The Unending Search for Republican Extremists

 

Before Barack Obama was elected president, he served about three years in the US Senate, during which time his voting record was further left than any other Senator. Then, during her campaign, Hillary Clinton was asked (twice) what was the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist, and she couldn’t answer. All this, after decades of passionate denials from Democrats that their politics were similar to socialists and communists. And then, in the two most recent presidential elections, the Democrat party very nearly nominated Bernie Sanders, a self-described lifelong socialist. Republicans have been decrying the recent trans-gender trend as more evidence of moving our culture further and further toward the extreme left, although many Democrats claim that is simply a straw man argument. Until President Biden nominated a transgender person to serve in his administration.

Meanwhile, Democrats claim that extremist Republicans are white nationalists, and they present a clear and present danger to American society. If this sounds absurd, try to understand the Democrats’ problem: finding an extremist Republican is not so easy. At the very least, the supply of Republican extremists seems to consistently fall short of the demand from the media and other Democrat propagandists. We’re pretty boring, overall, and in general we’re happy to live and let live. Those who don’t seek to control the lives of others are generally hard to describe as extremists. But the Democrats need Republican extremists, so they came up with white nationalists. Which I’m sure exist, although I’ve never encountered one. So they must be exceedingly rare.

But regardless of how rare they may be, the real difference is that Republicans do not elect such extremists to be President, they don’t appoint them to Presidential administrations, and they don’t present them as symbolic of the Republican party as a whole. If there are right-wing extremists, the Republican party ignores them. But there are clearly lots of left-wing extremists. And the Democrat party elects them. Consistently. That’s a big difference.

Again, ‘extremists’ don’t really have a role in such a naturally understated group as Republicans. There are Republicans who don’t like Ted Cruz because they think he’s ‘too extreme.’ Ok, Ted Cruz is a lot of things, but he’s certainly not as far right as Obama, Clinton, Sanders, and the transgender nominee are far left. Not even on the same scale.

Republicans avoid extremists. People like that are scary to conservatives.

And the media calls the Republican party ‘extreme,’ while praising the more ‘moderate’ Democrat party.

I wonder if this makes any sense to my Democrat-voting friends.

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  1. Addiction Is A Choice Member
    Addiction Is A Choice
    @AddictionIsAChoice

    Dr. Bastiat: The unending search for Republican extremists

    We see a similar dynamic at play with “hate crimes:” The demand far exceeds the supply.

    Visit  http://www.fakehatecrimes.org/  for an exhaustive (and exhausting) look.

    • #1
  2. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    to the Democrats Trump was a white nationalist leader and an extremist.

    • #2
  3. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Addiction Is A Choice (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: The unending search for Republican extremists

    We see a similar dynamic at play with “hate crimes:” The demand far exceeds the supply.

    Visit http://www.fakehatecrimes.org/ for an exhaustive (and exhausting) look.

    Demo-rats exhibit a particular form of stupidity on the subject of “hate crimes”. Years ago, I heard someone proposing adding additional punishment for hate crimes against minorities. I suggested that it was wrong to give a discounted sentence to those who attacked generic white Americans. I didn’t get a satisfying answer to my question, “Why not?”

    • #3
  4. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    The Dims and their puppet media will track them down!

    • #4
  5. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    LOL. Tell me again who the “extremists” are.  The median Republican has barely moved towards the right. While the median Democrat has moved several standard deviations to the left.  

    And that was data from 2017. Imagine where the Democrats are today….

    • #5
  6. DonG (2+2=5. Say it!) Coolidge
    DonG (2+2=5. Say it!)
    @DonG

    It is hard to find an extremist Republican, when you can’t define what a Republican is.   By some definitions, Mitt Romney is the most extreme Republican that has ever lived.    I prefer my Republicans to be more like James Madison and Calvin Coolidge.  In that case extremism is no vice and the numbers are very, very small.

    • #6
  7. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    This topic was addressed this morning in Powerline’s (John Hinderaker) post “Parallel Worlds”.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/02/parallel-worlds.php

    • #7
  8. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    As usual, it is projection.  They are extreme so we must be extreme.

