The Republican Party of Texas – Self-Righteous Extremism in the Pursuit of Middle Class Warfare
I don’t even know where to start. I’ll hit the highlights and you guys can pick up the things I miss.
They favor no taxes whatsodamnever, except a national sales tax which hurts the middle class the most. They want to repeal the 16th amendment and the Paris Hilton tax. They also want to repeal property taxes and all licensing fees.
We urge the income tax, capital gains tax, estate tax, and all other tax reductions be made permanent. The death tax is immoral and should be abolished forever.
They want to return to the Gold Standard.
They want to privatize social security, so that Bernie Madoff can go back into business.
They oppose education. I really don’t know any other way to put it. They oppose multicultural education, critical thinking, and even mentioning evolution and climate change. They do, however, support beating children in school.
They are not big on marriage either. They only want something called “Covenant marriage.” They want to repeal no-fault divorce and don’t even mention the “gay” word around them because it makes them frisky. “We affirm that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family unit.” And this, “We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists.” They spend a whoooole lotta time talking about the gays.
They want to eliminate executive orders, but are apt to change their mind if a tea party candidate is ever elected.
They want Karl Rove to become a tax-exempt church. And, they want to do weird things in church, tax free. “We urge amendment of the Internal Revenue Code to allow a religious organization to address issues without fear of losing its tax-exempt status. We call for repeal of requirements that religious organizations send the government any personal information about their contributors.” However, in the next breath, “We support full disclosure of the amounts and sources of any campaign contributions to political candidates, whether contributed by individuals, political action committees, or other entities.” A page later, “We call for the Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives to convene in caucus after each November general election to determine by secret ballot…” Make up your damn mind, you fools!
They want to put the Ten Commandments any damn place they want to.
They are fixing to make American English the “official language of Texas.” Holy cow, nobody here will be able to talk.
They demand that human health care be only between a person and their doctor with no government interference, unless, of course the human happens to be female. They also oppose the Morning After pill and RU-486. They also oppose stem cell research.
They want to beat up women who try to enter an abortion clinic, “We urge repeal of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Law.”
Oh hell, I’m only half way through.
Again, they want to beat the hell out of their kids, “We support eliminating bureaucratic prohibitions on corporal discipline and home schooling in foster homes.” They also want their kids to get sick and give it to your kid, “All adult citizens should have the legal right to conscientiously choose which vaccines are administered to themselves or their minor children without penalty for refusing a vaccine.”
So far, all I’ve figured out is that they want to beat up women and children, buy heavy artillery, not pay their taxes, and get to shove Jesus Christ down your throat.
Cripes. I have to stop for a while.
It sounds like what they want is the Articles of Confederation, and we already know that didn’t work. If it had been kept in place, we’d have Queen Elizabeth on our money and a whole lot of parliamentary laws in place. Or wait a minute–would we be speaking German? Or Spanish? Or Russian? Or would we be learning Chinese? Or Arabic? The Constitution has, right up front, in Article I, section 8, the bit about the authority to levy taxes, and Jesus hisownself said it was okay to pay them.
1“Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”
This statement is just astounding, especially this part… “have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.” Just astounding.
Looks like the TX TGOP is rallying to overtake the AZ TGOP for the top spot!!
2You GO! Girl…. present the facts. I am sitting here wondering how ANYONE could agree with their manifesto, but of course I have family and friends here in Texas, and other parts of the good ole USofA who do. I love to blame it on getting dropped on their head as an infant, but the sheer numbers of head droppings has reached a critical point, making that an impossible excuse.
3A friend of mine who was the ex-wife of a Methodist minister told me that her husband had eventually thrown in the towel and quit the ministry—why?—she said his entire education and belief system went completely to waste because “the congregation just wants me to lead them fearlessly back to the 50s.” Unfortunately, it seems like our GOP brothers and sisters would drag us all kicking and screaming back to the…30’s? Back before labor unions, EEO, BIG-ass government, uppity women, GAYS, the list goes on—they have invented this picturesque view of how life could be if they could just get us all back there.
4@Pat. It was a picturesque world back then – for property-owning white males. The rest of us – that was different.
5Have they considered the benefits of living in Afghanistan? Or Somalia? Or whatever Burma’s calling itself these days?
I say give them Arizona, and let Arizona succede. Small price to pay. Put me down for $100 to get them all moved out of my country.
6They also must have forgotten about this form the Gipper’s Wife: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-616473.html.
