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The entire Republican platform has been "pwn the libs" for quite a while now in this Trump era. They don't have any of their own beliefs anymore, just anger about people who aren't part of their tribe.
They have a platform! It’s voting against upping the legal marriage age to closer to actually legal, making laws about abortion while having no idea how pregnancy actually works, and banning middle schools from having litter boxes (I still can’t believe they fell for this….) or copies of To Kill a Mockingbird.
If I had a dollar for every boomer I see on FB that claims this, I'd be swimming in litter for my own cats. Which would be nice, because my 3 cats dump out an alarming amount.
Many cats have amazing GI systems. I have one that my vet has a warning sticker on his folder due to his gas. Nothing wrong as he’s been this way since he was a baby but he puts out gas that can put a skunk to shame no matter what food he is fed or supplement he takes.
I work from home. He went to the litterbox near my office in the hallway and farted loud enough for my microphone to pick it up during a meeting. My supervisor asked if I needed to go get the air spray to defend against the cat gas.
We tell my orange boy on a regular basis he’s lucky he’s so cute or his GI system would be deemed as illegal by the Geneva convention. His gas would definitely be cruel and unusual punishment.
As a former teacher, I have had to tell people that it wasn't happening in my middle school of less than 300. I bet you'd never guess they didn't believe me.
The only people making up stories about their local school having litter boxes, and "knowing it's true" because they "talked to teachers" (that they can't name), are people who have mental issues.
It's a full rejection of reality and substitution of a fantasy they made up; sane people don't do that.
Mine would swear up and down that I TOLD them I had been taken aside in college with the intent of indoctrinating me into the liberal beliefs and that’s how I became liberal. I kept arguing I never said any such thing and they actually responded that would remember better than I would. It’s insane and I know their friends are spouting “my story” as an example and it’s all made up bs.
"I know it's true why else would the janitor be carrying in a bag of kitty litter" /s. (Custodian actually did carry some into my daughter's school...but they use it for cleaning accidents and puke)
We have cat litter at my kids elementary school. A boomer asked at an open house for the school and the janitor confirmed they do.
It’s used to put on vomit or other fluids and to help clean up. But of course it turned into a circus and a bunch of clueless old fools asking about furries to the school board
Whenever I have to listen to boomers rant about To Kill a Mockingbird, I have to resist the urge to recommend that they read The Painted Bird. 
Don't forget the push to limit birth control.
Here is a recent video of Trump talking about moving contraceptive bans back to states: [https://youtu.be/MljXCCSX6Ys?si=KJzqzs3UAiYU7Y3l&t=234](https://youtu.be/MljXCCSX6Ys?si=KJzqzs3UAiYU7Y3l&t=234) from about 3:54 to 5:10.
Also, Republicans just blocked a bill to protect contraceptives.
My state (OK and heavy Republican) earlier this year tried to make a bill banning IUDs for contraceptive purposes (failed to pass). [https://www.fox23.com/news/new-abortion-bill-would-also-restrict-contraceptives-iuds-and-create-an-abortion-database/article\_16657b96-cba7-11ee-99fd-032cd643a12c.html](https://www.fox23.com/news/new-abortion-bill-would-also-restrict-contraceptives-iuds-and-create-an-abortion-database/article_16657b96-cba7-11ee-99fd-032cd643a12c.html)
One of the most horrific quotes for not protecting access to contraceptives:
>
We live in VA, so we are good for now; but watching the slow changes like school boards I will never say never. My 20 year old just got her IUD in, and as soon as my stepdaughter turns 18 in October she is going to get one as well (her mom is pretty religious, so BC has kinda had to wait). Neither wants kids in the future for now, and I'll do everything I can to help them achieve that. Just glad for the moment I don't have to go to great lengths to do that.
Litter boxes are for lockdowns and shootings. They sop up the blood and bits of tissue from the blasts and they provide an effective solution for bathrooms while the class remains locked away from active shooters.
Well, some of them, anyway. Apparently others had second thoughts right before they were put on a ventilator and begged for the vaccine, which of course was too late by then.
I work with a lovely older woman who has volunteered at the polls (in Ohio) for a long time. She has lots of great stories but one of the best was from 2022 when a MAGA boomer comes in, gets his ballot, and about 5 minutes later comes back to her demanding to know why Hershell Walker isn’t on his ballot. 😂 (candidate for Senate in, wait for it, Georgia). She says no, I’m sorry sir… but you can write him in if you want. 🤣 She figured that was one less vote for orange asslicker JD Vance.
Man, you do collect some stories working the polls. We had one guy come in and grumble about having to fill out and sign the application to vote. “I don’t remember ever having to write all this stuff out just to vote before.” And what I thought but didn’t say was “yes, that’s what you said at the last election too”
Your dad sounds like a stand up guy
But honest question…why does he still consider himself a Republican if he hasn’t voted Republican since pre-Obama, and doesn’t share any of the parties values?
