Election Returns

[Daemon Sophic]

Another interesting result: 56,649 Illinois Republicans voted for a literal Nazi:

More Than 55,000 Vote For Nazi Leader In Illinois Congressional Race

This goes along nicely with my long-standing thought, that roughly 25% of the American voting public is made up of out-right and undeniably insane individual’s. This sadistic and evil buffoon garnered 26.5% of the vote in his region.
This same ~25% are the conspiracy theorist, nutbag half of the right-wing voters.

 

[Shad]

Looks like the Democrats have the house the Republicans have the Senate.

Let the Lame Duck half term begin!

 

[Twilight Hue]

Let the Lame Duck half term begin!

After Nancy Pelosi flies in riding her Hoover vacuum cleaner yelling, "I'll get you my pretty, and you're f****** dog too" !!

I can see them drafting up the impeachment plans now and are chomping at the bit to grab that second round of middle class tax cuts intended for working families, and keep it all for themselves for the purpose of luring in the bratty entitled children as they snatch up the crumbs that lead to the boiling cauldron so they can push them in. The rest of the term will consist of filibusters followed by the buffet at 9.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This goes along nicely with my long-standing thought, that roughly 25% of the American voting public is made up of out-right and undeniably insane individual’s. This sadistic and evil buffoon garnered 26.5% of the vote in his region.
This same ~25% are the conspiracy theorist, nutbag half of the right-wing voters.

I'm sure a lot of that 26% didn't realize they were voting for a Nazi; they just voted straight-ticket Republican.

... which feeds back into what I've said before: not all Republicans are Nazis and other types of racist; it's just that the Republican party is the party of choice of racists, and the other Republicans don't find being in league with Nazis and racists to be a deal-breaker.

 

[Mister Emu]

Another interesting result: 56,649 Illinois Republicans voted for a literal Nazi:

More Than 55,000 Vote For Nazi Leader In Illinois Congressional Race

Here in Kentucky we have a voting option for all parties that appear on the ticket that automatically selects those, and you bubble that in if you are hurried or a partisan hack. I'm going to be optimistic and hope that a similar option and/or people who don't pay attention to the race at all are to account for that vote.

other Republicans don't find being in league with Nazis and racists to be a deal-breaker.

You mean like when the party denounced him and did not support his run in any way? There was no method to remove his party affiliation from the ballot or it would have been done. He didn't win a primary, he wasn't selected.

What are Republicans supposed to do? Abandon the party only to have the racists follow them to the new successful conservative party? Abandon their values because despicable people prefer them over the left? Should leftists abandon their values or party because of the despicable people that also support them?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Here in Kentucky we have a voting option for all parties that appear on the ticket that automatically selects those, and you bubble that in if you are hurried or a partisan hack. I'm going to be optimistic and hope that a similar option and/or people who don't pay attention to the race at all are to account for that vote.

Like I said: being a Nazi is not a deal-breaker for these people. They'll vote for a self-described Nazi as long as he's the Republican candidate.

You mean like when the party denounced him and did not support his run in any way? There was no method to remove his party affiliation from the ballot or it would have been done. He didn't win a primary, he wasn't selected.

He did win the primary; he won unopposed.

But let's also talk about white supremacist Steve King: not only did he win his contested primary, he got 157,221 votes and won his congressional seat.

Let's also talk about Steve Scalise and Ron DeSantis. Let's also talk about all of the many Republican racists, white supremacists, alt-righters, neo-Nazis, and Holocaust deniers who may not have won but got support from significant numbers of Republican voters.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...supremacist-candidates-2018-midterm-elections

This election confirmed that, all over the United States, a huge number of Republican voters have no issue with - or outright support - overt racism.

What are Republicans supposed to do? Abandon the party only to have the racists follow them to the new successful conservative party? Abandon their values because despicable people prefer them over the left? Should leftists abandon their values or party because of the despicable people that also support them?

For starters, if their values are so in line with those of Nazis and white supremacists that these people would follow them, I'd say that Republicans ought to stop and reflect on whether their values are ones worth having.

But seriously, i don't think that there's really much of a conflict between the values of mainstream Republicans and the overt racists. Racism and xenophobia pervades the Republican platform; it's part of the party's appeal. It's not surprising at all to me that some Republican candidates are open about it.

 

[Stevicus]

Another interesting result: 56,649 Illinois Republicans voted for a literal Nazi:

More Than 55,000 Vote For Nazi Leader In Illinois Congressional Race

I hate Illinois Nazis.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I hate Illinois Nazis.

For those who did not get it:

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

For those who did not get it:

When I first watched the Blues Brothers, I thought they were being a bit ham-fisted and pantomime-ish by usiing Nazis the villains. I thought that it made things unrealistic to use such a stereotypically obvious villain.

