THE TWO REPUBLICAN PARTIES
RE: “Can the Republican Party Become Less Bigoted?” [Blogtown, Nov 9], in which Sarah Mirk speaks with Republicans on election night, and wonders if they can actually change.
The conundrum is that the only “Republican” people who want to take such social-moral stands go into the political realm. The rest just want government out of the way. Thus you have two parties—one who wants government to dictate finances and morals, and another that wants just wants to dictate morals.
-posted by D
Don’t get your hopes up on Republicans reaching out to the LGBT community. They don’t need to, and they know it; most of that community isn’t likely to vote for them whatever happens. They do however need to reach out to women and/or immigrants. Put your money now on Ricky Rubio being their nominee in 2016.
-posted by Stu
You know, I for one appreciate it when tools like Mssrs. Akin, Mourdock, et al., explicitly state what much of the Republican Party actually feels. Usually they do it through coded language (and certainly the laws they tend to pass reflect this), but only some are dumb enough to actually say it.
-posted by Rich Bachelor
Will the Republican Party become “less bigoted” in the future? Stranger things have happened. After all, liberals now support imperialist wars, the silencing of whistle blowers, the NDAA, torture, NSA spying, GMOs, and an infinite black hole of debt to finance all of it.
-posted by Spindles
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CHIHUAHUA IN THE FACE; KNIFE IN THE GUTS
RE: “Robbery Interrupted” [Feature, Nov 7], in which author Denis C. Theriault catches two thieves (and their Chihuahua) trying to rob his house.
Glad it all worked out, Denis, and that you weren’t hurt—as you said, things could have ended quite differently. That Chihuahua could have been tossed in your face as a knife went into your guts! Jokes aside, glad it went the way it did.
-posted by Jake
You should have offered to let them pay for their offense by cleaning your basement instead of wussing out and calling the police. You could have paid them 20 bucks each, without having to get your hands dirty. It would have been worth it—not to mention, making new friends, bolstering their self-esteem, and keeping your own pride.
-posted by Solomon
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SHOCK TO THE HEART
RE: “Man Almost Dies after Tasering, Struggle; Cops Give Him CPR” [Blogtown, Nov 9], in which Copwatch’s Dan Handelman comments on the police Tasering a suspect (reportedly under the influence of meth, and carrying two knives), who almost died.
It’s a much easier stance to criticize Taser use by police AFTER it has occurred than to have an effective stance on when is an acceptable time and place to use a Taser—or if the use of Tasers should be an outright ban altogether?
A cursory browsing of Portland Copwatch did not reveal a specific stance on Tasers (i.e., whether they should be banned outright or any specific standard operating procedures a police officer should follow in order to be justified in using Tasers).
I think a meth-head with felonies under the influence of drugs who’s threatening people with deadly weapons is probably a justified case.
-posted by WS
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TAKE MY ROOMMATE… PLEASE!
RE: “Feces: For a Brighter, Whiter Smile!” [I, Anonymous, Nov 7], in which the anonymous author complains of a roommate that smacks their lips and hangs underwear on the towel rack.
I would take that over my current roommate who didn’t pay full rent this month and still has a whole arsenal of annoying habits… or my last roommate who threatened to kill me, among other things. To Anon: Treasure this benign domestic clash, for the time will come when you’ll have a roommate so reprehensible that you’ll see fit to name one of your anal polyps after them.
-posted by YadaYadaYeah
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WHERE’S MY GWAR? PUSSIES!
RE: A nonexistent article about GWAR (AKA the greatest band in the known universe), which we never wrote because apparently we are pussies.
TO THE MERCURY: How could you not promote GWAR, the greatest live band in the known universe? Pussies! I’ll be there!
-Isaac Hudson
ACTUALLY ISAAC, you’re the derogatory term linked with kittens and female genitalia! Because while you were watching those pudding-faced, fancy-lad dandies in GWAR, we were watching something TRULY frightening: Disney on Ice! (Oh, the horror… the horror!) Nevertheless, we’re gonna award you the Mercury letter of the week and two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater—maybe they can make a man out of you.
D is wrong yet again. If Republican voters, unlike Republican politicians, just want government out of the way, then we wouldn’t have so many of them driven to the polls by a fervent desire to get rid of legal access to abortion, to pass amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage, to maintain the prohibition regime for marijuana at great public cost, etc. etc.. They generally want to legislate their moral views just as much as anyone else, and all the “get government out of our lives” stuff is obvious hypocrisy when you look at the enormously powerful, expensive, and invasive state they allowed Bush to develop over two terms, which want to control people’s lives from the personal and community level (eroding basic civil liberties), the economic sphere, and the international realm (our foreign policy is driven by “defense” spending greater than that of every other country on earth combined). Most Republican voters cheered Reagan and Bush alike as they pursued roughly the same policies, increasing the power of the state (except as a check on large corporations such as BP) and driving debt through the roof. There is no tradition of actual conservatism driving politics in this country.
Solomon, I once thought as you do. I went to a yard sale and figured out that the seller was having hard times partially because his ex-con status made it hard for him to get a decent job. I hired him to paint the back wall of my house, which wasn’t quite necessary, but I felt generous and wanted to help the guy out. He brought a friend to help out. They didn’t realize that I was working at my desk just inside a slightly open window, and I heard as they methodically planned to leave the window unlocked and come back later to clean me out. And the only reason they didn’t was because they then overheard me calling the police to ask for advice.
If someone’s already broken into your house and you then hire them to work out for you, I’d say the chances are 50-50 that you’re just showing them that you’re a softie and are asking to be ripped off.