows how to manipulate people to get ahead and make lots of money to benefit Newt and only Newt...he could careless about those less fortunate...heck he left his first wife with nothing to live on...this is reported in the court records from his first divorce. Do people really think that Obama will not get his hands on these records??

Anonymous said...

Pablo. Your post made my day. Thank you.

however, I'm resigned to defeat. I am beginning to realize the unthinkable. That what you said is true--Newt fits the GOP to a T, and they deserve him. It would almost be worth it to see the party self-destruct. Isn't that what the tea party types want anyway? Well bring it on. Kamikaze all the way.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Lots of condescension here.

By the way, Dan mentioned people from "Arizona" hating Pablo. Is there someone else he is talking about or is he referring to me? I frequently don't like the condescending way that Pablo writes. I have NEVER said that I hate him. If you were referring to me, Dan, you have it all wrong. I can't recall a single time when Pablo and I have been anything but civil to each other. We frequently disagree, but I am not mean-spirited enough to hold that against him. How he feels about me is not a question I can answer.

AZ

Terrye said...

Ohio Joe...yeah Romney should have employed more racial stereotypes and media bashing..apparently that is what some people are looking for..instead he made the mistake of going for rational and methodical.

Terrye said...

Martha, I am still holding out hope that people come to their senses..if they don't and Obama trounces Gingrich they will just blame the media and do the same thing all over again.

Anonymous said...

What would really be great is if every Mormon in the GOP bolted. Now that's something that would truly enjoy.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Brilliant Pablo...absolutely brilliant...loved every line.
"True Conservatives" have embraced Moonbeam, declaring him the truest of all "true conservatives". All of his apostacies to the ideology have all been forgiven and ultimately everything Newty does is for the overall benefit of conservatism don't you know (wink, wink).

Of course we all know Moonbeam's rise has nothing to do with actual issues and everything to do with the perception of being a fighter..."Romney is not a conservative, when was the last time he got a Standing Ovation...I mean come on, if you can't get responses like that from a room full of tea partiers, you have no shot at winning over independents in the fall"

Thanks for expressing my utter disdain for Moonbeam so eloquently. While I don't blame it entirely on "Dumb South Carolinians" I do blame it on this purity/identity crises that has overwhelmed the GOP.

Gordon

Terrye said...

I heard a news story on the radio today that stated the "full vetting" Sarah Palin said we needed back be backfiring on the GOP.

Thus far Romney's negatives are up but he is doing better than Gingrich who is disliked by a majority of Americans...meanwhile Obama's favorability rating is up to 53%..the more "vetting" we do the better the Democrats look.

And with is win in South Carolina, Gingrich also managed to reinforce two other stereotypes..those being that the right hates black people and poor people and is paranoid.

Terrye said...

Gordon...I know people say things like that, but in truth Independents are not crazy about Tea Partiers or the far right either one. That is why so many of the people who do well in primaries suck in general elections. O'Donnell..Miller..Angle etc

Anonymous said...

I always wondered why South Carolina has the highest crime rate in the U.S. But now that they fell head over heels for the candidate with no moral character and an angry disposition - it's beginning to make some sense.

http://www.wyff4.com/r/17949907/detail.html

-Phil

Anonymous said...

I have a hunch the only winners in this election cycle will be Barak Obama, who will win a second term, Fox,Palin and the right wing pundts...their ratings will soar due to the rightwing nutjobs who feed off of their every word.

I am sure Rush Limbaugh,Erik Erickson from Redstate,Palin and Levin will be smiling from ear to ear when Obama gives his inaugural address. They will preach disgust as their bank accounts grow.

Terrye said...

leighrow..you might be right..but if they tell the faithful that only Gingrich can beat Obama because he is such a fighter and all that crap..and then he loses...well, some of those sages might lose some followers.

I know I used to listen to Rush and watch that Fox lineup and I supported Sarah Palin too..but over time I have begun to think those people are out for themselves. If they have lost me chances are they have lost millions more like me.

Anonymous said...

Pablo, thanks, as always, for your passion, insight, courage, and articulateness.

Please hang on a little longer. Don’t give up yet. I’m not ready to concede a loss before the first few innings have even been played. I want to nominate the only candidate who has a realistic chance of beating Obama in the fall. That is not Gingrich—can never be Gingrich. He’s a farce and cannot win the general election. The Dems know it, the GOP knows it, the media knows it, and the rest (Tea Party, talk radio, inside-the-beltway commentators) have their own agendas and don’t care if the GOP wins/probably want a GOP loss in 2012.

“South Carolina on My Mind.” It’s not a pretty thing to think about after last week. In the past I had seriously considered retiring someday to South Carolina. The weather, the great University of SC at Columbia, and the cost of living were highly attractive.

No more. Gingrich’s ugly face has become the mirror of conservatives in South Carolina, and it’s beginning to look a lot like "The Picture of Dorian Gray." This isn’t altogether fair, of course. Gingrich won a plurality not a majority of votes cast. SC has an open primary, and exit polls indicated that some percentage of voters weren’t Republicans. No doubt, there were Democrat mischief makers who voted. Ann Coulter tried to explain the suicidal outcome by arguing that South Carolinians had gone back to their Democrat roots.

