Oppressed Republicans

Instapundit links a Nashville reporter's musings on the purported "bigotry" against Republicans exhibited by cosmopolitan liberals. Pigeonholing is always tiresome, of course, but if it counts as "bigotry" to think badly of people because of a set of beliefs they've chosen to share, then isn't the use of the word "bigot" as a pejorative term, well… bigoted?

Comments

[Chris Howell]

That article is hilarious! I really liked this quote:

[I didn't choose to be a Republican any more than I chose to be a Jew. My family has been Republican (and Jewish) for several generations. Being a Republican is part and parcel of how I was raised and of who I am.]

It's like the lyrics to that great Johnny Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue".

[And he said: "Son, this world is rough,
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough,
And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die]

Get tough or die you Republicans!

[joe]

"I probably hear 10 bigoted comments about Republicans for each time I am exposed to the "n" word."

This is why people call you assholes.

[Josh]

"...if it counts as "bigotry" to think badly of people because of a set of beliefs they've chosen to share"

Yeah, I hate those fuckin Muslims too.

[leftborg]

this is crap. everyone knows that all republicans are bigots. less taxation is clearly racism.

[Sven]

C'mon, Willy. You can't live in victimhood forever. You can't depend on the guvmint to get laid. Gotta pull yourself up by them bootstraps.

[Plutarck]

How about we actually just take a look at what "bigot" is defined as meaning in the dictionary - shall we?

bigot
n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.
[French, from Old French.]

WORD HISTORY: A bigot may have more in common with God than one might think. Legend has it that Rollo, the first duke of Normandy, refused to kiss the foot of the French king Charles III, uttering the phrase bi got, his borrowing of the assumed Old English equivalent of our expression by God. Although this story is almost certainly apocryphal, it is true that bigot was used by the French as a term of abuse for the Normans, but not in a religious sense. Later, however, the word, or very possibly a homonym, was used abusively in French for the Beguines, members of a Roman Catholic lay sisterhood. From the 15th century on Old Frenchbigot meant "an excessively devoted or hypocritical person." Bigot is first recorded in English in 1598 with the sense "a superstitious hypocrite.".

---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary
Copyright ? 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

So yes, they would seem to fit the use of the word "bigot". And yes, he is likely a bigot himself.

You know, I think the world would be a much better place if the government spent our tax money to buy people dictionaries, and used the public prisons as punishments for people who refuse to use a dictionary. But that's just a pet notion of mine - the word for which I have forgotten, and I am not aware of a reverse-directory word searchable dictionary. Pity.

[Todd Fletcher]

This attitude should be familiar to anyone with liberal friends. Pointing it out to them makes for some great deer-in-the-headlights moments.

Yes, this is bigotry. Assigning base characteristics to people you don't know because they belong to some kind of group is as good a definition of bigotry as any. And bigotry isn't dependent on oppression, it's an attitude.

Of course the exact same thing is true of conservatives regarding liberals. Which just makes it all the more nauseating.

[cinqo]

bigot = having a different opinion

we can thank liberals/leftists for making this a cardinal sin! personally i care less if anyone expresses "bigotry" toward me or considers me a bigot, fascist, whatever is the ultimate anti-leftist insult, etc

cinqo, resident bigot

[Julian]

Well, I don't know. Dictionary defintion notwithstanding, the strong connotation of the word "bigotry" is that the attitude being described is an irrational prejudice. Now, you could certainly be "bigoted" against a political group if your animus were merely a kind of tribal sentiment-- they're on the "other team." But if it's that group X is defined by belief or value Y, and you think value Y is wrong and repugnant, it doesn't seem irrational to make a judgment about the people who hold that value. A good person can have bad ideas, but if it's fair to judge a group of people by anything at all, surely it's by the principles they espouse.

[Tom]

Julian, I think that the judging of a "group of people" is inherently bigoted. By your standard, it's not bigotry as long as someone honestly disagrees with the people they loathe. That would seem to exonerate anyone of the charge of bigotry since ideas (be they political, religious, or cultural) will always play in to these situations to some degree.