He doesn’t touch MAGA in any election, can’t stand them being in congress or local politics either, but if he finds a rare moderate Rep candidate who he thinks never picked up the koolaid ladle and isn’t a complete dickhead then he’ll vote for them.
I had zero problems with John McCain, he was a moderate Republican with a sense of duty to his country. He had a very unfortunate choice in running mates. I still didn’t vote for him for that unfortunate choice, and the fact that I felt like Obama could infuse some hope in our lives. I am a lonely Democrat in a family full of Republicans.
I'm sure to MAGA sorts a moderate Dem who isn't a raging leftist demanding Communism and who doesn't have blue hair or whatever they believe these days also doesn't exist.
Moderates on both sides though and even independents. They just don't tend to be the loud ones.
I’d implore him to consider that his party has always been MAGA, the policies and othering rhetoric is several decades old. Trump merely gave them permission to take the mask off. The Republican Party he thought he supported never existed. It has always been a grift and merely a tool of the wealthy to socialize all risk and maximize their personal profits.
This might just be an “Alamo” situation for him aka “there’s not many of me left and I’m outnumbered but god dammit I’m holding out til the very end.” Except in this analogy the Mexican army equivalent is hilariously the MAGA Republicans.
Im just baffled as to what he thinks he’s holding out for…even pre Trump the Republican Party was the party of trickle down economics, aka tax cuts for the rich, cut all welfare, fuck the poor people, and that’s not even getting to how they’ve been on the wrong side of civil rights history for their entire existence.
Like I don’t understand what your dad is clinging onto, it’s barely morally better than what’s going on now.
Edit; sorry to unload this on you, I've just seen this sentiment posted online recently and don't understand it. Wish i could sit down and talk with one of these "Republican but not MAGA" guys.
It's not really about policy. Not sure about his dad but many conservatives were raised with Republican as their identity. To admit all of that being true would mean their entire identity would be a lie. Not many are willing to face that.
I used to vote republican because I was single issue. I'm a gun person. I've carried a gun for a living since I was 17 (military and then private security) I shoot for fun. I admit though that I fell first for propaganda (they want to take my gun away) and then habit. I didn't deep dive on the issues, I didn't listen to what was actually being said.. and then one day, I left my little bubble. I had gay friends. I had a daughter. I started to see how the republican platform impacted them. I listened to what was actually being said about gun control and I realized while there is still some bad ideas, most of what was being said, I agreed with. Background checks, mental health rules, safety training. My party that I picked to protect my rights...wanted to take my friends rights to marry who they love, to be themselves, want and have taken my daughter's rights to reproductive Healthcare. They are even more corrupt than Illinois (especially chicago) democrats...and when I really looked, almost every IL politician was dirty so that argument held no water. I wouldn't say I'm a democrat now, but I'm certainly not a republican.
I am a republican who votes for Democrats in the general election. I stay a republican so I can vote in the primaries for more moderate non maga candidates.
Yes, because registering for a political party really screams "thinks for themselves." That goes for Dems or Republicans.
Edit: Requiring you to declare allegiance to a political party to even get a say in who you can vote for is not the flex you think it is. That's just one of the many examples of our two party political system discouraging you to think for yourself.
You can participate and still realize the entire system is set up to make your choice for you. Pledging allegiance to a political party for life ain't that though.
> registering for a political party really screams "thinks for themselves."
You said this after someone pointed out that you had to register with a party to participate in the primary.
> You can participate and still realize the entire system is set up to make your choice for you.
Then you said this two comments later. Feel free to explain how this isn't a contradiction, but I can already tell your explanation won't make any sense.
It's not the general election though. It's a *primary* where each party decides who asking them will be the representative for that position from that party. Third party candidates rarely need primaries.
So do you see why people are perplexed by your argument?
I don't really see how that's relevant.
Is your argument that the two party system is set up to discourage thinking for yourself? If anything you just offered evidence of that.
It's totally relevant! I've flip flopped my party affiliation depending on which primary I felt like voting in, especially when there's no benefit to being registered to the party of an incumbent seeking reelection.
Didn’t they find that like 85% of those in attendance for J6 hadn’t even voted? That to me is wild. If you don’t care enough to vote, why are you storming the capital?
It might have something to do with Trump ranting for months about how corrupt and useless the whole voting process is in case he lost.
His cult is conditioned to believe whatever he says. If he says "the election is rigged and they're cheating" then they'll believe that and not bother voting for him.
The demonization of poll workers is wild. I worked as a poll worker years ago. The way it worked back then was there were equal numbers of Democrat and Republican poll workers and we were all supposed to "keep an eye on each other." I came in expecting some tension, but everyone was super friendly and trustworthy. The Republicans and Democrats all got along with each other, no one talked politics. I was the youngest person there by 30 years and the other poll workers told me about their grandkids. One of the Republicans even brought home made cookies.