    • #8
  9. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Clavius (View Comment):

    As usual, it is projection. They are extreme so we must be extreme.

    Also, I might add Glen Reynolds’ observation that Progressives don’t know what conservatives are like.  All the major cultural institutions are progressive. The media is a joke in that sense.  I believe my district in Los Angeles went 75% for Biden.  They have no exposure to the other side.  Hence, the projection.

    Conservatives, on the other hand, know the other side well as we are immersed in it.

    • #9
  10. DonG (2+2=5. Say it!) Coolidge
    DonG (2+2=5. Say it!)
    @DonG

    Clavius (View Comment):
    my district in Los Angeles went 75% for Biden.

    That is nothing compared with Milwaukee that went 110% for Biden  ;)

    • #10
  11. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    Clavius (View Comment):

    As usual, it is projection. They are extreme so we must be extreme.

    Precisely.  I’m not sure that we even need to try to counter their “argument”.  Since they don’t have the gray matter to process any sort of logic, I think it’s best to simply say something along the lines of “You’re full of s***.  You’ve always been full of s***. Your entire family is full of s***”.  Then, declare the argument won and proudly walk away.  

    I’m at the age that I have only a finite number of breaths left; I don’t intend to waste a single one on an ignorant Leftist…

    • #11
  12. Steve C. Member
    Steve C.
    @user_531302

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    I’m at the age that I have only a finite number of breaths left; I don’t intend to waste a single one on an ignorant Leftist…

    This, I agree with.

    The first part, I don’t have enough ****s left to give.

    • #12
  13. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    I’ve referenced this before, but the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019, introduced by democrat Dick Durbin, states the following in it’s opening passage:

    “Congress finds the following:

    (1) White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States.

    (2) On February 22, 2019, a Trump Administration United States Department of Justice official wrote in a New York Times op-ed that “white supremacy and far-right extremism are among the greatest domestic-security threats facing the United States. Regrettably, over the past 25 years, law enforcement, at both the Federal and State levels, has been slow to respond. … Killings committed by individuals and groups associated with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly.”

    Sounds scary, right?  Then the bill documents the entire “White Supremacy” threat by compiling all the Homicides committed by White Supremacists over the previous 16 years:

    “(4) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security found that “white supremacist extremism poses [a] persistent threat of lethal violence,” and that White supremacists “were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016 … more than any other domestic extremist movement”.”

    This comes out to exactly three white supremacist homicides per year in the United States.  This is a microscopic statistic.   My own neighborhood often has three homicides per year.  Some of their examples don’t even qualify as “white supremacists,” but they used them anyway.  Meanwhile, “Leftist Supremacists” killed at least 19 people just last Summer in the riots, not counting zillions of other homicides committed by Lefties.

    • #13
  14. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    I’ve referenced this before, but the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019, introduced by democrat Dick Durbin, states the following in it’s opening passage:

    “Congress finds the following:

    (1) White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States.

    (2) On February 22, 2019, a Trump Administration United States Department of Justice official wrote in a New York Times op-ed that “white supremacy and far-right extremism are among the greatest domestic-security threats facing the United States. Regrettably, over the past 25 years, law enforcement, at both the Federal and State levels, has been slow to respond. … Killings committed by individuals and groups associated with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly.”

    Sounds scary, right? Then the bill documents the entire “White Supremacy” threat by compiling all the Homicides committed by White Supremacists over the previous 16 years:

    “(4) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security found that “white supremacist extremism poses [a] persistent threat of lethal violence,” and that White supremacists “were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016 … more than any other domestic extremist movement”.”

    This comes out to exactly three white supremacist homicides per year in the United States. This is a microscopic statistic. My own neighborhood often has three homicides per year. Some of their examples don’t even qualify as “white supremacists,” but they used them anyway. Meanwhile, “Leftist Supremacists” killed at least 19 people just last Summer in the riots, not counting zillions of other homicides committed by Lefties.

     

    Shrug (roll of the eyes)…There you go again, spouting facts and logic.  Do you really expect to win an argument with a Leftist?  

