I’m waiting for the myriad of explanations of what these talking points actually mean.  Because as stated, they’re pretty meaningless without a how-to-implement list of ideas.

Don’t #2 and #9 kind of contradict each other?

And in a second reading, it strikes me how much “if you’re not us, you don’t deserve to live” there is in that list.

Crissa: a market-based solution to answering your question is necessary, and we can achieve that by opposing tax-and-spend answering methods that ignore the plight of ordinary, hard-working Americans.

Don’t forget the Panama Canal: “We bought it, we paid for it, it’s ours and we’re going to keep it.”

God, that man was a boob. It makes me want to vomit when he gets portrayed as this icon. He was beyond question the most ignorant person ever to occupy the White House.

The New Jersey Nets are all atheists.  All of them.

This is probably true.  Given that they are at a craptastic 0-13, it’s obvious that they’re not praying or tithing to the proper deity.

Keith Olbermann made the case that Reagan himself would fail that test.  Miserably, too.

Good for Olbermann… it is worth noting, additionally, that the modern GOP claims Abraham Lincoln and Jackie Robinson, too.

Also: funny as shit, Jesse. Grand applause.

It would be funny as Christian-side-hugs if the Nets would engage in the same sort of asshattery that the winners always do.  “Well, we blame Jesus.  It’s his fault we’re losing.  He didn’t give us enough talent.”

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

Good?  I guess?  To know?  But as a woman I….don’t exist or don’t have problems?  Oh, right, BOTH!  Whee!  I’ll just go back over here and tend to my stuffs…and things..?

Not snarking on you Jesse, I’m all on the quote.

Wow.

Bit of a disconnect up there between the goals and the methods of meeting them.  Looking it over, aside from #8 (what, gay-hating needs no goal to justify it?) and possibly #10 (surprise, surprise, their strategy towards their goal is much sounder* when it was written for them by much smarter people 200 years ago), everything on that list looks like it should be written in Step 3: ??????, Step 4: Profit! format.

Sometimes action X cannot be counted on to lead to result Y, especially when the actions are being planned by willfully ignorant egomaniacs who talk out of their asses with no real consideration of how the world works.

You can tell alot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.

I would have liked Reagan better if he had thrown out more random stoner observations.

NobleExperiments, Kyra: unlike scientific theories, political philosophies (and religions) do not need to be internally consistent to be viable, and modern conservatism illustrates that point very well. #1 contradicts #6, #7, and itself. Banning abortion, oppressing gays, deporting illegals, cracking down on crime, expanding the drug war, “winning” the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, and standoffs with China, Russia, and North Korea ALL COST MONEY. It is simply not possible to simultaneously do all that, cut taxes, AND balance the budget. As we saw under Bush, attempts to implement it all in the real world failed—the deficit reduction had to take a backseat to tax cuts and the wingnut agenda. But it can be politically attractive to “the base”, which is precisely what this is about.

My reaction to their list is that they really, really want to make themselves into an irrelevant party.

Opposing the economic stimulus? Most people are either getting to keep more of their tax money or are getting unemployment checks that say right on them something like “The extra XX amount on this check is part of the Federal economic stimulus.”
Thanksgiving is coming, and a lot of people are going to know they couldn’t afford some of the things they are thankful for if it were not for that extra XX amount. The Federal stimulus is paying my electricity and internet bill. Tomorrow, I go to a job fair that is solely for longish temp jobs underwritten by the government as part of the stimulus package.

So if the GOP wants to be the fucking Grinch who wants to take away jobs and income in the middle of a fucking Depression—and folks, (4) is meant to kill unions, the wording is vague but that’s the intent—unless the nation’s really slid completely into imbecility, it’s going to mean nothing but fringe for the GOP, and a Blue Dog/Progressive split for Democrats.

Don’t forget the one about how trees give off carbon dioxide. The man’s environmental policy was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of 6th grade science.

Reagan is a hero in the struggle of the ignorant against oppression at the hands of people who know what they’re talking about.

Wow. I desperately hope they will go through with this. But you know they won’t. (And since they get to decide what they consider support for the principles…)

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.

To be fair, he was absolutely right on this one; The world has always been too complex for simple answers.