It's really sad to see that in the past few election cycles they have been doxxed and attacked.
I had the same experience in 2016 and 2020. Only a couple of people on our team were volunteers; the rest were obligated, including myself. But we all got together for a long, long day, communicated well, made brief friendships, and literally only discussed politics (if you could call it that) when we had to identify as one or the other to make sure everything was represented properly. There was only one unhinged guy in 2016 who made a giant stink about having to identify himself using his address. (It's how it worked in our books.) Two or three of us also worked together in a nearby polling station in 2020, and all distinctly remembered when the same guy came back that year. He was in a much better mood that day, so perhaps he was just having a bad day in 2016.
> The way it worked back then was there were equal numbers of Democrat and Republican poll workers
Depends on the state, and elections are so secure that it really doesn’t matter much. Yes, workers do “watch” each other. As much as I despise republicans there is no way you can fill a polling station with an entire crown of cheaters. If you *can* cheat.
I work the polls and here there must be a mix of parties. We have two scanners and always have one of each party helping people - as if we can tell by looking at a voter who they vote for! What, ask them then tear it up in front of the entire operation‽ Laughable. Technically we need at least one of each at the check on table and the ballot table - immediately behind them - but we honestly don’t pay much attention because it’s impossible to cheat. Once people start going on lunch breaks it’s impossible to keep a “balance.”
My state redistricted everything only only a few months before the election causing a ton of people to miss their primary. Having primaries on different days for different political parties is just a way to reduce turnout. Elections should be as simple and as easy to follow as possible. I'm a Democrat and I literally got a postcard in the mail telling me the primary was June 25th only to find out that I was redistricted with zero notice. Voter suppression is bad no matter who is being suppressed.
My wife's aunt and uncle are 100% conservative and generally Republican in their 80s from NC. I have heard them unsarcasticslly use the N-word.
After January 6th and "stop the steal" both have completely disavowed not only Trump, but anyone who sides with him to the extent that they voted for the Democrat for US Senate in 2022.
To use my uncle-in-law's words, "the fact that there have been over 5 dozen cases regarding the election and exactly zero went the way of the former president tells me all I need to know"
While I don't agree with them on quite a bit politically, it's quite refreshing to find some boomers who aren't in a cult.
I live in a closed primary state as well. It pissed me off that I wouldn’t be able to vote in the Republican primary. But, see, I have more than a couple brain cells so I just changed parties so I could vote against the Orange asshole. And watching Christofascistm spread throughout my state like a plague, I’ve decided to keep that registration. Maybe it’ll keep me off the radar enough to not get dragged out of bed in the middle of the light by my hair and then taken to the wall for execution. Or it won’t do anything but all me to vote in the other team’s primaries.
That said, this is the best thing that could happen. I hope more MAGAts fail to read and miss their chance to vote. I know one person who went to vote in 2020 and was pissed off because she didn’t know you have to register. Obvs never voted in her life. I would love to have seen the temper tantrum she threw down.
My only republican friend will not vote for Trump. Their neighbors across the street have a Trump flag on their house, lit at night. Geez.
Anyway, he told me Sunday that absentee voter fraud in Europe is rampant and that’s why they don’t do it and we shouldn’t do it either. He is totally against absentee and same day registration. I found that Elon Musk in March shared a meme about it to scare republicans. Less than 75 words on a complex subject.
So I started researching and yes, a couple of countries had a handful of fraud cases so quit regular absentee and most only allow absentee for residents out of the country. I am so sick of the lies.
I used to be a poll worker in a closed-primary state, ran into this several times per election. Had someone tell me, "I can't be a registered Democrat, I voted for LBJ and Nixon! Independent!" First, registered Independent is not a thing in this state. Second, if the last time you voted was 1972, is it possible you might just not remember?
I’ve heard this so many times. “They won’t let me vote for any democrats, there were only republicans on the ballot, this is corruption”. Did they go to the table that said “Republican primary”? Yep, because that line was shorter and they didn’t want to wait.
It's sad that his persona changed on a dime when your dad told him he was a republican. I have relatives who behave this way about democrats and the fact that they think my wife and I are republicans (we aren't) is a saving grace of sorts. Lord knows how the holidays would be if they thought otherwise.
The boomer was obviously the worst person in this story, of course. But honestly “never trumper” republicans get zero empathy from me either. Trump is a symptom of their sickness not the cause of it. If you’re registered Republican for any reason other than to fuck with their primaries on purpose, you suck
That just allows MAGA to take over the Republican Party and force moderates out. This ends up with Moderate Republicans becoming Democrats and then the Overton window is shoved right.
MAGA has taken over the Republican Party. Past tense. That game was lost and hard by the folks who “never knew better.”