    That worked out so well with Charles Murray, Heather MacDonald, and about 50 other would-be college speakers.

    OK, end of sarcasm…

    • #14
  15. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Dr. Bastiat:

    And the media calls the Republican party ‘extreme,’ while praising the more ‘moderate’ Democrat party.

    A solid analysis. (Converging with my defense of Parler.)

    • #15
  16. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Dr. Bastiat: I wonder if this makes any sense to my Democrat-voting friends.

    You can’t be an extreme leftists because leftism is science and goodness. 

    Extreme just means bad now. It’s also a classic American trope to accuse the other side of partisan in politics which has always been partisan since the death of George Washington. 

    • #16
  17. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    I’ve referenced this before, but the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019, introduced by democrat Dick Durbin, states the following in it’s opening passage:

    “Congress finds the following:

    (1) White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States.

    (2) On February 22, 2019, a Trump Administration United States Department of Justice official wrote in a New York Times op-ed that “white supremacy and far-right extremism are among the greatest domestic-security threats facing the United States. Regrettably, over the past 25 years, law enforcement, at both the Federal and State levels, has been slow to respond. … Killings committed by individuals and groups associated with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly.”

    Sounds scary, right? Then the bill documents the entire “White Supremacy” threat by compiling all the Homicides committed by White Supremacists over the previous 16 years:

    “(4) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security found that “white supremacist extremism poses [a] persistent threat of lethal violence,” and that White supremacists “were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016 … more than any other domestic extremist movement”.”

    This comes out to exactly three white supremacist homicides per year in the United States. This is a microscopic statistic. My own neighborhood often has three homicides per year. Some of their examples don’t even qualify as “white supremacists,” but they used them anyway. Meanwhile, “Leftist Supremacists” killed at least 19 people just last Summer in the riots, not counting zillions of other homicides committed by Lefties.

     

    Shrug (roll of the eyes)…There you go again, spouting facts and logic. Do you really expect to win an argument with a Leftist?

    That worked out so well with Charles Murray, Heather MacDonald, and about 50 other would-be college speakers.

    OK, end of sarcasm…

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs. 

    • #17
  18. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs. 

    Or we could bring back to the Trivium to help people be more logical and do other reforms to stop leftists from converting conservatives’ kids through their control of education and culture.

    • #18
  19. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs.

    I think you’ve actually got something there!  Democrats would absolutely love the robots.  It would fulfill their every need – no permanent relationships, no children, no commitments, no need to mature, and someone to listen to all  their complaints.  The other half – engineering people to be more logical, is going to be a tough one.

    • #19
  20. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1)  limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending.  Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”? 

     

    • #20
  21. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    to the Democrats Trump was a white nationalist leader and an extremist.

    Without the media being complicit in this assertion, the idea he was a racist might never have caught on.

    I remember sitting with a very elderly friend and watching the evening news over the summer of 2016. A Trump rally in Georgia would be featured, and not one word of his speech to the crowd would be allowed on the film footage. Just taking heads mentioning how the very racist Donald Trump had great appeal to the very racist white people of Georgia.

    • #21
  22. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    You’re kidding, right?  To a Leftist, any one of those 4 concepts screams, “white priviledge”, “white supremacy”, “hate speech” and any of the deadly sins that are ascribed to non-Leftists.

    • #22
  23. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs.

    I think you’ve actually got something there! Democrats would absolutely love the robots. It would fulfill their every need – no permanent relationships, no children, no commitments, no need to mature, and someone to listen to all their complaints. The other half – engineering people to be more logical, is going to be a tough one.

    It’s definitely tough but preventing leftists from breeding would definitely improve the gene pool in terms of rationality. Nearly all my real life experiences with lefties seem to indicate that emotion almost entirely controls their beliefs. It’s a toxic feminine energy that drives them to believe things with very little evidence.

    That’s why I have been comparing leftism to religious in some of the more spicier responses. Christianity however channels our irrationality towards positive ends where leftism separated from religion eventually results in a Gulag.

