OK, explain this to me like I’m a Complete Idiot because I don’t get it: Part SIX.

[HughBeaumont]

So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. - Barack Obama, 2008

Remember this little snippet by our President during the election a while back? Hee hee . . . that caused a little brew-ha-ha among people of all political stripes (especially the “anti-trade” piece. Let’s face it, I’m as anti-free-trade as it comes).

I know something, however, that Republicans annoyingly and steadfastly cling to above all else. And it’s especially confounding and downright idiotic considering it’s 2009 and all.

I’m of course talking about their favorite ad hominem canard . . . .

THE RED MENACE!!!

“Socialist!” “Comm’nist! Obama’s a Soshulist Comm’nist! ALL Democraps are COMM’NISTS!” “Stalinist!” “Obama’s a MARXIST!” “Lib’ruls = socialists = Democraps = Marxists = Leninists = COMM’NISTS! No worse than a turrurist . . . thur all the SAAAAMMME” (as he wags his wrinkled fist in the air)

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Really, old man river? In 2009? Seriously? I’m finding, however, that not only is this idiotic label used by grizzled old “Reagan Democrat” (read: Republican) bastards but by the younger GOP and right-libertarian lobotomy patients as well. You know, those whom you’d think would know better.

What GIVES?

Let’s get past the fact that many of them have absolutely no idea what these terms actually mean or how they differentiate in definition and their specific place in history and economics. What I want to know is why are they still using these ridiculously outdated Evil Empire-era “burns” from the early to mid-80s? The words themselves really should have no emotional significance to anyone under the age of 45 at this point.

The U.S.S.R has long since dissolved into individual republics. Totalitarianism with the Communist mask died there with hardly a whimper. The Berlin Wall came down. Russia is now just another former superpower with its own problems and crumbling infrastructure. America’s largest creditor is, by definition, a repressive and somewhat still Totalitarian “Communist” nation that practices some aspects of western capitalism. They’re also one of our most massive trading partners (have been since the days of Prescott Bewsh), one that puts acidic junk in the stores many conservatives shop at.

It’s been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that mixed economies with socialistic practices in Scandanavia, Canada and western Europe are doing a far better job of surviving the global economic downturn than America is. Their universal health care thrives to the benefit of their citizenry with very few major issues. No one gets thrown out of their homes or has their finances ruined for the crime of getting sick. Their college educations are covered, unlike the average American student who enters the work world multiple-thousands in debt out of the blocks. Their social safety nets are something only we can envy; far better than our 26-week less-than-poverty pittance.

Even America itself practices some forms of (gasp) socialism and only the most off-the-charts Bircher fascist would oppose it. Public transportation, Police, Fire and Water departments, libraries, the military, schools, road crews, waste treatment, social security, unemployment insurance (which Reagan once called “a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders” . .. charming guy :eyes: ) . . . we take all of these societal aspects for granted because we expect them to be there for us when we’re most in need.

Knowing all this, why do Republicans adamantly refuse to let GO of the RED MENACE (well, besides the painfully obvious)??

Is it their petulant and bitter need to always have some enemy to cling to? If not Muslims, Hollywood or gay people, does it have to be “Reds undah th’ bed”?

Also, is it hilarious to anyone else that they find a system of economics “evil”? Here’s another point that was brought up before, I forget where: If conservatives hate communism SO much, then why are they so supportive of the type of economic system that led to its rise? I don’t think Communism (if it was practiced correctly) was ever really inherently “evil”, per se. It’s probably just not the right fit for what America’s needs are . . . kind of like “unbridled corporatism”.

Either way, has anyone ever received a straight and/or correct answer from any of their right-wing relatives/friends/enemies as to why they keep comparing Democrats to all things “Soviet” and sound like downright morons in the process?

Once again, explain this to me like I’m a COMPLETE idiot because I don’t get it!

[AspenRose]

1. It's code

They called MLK a "communist" too

[dugaresa]

2. the irony is how much the US is dependent upon Red China

yet you don't hear any republicans preaching to the folks here about separating ourselves from the Reds in China?

As I recall, China has most favored nation status or something to that effect.

[MADem]

3. Those Republicans want to do plenty of business with the Red Chinese! nt

[FarCenter]

4. "Red China" is no longer a communist country

Although the party in power still calls itself "communist", they are no longer Marxist-Leninist.

They have evolved to more of a fascist totalitarian political organization with an economic system based on a mixture of large old strategic state enterprises, regulated corporatist enterprises and free-wheeling small business.

In other words, they are a pretty normal 21st Century country, to which 19th Century ideological labels don't really apply.

The new balance of power is not between the legislative, executive and judicial -- it is between the economically powerful, the politically powerful, and the street.

[dugaresa]

10. what communist government ever was truly a communist government?

[lurky]

5. Anti-communism was the glue for the Republican

coalition, IMO:

The moneybag Republicans were terrified of the economics.
The militarist Republicans were terrified of the Soviet threat.
The religious Republicans were terrified of the "godlessness".

And after 40 years of demonizing communism (understandably, for the most part), calling your opponent a communist became equivalent to calling them a traitor, a public enemy, or a criminal in the public eye.

Even though the threat of communism is about as likely as the Red Coats coming back and invading Boston, conservatives who grew up in the Cold War still reflexively respond to the word with outrage and fear. They have been conditioned to.

[izquierdista]

6. Because of the similarities

I traveled through Ukraine earlier this year, and when I got back, I traveled from the West Coast to East Coast of the United States. I saw lots of similarities. Just as I saw vacant, dilapidated buildings in Ukraine, I saw vacant and boarded up properties in the U.S. Just as there were factories that were rusting and had been for at least a decade in Ukraine, there are idle factories with several years worth of weeds in the parking lot in the U.S. In both countries, when you go to a shopping mall, you see endless arrays of cheap Chinese merchandise, and it is hard to find locally made items (except for food).

No, we've ended up at the same end point as the Soviets, and there are really only two differences to point out: (1)housing in the U.S. is more spacious than cramped Ukrainian dwellings, and (2) where the Ukrainians walk or take public transport, Americans have to (and it is obligatory) drive if they want anything.

[HughBeaumont]

7. The inventive spirit just isn't there.

This is due in large part to nothing being invented in garages by individuals anymore - new products are made in corporate-funded labs backed by mega dollars. These plants could be making something, but instead they're idled because mere profit just isn't enough. If it's not quantifiable, it's not worth it.

It kind of makes you wonder why they choose not to SEE that the economic system they so love is leading this population to the same place a skewered version of the economic system they hate did. The light doesn't click off in their heads at all. That pothole-strewn road to them is "just another reezin I shouldn't HAFTA pay taxes cuz nuthin' gits done!". The closed business to them is "just another loser who failed". They don't seem to get that there are reasons behind all of these problems, ones that they're likely not willing to accept.

[GreenArrow]

8. Plenty of "red baiting" right here on DU

ostensibly by Democrats.

[el_bryanto]

9. It does have historical roots

The threat of Communism is infiltration - go watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers to get an idea of the mentality they are coming from. Any move towards socialism or liberalism is a threat because it all ends in Stalinism, in their mind, in an autocratic communist state which controls every aspect of your life.

Big Brother Is Watching You in other words.

So yeah, health care for people what needs it sounds good, but it's just a stepping stone towards a boot trampling on the human spirit forever and ever.

Or that's the mentality; it's not exactly rational, but it does have a kind of internal logic.

Bryant