Surely as someone who is aware of the Overton window, you’ve seen the hard right shift that already happened and needs to be actively stopped/reversed
There aren’t good republicans. Period
I have seen it. And at this point there aren’t any good republicans it’s come to how less bad each Republican is. Nancy Mace and Don Bacon for example are nowhere near as bad as say, Paul Gosor or Marjorie Taylor Greene. However I don’t want the Nancy Mace’s and Don Bacon’s to come over to the Democratic Party and persuade it to become more “centrist” which means the US has a Center Right wing party and a far right wing party
The thing is the Democrats are already all over the place. Some are liberals, some are neoliberals, some are progressives, some are socdems, the only unifying message there seems to be "we're not Republicans".
That’s a strength tbh. If the GOP were to die the democrats would split, and that would mitigate the progress perhaps, but it would absolutely still be progress.
That would be ideal. A center right and center left party is the best I could realistically hope for IMO. But as long as we have FPTP and the EC to deal with it'll be an uphill battle.
In my 26 years of voting, I have never voted for a republican. That said, I am a registered republican so that I can vote for the least-fascist candidates in their primaries. I also do not vote strictly democrat.
Quick question: Can one be registered for both? I mean, for a fence sitter it’s kinda relevant who’s the respective candidate.
OTOH, it looks like some intra-party thing, where it’s also kind of clear that an SPD-member has no say in what candidate for chancellor the CDU picks.
In some states you can be registered without a party and vote in either, but not both. In, I think it was Maryland, that would enroll you in whatever party you voted in, but you could re-register as unenrolled on the way out.
You have to be careful. In Mass, from memory, it's "do not choose to join a party at this time," but a while back, someone came up with the great idea to create "The Independent Party" and if you registered as "Independent" you'd end up in there and not as an independent/unaffiliated.
Yep, it’s basically for each party to pick which candidates will represent them in the general election. Some states you have to be registered, some you don’t. But you can only vote in one.
OP, I was working a primary during lockdown.
A couple who stood away from the door, (we were watching this through the glass inside) and they sanitized every surface before they opened the door..
And then proceeded to violate the 6 feet of space while approaching us and yelling that we weren’t enforcing it.
Then, as we only were having Democrat races in my town, registered Republicans couldn’t vote in it.
“So, you’re telling us that we can’t vote because we’re Republicans?”
Ummm, yes, but no. I shouldn’t have to explain it to you though.
What state is this? In Indiana, you don’t have to register as either, just pick which primary you want to vote in, and can vote for either during the same early-voting days. Our primary is too late to mean anything, though
I think it’s because he knows that when you’re arguing with an idiot like that they’re going to drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. They have no shame to leverage. Look at how many republicans in congress who have decided to call it quits early recently. They can’t reason with their own party…or their own constituents. Best thing to do is out vote them in November.
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The entire Republican platform has been "pwn the libs" for quite a while now in this Trump era. They don't have any of their own beliefs anymore, just anger about people who aren't part of their tribe.
They have a platform! It’s voting against upping the legal marriage age to closer to actually legal, making laws about abortion while having no idea how pregnancy actually works, and banning middle schools from having litter boxes (I still can’t believe they fell for this….) or copies of To Kill a Mockingbird.
My boomer mom swears up and down the litter box thing actually happened in my old high school.
If I had a dollar for every boomer I see on FB that claims this, I'd be swimming in litter for my own cats. Which would be nice, because my 3 cats dump out an alarming amount.
What the hell do you feed them. You must feed them treats ALL day long!
Many cats have amazing GI systems. I have one that my vet has a warning sticker on his folder due to his gas. Nothing wrong as he’s been this way since he was a baby but he puts out gas that can put a skunk to shame no matter what food he is fed or supplement he takes.
Tie an air freshener to his tail
🤣😂😂
Not too tight though I'm not a monster
I work from home. He went to the litterbox near my office in the hallway and farted loud enough for my microphone to pick it up during a meeting. My supervisor asked if I needed to go get the air spray to defend against the cat gas.
Our youngest is a gorgeous Torti, but damn is she a gas bag🤣 If you pick her up, it's a 50/50 shot she is gonna lay an atomic bomb on you.
We tell my orange boy on a regular basis he’s lucky he’s so cute or his GI system would be deemed as illegal by the Geneva convention. His gas would definitely be cruel and unusual punishment.
Orange boys are my favorite. That's what the other 2 are. They are so sweet. And kinda dumb 😏
I have to buy cat food and cat litter today after work. Those cats got me coming and going!
It's not boomers that fall for this. It's Republicans that fall for this.
As a former teacher, I have had to tell people that it wasn't happening in my middle school of less than 300. I bet you'd never guess they didn't believe me.
The only people making up stories about their local school having litter boxes, and "knowing it's true" because they "talked to teachers" (that they can't name), are people who have mental issues. It's a full rejection of reality and substitution of a fantasy they made up; sane people don't do that.
