Fantastic!🙃(just moved here)

I wouldn’t say the Maine GOP is representative of Maine, they’ve badly lost recent state-level election cycles, but need to stay vigilant watching them

No yeah for sure, no flak to Maine’s ppl, just exhausted by having to stay on my toes all the damn time w/ the govt trying to unalive me💀

where from

Crab State 🦀

The new GOP Chair is from Canaan. Vice Chair is an 18-year old from Guilford.

Absolutely, it's exhausting

Oh oops you meant first replier haha, my bad.

One of the biggest mistakes we're making in confronting this is trying to convince ourselves this a "new" or "different" conservative.

It isn't. They're just being more outspoken.

They're definitely emboldened to say the quiet parts out loud nowadays

Correct. The GOP has been dog whistling to these ppl for decades, very well knowing it's the slop desired for the trough. Now, after a few generations passed, Trump ripping off the mask and feeding them red meat, these people not only are emboldened but are in positions of power.

Kentucky is a reliably red state and has been for a very long time.

Kentucky is a net loss for America and pays 2/3 of its budget with federal funds while taking back over 2.5 Xs what it pays into federal coffers.

They've been massively dependent for decades, across generations.

No Republican from the Reagan era ever called those mostly-conservative, 90%+ white at the time (86.5% today) a welfare queen.

Tell ya that much.

Crash Barry 🤡🤡💩

What’s your problem with crash? He and the other cohosts have been covering the far-right and Maine state politics for years now

I forget, something he wrote about ten years ago that seemed, to me anyway, just garbage. Opportunistic and inflammatory journalism I think. I did like some of his other writings though. Not a huge Bollard fan either TBH. I’ll give this a try though.

Crash actually left the Bollard/Mainer several years ago because he didn’t like the editors approach. Think this show may end up on WERU in the near future too if you listen to that station ever

Where in Maine did you move to? That will definitely shape your experience. Luckily we have a decent governor.

Fellow crab stater constantly working to a lobster stater. Glad you made it!

I too am from the crab state and moved to Maine.

I sat next to Andy O'Brien at the GOP Convention in 2012. We were both delegates. He was supporting Ron Paul. I can't remember what town he was representing. I do remember a State Senator questioning his true intentions. I left the Maine GOP shortly after they had become far too left wing for me.

Reverse carcinization 🦞

How were they left wing?

Big government, Global Free trade, warmongers and screw the working Americans.... Not a dimes worth of difference between an elected Republican and an elected Dem.

My thing is that both sides refuse to work together because of some stupid tribalist bullshit. The fact that I had to fight as hard as I and other gay people did for the right to marry the man I love, not have to worry about my housing or employment and more because of the GOP constant homophobia says a lot.

There's a lot of good points that the GOP has, but the extreme over-abundance of hyper-religiousity is a major problem for me.

As far as war mongering, that is a problem on both sides of the aisle state and federal. Maybe you can help me understand the problem with free trade. As far as screwing working Americans, I'm seeing the Left trying to get minimum wage to a living wage, where it was always meant to be. Maybe not a comfortable living wage, but one where you could live with it. That's not a bad thing.

My father died estranged from me as a result of his politics. One of the few things I regret was him not living enough to see it reported that the US Military gave black vets the shaft with the GI bill... the abuse started in WW2 and continued all the way through Vietnam.

Because I grew up listening to him shit talk black guys... they all just went back to the ghetto and didn't use that GI Bill to improve themselves like him and his white friends did...

While he and people just like him were the ones responsible for denying those benefits.

They've always been like this, the right wing. They just feel emboldened and since its getting WORSE we should take it as a sign that we need to do more than whatever it is we're doing.

I went to a RvV event attended by thousands where I was told by organizers and speakers to RUN AWAY from any counter presence.

Not to ignore, Not to not engage, to remaind peaceful... but to run away and cede the block. This can't be what we do. They shut down events. That's them winning. We need to stop letting them win.

I've been trying to tell my "liberal" friends this, but it's not until they have a queer kid or have to sell their house do they make the connections.

Really, have you talked to a reliable GOP voter lately???

I grew up in the 80's and 90's.

I learned every bigoted slur I know at home before I heard it somewhere else. My dad brought home the latest racist joke he heard around the water cooler down at IBM.

Not Bob's Sister-Fucking Hut. Not the rock quarry. An electrical and computer engineer among other middle class, educated people who literally got their jollies of telling racist and sexist jokes because it gave them self worth or something.

They're not new.

They're just emboldened.

AGAIN.

My family (VERY CONSERVATIVE) "taught" me "the difference between a n word and a black person". I'm glad that I'm triggering all of these milquetoast libbies and racist chuds at the same time 😀

The rise of the American Taliban. Christian edition.

No, he's right. LePage and the Maine GOP got their shit pushed in last election.

None of the things you’re describing are remotely “left wing” though. You’re describing symptoms of unfettered capitalism, which is the very thing left wing movements have been fighting against all over the world for a long time now.

I don't know any elected Dems against globalism, most are profiting from it. In my experience the only time Dems are against war is when there is a draft or Republican in the white house. Even then all they do is make a bunch of noise, they don't do anything that would end it. I can't think of three things elected Dems have done to make working Americans better off financially.

I'm saying that the people who reliably vote GOP have been this way for a while. They just need more time to carve out their voting districts, ala Kentucky

I wasn’t talking about Democrats, since they’re not leftists.

I was taught a N was any black person who wasn't acting white enough.

10 bucks says that 18 year old is a 4chan white nationalist based on no information but his age and place of origin.

Is this prejudice? Yes. But I grew up with this shit. White nationalism is on the rise in rural maine, even among its children. I’m pretty confident in my bet.

Restricting free trade doesn’t seem very small government

We should be telling everyone that they're different regardless. White suburbanites should be more scared of these nutbags than critical race theory.

Seriously! When was the last time we got a national park? Did anything to protect labor? Cared about a baby? Not in a while. The left is sadly not even in the picture.

That's an extremely complicated subject. One of many that are so hard to grasp, that people don't understand how little they grasp of it.

Sure it’s a complicated subject but it’s not a big reach to come to the conclusion that people crying for both “small government” and restrictions on free trade at the same time are kind of hypocrites — restricting free trade is inherently a “big government” power.

some one get grandpa his meds.

Someone’s gets it: “both sides” certainly aren’t the same, but they’re both basically center<->right on the classical political spectrum

Who cares, neither side gives a shit about any important issues, they just want your money. I can’t wait to die so I don’t have to be around humans anymore.