I cannot recall a time when there were not at least 2 or 3 Republicans who I just

[Atticus]

literally despised. Nixon, Agnew, Gingrich, W Bush and Trent Lott come to mind. I disagreed with most of what the rest of the GOP stood for, but they did not raise the hair on the back of my neck like those named.

But, today, despicable people are the rule, not the exception, in the Republican party: Trump, Pence, McConnell, McCarthy, Taylor-Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Biggs ,Gosar, Jordan, Gohmert, Miller, Cruz, Cotton, Paul, Graham, Kennedy, Rubio, DeSantis, Abbot, Noem -----------. We all could add dozens to that list, but the point is that these radical soulless extremists ARE the GOP now.

The Democratic Party is a traditional major political party trying to better govern this nation for the benefit of all its citizens. Currently, there is no other traditional major political party in this country. The GOP has devolved into a neurotic blustering personality cult led by a mentally unstable ancient child.

Clearly, the fate of American democracy is up to us.

[orleans]

1. ...darth cheney, rumsfuck, condi, tom delay... fun game--so many to despise nt

[Upthevibe]

4. orleans..............

Tom Delay and effing Dennis Hastert (for God's sake)!

They've had horrible people; and their constitutes have been clueless, and in some cases, every bit as hateful and criminal.

[Grins]

35. ...Phil Graham, George Allen, Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, Al D'Amato, Eric Cantor,

…just off the top of my head. There are just so damn many of them!

[Blue Owl]

38. Sarah Palin, Susan Collins, Sarah Huckabee

[Polybius]

49. Al D'Amato looks like a Saint compared to the rest

I remember him well.

[NCjack]

71. Oh, yeah. I thought Sen. Jessie Helms was the worst person.

Then I met Sen. Al "Pothole" D'Amato, up close. Close enough for him to blow his cigar smoke in my face.

[geardaddy]

52. Emmer, Fischbach, Stauber, Finstad

Michele Bachmann, Norm Coleman, Tim Pawlenty

[oasis]

65. Sen.Phil Graham will carry the stench of ENRON forever.

[Meadowoak]

2. Marsha Blackheart

[Joinfortmill]

16. Lol

[peppertree]

63. I lived in Clarksville briefly. I can tell you her last name is got what her elected.

"We dunno much about her policies," a TN Repug might tell you. "But we sure love the sound of her name!"

[LakeArenal]

3. The little minions: Scott Walker,Paul Ryan, then Ron Johnson.

The ones that slithered first.

[rubbersole]

5. Include the three stooges from Florida on your list.

desantis, Scott, Rubio. Massive fuckwads.

[BOSSHOG]

8. Three Stooges "from Florida"

Thanks for the clarification.

I thought the three stooges were gorsuch, drunken frat boy and cone head.

My sympathies. And you can throw in gaetz.

[BOSSHOG]

6. And at the state level as well

The Neanderthals with their antics and plotting here in Kansas rule the state legislature. I have every confidence that any DUEr living in a red state has their blood pressure rise at the mention of a name or names of someone in their state house or senate.

[MyOwnPeace]

54. Pennsylvania's got some too!!

Perry (US Rep.) is one of the 21 that voted against the US Capitol Cops getting the medals (but Jack Smith is after his 'records!') and of course, our own BUS-BOY (sponsored a busload of people to DC for Jan. 6 'tour') and wanted to be our governor, Doug Masturbato.

[RazBerryBeret]

62. Gym Jordan

Can raise my hackles immediately, and he post so much on twitter. I don’t follow him but he shows up on my page

[RazBerryBeret]

74. Gym Jordan

Can raise my hackles immediately, and he posts so much on twitter. I don’t follow him but he shows up on my page

[pecosbob]

7. Thankfully Gohmert is gone for the moment.

And while northeast Texas' CD1 may be the most racist place I've ever been, it's constituents will have to look long and hard to find anyone as stupid as Gohmert.

[halfulglas]

19. I still find it hard to believe that ass was a judge for years before entering Congress.

[MyOwnPeace]

55. Cannon in Florida......

probably 'clerked' for him!

[hay rick]

9. Today's Republicans are different.

A critical mass of Republicans have come up through a system of money-saturated primaries. The first rule for the current crop of Republican candidates and elected officials is: obey the money. Those with principles have been systematically weeded out. Mc Connell said they will tell you what their platform is when they are elected. They can't tell you in advance because they haven't been told yet themselves.

Survival in this environment favors certain personality traits and behaviors. A Republican politician's willingness to lie to voters is not seen as a character defect, it is a prerequisite for doing the mercenary work required by those who bought their souls and services.

They are a cancerous growth on our democracy.

[rubbersole]

15. And it's working.

[Murphyb849]

10. I am just so tired of it. Dead tired.

We have been living in the seventh level of hell since 2015. I am tired of Trump, his face, his voice, his "truths" and his cult of Nazi deplorables.
I actually hate him.
And I will hate him until I die.
And probably after that.

[nancy1942]

11. Ditto!

I feel exactly the same.

[Joinfortmill]

17. Me too

[calimary]

34. Right there with ya, Murphyb849.

Right there with ya!