It was only later that I found out that it was commentary on real current events:

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie - Wikipedia

 

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

Another interesting result: 56,649 Illinois Republicans voted for a literal Nazi:

More Than 55,000 Vote For Nazi Leader In Illinois Congressional Race

My dad voted for that fellow.

 

[Sunstone]

Like I said: being a Nazi is not a deal-breaker for these people. They'll vote for a self-described Nazi as long as he's the Republican candidate.


He did win the primary; he won unopposed.

But let's also talk about white supremacist Steve King: not only did he win his contested primary, he got 157,221 votes and won his congressional seat.

Let's also talk about Steve Scalise and Ron DeSantis. Let's also talk about all of the many Republican racists, white supremacists, alt-righters, neo-Nazis, and Holocaust deniers who may not have won but got support from significant numbers of Republican voters.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...supremacist-candidates-2018-midterm-elections

This election confirmed that, all over the United States, a huge number of Republican voters have no issue with - or outright support - overt racism.


For starters, if their values are so in line with those of Nazis and white supremacists that these people would follow them, I'd say that Republicans ought to stop and reflect on whether their values are ones worth having.

But seriously, i don't think that there's really much of a conflict between the values of mainstream Republicans and the overt racists. Racism and xenophobia pervades the Republican platform; it's part of the party's appeal. It's not surprising at all to me that some Republican candidates are open about it.

Scientists have discovered that one of the best predictors of whether someone voted for Trump in 2016 was whether or not they expressed "racial anxiety" or "racial resentment" -- euphemisms for racism -- on quizzes.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/12/15/16781222/trump-racism-economic-anxiety-study

 

[sun rise]

For those on the left, here's something to enjoy contemplating:

 

[fantome profane]

What are Republicans supposed to do? Abandon the party only to have the racists follow them to the new successful conservative party?

If you keep whistling for the dogs of course they are going to come to you. If they don’t want the dogs in their party they should stop with the dog whistles.

 

[Mister Emu]

Scientists have discovered that one of the best predictors of whether someone voted for Trump in 2016 was whether or not they expressed "racial anxiety" or "racial resentment" -- euphemisms for racism -- on quizzes.

I went down into the studies you posted, and it was funny because I was going to bring up a specific belief I have as relevant to pointing out how I can reflect upon a position, know that position is anti-racist at core and therefore have little to no concern for the quality of persons who may share that belief with me.

That position was "the belief that race should not and does not matter", and that is exactly what the study measures as racism.

This is the kind of thing that makes it all so tiresome. How can my belief that racial status should not be used in any way as a determinant in any instance be classified as racism? It defies all rationality. It's 1984 doublespeak nonsense. You might argue that it doesn't address the continuing effects of racial injustice, but to say that it is racist?

I have only despair when I think about someone that would define the antithesis of racism as racism.

 

[Sunstone]

I went down into the studies you posted, and it was funny because I was going to bring up a specific belief I have as relevant to pointing out how I can reflect upon a position, know that position is anti-racist at core and therefore have little to no concern for the quality of persons who may share that belief with me.

That position was "the belief that race should not and does not matter", and that is exactly what the study measures as racism.

This is the kind of thing that makes it all so tiresome. How can my belief that racial status should not be used in any way as a determinant in any instance be classified as racism? It defies all rationality. It's 1984 doublespeak nonsense. You might argue that it doesn't address the continuing effects of racial injustice, but to say that it is racist?

I have only despair when I think about someone that would define the antithesis of racism as racism.

Thanks for taking a closer look at one of the several studies. In this case, I agree with you. What did you make of the other studies? I ask because you have some education and experience assessing scientific studies.

 

[Mister Emu]

What did you make of the other studies?

Sure. It takes time to really deep dive on a study, and I'll admit that at first, I tried to get to the first study and ran into a paywall, I saw the picture with a predictive value and looked into it, saw another study on "priming" and stopped. I didn't have much faith in the ones to follow, but I will look at them.

The first noted study is an analysis of the Gen Forward survey, and I think the survey has interesting data, that I believe actually goes a long way towards explaining why "white vulnerability" exists as a phenomenon. I actually think that could source a host of discussions and I wish I had deeper access to the data; it is really something I would love to dig into. In regards to the pertinent "racial resentment" measure, I again have issues. It is based on a two question scale, 'should blacks get systemic advantages' and 'does the history of slavery and discrimination make it difficult for blacks to advance out of the lower class'. Those statements may have a proven tie to racial resentment in whites and I can see the possible connections, but I think in terms of discussing broader racial resentment across racial categories that it would fail miserably.