“smaller government” means less regulation (you know, like testing food to make sure it won’t kill people) and less money for “them”. But plenty of programs to subsidize the upper-middle and upper classes. Just watch what happens when you suggest eliminating the tax deduction for mortgage interest…

No answer to any question shall be longer than three words, even if the request is to name your four favorite words.

This is piss easy, unless your homophobia extends to homonyms.  (For some Republicans, it may.)

This is piss easy, unless your homophobia extends to homonyms.

It would be funny if you didn’t like anything that was the same as anything else, to the point where those matching picture games would put you in a murderous rage and the only poker hand you would play would be a straight (appropriately enough). Not even a straight flush, because two cards of the same suit would really piss you off.

To be fair, I think “a tree’s a tree” was Spiro Agnew, not Reagan. But as another poster alluded to above, Reagan thought most pollution was caused by trees, which is infinitely more stupid.

I remember reading about some Reagan aide treating this as a big joke, yelling “Killer trees! Killer trees!” when he was in a plane flying low over a forest. Yeah, fucking hilarious. I’m sure someone in Los Angeles choking on smog appreciated that joke.

I agree with denelian,

i am Cherokee. my new policy is to tell the jackasses that if they don’t want “illegal immigration” then GO BACK TO EUROPE.

I’ll happily go back to my great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s cottage in Langholm Scottland.  Provided it has high speed internet.

What’s guy got to do around here to get deported!?!

“ignorant against oppression at the hands of people who know what they’re talking about.” Amanda.
just commenting on ignorance hear, but it is important to note that ignorance itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing; there are many things i am ignorant about, simply because my life’s path hasn’t lead me to learn anything about them. however, refusing to learn about something and spouting things as fact about it is willful ignorance, which is far more dangerous. in my case, i have occasionally been asked my opinion on a subject, a place etc., and i modify my opinion with humility, usually taking the form of stating i really don’t know anything about it, or saying my opinion is just based on what i’ve heard, not research. lastly, just because someone knows what they’re talking about doesn’t mean they have the right opinion. careful study and keeping an open mind are key.

“(5) i don’t understand why we HAVE immigration limits! if these people are wanting to come the US to live 6 families in a 3 bedroom apartment for shit wages under the table for shit jobs and a whole lot MORE fucked up BS - what does that say about WHERE THEY RAN AWAY FROM?! also, i am Cherokee. my new policy is to tell the jackasses that if they don’t want “illegal immigration” then GO BACK TO EUROPE. except Europe doesn’t want ‘em back lol”
really denelian? taking shit jobs like the one my father has used to feed, cloth and provide for his family with going on 25 years? really? my dad has been a drywall finisher for as long as i can remember, and he has earned a good deal of respect in the construction trade and has become quite possibly the best in our metropolitan area (at least). being a legal citizen, he has to pay taxes, and being self-employed he gets taxed extra (as employer and employee). this in turn requires him to charge a rather high price for his services (though not as high as some, and to many well worth it). now let’s take a look at illegal immigrants, particularly those hired “under the table.” since they are not legalized, the irs has no way of making them pay income taxes (the only tax they pay being point of sales taxes). what this leads to is the employer being able to charge a much lower price for their (lower quality) services, this in turn leads many homeowners/builders to hire them to save money, which is especially important in these economic times, and to the middle-class at all times. also remember that while they do not pay income taxes, medicare taxes etc., they still have access to the facilities that they pay for, such as hospitals, and can even get driver’s licences and even (in some states) qualify for in-state tuition at state universities.
now don’t get me wrong, i have heard that living conditions in mexico (and other south-american regions) are deplorable (from second hand sources, mostly news and a couple of first generation immigrant citizens i used to work with). but we still need to protect ourselves, or there may not be a haven to run to. we need to find a way to strike some sort of balance. maybe a program that helps immigrants find a sponsor easier, or some way to ease the financial burden. or (and this is just being tossed out there) follow i believe it’s israel’s lead and require every citizen to spend a year in the military; this way, citizens gain valuable education and experience, and non-citizens can earn citizenship. i don’t know the best way, but sometimes it seems that seeking them out just to ship them back across the border (and having them come back often times) is a waste of money and time. i’m not a lawmaker or politically savvy, but it seems like an opportunity is being missed.