[Codifer]

75. I think

that there will be alot of hating that treasonous asshat for eternity... if that is really a thing that is possible.

I'm dying to find out.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

12. We're not seeing "normal" republicans anymore.

We’re seeing authoritarians. Fascists.

Their character structure is revolting. Liars. Gaslighters. Simpering and groveling to the “leader” while stepping all over the weak, people who can’t fight back.

[Caliman73]

66. We are actually seeing the natural progression of Conservative ideology.

Someone once called Conservatism, "ineffectual fascism". I tend to agree with that assumption. While the two ideologies are not the same, they are cousins.

I never bought into the idea that Conservatives just want "smaller government", "fiscal responsibility", and "family values". Conservatism at its core, is the belief that society is best structured as a hierarchy with the "best people" at the top. The ideology was developed when Monarchy was being challenged by the American and French Revolutions with Hobbes' earlier precursor during the English Civil War (Cromwell). American Conservatives (if you can call them that) during the Revolutionary period were the Loyalists, who wanted to remain under King George. While we cast off monarchy, we did not cast of the belief system behind monarchy. People still (even the Founders) had the idea that the "mob" should have no power. Some of them thought Black people were not citizens and the indigenous people were "near White" but savage, however, once their land was desired, the indigenous actually stated being depicted in the same way Black people were.

Conservatism, left unrestrained, will always be subsumed into more radical right wing ideologies, and will develop into some kind of authoritarian regime, including fascism.

The "normal" Republicans/Conservatives started to vanish as soon as right wingers developed their own media ecosystem. When there was a more unified "mainstream" media, Conservatives had to at least appear to be normal. They had to compromise. Once Nixon was forced to resign, Conservative said, "never again" and started working on a concerted effort to develop a message machine through radio and television. The internet boosted this plan and now you can go your whole life without ever hearing actual journalism, all the while believing that JFK Jr. is coming back from the dead to be Trump's VP and fight the child trafficking cabal lead by Hillary Clinton.

[Nululu]

13. Yes I also despise the corrupt Supremecist Court members

[Solomon]

44. The "inferior" court is ridiculous now. A clown show.

[Nululu]

64. Clown show indeed.

[Joinfortmill]

14. Amen to that.

[Astraea]

18. Add Santorum

to the list!

[Astraea]

21. Oh, and Strom Thurmond

[twodogsbarking]

42. He was targeted at dodge ball no doubt.

[sagetea]

20. All of them..

after Eisenhower. I cannot recall any good republicans after him.

sage

[electric_blue68]

36. Mayor John V Lindsay, Charles Goodell

Both Liberal Republicans in the '60s, 1970.

I was already involved in political stuff but not eligible to vote yet.
These are the only two Republicans I ever supported.

[DFW]

40. Charlie Goodell! I remember him well.

He used to come over to the house sometimes, since he was a friend of my dad’s. My father was unofficially named the “dean” of the New York reporters in Washington, so he knew all of those guys pretty well, from Jake Javits onward. A different era.

[electric_blue68]

60. Very cool. It was a different era. I supported those two because...

Lindsey bc the Democratic Candidate (🤔 ? Mario Procaccino) was more conservative on Social issues.

Jake Javits - more hazy in memory probably not changing more liberally on certain issues is my guess.
I'll have to look up that race. 👍

🤔 The only politian who's house I visited with other young Democratic activists was Ted Weiss.

[DFW]

68. I don't remember EVER visiting a major politician at home.

LOTS of them used to visit us, and I'm sure my parents used to go to their places, but I was either too young or already out of the house to accompany them on most of their social visits.

[MyOwnPeace]

56. Nelson Rockefeller and John Heinz.......

Rockefeller died of an erection and Heinz in a helicopter crash.......

[Permanut]

61. Mark Hatfield from Oregon.

[Genki Hikari]

22. I can barely remember a time when I found

more than 2 or 3 of them remotely likable. Off the top of my head, I didn't find Lowell Weicker and Millicent Fenwick despicable. But they'd be Democrats now, without a doubt.

[GoCubsGo]

25. The last two decent ones I can think of were John Chaffee and Mark Hatfield.

I think they probably would have wound up becoming Dems, as well. Chaffee's son, Lincoln, is not contemptible, even though he seems to have settled on being a Libertarian, after trying to run for office as a Democrat. Not sure why he didn't stick with the Dems, but he doesn't suck the way current Republicans do.

[soldierant]

23. I became aware of politics around 1955

when I was about 10. During the Eisenhower administration. I, and the voters in my family, preferred Adlai, but didn't despise Ike. But - McCarthy, both Hoovers - yeah, there were pretty much always some. Though there was also George Wallace (Dem) and MarkHatfield (R). Until the Democratic party became the party of civil rights, and the Republicans - not so much, it wasn't nearly as clear where the evil in American politics was as it is today. But it's certainly clear now.

[NBachers]

24. And uh, oh yeah, this one . . .

[JT45242]

26. Grassley...and the power behind the minions Koch and other billionaire

The minions are reprehensible, but after citizen united it is like a hydra... If you defeat one. The billionaire bullies running the party from the shadows and the federalist society replace with two even more reprehensible.