[Anonymous]

oppressed republicans, maybe.
more likely, whiny bitches.

[thoreau]

I suppose it was inevitable that the GOP would join the Dems in the politics of victimhood. Imagine if this becomes a trend on college campuses:

-There will be "Conservative Student Resource Centers" right alongside the resource centers for all of the other groups that have identified themselves as oppressed.
-There will be "Take Back The Right!" rallies.
-We'll see "Conservative Pride Week" where people will wear Ronald Reagan t-shirts around campus and hold workshops to inform their fellow students of the many contributions conservatives have made to our diverse society.
-Speech codes will include a reminder that Dan Quayle jokes may be offensive to Conservative-American students, and so Quayle jokes are inappropriate on an inclusive and diverse campus.

Please, conservatives, I beg you, don't get into the politics of victimhood. You're the only targets we're still allowed to poke fun at. Ethnic jokes, women jokes, gay jokes, etc. are alread verboten. If W jokes are banned too then the only remaining jokes will involve chickens crossing the road, at least until PETA gets those banned 😉

[HH]

Not all bigotry is racism/homophobia, but all racism/homophobia is bigotry.

[Plutarck]

Oh goodness, how could I have forgotten The Devil's Dictionary! Here we go:

BIGOT
n.
One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.

I think that about says it all 🙂

[Lefty]

Yeah, what's all the fuss? Just lay back, spread 'em and enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible.

[Realish]

Republicans argue like adolescent boys (and I have extensive experience with both groups): they will adopt any meme, any set of words or phrases, any argumentative technique, that they think will work. Their primary goal is winning, not finding the truth of the matter, or using words carefully and accurately.

If they notice that the charge of bigotry seems to be "scoring points" for the left, they will adopt that phraseology for their own use. (They seem literally incapable of understanding that such accusations might reflect truth and arise from real moral outrage--it's all tit for tat in their world, and they assume their opponents opperate the same way.)

The fact that, in reality, gays and blacks (to take just two) have a long and brutal history of violent exclusion and persecution, while Republicans are for the most part angry white men that have never known real bigotry in their lives, is insignificant. It's not about reality, it's about winning.

Count me among those "bigoted" against small-minded proponents of selfish anger and unearned aggrievement.

[Robert Nabors]

On one hand, I agree that the Republicians are whiny bitches, however I also believe that almost every other group consist of whiny bitches.

Come on, it's really been gang up on white dude decade. Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, Jim Belushi (According to Jim), any Rob Schneider movie, ect. Ad Nasium.

Come on - we need to get back to the days when anyone can make fun of anyone else. Everyone needs to get off the victim perch unless they (not their great-great-forefathers) are fucked over.

Blacks can't vote in Florida election? That sucks, time to sue. An "African-American" who more times than not can't trace his ancestry back more than 5 generations (heh, I can only trace it back 7 generations, and not on each branch) who suspects that one of his ancestors may have been a slave doesn't deserve shit.

If you're a chick, I'm not compairing you to an animal, I'm using "spanglish" chica. Get your ignorance straightened before you hit me with your dogma.

Heh, everyone needs to lighten up.

-Robert

[Joe L.]

Oh and as to the "dictionary" definition, who cares? I would say "Bigotry" is an unreasonable assumption of PERSONAL characteristics from a generalization about a group. "All Jews are greedy, you are a Jew, YOU'RE greedy." That person may be, but it's not because he/she is a Jew.
As a Republican I can only say, that I found the article mentioned on "hypocrisy" as well. And as far as I'm concerned the article hits the nail on the head. Liberal/Leftists consider themselves the "good" people. To oppose them is to oppose "goodness." They preach inclusion/tolerance/and being "good" but really don't practice it. After all, their opponents can't be "good" and so their opponents must be crushed.
Oh and one last thing, "Realish" it IS about winning. Yepper, winning is what gets you power. So if pointing out my opponent's hypocrisy gets me victory, darn Skippy, count me in. Mayhap Libertarians don't care about winning, I do. And if you're a Liberal, well, don't be a hypocrite and you won't have to worry. After all, we can disagree and debate on points of merit as well.

