To GOP bloviaters: Political alliances are not brand. A "brand" is a
marketing term and brands can be bought or sold. The people who rally around a particular set of ideas cannot be bought or sold, as you should have learned from this election. How many well established and reputable "brands" have we seen in retail and industry lose their quality after their name was sold to the highest bidder. You cannot treat governance or allies like a product. Changing the name on a can of crap doesn't change the fact that there is crap inside the can. Changing the picture on the label doesn't make it stink less or make it more acceptable.
Words matter and the Republican party has tried to trademark many of them over the years. Accompanied by nonverbals and attitudes tied up neatly for you by Luntz, you chopped the nation into pieces, We all recognized those labels and buzzwords for what they were intended to be. We've heard the dog whistles and bullhorns disseminating the message that being an American meant that you needed to have been accorded privilege--privilege of skin color, birth, religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, and party affiliation. That those who did not fit neatly into these circumscribed categories were excluded, derided, threatened, and excoriated. Your party took us to the brink of economic disaster twice and actively participated in preventing a speedier recovery for political gain.
If you think that this "brand" will be forgotten for the substandard product, if you will, it offered to large segments of our society, your are sadly mistaken. We, who stood to be disenfranchised, criminalized, and bludgeoned by your ideas, will not forget. The onus is on you to learn a way to live with us-- Hispanic, Asian, European, Middle Eastern, African-American, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, pagan, atheist, LGBT, women, those with disabilities, the poor, and on and on. We will stand united against anything you present in new packaging but smells and looks the same when opened. You wanted your America back. We gave it to you. We gave you the real America--not the fantasy one you have been grooving on since Reagan's "Morning in America." We've been there all along. You just need to look beyond the soft focus lenses and the glare of the Kleig lights. We're staring right back at you and we won't look away. We will not be fooled by you, we will not be conned by you, we will not hand you our rights and ideals, and you will not be able to buy them either.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and people are brands. Nice rant! 
