Reepers hate people with disabilities.

[BurtWorm]

They want to slap quadriplegics.

They bash people with Parkinson's Disease.

They mock people in wheelchairs.

They want to weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act.

And they want to make it harder to do stem cell research into therapies or possibile cures for a range of conditions.

They've become the kick-the-cane-out-from-under-them party.

[savemefromdumbya]

1. The Nazis gassed the disabled

[Melynn]

43. That was my first thought

They hate anyone who is "in-perfect" in their eyes. Like the Nazi's.

They probably think anyone who is disabled was punished by God and deserved what they got. Sick bastards.

[Lex]

2. They have no social conscience whatsoever.

And they think they are the embodiment of what it means to be Christian.

[KingFlorez]

3. Anyone who is not like them is wrong to them

[SeattleGirl]

4. Bastards.

I hate these people; I really do. They don't give a flying fig about anyone who is "not them". Uppity assholes better hope THEY never get injured or come down with a disease. They will find themselves on the outside in a nano-second.

[madokie]

19. Yea and the uppity basturds better hope shit don't really hit the fan

because if it gets ugly they'll be the first to be taken out.

[brentspeak]

5. What's Rush's next medical opinion?

Max Cleland is "faking" not having three of his limbs?

[Canuckistanian]

9. Actually

The other day I heard him say that stem cells cause cancer (because of some obscure study that he misunderstood).

Whenever you want a laugh, listen to anything he has to say about any scientific subject. It will be wrong.

[Fleshdancer]

10. lol, that wouldn't surprise me...

then again, I think it was Coulter who said it was Cleland's own fault for losing his limbs in war. :eyes:

[earth mom]

6. Talk about evil sociopaths!

:puke:

[rudy23]

7. Don't forget the Katrina victims--the biggest schlubs of all!

Too stupid to just walk across the Poncartrain bridge to safety? They must have wanted to drown! Oh wait, they wanted to stay behind and loot.

Don't forget widows, too. They hate widows.

[Az_lefty]

8. they bahve like a bunch of punk-ass bullies...

all talk, but when it comes down to it they run away.

[Philosoraptor]

11. they all have a date with the Twilight Zone

with appropriate disabilities, I hear Rod Serling.

[Philosoraptor]

12. Especially the poor and unemployed ones.

And they must hate crippled soldiers too because they are never seen, unless it's to run with bush on prosthetic legs for a bizarro world photo op.

[Rocknrule]

13. Disableds can't be part of their Master Race

:mad:

[verse18]

14. They lack empathy

It's like they refuse to see things from another persons perspective. They have no empathy whatsoever and that's really sad.

[Gelliebeans]

15. That is because we are too smart to be repubs

;)

[Bigmack]

16. I wonder how he feels...

about multi-divorced, addicted people with hearing problems and a weight problem and a personality disorder?

[NMMNG]

17. Maybe we should label them "unborn" instead of "disabled"

Then the freepers will fight tooth and nail for their rights.

[Stockholm]

18. Until they personally are affected by a serious illness of course

Then they just love stem cell research, disability legislation and god forgive - abortion clinics.

IMHO that is one of the defining differences between republicans and democrats, empathy, will to change things to the better and siding with those who needs help.

[LWolf]

20. The human species likes to hate.

People of all stripes can be found mocking, bashing, and "slapping" people on a daily basis. How many of DU's posts are all about mocking, bashing, or slapping people? Or is it ok as long as it is not directed at a person or group "we" "like?" Hate and incivility is certainly not restricted to "reepers."

The difference, as far as I can tell? Many republicans are quite open about their lack of empathy for others. Many Democrats are pickier about their targets, spending all of that "hate" on what they perceive to be more politically correct targets.

In the end, hate is hate, and it becomes no one.