Unless we get a lot more than 60 percent to bother to show up to vote, it will get a lot worse.

[childfreebychoice]

27. In a way I am "glad" rethugs won the house, cuz we need

To keep dems riled up, motivated to turn out, big time in, '24, espec with so many dem sen seats up for grabs.

[Cheezoholic]

28. This thread

is giving me a fucking migraine from hell

[Hermit-The-Prog]

29. Gangsters Of Putin merged with the U.S. Taliban, directed by Fascist Oligarch eXtremists.

They have self-selected for extremism since the Lewis Powell memo and the Southern strategy.

[sarcasmo]

30. I remember when the GOP wheeled racist Strom Thurmond in for a vote, simpler times.

[Orrex]

31. It would be harder to find 2 or 3 Republicans whom I don't despise

[ShazzieB]

39. I can think of 2 I don't absolutely loathe and despise.

I may catch hell for this post, but I'm feeling really good after Warnock's win last night, so here goes.

I don't totally despise Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins. Even though Collins is annoying as fuck at times, both of them have done the right thing at least on occasion. Not saying I'm a huge fan, but they're nowhere as despicable as some of their colleagues.

Mitt Romney is also not a complete asshole, at least not 100% of the time. Could use more backbone and a few more brain cells, but I don't feel the same level of baked in evil as I do with some others (TFG, McTurtle, Cancun Cruz, etc.).

Please note, I'm not saying I'm a big fan of Mitt, Susan, or Lisa. I'm just saying they don't feel like Satan personified to me, and I think I could be in the same room with any of them for a few minutes without having to fight the urge to punch them in the face. The list of Republicans I could not say that about is much, much longer!

[Tom Rinaldo]

45. I actually have some degree of respect for Lisa Murkowski

Of course I would never support her against any decent competitive Democrat, the best thing I can say about her politics is that she is a centrist in a party of right wingers. But she does sometimes stand up against her party on issues that she cares about. Collins I don't really respect, but I acknowledge that she is not one of the really bad ones. I will always give Romney some credit for voting to impeach Trump twice, but he has disappointed me time and again for not being a strong enough voice within the Republican Party against Trump, He could have been a real leader.

[ShazzieB]

72. I agree with everything you said about Murkowski and Collins.

Also agree that Mitt definitely needs more of a spine. I don't think he likes a lot of what's going on in his party, and if he could find the courage to take a stand, he might be able to make a real difference.

But the fact that he, Collins, and Murkowski all voted to remove Trump is a is big plus for all 3 of them, afaic.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

32. Gym Jordon and MTG are the worst. DeSantis has no soul

[SleeplessinSoCal]

33. It's all a scheme to own the libs.

If we have a great candidate, they elect a terrible one. See how they own us?

[Blue Owl]

37. The Pillow fuck

[twodogsbarking]

41. Reagan.

[Sky Jewels]

70. Same. I was an apolitical 14-year-old, and then that fucker came along.

Turned me into an instant outspoken liberal.

So, I guess he did one good thing.

[mgardener]

43. Don't forget

My personal favorite, Elise Sefanik.

[Trueblue Texan]

46. Phil Gramm, Ted Cruz, ...

Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Mitch McConnell.

[joshdawg]

51. I'll throw in Kay Granger.

She's about as worthless as t*** on a boar hog.

[Stuart G]

47. Mitch McConnell, Mitch McConnell, Mitch McConnell. "The Absolute WORST"

[lambchopp59]

50. Sodium Bicarbonate

Mix about 100 boxes baking soda in just enough water for suspension. Spray both houses of congress liberally with solution. The Democrats will only need to dry off and change clothes. The Republicans will all be melting from all the corrosion they've developed, bubbling and disintegrating like the wicked witch in Oz.

[IronLionZion]

53. They represent their deplorable voters

Plenty of people are into it.

[MyOwnPeace]

57. VERY good point!

We just saw 48% of Georgia prove that!

[ENO in 2024]

59. Hive minded

Thugs are so horrible and I want to mention my congressman insurrectionist August Plfuger. Don't forget this ______ p____. Ran unopposed. We have to fill all ballots with candidates. Holy crap, I'll frickin do it.

[Jilly_in_VA]

67. I go all the way back

to Joseph R. McCarthy, who unfortunately was at one time our senator from Wisconsin when I lived there, and a guy from North Dakota who I heard my dad refer to so often as "that ass Karl Mundt" that when I was 7 or 8 I thought "That Ass" was his real first name!

Gym Jordan. Paul Gooser. Andy Biggity. Tommy Tuberville. And of course Russian Ron Johnson.

[Scottie Mom]

69. Ronnie Raygun

I despise that SOB!

[Submariner]

73. But, today, despicable people are the rule, not the exception,

IMO, you can thank the Scalia Coup of December 12, 2000, who gave us the guy who didn't keep the country safe and lost both his revenge wars, before appointing the racist Roberts and anti-women Alito to the supremes.