Eschew Obfuscation –
By Michael Douglass –

Over the last 25 years Republicans have gone from disingenuous jerks to complete assholes. From occasional forays into dirty politics and smear tactics to a no holds barred enterprise of fear, hate and racism. From a tacit deployment of bigotry, to a stentorian campaign of disenfranchising minorities and marginalizing women.

From stupid and selfish to mean and vicious.

From conservative to teabilly.

The worst of you don’t care. You actually believe Obama is a communist, Muslim, Kenyan that just wants to reward lazy, shiftless blacks and Mexicans with food stamps, welfare and endless unemployment benefits on your dime. You don’t care that it’s all thoroughly baseless crap and you can’t possibly back any of it up.

It doesn’t matter at all to you that the bastards who are actually in your wallets are the same bastards you vote for every time.

The worst of you think he wants to overthrow or undermine America.

The worst of you only care that the next president is a white Republican Christian male. It wouldn’t matter to you if this required violence.

All this stupidity causes visions of getting my gums scraped to dance in my head.
The punchline is that these are the reasons the worst of you are still relevant.
Having said that, shifting demographics, social evolution and all things actuarial point to the extinction of the worst of you.

Any remaining Republicans aspiring to be taken seriously in the real world, and by that I mean outside the absurd right wing echo chamber, have to learn to respond and participate with some civility and dignity or party on ignorant toward that extinction.

So here’s a primer for all of you who would be left behind.

The best of you.

Normal people, regular people, the best of you, don’t call for president Obama to be executed, impeached or incarcerated because you realize it’s fucking silly and it embarrasses you that the worst of you can never produce a legitimate reason for any of it. You understand it is hyperbole to distract the lowest common denominator of rotting mouths and vanishing prospects.

The best of you realize that the president is a decent man,who at least has in common with you the best of intentions for our country. The best of you differ with him, you don’t agree with his execution of the office. You don’t agree with his policies. You don’t like his priorities. You just don’t like him. But the best of you understand that he isn’t out to destroy you or this country or your way of life.

The best of you feel no need to demonize him or resort to the very worst of human nature by analogizing he and his wife to primates. The best of you want simply to disagree and be taken seriously for doing so. You realize he is but a man, not a king, not the anti-Christ, but merely a man who was elected by a solid majority of the voters twice who’s transgressions are certainly no more egregious than his predecessors.

You hope to elect a Republican next time around but simply don’t feel the need to impugn this president’s character or disparage his integrity to accomplish that. You realize that you would be horrified to see those sorts of tactics applied to your candidate or president.
The best of you get that this president exemplifies “family values” way better than any of the goofcocks that run for your political party.

The best of you just want political discourse to return to comity and respect. The best of you sincerely wish your already elected representatives would ascribe to at least as much.
The best of you want no part of what goes on here. You would be more comfortable where responsible ideas are dealt with responsibly, without the vitriol and invective. You want a venue where you’re not called names and attacked for no more than disagreeing.
The best of you are grownups.

This blog is dedicated to my friend Bill, for whom I genuinely bear no ill will, but who I wish would just stop posting such incredibly callow bullshit that he just refuses to take responsibility for.

My sincere hope is that my friend Bill will grow the fuck up.

This is not only about your beliefs Bill, it’s about your behavior.

Drinks for my friends.