As far as people with mental and physical health issues go, I don't think the Republican Party has "become" the "kick-the-cane-out-from-under-them party;" they've been that party for my lifetime, anyway. I think that, like every other atrocity they've perpetrated, allowing them to gain a majority in congress and to sit in the white house allowed them to bring their agenda out of the closet and reanimate it.

[zanne]

21. Guilt-free hatred.

Republicans play on people's basest instincts, especially the hatred of anybody who is different from themselves. They make racism, homophobia, ageism and sexism guilt-free and socially (even religiously) acceptable. That's what Republicans are all about. They tell people that they don't even have to try to be civilized.

[LWolf]

22. Yes.

Guilt-free hatred for Democrats involves hating Republicans, creating an unbroken circle of hate.

[zanne]

23. Sorry, but I can't bring myself to "love" Republicans.

That would be "self-hatred".

[LWolf]

41. It's a sad world

when people cling to their right to hate and find it too difficult to love.

That goes way beyond party politics, imo. Why is there nothing between love and hate? Why feed and grow polarity? Hate is not a necessary ingredient to opposition, evolution, and change. Hate tends to bring destructive, not constructive change.

[Jed Dilligan]

44. Will you please point your magic beam of love

at Iraq and end the war?

Because my love for Bush sure isn't going to motivate me to fight him.

[LWolf]

47. Magic has nothing to do with it.

Love can be the biggest motivator of all. Love for those humans whose lives are used in the perpetration of war. I don't have to "hate" to know that war, and this war, is wrong, and to oppose it for that reason. I have written letters, I have marched, I have demonstrated, I have donated, and I cast my votes for those who don't support war in general, and this war specifically. What else is there for me to actually DO to help end the war and send the Bush administration home? Is "hating" them in addition to working against them somehow going to make that magically happen?

I think you are trying to say that hate is a necessary ingredient for "fighting." I would say that there is more than one way to "fight," and standing up for what is right does not have to be grounded in, or motivated by, hate.

[Jed Dilligan]

50. Here's who I hate:

People who preach to me about how I'm supposed to feel.

[LWolf]

51. Hope that works out ok for ya. n/t

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[July]

25. Sorry, but there's no comparison.

As you pointed out above, people hate. All kinds of people. Nonetheless, in the political sphere in this country, there is nothing among Democrats that is comparable to the swiftboating, mocking-Kerry-for-his-tan, Purple-Heart-Bandaids, Osama-and-Max-Cleland-advertisement-pairing, "go fuck yourself"-bleating, flip-flop-waving, Catholic-bishop-co-opting, "Clintons trashed the White House"-lying and countless other vicious and PERSONAL attacks not by the rightwing equivalent of DUers but by prominent Republicans, and I'm including GHWB, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney, Bob Dole, Karl Rove, Karen Hughes and just about any big-name Republican, let alone the prominent blowhards who serve as their surrogates.

Nothing comparable. I'm sure you can find a remark here and there that does not do our side credit (again, I am talking about prominent Democrats), but mainly you'll find sharp wit and a lot more dignity. You won't find our party leaders dressing up in hunting gear for Halloween to mock Cheney, the way Rove and Hughes did to mock Kerry. You won't find Teresa Heinz Kerry and Robert Byrd going on television to defend unfounded smears on Bush's honor the way Laura Bush and Bob Dole (and Bush's parents and god knows who else)did to give the swiftboaters traction. You won't find Elizabeth Edwards mocking Bush's facial bruises the way Lynne Cheney mocked Kerry's tan. You won't find Al Franken suggesting that it's too bad a left-wing terrorist didn't blow up the Washington Times, the way Ann Coulter regretted that Timothy McVeigh didn't blow up the New York Times (I believe that was her "only" regret about McVeigh, as well). You won't find Ted Kennedy saying that Bush had better bring a bodyguard if he goes to Massachusetts, the way Jesse Helms did about Clinton's going to his state.

