The Trump-led Republican Party is the purest distillation of every aspect of the Right's bigotry

[YoungDemCA]

Racism? Check.

Xenopobia/nativism? Check.

Sexism/misogyny? Check.

Homopobia/transphobia/heterosexism in general? Check.

Self-serving, hypocritical bigotry against secularism and religious pluralism? Check.

Classism and contempt toward the poor? Check.

Anti-intellectualism + pandering to the basest irrational hatreds of a certain segment of the American public? Check.

Overwhelming fear of and hatred toward Muslims? Check.

Anti-Semitism (which had previously been pushed to the fringes by the mainstream Right, on account of their stance toward Israel)? Check.

And anti-liberalism and not-so-subtle accusations that liberal Democrats are merely a Trojan Horse for Communists to take over the US government and American society at large? Check.

It's like the Republican Party under the banner of Donald Trump has managed to exemplify literally every aspect of the extreme Right's irrational hatred in equal measure. Quite an "accomplishment."

I do not believe it is merely incidental to all of this that a black man - and a Democrat, at that - has been the President of the United States for the past 8 years. Nor do I believe it is irrelevant to the present state of the Republican Party that the (presumptive) Democratic nominee this year is a woman who, might I add, is a feminist icon and trailblazer for women in American politics. Likewise, I do not believe that the fact that the candidate who came the closest to defeating her for the Democratic nomination is a secular Jewish man and self-described democratic socialist is unrelated to just how horrifying the Republican Party is in 2016.

In short, the Democratic Party - our party - is now the embodiment of everything that Republicans and other right-wingers loathe and feel deeply threatened by regarding the ways in which American society and culture is rapidly transforming. That is what all of the stuff about "taking our country back" and "making America great again" is really about. That is why they can sincerely claim that they "don't recognize our country anymore." Everything about the direction that America is going utterly terrifies them.

We can indeed see a stark difference between the two choices we have in November. On the one hand, we can choose to embrace the inevitable direction our country is going as a positive trend that truly will make our country better and stronger than it has ever been. On the other hand, we can embrace the politics of fear, resentment, hatred, and division and choose the path of reaction and extreme bigotry - a path which, I am convinced, is a path of no return. I think our choice as progressives, as liberals, and as Democrats ought to be obvious.

[wiggs]

1. When you rail against a president for 24/7 for 7 years, calling him urban, exotic, anti-colonial,

elite, an apologist, a community organizing consensus builder, a muslim, an 'intellectual', follower / poor leader, sympathetic to the most vulnerable, dangerous, Alinski acolyte, pal of terrorists.....and add Obama's own demeanor of calm, considerate, black, analytical, belief in the good government can do....

....then what you NATURALLY get is the opposite: an arrogant, ignorant, febrile, uninformed, unsympathetc, racist hardass white nationalist dictator who sees things only in terms of how they benefit him and who's main qualities are loud and wrong.

[Hortensis]

2. NY Times: Extreme Republican platform agenda demands notice.

The New York Times Editorial Board believes it would be a mistake not to take serious note of the agenda of what has become of the Republican Party. Note that most of these are highly unconstitutional, but the ultra-right behind the GOP is plotting to get control of SCOTUS and reinterpret our constitution out of recognition. These would be only a start to placate social and religious conservatives. As you'll notice economic reformation is not addressed here.

The Most Extreme Republican Platform in Memory

... It is as though, rather than trying to reconcile Mr. Trump’s heretical views with conservative orthodoxy, the writers of the platform simply opted to go with the most extreme version of every position. Tailored to Mr. Trump’s impulsive bluster, this document lays bare just how much the G.O.P. is driven by a regressive, extremist inner core.

* Mr. Trump’s anti-Muslim phobia and fantasy wall across the Mexican border are front and center,
* along with his protectionist views, which deny long-held positions of the party.

No less alarming is a raft of planks that ideologues pushed through to banish any notion of moderation and present-day reality from the party’s credo. This majority has triumphed in securing retrograde positions that include
* making no exceptions for rape or women’s health in cases of abortion;
* requiring the Bible to be taught in public high schools;
* selling coal as a “clean” energy source;
* demanding a return of federal lands to the states;
* insisting that legislators use religion as a guide in lawmaking;
* appointing “family values” judges;
* barring female soldiers from combat; and
* rejecting the need for stronger gun controls — despite the mass shootings afflicting the nation every week.

* The platform also makes homophobia and the denial of basic civil rights to gays, lesbians and transgender people a centerpiece. It repudiates same-sex marriage, despite strong support for this constitutional right in the nation at large. The party invokes “natural marriage” and states’ rights for determining which bathrooms transgender people may use, and it defends merchants who would deny service to gay customers. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/opinion/the-most-extreme-republican-platform-in-memory.html?ref=opinion