“Reagan is a hero in the struggle of the ignorant against oppression at the hands of people who know what they’re talking about.”

Now THAT is something that should go on a shirt.

Years and years ago, my husband and I were watching very late night election returns when the moderate pro-choice pro-gay Republican Bill Weld won the governorship over a truly backward nazi prick in democratic cover known as John Silber.  Weld was not popular with the party he led, but they tried to put their talking points in as the reasons he won.

So Sandy Tennant is being interviewed by a very punchy news anchor and is constantly misanswering questions with talking points spew that sounded much like the above list.  The news anchor finally waved him off, and turned to the camera and said: “That was Sandy Tennant singing The Republican Song ... back in a moment”.

When we finished laughing, we tried to figure out what The Republican Song would sound like.  Most notably, we thought it had to be set to The Baby Elephant Walk with a chant of “tax and spend and tax and spend and tax and spend and tax and spend” as a baseline and completely negative lyrics.

Amanda @ 22 says exactly what i think of RR.  I hated that man, and am not so fond of anyone who has much good to say about him, even when they find something that isn’t a total lie.  Why?  Because with so much bad, who cares that he didn’t hate kittens?

Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing

Yes, I completely agree with this!  We must stop insurance companies and poverty from continuing to ration our health care.

Don’t #2 and #9 kind of contradict each other?

Maybe they’re just trying to give it a Bible-y feel?

...a truly backward nazi prick in democratic cover known as John Silber.

Yeah, wasn’t he a flaming asshole of a university president whose specialty was telling teachers they were overpaid?

well then you’re not paying attention denelian, or just ignoring what i say, save for the parts that fuel your need for self-righteous outrage. i never said i agree with the policies per say; i just don’t agree with the idea that we should open up our borders completely and put up a big ass sign that says “come on in!”
let me repeat myself: instead of just catching illegal immigrants and shipping them back home, put them in a naturalization program, where they can learn about american law and history, reading and writing english, and everything else that would be considered a requirement for citizenship. unfortunately, the system we have right now is apparently cumbersome and ineffective (again, not entirely sure how it works since i haven’t really researched it); i’m not saying standards should be reduced, i’m saying make access easier, so we don’t have to split up families and waste time and effort deporting people.
if we could come up with some sort of system that works on converting illegals into naturalised citizens instead of kicking them out, the federal government would increase the number of taxpayers (which is always a good thing to the gov’t), as well as raising the quality of life for them. now that i think about it, if such a program was implemented, potential citizens may start immigrating at an increased rate, which may cause the gov’ts of the countries they’re fleeing to realise that they may need to change the way they do things. who knows?
and one last thing, denelian: i also never claimed my family’s case is the rule, it’s just my experience. it’s something you would do well to remember, that simply because it’s the rule in your experience, it’s not true for the whole country.

Amanda @ 22 says exactly what i think of RR.  I hated that man

RR could have been worse, as we now know to our cost.

Gray, they call that amnesty.

And denelian was supporting that.

Also, totally what Mezosub said.

I just made the mistake of rereading 9. San someone help me pick the fragments of my skull of the ceiling please?

Mezo -

It’s probably just me trying to get my poor man’s liberal arts degree here, but do you have any literature to document that assertion? I would very much like to read it. Anyone else who does, feel free to chip in as well.

The real lulz in this test is that Reagan himself would have failed. Especially second term Reagan, who (gasp!) negotiated (with our ENEMIES WHO HATE FREEDOM!!1111!!), namely, the Soviet Union. And raised taxes. Also.

And the Soviet Union was a much, much more powerful and worthy adversary of the United States than North Korea or Iran can ever, in a million years, hope to be.

Mezosub: Mr. Schlosser has done a fine job of documenting his research that brought us this thought-provoking volume.  I refer you to his book for more information.

Honestly, the part of the story which freaked me out the most was the one wherein Heinz Haber, the friendly host of Disney’s “Our Friend the Atom” (my father gave me the book when I was a kid, and I loved it), did medical experiments with the Luftwaffe. Brr.