It’s July 4th and America is Not Just a Republican Talking Point

The Republican talking points are offensive, bigoted, and on autopilot.

Young man proudly waving the American flag at sunset

Offensive Republican Talking Points

In America, it became fashionable for young people to point out that an idea or retort was a “Republican Talking Point.”

This is not to say that there aren’t “Democratic Talking Points” or that this isn’t a natural feature of an industry built on the art of persuasion. It is to say that Republican Talking Points have been on autopilot to an offensive degree.

When Republicans are asked about abortion restrictions that do not account for survivors of rape:

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

Dana Bash: Will the state of South Dakota going forward force a 10-year-old in that very same situation to have a baby? Kristi Noem: In South Dakota, the law today is that abortions are illegal except to save the life of the mother. [that's a yes]

Sometimes Republican Governors just deflect to attacking Democrats in extreme bad faith:

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

Asked on Fox News if he'd sign a bill removing the exception for rape from his state's abortion ban, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says "there's a lot of effort ... mainly by the Democrats, to try to talk only about the real small, minor number of exceptions that may exist."

*This clip also comes to show how the modern Republican Party has built such hatred for others in their messaging campaigns that all their politicians have to do is push the hate button when on television. We know through sociology that a lot of Americans equate Democrats irrationally with negative racial images and social animus. Thanks to racist Republican campaigns of the modern era. The academic term for this is “priming.”

So, elected Republicans couldn’t help but signal to us that they do not even care enough to think about this women’s health issue. It is enraging and shows the ugliness of these individuals, who can’t show an ounce of leadership when it comes to the humanity of their constituents. This was also seen in many instances when Republicans would deflect or cry “critical race theory” on issues having little to do with education but they knew their voters were tired of thinking and hearing about race and so they manipulated that conversation to harm young people of color discovering their histories.

Don’t get me wrong, the movements of the government can be cumbersome and tedious.

But Republicans chose to demagogue the histories of people of color just to scare low information voters. Meanwhile, the intellectual life of America is downgraded thanks to Republican Party chicanery.

This July 4th

I grew up being regaled by stories of America’s heroic past.

I come from a long line of educated African Americans who contributed to America professionally and socially. Ever since I was a kid, I really enjoyed this particular American holiday because of its deep roots in our history. I’m talking about the side of our history that tracks our philosophical innovations, not our social degradation.

Today, it is hard to celebrate this holiday without thinking about how disgusting the modern Republican Party is today. They have repudiated their proud past to co-opt racist reactionaries and self-aggrandizing losers because it is easier to profit off the end of the American Century over building a better and multicultural America for the kids they claim to love.

From the beginning of the Trump years featuring Republicans telling Black Democrats to leave the “Dem plantation” with no historical literacy to the siege of the Capitol by Confederate and Trump flags under the enablement of Republican Party apparatchiks, there feels to be very little to celebrate.

The worst part is knowing that many of my fellow Americans have cynically checked out or rather suck up as much stability as possible while ignoring civic life in hopes that someone else will fix it. I understand these are very human reactions and what we are witnessing is the decline of something much larger that no individual can control.

However, the loss of civic responsibility and the loss of a democratic conscience in America is a sad evolution that is only going to hurt future generations.

Right now, Americans are in a toxic relationship with the Republican Party as the population is poised to give them power again. They either don’t believe the GOP is as racist and vindictive as it is or they feel like losing democracy is worth lower prices (the latter being an actual loss of American substance when you look at what people in Ukraine endure).

It is hard to love an America that doesn’t love itself or even respect itself.