As for us ordinary people, yeah, there's some hate. Some of it is disgust, shame, and horror, rather than hate, but they are all strong feelings against the other side. I don't think it can be avoided when the truth about them is worse than their lies about us. Maybe it will change when they do.

[BurtWorm]

26. Excellent rant!

:applause:

[July]

36. Thanks, BurtWorm!

I'm glad you liked it!

[LWolf]

40. I think you just made my point.

I wasn't passing judgement on any particular group of people. I was considering all people to belong to the same group: human. Yet somehow you needed to defend one group's need to "hate" the other.

I am fully aware of the atrocities that have been committed by the current powers that be; I just think that I can recognize them and respond to them without hate. I hope that I can see it clearly when I mirror the attitudes of those I oppose in my rush to attack. I wish others could, too. :shrug:

[zanne]

45. I wish I could think that way, LWolf

As your username suggests, you are a lone voice in this. I admire the sentiment, but I just don't see how it's possible to be emotionally objective in this case.

[LWolf]

46. It's sure not easy.

I see that emotional issues are used to manipulate voters. What campaign speech or campaign ad isn't cynically trying to push those buttons and generate an emotional reaction, rather than a thinking response?

It's not that I don't see all the reasons to hate; it's that, if I allow it to happen, those I "hate" just won. They just got the upper hand, and a weapon to use against me indefinitely.

[July]

48. I think you just missed my point.

If what you got from my post was that I was defending one group's need to hate the other.

We're all human. I think I mentioned that. That doesn't make both sides of the political divide equivalent when one side acts viciously and the other doesn't. It also doesn't make a rational response to outrageous behavior "hate."

It's human to react, not necessarily with hate but sometimes with the other emotions I mentioned -- shame, disgust, horror -- when someone does something that crosses a line, whether of fairness, kindness, law, or good manners. I don't think that's the same thing as the baseless "hate" being slung at any and all Democrats and/or liberals by Republicans. It's a reasonable reaction to an unjustified attack. As my husband likes to say, "Don't kick me in the back and act surprised when I get mad." We don't have to "hate" (though some do), but we don't have to act as if nothing has happened, either. I consider some anger toward their actions a sane and healthy response. A lack of outrage is inappropriate when real malice is on display, and it hurts a community and abets that malice to ignore it.

The point was in the subject line. I tried to develop it in my examples. There's no comparison.

[SmokingJacket]

24. Because disabled people are PROOF of how wrong they are.

No, not everyone can "pull themselves up by their bootstraps"; some people need our collective support and/or help to survive in this world, but the republicans don't want to believe that.

Plus -- republicans like to believe they "deserve" their good luck and wealth and health. It's hard to say that to a quadriplegic.

[raccoon]

27. Morans (sic) that they are, I wonder if some of these people think

the disabled person somehow "deserved" his/her disability?

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[LeftishBrit]

33. I'm sure some do, especially among those who distort religion

I remember reading that Reagan once tried to appoint someone to a post related to health or social services, and then it was discovered that she'd written a book or article about how disabled people should not be helped by the government, because disability was one of God's punishments for sin. When this came out, her appointment was not confirmed by Congress (luckily).

More generally, I think that a fundamental difference between right-wingers and liberals or leftists is that right-wingers believe that weakness - whether financial, physical or emotional - is a moral failing, and that those who are in a stronger position should not be obliged to help those who are in a weaker position. Thatcherite types even argue that it is good for 'weaker' people to be treated harshly: that it forces them to 'stand on their own feet' and 'get on their bikes', and that any other treatment is 'coddling' and 'babying' and encourages 'dependency'. Moreover, Thatcherite/ Republican types have a tendency to assume that disabilities and illnesses (like other reasons why someone might need help or accommodations) are being faked, imagined, or exaggerated, unless clearly proven otherwise - as in the current ridiculous and cruel attack on Michael J. Fox.

[TheBaldyMan]

28. they do go easy on the 'tards-they know it's in their own interest

being less than blessed in the brains dept.