But this may putting too fine a point on the situation. As of 1/21/12 Gingrich and South Carolina will forever be joined in my mind. And never more clearly than in the standing ovation he received from the GOP audience in Myrtle Beach when he dressed down a black man on national television on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

If the GOP nominee should turn out to be Gingrich (and I continue to believe that is very unlikely), "res ipsa loquitur"—the thing speaks for itself. The GOP will have as much chance of holding together as the Union had after South Carolina seceded.

Terrye said...

I think the thing that bothers me the most is these sort of people do not care about competency or track records...they are all about the rhetoric.

Lately Palin has been going after Christie..well let's look at that..she is not impressed with his record in NJ. She does not care that he has accomplished a lot in a very liberal state...no, all she cares about is that he likes her guy and says what she wants to hear. But what kind of Governor he is? She could care less. There was a time when Republicans prized competence..those days seem to be gone and in come the loud mouths.

Ohio JOE said...

"Romney should have employed more racial stereotypes" Wrong, you missed the debate, go back and watch it again until to learn.

Ohio JOE said...

"Most of your detractors are just very naive." Hey, we may be naive, but at least we are not cut and run sissy cowards like you and MWS.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if MWS knows you are over here dissing him OJ. Gosh, you've gone off the rails.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Terrye, Sarah Palin has had it in for Christie since he did not want her to campaign for him in 2010. He also did not mince words when asked if he believed she could be president.

So, according to the Palin's life-long pattern of vindictiveness, she is getting her revenge wherever she can find it. His accomplishments in NJ are the farthest thing from her mind.

-Martha

Ohio JOE said...

No, Martha, MWS and Mr. Christie have gone off the rail. MWS is not the same principled man he used to be. You only like him now mostly because he is in your camp.

Ohio JOE said...

"I wonder if MWS knows you are over here dissing him" I am sure he know and I am sure he does not care.

Anonymous said...

Courtesy of Yahoo news:

As he prepares for his third State of the Union address--and, he hopes, not his last--Barack Obama's likelihood of reelection has soared in the last few days to 56.8 percent, the highest it has been since last July. This movement correlates with Newt Gingrich's increased likelihood of gaining the Republican nomination, now at 29.7 percent, up from about 5 percent. This upward trend also correlates with a simultaneous downward movement of Mitt Romney's likelihood of winning the presidency if he wins the nomination, now at 44.0, down from about 48 percent. We utilize prediction market data for these likelihoods.

In short, the markets think Obama is more likely to defeat Gingrich than Romney, so when the former speaker's fortunes elevate, so do the president's.

Anonymous said...

OJ...you are pathetic.

Ohio JOE said...

"OJ...you are pathetic." Haha, I love you too MWS!

Ohio JOE said...

"In short, the markets think Obama is more likely to defeat Gingrich than Romney," but markets don't watch debates.

Doug NYC GOP said...

Pablo,

I don't think e folks in SC are stupid...60% rejected Gingrich on Saturday.

The smartest 28% led the way in that fight.

But the fight doesn't always go to the best of the bunch.

So we march on.

I'll take Romney's family life, professional accomplishments, leadership and yes, personality, over the likes of political charlatans like Palin and Gingrich each and every day.

Mitt never quit.
Mitt never resigend in disgrace.
Mitt isn't ethically challeneged

Mitt has genuine and MEASURABLE accomplishments.

He's been a RESPONSIBLE LEADER who FULFILLS his COMMITMENTS.

The two castoffs I mentioned above pale in contrast.

Neither has the abilty or the record.

So no matter how this race turns out, I know I am backing a TRUE LEADER and an exemplary person.

Anonymous said...

Amen Doug. We have right on our side no matter what happens. If we/Romney go down, it will be with dignity and our integrity in tact.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Nice posts everyone...OJ, you seriously hold it against Matt for saying that he'll get behind Romney in Tampa? Come on man...he's a little nobody like ALL of us that enjoys posting opinions and observations on line. To lump little ol' MWS with national figures seems a bit over-the-top.

Well you are definitely loyal to Palin...I guess I'm the same way with Romney except I don't think that Newts supporters are just as worthless as Moonbeam himself...and I'm certainly not going to hate Fred Thompson forever more just because he had the cajones to get behind the man he thinks is best.

Gordon

Ohio JOE said...

"I don't think e folks in SC are stupid...60% rejected Gingrich on Saturday." But, to the Generalismo there are all stupid, even the 60% because they are not elitists like him.

Ohio JOE said...

"OJ, you seriously hold it against Matt for saying that he'll get behind Romney in Tampa?" Haha, no in all seriousness, to reassure you, that are lots of people that I have less respect for that the man from Illinois, and a few are in my own camp. However, a few years ago, he would not have endorsed somebody who he neither believes in nor trusts.

Karina D. said...

Pablo,
I enjoyed every piece of it.

Anonymous said...

I also learned how stupid and dumb most South Carolinians are. I believe their "educational" lottery is dumbing them down even more... Can it change in the future? Such a waste of land and resources...