How Voter Purging and Papers Please are Linked: Republican Delusions

One of the things about journalism in the US that gets me going is how pundits respond to anything the Republican or Democratic parties do or say. When the news covers a story, it is often framed in such a way that makes an action or phrase sound so preposterous that the party in question has done something outrageous and unheard of. The fact of the matter is, whether you're listening to Fox News or MSNBC, the facts were twisted to cater to an audience who would naturally become suckered into believing something so outrageous when it is nothing of the sort, sort of.

Let me use the recent coverage of voter purging in Florida and the Arizona Papers Please ruling to illustrate the problem. I'll first describe the pitch (the delivery) and then I'll follow through with the explanation the news completely missed.

Voter Purging

The Pitch:
First, in the voter purging situation, the "goal" at first glance was to weed out fraudulent voting. Judging by the citizens who were purged, it was clear all the wrong people were getting caught up in the mess.

The Explanation:
Behind all of that, Republicans feel justified in purging these voters who largely vote for Democrats. Why? Republicans feel that they are the victims here. They claim to be the victims of a liberal conspiracy to allow illegal immigrants the ability to vote in order to steal the election away from them. In their minds, illegal immigrants are overwhelmingly corrupting the voting process to the point where Republican candidates lose. They feel as though purging the voter rolls will result in a course correction. This is why a Republican audience applauds Mike Turzai in Pennsylvania for saying a voter purge will lead to a Romney victory. Liberals foolishly respond, pointing out how Turzai's comments were an admission of rigging an election.

On the contrary, the Republican delusion is such that they don't see it as rigging the election, but adjusting the situation away from an incorrect belief that the election was rigged to favor Democrats. It's wrong, but it is their delusion. Liberals are left mouths agape for the wrong reason. Liberals need to begin framing unscrupulous behavior in terms of the Republican delusion and not the reasonable assertion from outside the Republican bubble.

Papers Please

The Pitch:
The Papers Please part of the Arizona law that was recently upheld by the Supreme Court has been perceived as a form of racial profiling whereby innocent Hispanic-American citizens would be stopped and accused of being an illegal immigrant just because they are hispanic.

The Explanation:
What you need to understand is, the same sort of Republican delusion exists here, too. You see, Republicans in Arizona and elsewhere believe that illegal immigrants are Democratic strongholds threatening the American way of life and unfairly victimizing (white) American citizens by taking jobs, leeching off government programs, and committing crimes. The Papers Please part of the law, to them, was not an attempt to profile at face value, but it represents Republicans who already profile all Mexican-Americans as illegals. To them, a person of color is not a legitimate American. To them, a person of color is a pawn of the liberal conspiracy against the Republican voter and of America itself.

The Conclusion:
So if you understand the delusion, then you can report on the story better. It will sound as though you are being flagrant and mean to your opposition, but it's the truth. If you admit Republicans are delusional and see the delusion for what it is, you can correctly assess their behavior. Then, you can call them on it. Anything less is feeding into the same stalemate we have come to know.

The same sort of mentality applies to their opinions toward unions and welfare. To them, Democrats are crooked SOBs. To them, a union equates to thugs. To the, welfare equates to lazy leeches. Pick a good system and they will demonize it, claiming victimization.



It's why Romney's "Sauce for the gander" comment resonated. To the, Democrats are unsavory and conspiring against them, so it's only fair to conspire right back. It's disgusting.

The Childish Behavior Extends Beyond Congress

One of the things that is bothering me right now about the debt ceiling debate is not that we are at an impasse at the level of the Federal Government, but that we are regularly at odds across America. Right now, every news outlet is playing up the idea that Obama and Boehner are behaving like children. They even bring in reasonably sounding Americans to chastise the bickering. At face value, it looks as though the problem is with government. Americans recognize that the rest of the world is looking at us and shaking their heads.

But that's not entirely true. Reasonable Americans are not commenting about this stuff in forums. They aren't talking about this reasonably on Facebook. They can't bring it up on Craigslist without being flagged. The ideology is a systemic problem at the voter level. As I've said before, the inability to compromise is not a symptom of government, but a result of our own inabilities to compromise. The American people are turned against each other right now.

I don't think I can name one conservative leaning person last night who didn't piss and moan about Obama blaming Bush so early in his speech. Their heads exploded all over the internet with blame that was deserved.

I don't think I saw one conservative on the internet say we should raise the debt ceiling.

I saw many throwing out the talking point that the rich pay most of the tax revenue in this country.

I mean, people...come on. You're regurgitating the same thing over and over again. The problem isn't Boehner. The problem isn't Obama.

It's us.

We cannot come together to compromise. I cannot have a conversation with a conservative anymore. It goes nowhere. It's the same argument day in and day out. It always ends in the same place. All the same things keep being said. It's almost like clockwork. We are at an impasse at the national level because we refuse to compromise at the local level.

Blame yourselves. It's our fault. We're the children. There are no more compromising conservatives anymore. That's what needs to be fixed.

How do you feel about the Koch brothers?