    • #23
  24. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    You’re kidding, right? To a Leftist, any one of those 4 concepts screams, “white priviledge”, “white supremacy”, “hate speech” and any of the deadly sins that are ascribed to non-Leftists.

    So lowering EVERYONE’s taxes is white privilege? What am I missing?  Do African Americans want to pay higher taxes?

    • #24
  25. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    navyjag (View Comment):

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    You’re kidding, right? To a Leftist, any one of those 4 concepts screams, “white priviledge”, “white supremacy”, “hate speech” and any of the deadly sins that are ascribed to non-Leftists.

    So lowering EVERYONE’s taxes is white privilege? What am I missing? Do African Americans want to pay higher taxes?

    They are bound to ascribe almost anything they can think of to “White Privilege.”  It doesn’t have to make any sense.

    • #25
  26. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    navyjag (View Comment):

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    You’re kidding, right? To a Leftist, any one of those 4 concepts screams, “white priviledge”, “white supremacy”, “hate speech” and any of the deadly sins that are ascribed to non-Leftists.

    So lowering EVERYONE’s taxes is white privilege? What am I missing? Do African Americans want to pay higher taxes?

    When it comes to the Left there is no logic.  

    • #26
  27. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs.

    I think you’ve actually got something there! Democrats would absolutely love the robots. It would fulfill their every need – no permanent relationships, no children, no commitments, no need to mature, and someone to listen to all their complaints. The other half – engineering people to be more logical, is going to be a tough one.

    The robots would be really hot, correct?

    Asking for a friend.

    See the source image

    • #27
  28. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    #4 does.  You must hate people who need the government to support them.

    • #28
  29. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    Gazpacho Grande' (View Comment):

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    We should genetically engineer people to be more logical and encourage sex robots among leftists so they don’t spread their genetics and limit their beliefs.

    I think you’ve actually got something there! Democrats would absolutely love the robots. It would fulfill their every need – no permanent relationships, no children, no commitments, no need to mature, and someone to listen to all their complaints. The other half – engineering people to be more logical, is going to be a tough one.

    The robots would be really hot, correct?

    Asking for a friend.

    See the source image

    Geez, what a coincidence…I also have a friend who might be interested.  Would they mail to a P.O. Box?

    • #29
  30. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    CACrabtree (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Another terrific one Dr. B. What is so odd to me, an old Reagan conservative, is that the basic ideas supporting our side are relatively simple and age old concepts: (1) limited gov’t, since gov’t can’t manage much effectively beyond the military (see Covid-19, immigration); (2) low taxation ( and less regulation); (3) support judges who will follow basic constitutional principles, and (4) limit the absurd spending. Not much else. What in these four basic concepts shouts “White Supremacy”? Or “hate speech”?

     

    You’re kidding, right? To a Leftist, any one of those 4 concepts screams, “white priviledge”, “white supremacy”, “hate speech” and any of the deadly sins that are ascribed to non-Leftists.

    So lowering EVERYONE’s taxes is white privilege? What am I missing? Do African Americans want to pay higher taxes?

    When it comes to the Left there is no logic.

    I beg to differ.  Leftist proposals are logical, but they start from premises that are fundamentally incompatible with our own.  For instance, rather than define justice as treating individuals equally under the law, they evaluate all policies through the lens of how they will impact statistical groups of people.

    Tax cuts?  We already know how they argue against those: if you cut the top marginal tax rate, even though every individual pays the same rate under the law, they will call it a tax cut “for the rich” since the rich will end up paying less in total taxes (since 1% of $1 million is a lot more than 1% of $50,000).  If “the rich” are also disproportionately white (set aside the fact that certain Asian groups have higher average incomes than whites, since this doesn’t fit the narrative), then you are cutting taxes for whites, so you support white supremacy.

    Similarly, the rich can afford to send their children to private schools, so public school funding benefits poorer families, who are disproportionately minorities.  If you want to cut spending for public schools, you must not want minority children to be educated as well as white children, so you are supporting white supremacy.

    Once you understand how the game is played, it becomes clear that even the most moderate Republican you can think of is a white supremacist. 

    • #30
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