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Small town Republican thoughts on refuting the alt-right. In The Republican Journal:
I want to make one thing very clear: The Waldo County Republican Committee absolutely, unequivocally condemns Nazi and KKK ideologies and actions, as well as any other kind of bigotry, and we encourage all of our voters and the community at large to do the same.
For fellow Republicans out there, worry not, we don't like Antifa's ideology and actions either, but we need to clean our own house; we need to worry about our own responsibilities.
Such honesty, and clarity of thought!
The most dangerous part of politics today is identity politics, trolling, pathos and a severe lack of critical thinking. You cannot defeat the insidious hatred of bigoted politics with more hate. By doing so, you morph the conversation away from policy and ideology to silly label syntax, eventually devolving completely into back and forth verbal gymnastics. Make no mistake, these trolls are ready for you as you stoop to their level, and they beat you up with mountains of experience.
So what do we do? Very simple. Stay neighborly by controlling your reaction. Seek out those with whom you disagree, try to understand them first, and politely offer your counter argument.
And it looks like the Republicans in Maine, if not in Illinois, are rejecting the alt-right.
The way to defeat Mr. Kawczynski is not by attacking him, but by attacking his ideas. Here are some flaws in his thinking: His immigration ideas are antithetical to the Maine Republican party platform, a section of which states, "We support the assimilation of legal immigrants into Maine society."
Kawczynski's ideas stand in contrast to Maine history and culture; in fact, it is white folks with racist ideologies who pose the greatest threat to Maine's foundation, not other races of people.
Another brilliant tidbit:
Ultimately, all you have to do is walk outside with your eyes open in this state to see that Kawczynski's fearmongering about "white genocide" is completely laughable.
Entire guest column is well worth a read.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Friday February 09 2018, @05:15PM (6 children)
I think the problem for moderate Republicans is, that because of the First-Past-The-Post voting system, your political parties can't split and merge and re-define themselves for changed times. It's all basically too broad to give the voters any real choice between alternatives.
If you could somehow fix that, then it could become trendy to vote for the political party that you actually like most, like in normal countries.
I have an idea, but it's probably ridiculous:
form a "Reform the Voting System" party, that promises (in writing) 2 things:
1. Reform of the US Constitution so that FPTP is replaced by PR ("one person one vote"), and
2. Immediate disbanding of the "Reform the Voting System" party followed by new elections with the improved system.
That wouldn't get rid of money in politics per sé; but shortly after you'd find out how many people would vote for a fringe "Money out of Politics" political party. See it as a precondition.
Politics is described as "the art of achieving the possible" (which implies: together in coalition with other politicians from other parties that you really don't like), but in the US and UK it looks more like Frankie Goes To Hollywood's video clip of "Two Tribes".
Normal people don't always disagree; they can co-operate, as well. But their leaders in the US and UK set a bad example for the youth, because of the nature of the system.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday February 09 2018, @07:00PM (5 children)
Moderate Republicans are called Democrats and have been since the early 90s.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Touché) by slinches on Friday February 09 2018, @08:12PM (4 children)
Since you're the expert, who do I vote for to get a smaller federal government and more autonomy on the state and local level?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 10 2018, @12:17AM (3 children)
At this point? Mr Smith and Mr Wesson.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 10 2018, @12:37AM (1 child)
What do you have against Sam Colt? You some kind of bigot?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 10 2018, @04:48PM
I have yet to see a 3 person presidential ticket. Sorry your guy didn't make it in, work harder in the primaries next time!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 10 2018, @05:51AM
The Four[1] boxes of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. [google.com]
Azuma fears we have exhausted the possibilities of the peaceful ones.
[1] These folks have managed to identify five. [nolanchart.com]
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