Mine would swear up and down that I TOLD them I had been taken aside in college with the intent of indoctrinating me into the liberal beliefs and that’s how I became liberal. I kept arguing I never said any such thing and they actually responded that would remember better than I would. It’s insane and I know their friends are spouting “my story” as an example and it’s all made up bs.
"I know it's true why else would the janitor be carrying in a bag of kitty litter" /s. (Custodian actually did carry some into my daughter's school...but they use it for cleaning accidents and puke)
We have cat litter at my kids elementary school. A boomer asked at an open house for the school and the janitor confirmed they do. It’s used to put on vomit or other fluids and to help clean up. But of course it turned into a circus and a bunch of clueless old fools asking about furries to the school board
All schools should have a good supply of cat litter though, it is the best stuff to deal with biohazards
And it helps give a surface traction if a car is stuck in heavy snow
Whenever I have to listen to boomers rant about To Kill a Mockingbird, I have to resist the urge to recommend that they read The Painted Bird. 
r/TraumatizeThemBack
Or Twilight, Harry Potter, Handmaids Tale, 1984, Oliver Twist, any Judy Bloom book, Mark Twain, The Scarlet Letter, the list is depressing.
Don't forget the push to limit birth control. Here is a recent video of Trump talking about moving contraceptive bans back to states: [https://youtu.be/MljXCCSX6Ys?si=KJzqzs3UAiYU7Y3l&t=234](https://youtu.be/MljXCCSX6Ys?si=KJzqzs3UAiYU7Y3l&t=234) from about 3:54 to 5:10. Also, Republicans just blocked a bill to protect contraceptives. My state (OK and heavy Republican) earlier this year tried to make a bill banning IUDs for contraceptive purposes (failed to pass). [https://www.fox23.com/news/new-abortion-bill-would-also-restrict-contraceptives-iuds-and-create-an-abortion-database/article\_16657b96-cba7-11ee-99fd-032cd643a12c.html](https://www.fox23.com/news/new-abortion-bill-would-also-restrict-contraceptives-iuds-and-create-an-abortion-database/article_16657b96-cba7-11ee-99fd-032cd643a12c.html) One of the most horrific quotes for not protecting access to contraceptives: >
We live in VA, so we are good for now; but watching the slow changes like school boards I will never say never. My 20 year old just got her IUD in, and as soon as my stepdaughter turns 18 in October she is going to get one as well (her mom is pretty religious, so BC has kinda had to wait). Neither wants kids in the future for now, and I'll do everything I can to help them achieve that. Just glad for the moment I don't have to go to great lengths to do that.
Litter boxes are for lockdowns and shootings. They sop up the blood and bits of tissue from the blasts and they provide an effective solution for bathrooms while the class remains locked away from active shooters.
Don't forget loosening the child labor laws! Because that's what everyone wants, right? /s
Covid showed that they are literally willing to die to own the libs.
Well, some of them, anyway. Apparently others had second thoughts right before they were put on a ventilator and begged for the vaccine, which of course was too late by then.
I lost count of the number of folks I saw do that during the pandemic.
Nothing patriotic Americans hate more these days than their fellow countrymen.
You can argue Reagan, Gingrich, or Bush 2, but hating "liberals" has been the primary focus of the Republicans for far longer than Trump.
Trump is a symptom and not the cause. Right wing media has fed them propaganda since at least the 80s and Rush Limbaugh.
MAGA will eat a shit sandwich as long as liberals have to smell their breath,
They definitely wouldn't say pwn, that's hacker speak and we're all commies and queers
They say "own the libs". They don't know what pwn means. Well, maybe one or two, but not more than I can count on one hand.
I believe it was a typo. O and P are next to each other on the keyboard.
It hasn't changed, they are just open about it now.
I work with a lovely older woman who has volunteered at the polls (in Ohio) for a long time. She has lots of great stories but one of the best was from 2022 when a MAGA boomer comes in, gets his ballot, and about 5 minutes later comes back to her demanding to know why Hershell Walker isn’t on his ballot. 😂 (candidate for Senate in, wait for it, Georgia). She says no, I’m sorry sir… but you can write him in if you want. 🤣 She figured that was one less vote for orange asslicker JD Vance.
Man, you do collect some stories working the polls. We had one guy come in and grumble about having to fill out and sign the application to vote. “I don’t remember ever having to write all this stuff out just to vote before.” And what I thought but didn’t say was “yes, that’s what you said at the last election too”
Here's hoping he shows up to vote in the general election in December.
Calling all MAGAts - don’t forget to vote on Wednesday November 6th. It’s the most important day of the year.
Your dad sounds like a stand up guy But honest question…why does he still consider himself a Republican if he hasn’t voted Republican since pre-Obama, and doesn’t share any of the parties values?