[JDM]

"Republicans argue like adolescent boys."
Democrats argue like adolescent girls.

"Republicans are for the most part angry white men."
Democrats for the most part are women and guilty white men.

See how useful and fun this is?

(Although I have to say a white guilt liberal using the phrase "unearned aggrievement" like that is refreshing.)

[HH]

Just speaking from life experience, I have run into far more people who will have nothing to do with Republicans, for that reason alone. than those who will have nothing to do with Democrats for that reason alone.

[Plutarck]

"Oh and as to the "dictionary" definition, who cares?"

And my standard response: In that case, bigotry is a condiment...and anyone who says otherwise is a filthy lying racist bastard.

The use of bigotry in the original article was, rather simply, something bad to say about people he doesn't much agree with or like - no more, no less. If 'bigot' didn't fit, he'd just find another word that has a strongly pejorative connotation, the condemnation for which is precalculated and steadfast.

[david f]

... and all we're seeing is that Libertarians can sit back and get a 10,000 foot view of both sets of whining, bitchy dems and reps.

we see wonderful examples of each side getting all bunched up in victimhood. whether it's "anti semitism" charge to those who don't support certain issues in a certain way, or it's "racism/ sexism/ homophobia" (they've been doing it longer, so they have more insults), or it's calls of "christian bashing" or "intolerance" when religion is called in. let's just laugh at them and quietly take over and remove government from most walks of life...

ha ha ha.

(lefty, can we think of hubert humphrey while we're laying back and enjoying?)

cheers,
drf

[Parallel Lives]

Plutarch, I'm a little late with this, but since you came back to read this, hope this helps:
http://www.c3.lanl.gov/revdict/

(A reverse dictionary, by jove!)

[Spik]

Hey, Thoreau did you hear the joke about this Polack ...

(Oh, never mind.)

[David2]

This is nothing new. These are the same people who cry "PERSECUTION" simply because they can't impose their religious beliefs on the great unwashed. Do these folks actually expect the whole world to bow and kiss their self-righteous posteriors simply because they proclaim that they are right and the rest of the world is wrong?

They need to grow up and get a life... preferably their own.

[holger viking]

wwaahhhhhh. don't yell at me. oreilly is entertainment, cuz i like hiim. but not your entertainment.you're mean. but your words hurt my bones. waaaaahhhhhh.

[Josh Richardson]

It is now legal for many major universities to consider RACE when deciding whether or not a student can enroll. Not only is it legal but it is enforced by law and the NAACP. Whether or not a student should be allowed in a university should only depend on his academic achievment and his/her willingness to apply his/herself. If you are considering and deciding based on race, then that is practicing RACISM. Anybody that thinks different is either a racist themself or needs to hold up his/her "I am stupid" sign. The white man/woman is clearly oppressed. There's no question about it. I'm white and proud. I have to work hard to make ends meet and I see minorities on welfare living for free, getting their housing paid for by section 8 subsidizing. I worked at a grocery store and was angred to witness, first hand, how minorities abuse their food stamp priviliges. They ring their groceries out, pay for it with their food stamps, then ring out their liquor and pull out the wad of cash to pull out a 50 to pay for it. And these people look like they go to get their hair done every other day. They are not in destitute, they are just playing the liberal society's sympathy. It's harder for the white man than it is for the black man, for sure. And the liberal society is blind to it. They don't want equality or diversity, they want supremacy. And they are winning.

[magna-rx]

Cool!

[Friedman Joseph]

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DATE: 12/10/2003 05:39:41
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[Keating Erin]

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DATE: 12/20/2003 09:45:57
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