[undergroundpanther]

29. I hate bullies

I hate bullies. I despise the psychopathic and authoritarian personality,I hate those thugs who prey on vulnerable people,who abuse power,who live to make other peoples lives more stressful, difficult unsafe and unhappy.I hate the so called"alpha males and females" I hate those who are social sadists. And if there was ever a surefire way to detect who is and is not one of these cold blooded criminals from each other ,I'd be fine seeing their sadistic control freak kind wiped off this planet forever.
Yeah, I hate the intentional bullies,every one of them.They do not deserve to be alive ,for all the other's lives they ruin ,and take away, these pigs cause more traumas in human society than all the natural disasters do...

It's HEALTHY to hate abusive people who get off on causing you suffering . Assholes who crush your self-hood, gaslight you,causing you traumas, messing up good relationships ,and infiltrate organizations to dominate people, The thugs who have the audacity to even blame YOU for feeling pain for what they CHOSE to do to you to hurt you.

Sociopaths/authoritarians/and narcissists are evil people because the decision a bully makes to abuse someone else is ALWAYS intentional and it IS always the bullies choice, and the target pays the price in pain.
There will be no justice until the corrupter's of justice are unmasked.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. Ironic.

[davekriss]

31. Amongst the first to die in the German Death Camps...

...we're the disabled. My wife's adoptive family lost a disabled aunt to the camps. I adopted two special needs children and, when I sometimes ponder this, I realize that both could easily have come to violent early deaths at the hands of fascists just 50+ years ago, especially our autistic daughter. Right wing Republicanism = moral retardation and hypo-empathy disorder.

[Catchawave]

32. They do like people without brains !?

Sorry Terri, I couldn't resist :(

[Ron Green]

34. The "free market" doesn't really have room for people with disabilities.

They take extra resources, and aren't easily enslaved to produce goods. It's the Church (in its largest sense; I mean not only the faith-based entities but all charitable groups, educational and scientific foundations, etc.) that provides the message and the means to care for people with extra needs, and it's the State that puts teeth into the rules about who must be supported.

Repubs don't like the government, and they don't really like the church - only to the extent it can marshal votes for their nefarious agenda. Repubs like only the Market, because it's what creates jobs, don't ya know?

[davekriss]

35. Actually, Reepers just hate, period

Very self-centric, "I've got mine, f*ck you!" and, for the vast majority of Reepers who have little to nothing, it's "f*ckin' ( substitute name of your favorite out-group here )".

[DireStrike]

37. Recommended solely for use of the word REEPER

Wow, that's a fucking classic. It's my new standard term for the Rs.

err, well it's too late to recommend, but still... gj.

[KamaAina]

38. Mitt Romney opposes stem cell research although his own wife has MS!

And the GOPU is apparently ready to take him seriously as a pResidential contender!! :grr:

Meanwhile, Medicare is about to slash reimbursement for power wheelchairs, all in the name of "combating fraud". :grr: :banghead:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2462978&mesg_id=2462978

Hard to believe that a President named "George Bush" signed the ADA into law 16 short years ago (albeit only at the urging of his good friend Bob Dole; conservatives are allowed to break the rule about not giving a crap about anyone as long as the issue affects them directly, you see).

[devilgrrl]

39. When are they going to hate Rim Job?

They don't seem to mind paying for his Winnebago.

[Mr_Spock]

42. Yep, that's why I despise RWers so

It's like they are sick people who would be murderers if it was legal, but instead choose to make society suffer for whatever slight they feel like they've suffered. And believe me, most RWers I've spoken to feel like they've been slighted in some way - it's a bizarre life they live.

[KayLaw]

49. My freeper friend got hers

She said once that while it was nice the schools provided special ed for children like my son, who has autism, she hated to see money taken away from the bright kids like my other son and her daughter. We moved from town but I found out later her daughter has severe dislexia and is in special ed.