I think this quote is telling and I'm glad they noted it "the probability of voting for Trump among those who have not gone to college was 95 percent. For those who have gone to college, by contrast, the probability of voting for Trump was only 28 percent." The authors claim that because they had jobs and weren't currently low income, that they did not have economic anxiety; this is a discordant note in that symphony.

The third study was 'White people who rate highly on racial identity and are told that whites will be a minority soon gain support for the candidate who wants to stop illegal immigration and remove illegals.' Which I'll file under "no ****, Sherlock".

The fourth is one on priming, which I have not seen shown to actually produce any lasting effect. What I have seen is that priming effects diminish to baseline in a short amount of time.

There followed several links to other vox articles with multiple studies in them, if you have any among those that you would particularly want to see my response to I'll gladly do it.

Finally at the end they linked a study, twice, about how having empathetic conversations, even with people who hold views you find detestable, is more likely to produce long lasting internalized change. I looked in as far as I could, from a Stanford pdf that seemed to be missing several tables, because I couldn't access the science article itself. It seems like the data are all in line and fully support the conclusion, real empathetic discussion has an opportunity to change perceptions and ideas. Especially when one group is largely ignorant on the issue, which appeared to be the case with the sample they obtained. The only concern I would really have is if the group of people who would answer the ad for a study (1,800 out of over 65k) might have a quality that makes generalizing difficult.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I went down into the studies you posted, and it was funny because I was going to bring up a specific belief I have as relevant to pointing out how I can reflect upon a position, know that position is anti-racist at core and therefore have little to no concern for the quality of persons who may share that belief with me.

That position was "the belief that race should not and does not matter", and that is exactly what the study measures as racism.

This is the kind of thing that makes it all so tiresome. How can my belief that racial status should not be used in any way as a determinant in any instance be classified as racism? It defies all rationality. It's 1984 doublespeak nonsense. You might argue that it doesn't address the continuing effects of racial injustice, but to say that it is racist?

The racism becomes clear when we consider another valid way to describe it: that you want existing racial inequalities and injustices to remain unaddressed.

I have only despair when I think about someone that would define the antithesis of racism as racism.

I come at it from the opposite direction: if someone supports racist policies, or policies with racist effects, then I don't believe them when they say they aren't racist.

It's a common play in the racist policy playbook to enact policies that purport to be non-discriminatory but intentionally have discriminatory effects: "we aren't suppressing black votes; we made it more difficult for ALL voters in this area (that just happens to be predominantly black) to vote."

Felon disenfranchisement has a similar racist effect and history: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...tory-floridas-now-repealed-ban-felons-voting/

Or take the "Muslim ban:" it's interesting to hear Republicans try to argue that because the ban criteria weren't drawn along exclusively racial lines that the policy isn't racist at all.

But that's just stuff where Republicans try to hide the racist effects of their policies. There are plenty of other times when they're more overt... such as the many racist ads the Republicans aired this campaign. Why do you think they would do this unless the candidates themselves recognized a significant number of their supporters as racist (and the rest as comfortable enough with racism for the tactic not to cost votes)?

 

[ecco]

Another interesting result: 56,649 Illinois Republicans voted for a literal Nazi:

More Than 55,000 Vote For Nazi Leader In Illinois Congressional Race

What's more interesting is that the Republican Party didn't have anyone opposing him.

 

[ecco]

After Nancy Pelosi flies in riding her Hoover vacuum cleaner yelling, "I'll get you my pretty, and you're f****** dog too" !!

I can see them drafting up the impeachment plans now and are chomping at the bit to grab that second round of middle class tax cuts intended for working families, and keep it all for themselves for the purpose of luring in the bratty entitled children as they snatch up the crumbs that lead to the boiling cauldron so they can push them in. The rest of the term will consist of filibusters followed by the buffet at 9.

Gee. Sounds like someone has anger issues. Where is that soothing Zen meditation when ya really need it.

 

[ecco]

I'm sure a lot of that 26% didn't realize they were voting for a Nazi; they just voted straight-ticket Republican.

... which feeds back into what I've said before: not all Republicans are Nazis and other types of racist; it's just that the Republican party is the party of choice of racists, and the other Republicans don't find being in league with Nazis and racists to be a deal-breaker.

In Florida, the Redneck Panhandle and the Sarasota old rich white folks got a Republican Senator and Republican Governor elected. These same anti-government types voted Yes on all Citizen Initiative Amendments (power to the people- not the legislators). This helped push through an initiative to restore voting rights to ~1,000,000 Florida felons who have served their time.

Yes, you heard right, Republicans voted to restore voting rights to ~1,000,000 ex-felons. This happened in a State where the aforementioned two races were won by 47,000 votes and 26,000 votes. And, as a reminder, Bush won by 537 votes.

Who do you think most of those ex-felons will vote for - Republicans or Democrats?