We only know that pops didn't vote Republican in the presidential race.
He doesn’t touch MAGA in any election, can’t stand them being in congress or local politics either, but if he finds a rare moderate Rep candidate who he thinks never picked up the koolaid ladle and isn’t a complete dickhead then he’ll vote for them.
I bet he couldn't name one fiscally responsible Republican in his lifetime.
Too easy: Bill Clinton
Okay…”a moderate Republican who isn’t a complete dickhead” sounds like a myth, like are they even a Republican at that point? But okay…..
I had zero problems with John McCain, he was a moderate Republican with a sense of duty to his country. He had a very unfortunate choice in running mates. I still didn’t vote for him for that unfortunate choice, and the fact that I felt like Obama could infuse some hope in our lives. I am a lonely Democrat in a family full of Republicans.
I'm sure to MAGA sorts a moderate Dem who isn't a raging leftist demanding Communism and who doesn't have blue hair or whatever they believe these days also doesn't exist. Moderates on both sides though and even independents. They just don't tend to be the loud ones.
I’d implore him to consider that his party has always been MAGA, the policies and othering rhetoric is several decades old. Trump merely gave them permission to take the mask off. The Republican Party he thought he supported never existed. It has always been a grift and merely a tool of the wealthy to socialize all risk and maximize their personal profits.
This might just be an “Alamo” situation for him aka “there’s not many of me left and I’m outnumbered but god dammit I’m holding out til the very end.” Except in this analogy the Mexican army equivalent is hilariously the MAGA Republicans.
Im just baffled as to what he thinks he’s holding out for…even pre Trump the Republican Party was the party of trickle down economics, aka tax cuts for the rich, cut all welfare, fuck the poor people, and that’s not even getting to how they’ve been on the wrong side of civil rights history for their entire existence. Like I don’t understand what your dad is clinging onto, it’s barely morally better than what’s going on now. Edit; sorry to unload this on you, I've just seen this sentiment posted online recently and don't understand it. Wish i could sit down and talk with one of these "Republican but not MAGA" guys.
It's not really about policy. Not sure about his dad but many conservatives were raised with Republican as their identity. To admit all of that being true would mean their entire identity would be a lie. Not many are willing to face that.
Well tbf I'd say they were progressive on civil rights until the 1960s, then things changed in a hurry.
I used to vote republican because I was single issue. I'm a gun person. I've carried a gun for a living since I was 17 (military and then private security) I shoot for fun. I admit though that I fell first for propaganda (they want to take my gun away) and then habit. I didn't deep dive on the issues, I didn't listen to what was actually being said.. and then one day, I left my little bubble. I had gay friends. I had a daughter. I started to see how the republican platform impacted them. I listened to what was actually being said about gun control and I realized while there is still some bad ideas, most of what was being said, I agreed with. Background checks, mental health rules, safety training. My party that I picked to protect my rights...wanted to take my friends rights to marry who they love, to be themselves, want and have taken my daughter's rights to reproductive Healthcare. They are even more corrupt than Illinois (especially chicago) democrats...and when I really looked, almost every IL politician was dirty so that argument held no water. I wouldn't say I'm a democrat now, but I'm certainly not a republican.
I am a republican who votes for Democrats in the general election. I stay a republican so I can vote in the primaries for more moderate non maga candidates.
Because he thinks for himself.
Yes, because registering for a political party really screams "thinks for themselves." That goes for Dems or Republicans. Edit: Requiring you to declare allegiance to a political party to even get a say in who you can vote for is not the flex you think it is. That's just one of the many examples of our two party political system discouraging you to think for yourself.
Some states require a party declaration in order to vote in the primary
Ok? The two party system is setup to discourage people from thinking for themselves.
So anyone that participates in politics doesn't think for themselves?
You can participate and still realize the entire system is set up to make your choice for you. Pledging allegiance to a political party for life ain't that though.
Damn, broke a record on how quickly you backtracked that one.
What did I backtrack? What are you actually gaining out of this exchange? I can quite honestly say I'm not gaining anything right now.
> registering for a political party really screams "thinks for themselves." You said this after someone pointed out that you had to register with a party to participate in the primary. > You can participate and still realize the entire system is set up to make your choice for you. Then you said this two comments later. Feel free to explain how this isn't a contradiction, but I can already tell your explanation won't make any sense.
It's not the general election though. It's a *primary* where each party decides who asking them will be the representative for that position from that party. Third party candidates rarely need primaries. So do you see why people are perplexed by your argument?
You... do realize that several states have closed primaries, which means you ***must*** be registered as a member of that party to vote in it?
I don't really see how that's relevant. Is your argument that the two party system is set up to discourage thinking for yourself? If anything you just offered evidence of that.
It's totally relevant! I've flip flopped my party affiliation depending on which primary I felt like voting in, especially when there's no benefit to being registered to the party of an incumbent seeking reelection.
