GOP’s Red America forced to rethink what it knows about the country

[xchrom]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gops-red-america-forced-to-rethink-its-image-of-country/2012/11/11/3bb15fb8-2ab0-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html?hpid=z1

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — She arrived early to take apart the campaign office piece by piece, just as she felt so many other things about her life were being dismantled. Beth Cox wore a Mitt Romney T-shirt, a cross around her neck and fresh eyeliner, even though she had been crying on and off and knew her makeup was likely to run. A day after the election, she tuned the radio to Glenn Beck and began pulling posters and American flags off the wall.

Her calendar read “Victory Day!!” and she had planned to celebrate in the office by hosting a dance party and selling Romney souvenirs. But instead she was packing those souvenirs into boxes, which would be donated to a charity that sent clothes to South America. Instead a moving company was en route to close down the office in the next 48 hours, and her friends were calling every few minutes to see how she was doing.

“I will be okay,” she told one caller. “I just don’t think we will be okay.”

Here in the heart of Red America, Cox and many others spent last week grieving not only for themselves and their candidate but also for a country they now believe has gone wildly off track. The days after Barack Obama’s reelection gave birth to a saying in Central Tennessee: Once was a slip, but twice is a sign.

[Buns_of_Fire]

1. They need to rethink what they THINK they know about the country.

I got so damned tired of republics saying "The American people are overwhelmingly opposed to such-and-such" I could scream. It was bullshit, I knew it was bullshit, they knew it was bullshit, and the only people who believed it were in the final stages of Fox-intoxication.

[Coyotl]

2. GOP’s Red America forced to rethink what it knows about themselves

They thought they were right wrongo

[Evasporque]

3. THis is fun to watch...

RW God Republicans struggling with coming to grips that most of the division and conflict comes from them.

[aaaaaa5a]

4. Good read. Thank you. nt

[surrealAmerican]

5. I rather suspect they lack the introspection to do so...

... and their media will do whatever they can to prevent them from this thought.

[thucythucy]

6. And if the country doesn't collapse,

if current trends continue and the economy improves, and we bring the troops home from Afghanistan and the world doesn't end, and marriage equality is won and the world doesn't end, and green energy takes hold and the world doesn't end, and we tax the rich and the world doesn't end, and we end the war on drugs and the world doesn't end, and we accept our true diversity as a strength, not a weakness, and the world doesn't end....

in other words, if "we"--that is the nation -- turn out to be "okay" -- not in spite of the President's re-election but BECAUSE of it -- will they take this as a "sign" as well? A sign that they were wrong about President Obama, wrong about Democrats, wrong about Republicans, wrong about most everything they believe?

Tune in four years from now, and we shall see.

[Hutzpa]

7. How do they plan to do that

knowing that the GOP does not believe in facts.

[LonePirate]

8. I swear if I hear one more right winger bitch about the increase in people on food stamps ...

They have absolutely no understanding of life in America outside of their own Fox News and Limbaugh bubble. If these god fearing and Christ believing people actually helped their fellow Americans where another citizen could reliably depend on churches or non-profits or charitable Americans to assist them in times of need, then food stamp usage might not be as high as they think it is. These selfish, RW idiots are so damn oblivious to how many people are suffering and why they are suffering.

[Swede Atlanta]

11. They don't know anything about the demographics of those on food stamps, do they?

While the data is a few years old it is the most recent I could find without doing a lot of online research......

Of the 10 states that have the highest % of their populations receiving food stamps - TAKERS, Romney won 9 of the 10 in 2012
ID, NM, TX, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA FL, SC

Of the 10 states that have the lowest % of their populations receiving food stamps -- Not Not Takers but much lower, Obama won 7 of the 10
WA, AK, WY, ND, MN, VA, MD, CT, MA, NH

Note, however that the 3 "lowest takers" AK, WY and ND derive significant revenue from natural resources (e.g. natural gas, oil, coal). Domestic production of fossil fuels in the U.S. has increased significantly since 2008.

[yardwork]

9. She's a fundy. The article makes it clear. She's a minister's wife

who learned to reject feminism and "respect the natural order of the family." She doesn't allow her daughters to read Harry Potter.

[sadbear]

10. I think they'd prefer the country to collapse than have to live in one where...

white (and Christian) privilege is being diminished. And it is about privilege.