Howard Dean: Republicans are "not American," should "stay away from our country"

[free my dawg]

As someone who Republicans tried to disenfranchise because his voting bloc didn't vote Republican, I agree.

Why vote for a party that doesn't think you should have the right to vote?

Explain how the Republicans tried to disenfranchise you.

Blatant, self-admitted suppression of the student vote a few years ago. I took a gap year during the 2012 election, so I was technically one of the people O'Brien wanted to suppress.

If you pull this sh*t, you don't deserve to have a state to call your home. Go live in Sudan if you want to make a right-wing dictatorship.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I think I was disfranchised as well. In 1995, I voted Democratic for all the statewide races. Not long after, some Republican county officials stated that one of the Democratic candidates got zero votes in a precinct in Highland Heights. I'm not sure, but I think it was my precinct. In any event, Highland Heights is full of Democrats, so I don't buy for a second that a Democrat got zero votes in any precinct there.

The Republicans breezily dismissed this as just a malfunctioning voting machine. Their excuse was that 50-year-old voting machines sometimes don't work right, so accept it, move on, and drop the subject.

[free my dawg]

After the fact that my state's legislature passed a Voter ID bill that allowed the government to take a photo of you if you don't have your ID and mail it to you in your affidavit (which is essentially government-sponsored voter intimidation), I think I have the right to be an intolerant asshole about this.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Loving the Moderate Heroism in this thread. "OH NO THE DEMOCRATS ARE SUCH MEANIES FOR INSULTING THE REPUBLICANS " Never mind that the GOP's purposeful attempts to making voting harder for *insert demographics that the Democrats do well with* are well-documented (and even self-admitted, in some cases!) under the pretense of  non-existent "widespread voter fraud" (which is code for ACORN/the New Black Panthers etc. stole the 2012 and 2008 elections for Obama-but mysteriously they didn't show up for the midterms! )

Sometimes, both sides are NOT the same. This is one of those times.

[Antonio the Sixth]

He is right.

[Dr. Cynic]

Hell, I remember all the Republicans saying people like me were un-American for opposing the war and for disagreeing with Bush.

Well, turn about's fair play. This should have been done a long time ago. I don't feel sorry for any Republican who gets their feelings hurt when someone calls you un-American.

[Maxwell]

I hate the whole idea of ranking someone's AMURICAN-ness. You're not an American if you don't support the war, you're not an American if you support voter ID, ect.

[publicunofficial]

He is right.

[free my dawg]

One is not supporting a war against the terrorists or against "weapons of mass destruction". The other prevents people from voting.

I'm sure we can all agree that restricting voting rights is un-American here.

[traininthedistance]

One is not supporting a war against the terrorists or against "weapons of mass destruction". The other prevents people from voting.

I'm sure we can all agree that restricting voting rights is un-American here.

The founding fathers would disagree with you

Yet another example of the bankruptcy of argumentum ad Jeffersonium.

[free my dawg]

One is not supporting a war against the terrorists or against "weapons of mass destruction". The other prevents people from voting.

I'm sure we can all agree that restricting voting rights is un-American here.

The founding fathers would disagree with you

Wasn't for partisan reasons though. If they were alive right now they'd be calling for a voting rights amendment right now.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Whether Dean's complaints are legitimate or not, it's obnoxious and pigheaded to equate "American" with "good." I wish that Democrats wouldn't stoop to appealing to that ugly facet of our national identity.

I really doubt that facet is unique to American identity. It possibly might be muted a bit in Europe due to exceptionalism there not being as concentrated on national exceptionalism, but the idea that we are better than they seems to be a fairly constant part of the human condition with the only real differences in various times and places being how broad a group the pronoun "we" refers to.

[Simfan34]

Howard Dean is daft, let's move on to actual news, something we didn't know...

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Howard Dean is daft, let's move on to actual news, something we didn't know...

I guess 'daft' is a synonym for 'cool'.

[justfollowingtheelections]

He is right.

[Adam Griffin]

There's no reason he should apologize. In fact, he and every Democrat in the country should double-down on this message and repeat, repeat, repeat. There's a reason why only one of the two parties in this country when in minority status can still run the show, and it's because they have balls. The Republicans have been crushing skulls for decades on the message that we're not "American" (see: tax-paying-but-not-really, hard-working-but-not-really, white landowners).

Every major policy and form of obstructionism that these folk have engaged in for the past six years has sought to either eliminate the say of those who already have the least amount of it, or purposefully add to their existing problems. They are saboteurs; they are economic terrorists; they are hypocritical authoritarians, and they are OK with all of this.

I miss Dean. I'd love for him to chair the DNC again - Lord knows someone with some fortitude needs to be running it.

[Alreet]

Howard Dean is daft, let's move on to actual news, something we didn't know...

I guess 'daft' is a synonym for 'cool'.

Or asshole.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

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Dean provides a sort of paraphrase of Lincoln, but without the willingness of the speaker himself to emigrate, it loses its persuasion.