Me thinks they all speak with forked-tongue………
7I’m kind of partial to party platforms in which Bubba has contributed his $0.02…
8What are these people THINKING? Every employer in the country has just made a mental note not to hire any product of the Texas public schools for any job that requires more analytical thinking than tightening a screw.
9Think Progress has some fun with the stupidity of the Texas GOP platform http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/26/506357/the-5-craziest-policies-in-texas-republicans-2012-platform/
10Well, every day I wake up and hear something that makes me think “they can’t get crazier than this” or “they finally reached the bottom of their nasty little barrel” and then I wake up the next morning and realize, to my horror, that the day before was actually better.
How can they go is a question that can no longer be asked with hope for finality.
I can only hope that those of us with functioning brain cells left who feel real compassion for one another get out and vote and work the get out the vote efforts come November.
These crazoids must be stopped. They are mentally ill and seem intent upon destroying our country. How shameful that we’ve let them get this far by not paying attention or stopping them sooner.
11At least this year they left out the part about killing of gays should not be a hate crime. Two sessions ago they had a plank that stated if the Lord lays it on your heart to kill someone who offends your religion, it’s ok. I forgot the exact wording, but it was stunning.
12Elizabeth asks what are they thinking. They aren’t, and they don’t want anyone else to think either. Just follow the leader.
13into the fog……….
Bourbon, lots of bourbon. For us, not the GOPoops. Apparently, I angered the political gods. As one of the folks from foreign states who pointed out Gov. Goodhair’s latest antics, well let’s just say there’s a big ugly chicken roosting in my neck of the woods. The Paul spawn who in one of Kentucky’s idiot Senators has added a “personhood” rider to the flood insurance bill in the Senate.
14Like I said, bourbon, lots of bourbon.
Marriage is between a “natural woman and a natural man”? Guess if you have a boob job or butt lift you’re out of luck. Only Covenant Marriages so women can stay and learn to remember their “good times”. Guess that helps while their husbands are beating them senseless. (This is the admonition of the Quiverful to wives who are being abused – also they should look at abusive behavior from their husbands as God teaching them humility and submission.)
15I read the Democrat platform. Didn’t find much at all to quibble about with it. Sane, rational, lots of good old fashion common sense. (thanks for contributing Bubba). Now there’s the republican platform. There is no way to explain that. Zip. If they were born with a brain then someone slipped up behind them and pulled a vacuum on whatever grey matter was in there. What scares me most is that republicans are going to vote that way EVEN though you can get them to admit that the party is just plain nuts or they won’t vote at all. I keep trying to convert them with facts but it’s so frustrating. Ok you don’t like lots of what Obama has done, I tell them, but do you really want someone in office that has no clue how the real world lives? That you totally disagree with what’s coming out of his mouth? I’m gonna go visit my brick wall again.
16What a hate filled screed. Theirs, not yours. How the people who wrote this party platform call themselves Christians is far beyond me. Sweet Baby Jesus is weeping.
17Republicans really scare the hell out of me these days.
18Those of us who love our state can only hope that we are witnessing the apex of Republican crazy…at some point the GOP stranglehold on this state’s elected offices will end, and sanity shall return.
But it could be worse…at least we’re not Arizona.
19See if you can link to http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20120622-garry-wills-the-curse-of-political-purity.ece?action=reregister
Garry Wills had an excellent article in the Points section of the Dallas Morning News on Sunday. The last paragraph explains why I can’t buy that “I’m proud of Texas” t-shirt.
20Kellybee: We’re not Arizona, and we’re not Louisiana where they are going to give state support to schools that teach “biblical based math”. But, them time. Give the idiots time.
21I have a theory. What they say they are most afraid of is what the have a secret desire to partake in.
Second point: About marriage. What “Holy” marriage do they want to protect? Abraham with a wife and a concubine? Jacob with two wives and two concubines? David, with many wives, and having the husband of the lady he seduced murdered? Or David’s son Solomon, who had 700 wives and 300 concubines?
22Misty Clifton at Shakesville has a nice rip-down of the platform here:
http://www.shakesville.com/2012/06/clap-clap-clap.html
Oh, they also demand that the EPA be abolished and the Endangered Species Act repealed.
And the 14th Amendment giving equal protection of the laws applies to unborn children. But not to, you know, homos, because they’re icky.
And you only have to protect unborn children until they’re born. After that their parents and teachers can beat them all they like. Seriously.
And they specifically oppose teaching critical thinking. Evidently their parents did too.
Funny how they oppose teaching evolution. As the late Will Cuppy said, “We are all descended from small worm-like creatures, but it shows more on some people.”
