I could be totally wrong here but I get a sense that Reich’s “old college friend” exists in the same vein as Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster and Cory Booker’s pal “T-Bone.”
Anyhow, on to Reich’s depiction of a recent conversation with his “old college friend.”
I got a call this morning from an old college friend who’s been a lifelong Republican (for years we’ve kidded one another about our respective politics), who told me he had decided to leave the GOP.
Heh. A lib with a “Republican friend.” Kinda like a white guy denying he’s a racist by saying “I have a black friend.”
“It’s become the Party of hatemongers and know-nothings,” he said. “I’m embarrassed to be one of them.”
I asked him what had tipped him over the edge.
“Everything,” he said. “Their harangues against undocumented immigrants and promises to round them up and build a wall along the southern border.
I think only Donald Trump has openly pledged to “round them up.” Most other GOP presidential candidates are proposing some sort of “path to citizenship” for those undocumented immigrants with no criminal record (other than their being here illegally of course). While Trump may lead the current GOP field, he certainly isn't the standard bearer for the other Republican candidates or a fair number in the electorate.
Their willingness to accept charges Obama is a Muslim and not born in America;
Oh you mean the rumors Hillary Clinton started? She’s a Democrat you nimrod.
that vaccines cause autism;
Again, only Trump has said that. Oh, and Jenny McCarthy, though I’m certain she’s not a Republican. I think the issue is that most in the GOP do not want vaccinations to be made mandatory. It has to do with that liberty thingy. But most Republicans would agree that vaccinations are vital and I would bet the vast majority have had their own children vaccinated. Voluntarily of course.
that global warming is a hoax.”
Maybe. But the bigger issue is Republicans fighting back against envrio-wackos who hate capitalism, and thus look to bankrupt companies who burn fossil fuels. Heck, even the EPA has said their own “Clean Power Plan” will have little impact on the environment. Besides, if the most prominent “global warmists” aren’t “walking the walk” then why should we see "global warming" as anything other than a hoax?
“Yeah,” I said. “Pretty awful.”
“But that’s not all,” he said, becoming agitated. “It’s also their knee-jerk warmongering substituting for foreign policy.
Nah. It’s more in the motif of Reagan’s “peace through strength.” The appeasement and empty threats (e.g. The Iran nuclear deal as well as Syria and the “red line”) from the current administration sure hasn’t eased any tensions around the world.
Their intolerance of a woman’s right to choose,
Well, no. But the libs’ collective freak out over making it illegal to kill babies born alive or banning of abortion past 20 weeks pregnancy seems much more extreme and intolerant, no?
and of gays’ and lesbians’ right to marry.
Again, no. In any state where a gay marriage law was passed via legislative fiat and signed by a governor, no prominent Republican has challenged and/or vowed to overturn. But when the U.S. Supreme Court usurps the legislative branch of government and makes any law (e.g. “Obergfell”), you doggone right there will be “intolerance.”
Their willful suppression of black votes.
Suppression of black votes?!?! Got any evidence of that?
Their racism!”
There it is!!! Racism. An oldie but goodie. Ironic that this “college friend” levies the racism charge given the current GOP presidential field includes two Cuban-Americans, one African-American and one Indian-American while the Democrat POTUS candidates are all lily white.
It was as if I’d opened a sluice gate. He went on, almost shouting: “Their incessant pandering to their wealthy funders by wanting even more tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, and then lying that the benefits will “trickle-down.”
No, the only lie is how a $20/hour minimum wage will “trickle-down” when the reality is that jobs will be phased out.
Their attacks on teachers. Cuts in school budgets. Eagerness to cut school lunches for poor kids…” i
Source? Well…..that’s not really the point here, is it?
“Whoa,” I stopped him. “I get it. But these aren’t all new. Why did you stay a Republican all these years?”
He was silent for a moment. “Because I admired Mark Hatfield and Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits,” he said. “I supported Barry Goldwater and John McCain. They reflected my values.
Wait, WHAT?!?! John McCain?!?!?! Has this “college friend” ever listened to a John McCain speech? In one breath the “college friend” bitches and moans about the GOP engaging in “knee-jerk warmongering substituting for foreign policy” and then says McCain “reflected my values?!?!” Pretty much every McCain stump speech references some area of the world he believes we should attack militarily. Seems intellectually inconsistent there.
I kept thinking my Republican Party would come back. But now I know it’s dead. The Party is now a sinkhole of ignorance and bigotry.”
“So,” I asked with a smile in my voice, “does this mean you’re coming over to my side?”
“No,” he said, still deeply serious. “Not yet. For now I’m an Independent.”
“But you’ll vote for a Democrat in the presidential election?”
“Absolutely. The Republicans now running are all “a-- ----s.”
Sure, this “college friend” claims to be an Independent. But given the ad hominem attacks, lack of nuanced arguments and classic projection, he’d make a perfect Democrat.
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As you note, this is lazy fiction. Reich could have at least tried to disguise it.
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