If there's one incongruent thought floating around out there in conservative voter's minds, it's that while politicians are all the same, governed by private interests and corrupt money, when it's a Republican politician receiving the boost, it's okay. Yes, it's an extension of the IOKIYAR problem. In order to remain consistent, one would have to be opposed to corporate influence on the political process.

So here's my question and I'm asking it only to conservative voters.

What is your opinion of the Koch brothers?

Are you proud of them? Do they just belong to your "stick it to liberals" club? Are you okay with their money influencing your candidate just because you want your candidate to stick it to any and every liberal out there?

Or do you find their influence to be equally deplorable? How do you feel knowing that your candidate is not chosen by voters, but bought?

Let me know. I'd be curious to see just how angry you are at government corruption. After all, the Tea Party is nothing more than a Koch brothers' production. This isn't about unions. This isn't about Democrats. This is about your personal ethical standards by which you choose to live by. This is about what it is you are willing to support and what you refuse to put up with as a voter in America.

Vitter vs Weiner

This is modern US politics. When a Democrat does something underhanded, a witch hunt on the Right brings him down. When a Republican does something underhanded, there is no witch hunt and he is re-elected. Of course, I am speaking about the Anthony Weiner scandal. I am also comparing it to the David Vitter scandal.

This is the problem with our current political system. If you are a Conservative in this country, your voting strategy is as simple as not voting for any Democrat. Any Republican in the mind of a Conservative is better than a Democrat, even if the Republican is the biggest hypocrite and scumbag on the planet. A Conservative will still vote for anyone who has an R next to their name over anyone with a D.

That's just sad.

Let's just remind Conservatives that what Anthony Weiner has supposedly done was not illegal. It was wrong, but not illegal. David Vitter was a patron to prostitutes. That was and still is illegal. Republican leaders don't have a strong record of asking their criminals to resign, so why should someone resign over something that isn't against the law? Republican congressmen have escaped punishment over worse circumstances.

Regarding Vitter...
Where was the Right Wing witch hunt? I never saw it. The general public never saw your outrage. If it existed, show me. Show me the pages and pages of comments at the end of news articles clamoring for Vitter to resign. Some commenters want Anthony Weiner to go to jail of all things. Show me the Republican equivalent in the Vitter scandal.

Anthony Weiner will likely resign. David Vitter ran for office again and Louisiana voters sent him back to work in DC. Weiner will not see the same fortunate outcome. Nancy Pelosi is calling for an ethics investigation and Democrats have attempted to distance themselves from Weiner. He will be urged to resign. Vitter should have been urged to resign. Pretty simple response to bad behavior, if you ask me. If it makes the party look bad, resign.

The same thing is going on right now with John Edwards, but what about John Ensign?

You can take this argument all the way to the outrage toward Obama over spending that George W. Bush never saw from the Right.

You need to understand that Republican politics is about the hatred of Liberalism. Liberal politics is about finding answers and solving problems, even if the policy may not work. Liberal policy is not about the hatred of conservative principles and ideas. It never will be. Liberals support tax cuts. Liberals support the free market. Liberals are not opposed to capitalism. Liberals are not happy Anthony Weiner did what he did, but if Vitter can get away with cheating on his wife with hookers, then Anthony Weiner can get away with some photos and correspondance with women. Small potatoes compared to prostitution. Liberals also tend to hold their elected officials accountable when they screw up. That behavior is less prominent on the Right.

This is all about Weiner being a Democrat. That's all it boils down to. If you're a Democrat, you've expressed your disgust accordingly with consistency. You likely wanted Vitter to resign. You're not proud of John Edwards. You're not proud of Bill Clinton's blowjob scandal either. So in turn, you're most certainly not happy about Anthony Weiner's problems. If you're not a Democrat, your response to this story is firmly rooted not in fairness and right and wrong, but rather, the cookie cutter hatred for those on the Left.

Conservatives are proud to be assholes. Democrats frequently seek out compromise and give in. For Republicans, it isn't about right and wrong. It's about winning. If you're going to be the kind of voter who defends your own kind, and in doing so, you choose to be an antagonistic hypocrite about it, you deserve to be called an asshole. It's time to give Democratic politicians the same leeway Conservatives give their douchebags. It may not be right, but what do we have to lose? Our souls? US politics is already in the crapper. Who cares? It's time for Democrats to be assholes too. It's time to get our hands dirty. In politics, the moral high ground is frankly a road to nowhere.

Let me show you something else.

Links to Breitbart.com David Vitter Stories:
Despite scandals, Vitter the La. primary favorite
Sen. Vitter easily wins GOP nomination in La.
Vitter won't say whether 'serious sin' broke law
New Orleans Madam Names Sen. Vitter

What do all of these articles have in common? Aside from all of them apparently being AP News articles reposted on Breitbart.com, the other thing all of these articles have in common is a lack of outrage. Where are the comments? There are none. NONE. Not one. Not even one from a Democrat.

I'm not holding Breitbart's feet to the fire. I'm holding Republican voters accountable. They have plenty of time to write foul comments on these articles. Starting from the top, there are 134, 103, 97, 158, 120, 229, 143, and 208 comments, respectively, at the time of posting this photo which shows recent Anthony Weiner articles on Breitbart.com.