23Again, they want to beat the hell out of their kids, “We support eliminating bureaucratic prohibitions on corporal discipline and home schooling in foster homes.”
—-
Not even THEIR kids. They want to be able to make other people’s kids – kids rescued from abusive or neglectful homes – bruised and illiterate. Thanks alot, Teabaggers.
June Bug, what the heck is Bible based math?? 5 loaves + 2 fish = table for 5000?? Seriously, what does that even mean??
24At what point does this become the overthrow of our Government and become Treason?
Could you imagine if the Democrats pulled this shit during bush’s term?
We were called traitors for questioning the war.
This needs to be called exactly what it is, Treason.
25From a tweet on Daily Kos:
26Dear Texas GOP: Republicans in your state think Voodoo Economics works & the Earth is 6k years old. No real need to ban critical thinking.
— @Wolfrum via web
There is a bright spot, but it would take a generation or two for it to come to fruition. Parents can use their lack of critical thinking skills to decide if their children should be vaccinated against all sorts of potentially deadly diseases. They decide not to vaccinate, and sure enough, the little Republican children die. The children of smarter people, live and propagate, resulting in the return of higher functioning humanoids.
27When the Repubs/Teas say they want to take out country back they really mean backwards.
28I don’t even know what to say! Their platform is not to be believed except we all know Republicans who do believe in it. The USA is doomed if they take over all aspects of the government. Each generation would be beaten down (physically and/or mentally) to be dumber and dumber with absolutely no creativity. Somehow I do not believe Sweet Baby Jesus approves.
29Someday girl: Wish I knew what “biblical math” is. Only Jon Stewart could explain this. That was a quote from the principal of one of those schools who defended their curricula by saying that “we don’t want to confuse our students”. When I asked my husband (who worked on the original space programs) what biblical based math was, his white hair stood on end.
30So they want to promote “Covenant marriage.” That should be proof they need their head examined. Other Southern Bible Belt states have covenant marriages, and they are voluntary.
And they are not getting a lot of traction in those states. Do they really think it would be any more popular in Texas?
31Biblical math uses the numbers most referred to in the bible, 3,6,7,40,&4. 3x6x7x40x4 minus the number of sheep in Jesus’s flock = the number of brain cells in a republican convention.
32In addition the Texas GOP Platform supports repealing the Voting Rights Act of 1965– http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/26/506363/texas-gop-voting-rights-act/ (and comments therein.)
33Egads! Does the Texas GOP also want to write Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. out of the history books? I love my adopted home state, but these Texas Republicans are enough to drive a man to drink (or drive a man to drink more). Can the Texas GOP even get any more stupid or racist? (And if the answer is Yes, then it’s time for margarita’s by the pitcher instead of by the glass.)
If absolutely nothing else it convinces me General William Tecumseh Sherman was correct when he said that: “If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell.” This is the opinion of a department commander.” I once had the misfortune to spend a lifetime in Texas for several months when I was assigned to Fort Hood upon my return from a walking tour of the sun and fun capitol of southeast Asia. I cannot think of any good thing that ever happened to me there. Well there was this one girl,but she was from Louisiana. It was asked earlier in the comments what these people are thinking. It ought to be clear there’s no thinking involved here.
34Yrs ago, we moved to Rockwall, Tx. We went out of town on primary day. The neighbor came over a few days later and told DH that they signed him up to be a delegate to the county R convention. Never dawned on anybody he could be a yellow dog. DH went. He said he thought he’d gone back in time 30 years.
35I understand the place is so conservative now that they are trying to get shed of Ralph Hall.
June Bug, there’s a Bible verse which describes a vessel as being ten cubits across and thirty cubits around, so Biblical math means that pi = 3. (1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2).
36Dianne Goode–unfortunately not, the group that does not vaccinate, if large enough, creates enough of a sickness that an epidemic could happen–I just read bout it–that makes the bozos more dangerous than ever–sigh
37Mimi G–great article! Needed some way to explain why people must vote Democratic this time–OMG its a nightmare!
Agreed that the platform is crazy. So how crazy is the country given that Mitt–the nominee of the party that came up with this–might actually win? I not only believe in evolution, I believe that in some cases it is working in reverse. And it is not taking billions of years.
38No, they couldn’t even get the name of that voting rights law straight! “Voter Rights Law” TPM lays it all out nicely. Maybe we can’t say that it is impossible to make this stuff up, but I think it has possibilities as SNL skit. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/texas_gops_2012_platform_accidentally_opposes_teaching_of_critical_thinking_skills.php
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