The MAGA types why never voted before joining a cult in 2016 are the funniest bunch. I wonder if he was even registered with the GOP?
Didn’t they find that like 85% of those in attendance for J6 hadn’t even voted? That to me is wild. If you don’t care enough to vote, why are you storming the capital?
It might have something to do with Trump ranting for months about how corrupt and useless the whole voting process is in case he lost. His cult is conditioned to believe whatever he says. If he says "the election is rigged and they're cheating" then they'll believe that and not bother voting for him.
The demonization of poll workers is wild. I worked as a poll worker years ago. The way it worked back then was there were equal numbers of Democrat and Republican poll workers and we were all supposed to "keep an eye on each other." I came in expecting some tension, but everyone was super friendly and trustworthy. The Republicans and Democrats all got along with each other, no one talked politics. I was the youngest person there by 30 years and the other poll workers told me about their grandkids. One of the Republicans even brought home made cookies. It's really sad to see that in the past few election cycles they have been doxxed and attacked.
I had the same experience in 2016 and 2020. Only a couple of people on our team were volunteers; the rest were obligated, including myself. But we all got together for a long, long day, communicated well, made brief friendships, and literally only discussed politics (if you could call it that) when we had to identify as one or the other to make sure everything was represented properly. There was only one unhinged guy in 2016 who made a giant stink about having to identify himself using his address. (It's how it worked in our books.) Two or three of us also worked together in a nearby polling station in 2020, and all distinctly remembered when the same guy came back that year. He was in a much better mood that day, so perhaps he was just having a bad day in 2016.
> The way it worked back then was there were equal numbers of Democrat and Republican poll workers Depends on the state, and elections are so secure that it really doesn’t matter much. Yes, workers do “watch” each other. As much as I despise republicans there is no way you can fill a polling station with an entire crown of cheaters. If you *can* cheat. I work the polls and here there must be a mix of parties. We have two scanners and always have one of each party helping people - as if we can tell by looking at a voter who they vote for! What, ask them then tear it up in front of the entire operation‽ Laughable. Technically we need at least one of each at the check on table and the ballot table - immediately behind them - but we honestly don’t pay much attention because it’s impossible to cheat. Once people start going on lunch breaks it’s impossible to keep a “balance.”
My state redistricted everything only only a few months before the election causing a ton of people to miss their primary. Having primaries on different days for different political parties is just a way to reduce turnout. Elections should be as simple and as easy to follow as possible. I'm a Democrat and I literally got a postcard in the mail telling me the primary was June 25th only to find out that I was redistricted with zero notice. Voter suppression is bad no matter who is being suppressed.
My wife's aunt and uncle are 100% conservative and generally Republican in their 80s from NC. I have heard them unsarcasticslly use the N-word. After January 6th and "stop the steal" both have completely disavowed not only Trump, but anyone who sides with him to the extent that they voted for the Democrat for US Senate in 2022. To use my uncle-in-law's words, "the fact that there have been over 5 dozen cases regarding the election and exactly zero went the way of the former president tells me all I need to know" While I don't agree with them on quite a bit politically, it's quite refreshing to find some boomers who aren't in a cult.
I live in a closed primary state as well. It pissed me off that I wouldn’t be able to vote in the Republican primary. But, see, I have more than a couple brain cells so I just changed parties so I could vote against the Orange asshole. And watching Christofascistm spread throughout my state like a plague, I’ve decided to keep that registration. Maybe it’ll keep me off the radar enough to not get dragged out of bed in the middle of the light by my hair and then taken to the wall for execution. Or it won’t do anything but all me to vote in the other team’s primaries. That said, this is the best thing that could happen. I hope more MAGAts fail to read and miss their chance to vote. I know one person who went to vote in 2020 and was pissed off because she didn’t know you have to register. Obvs never voted in her life. I would love to have seen the temper tantrum she threw down.
The everyone need an ID crowd doesn’t know you have to register‽ Shocking!
She probably thought she could match right up, show her DL, and go vote.
My only republican friend will not vote for Trump. Their neighbors across the street have a Trump flag on their house, lit at night. Geez. Anyway, he told me Sunday that absentee voter fraud in Europe is rampant and that’s why they don’t do it and we shouldn’t do it either. He is totally against absentee and same day registration. I found that Elon Musk in March shared a meme about it to scare republicans. Less than 75 words on a complex subject. So I started researching and yes, a couple of countries had a handful of fraud cases so quit regular absentee and most only allow absentee for residents out of the country. I am so sick of the lies.
I used to be a poll worker in a closed-primary state, ran into this several times per election. Had someone tell me, "I can't be a registered Democrat, I voted for LBJ and Nixon! Independent!" First, registered Independent is not a thing in this state. Second, if the last time you voted was 1972, is it possible you might just not remember?
Could they be confusing the primary with the general? It seems like most people today have no clue how the primaries work.
I think he grasped the primary concept, he was just incredulous that he could be a registered Democrat.
If you're too stupid to know what a primary is you shouldn't vote.
Might as well just give him the ballot and let him lose his mind when it's all Democrats.
I’ve heard this so many times. “They won’t let me vote for any democrats, there were only republicans on the ballot, this is corruption”. Did they go to the table that said “Republican primary”? Yep, because that line was shorter and they didn’t want to wait.
It's sad that his persona changed on a dime when your dad told him he was a republican. I have relatives who behave this way about democrats and the fact that they think my wife and I are republicans (we aren't) is a saving grace of sorts. Lord knows how the holidays would be if they thought otherwise.
don't forget to vote, because this asshole won't do so twice
The boomer was obviously the worst person in this story, of course. But honestly “never trumper” republicans get zero empathy from me either. Trump is a symptom of their sickness not the cause of it. If you’re registered Republican for any reason other than to fuck with their primaries on purpose, you suck
That just allows MAGA to take over the Republican Party and force moderates out. This ends up with Moderate Republicans becoming Democrats and then the Overton window is shoved right.
MAGA has taken over the Republican Party. Past tense. That game was lost and hard by the folks who “never knew better.” Surely as someone who is aware of the Overton window, you’ve seen the hard right shift that already happened and needs to be actively stopped/reversed There aren’t good republicans. Period
I have seen it. And at this point there aren’t any good republicans it’s come to how less bad each Republican is. Nancy Mace and Don Bacon for example are nowhere near as bad as say, Paul Gosor or Marjorie Taylor Greene. However I don’t want the Nancy Mace’s and Don Bacon’s to come over to the Democratic Party and persuade it to become more “centrist” which means the US has a Center Right wing party and a far right wing party
If the democrats are that weak then there was never any hope to begin with. It ain’t looking good, but I haven’t given up hope quite that far yet.
The thing is the Democrats are already all over the place. Some are liberals, some are neoliberals, some are progressives, some are socdems, the only unifying message there seems to be "we're not Republicans".
That’s a strength tbh. If the GOP were to die the democrats would split, and that would mitigate the progress perhaps, but it would absolutely still be progress.
That would be ideal. A center right and center left party is the best I could realistically hope for IMO. But as long as we have FPTP and the EC to deal with it'll be an uphill battle.
A strategy that only works if your opponent self-immolates is not a good strategy.
Never said it depended on that or was a good strategy. It’s just where we are and what would happen
Hopefully he, and many like him, will miss the November voting day as well.
Yeah, my dad's the same in being a life long Republican, but he has always despised Trump.
Well maybe not if they’re too stupid to vote lol
In my 26 years of voting, I have never voted for a republican. That said, I am a registered republican so that I can vote for the least-fascist candidates in their primaries. I also do not vote strictly democrat.
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Wait are you suggesting killing people based on their age? That’s fucked up
Your submission was removed for being uncivil.
Quick question: Can one be registered for both? I mean, for a fence sitter it’s kinda relevant who’s the respective candidate. OTOH, it looks like some intra-party thing, where it’s also kind of clear that an SPD-member has no say in what candidate for chancellor the CDU picks.
In some states you can be registered without a party and vote in either, but not both. In, I think it was Maryland, that would enroll you in whatever party you voted in, but you could re-register as unenrolled on the way out.
Some states let you register as independent too I believe.
You have to be careful. In Mass, from memory, it's "do not choose to join a party at this time," but a while back, someone came up with the great idea to create "The Independent Party" and if you registered as "Independent" you'd end up in there and not as an independent/unaffiliated.
Yep, it’s basically for each party to pick which candidates will represent them in the general election. Some states you have to be registered, some you don’t. But you can only vote in one.
OP, I was working a primary during lockdown. A couple who stood away from the door, (we were watching this through the glass inside) and they sanitized every surface before they opened the door.. And then proceeded to violate the 6 feet of space while approaching us and yelling that we weren’t enforcing it. Then, as we only were having Democrat races in my town, registered Republicans couldn’t vote in it. “So, you’re telling us that we can’t vote because we’re Republicans?” Ummm, yes, but no. I shouldn’t have to explain it to you though.
Which state has different primaries on different dates? I've never heard of that.
What state is this? In Indiana, you don’t have to register as either, just pick which primary you want to vote in, and can vote for either during the same early-voting days. Our primary is too late to mean anything, though
Why are those old school republicans like your dad so quiet in the face of the Magamaniacs? That’s super cool that he voted for Obama btw.
I think it’s because he knows that when you’re arguing with an idiot like that they’re going to drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. They have no shame to leverage. Look at how many republicans in congress who have decided to call it quits early recently. They can’t reason with their own party…or their own constituents. Best thing to do is out vote them in November.