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Gratuitous Hatred is Destroying The Republicans (And FreeRepublic)
National Review ^ | 3/1/2016 | Dennis Prager

Posted on 03/03/2016 4:52:15 AM PST by LouD

Gratuitous Hatred Is Destroying Republicans — Just as It Did the Ancient Israelites By Dennis Prager — March 1, 2016 I have been a radio talk-show host for 33 years, nationally syndicated for 18. I have never experienced anything similar to what I am experiencing now. Until recently, the only hate mail I ever received was from a small number of people on the left. The major reason for this, I am convinced, is that I don’t yell at callers and I treat callers who disagree with respect.

Reading my e-mails these days is a brand-new experience. I receive hate mail, sometimes laced with obscenities, from Republicans. Most of it comes from Trump supporters, even though whenever I explain my opposition to Trump, I also explain that I understand why so many people support Trump, and even though I ask anti-Trump listeners to respect these Trump supporters.

To show how widespread the hatred among Republicans is, here are excerpts from an e-mail sent by a Cruz supporter in Michigan. He was livid at my having suggested that Cruz consider announcing that he will now back Rubio in order to give Republicans a unified opposition, which is the only chance to stop Trump. I might add that I have said many times that if I could simply appoint a Republican president, it would be Ted Cruz, since he is a true conservative and he doesn’t care whether people love him. However, I believe that Rubio – at least until this weekend and his imitation of Trump’s high-school-level personal insults – has been the Republican with the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton.

The listener’s e-mail read in part:

Dennis, I can’t tell you how p**sed off I am at you for suggesting Cruz drop out in favor of the back stabbing, lying Rubio. You have compromised your own principles. . . . Despicable! A*****es like you . . . lie about “if I could appoint a president, it would be Cruz.” Screw you and all your Salem colleague’s [sic] for pushing the false narrative ‘Rubio is more electable.’ . . . I am no longer a faithful listener and have switched back to Rush after many years. You have lied by obfuscation, and tried to manipulate your listeners, and for that, I despise you and the other Salem turncoats. You all can go F*** yourselves!

As noted, I have quite a few e-mails from Trump supporters who, after years, even decades, of listening to my show, have decided that I am no longer worthy of being listened to. If one doesn’t support Trump, they believe, one is a traitor to the cause.

It is important to point out that I have said over and over that I would vote for Trump if he were the nominee, because it is difficult to conceive of even Trump being worse than four more years of a left-wing president and decades of a left-wing Supreme Court. But to more than a few Trump supporters that is not enough: If you don’t support Trump, you are the enemy.

RELATED: The Worrisome Implications of 2016’s ‘Insult Campaign’

In a nutshell, the hatred and contempt some of the Republican candidates have shown one another is reflected among rank-and-file Republicans. I understand why: Most Republicans view this election as the last chance to save America from becoming the opposite of what it was founded to be. The Left has been eating away at America’s foundational values for nearly a century, and it has been largely successful. Two examples: Seventy percent of college students do not believe in freedom of speech if the speech might hurt someone’s feelings, and many young Americans support a socialist for president.

Meanwhile, many Republicans believe that only their candidate can turn things around. Therefore, Republicans who oppose their man are regarded as no different from Democrats — indeed, perhaps worse.

So this is where we stand today: Many anti-Rubio Republicans regard Rubio as a traitor on the immigration issue and therefore have contempt for his supporters. Many anti-Cruz Republicans regard Cruz as an extremist conservative who is, moreover, a misanthrope, and therefore have contempt for his supporters. And many anti-Trump Republicans – perhaps most – regard Trump as a dangerous fraud, and therefore view his supporters with contempt.

Needless to say, with these attitudes, there is little chance any Republican can win.

RELATED: Stop Defending Trump’s Poisonous ‘Middle-Finger Politics’

So, then, despite eight years of failure under a Democratic president, and with Hillary Clinton — widely regarded as a completely untrustworthy woman who has put pursuit of money and power above the interests of her country — as the Democratic candidate, Republicans will still lose.

And Republicans will have no one to blame but themselves.

In Jewish tradition, there is a famous explanation for the destruction of the Jewish state by the Romans in 70 a.d. The ancient rabbis did not blame the Romans. They blamed the Jews. And the reason, they said, was “gratuitous hatred” — Jews hating one another for no good reason.

Bear in mind: Not all hatred is gratuitous. The hatred of evil, for example, is actually the only moral response to evil.

But gratuitous hatred is utterly destructive. And that’s what many Republicans now have for one another — and what will therefore enable today’s Romans, the Democrats, to destroy our country in the year 2016.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. His latest book, The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code, was published by Regnery. He is the founder of Prager University and may be contacted at dennisprager.com. © 2016 Creators.com


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: absolutism; boohoolou; dennisprager; gop; happy2losewithcruz; losewithcruz; purges; tedthebestloserever
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To: Awgie

And who would know unrestrained demagoguery better than a Trump supporter?


121 posted on 03/03/2016 7:16:18 AM PST by LouD
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To: Em and Brets Mum

>> Of the remaining Republican candidates still standing, which of them do you (or does ANYONE) think has the BEST chance of beating Hillary <<

Every bit of hard data indicates that Kasich would run best against Hilary, Rubio next, and Cruz the least well.

But the data also indicate that any one of them could beat her — whereas Trump would be crushed by the negative advertising campaign the Dhims are bound to run against him.


122 posted on 03/03/2016 7:17:30 AM PST by Hawthorn
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To: bigtoona

We are not at war, we’re trying to choose a candidate, for crying out loud. All of the screaming will not change my mind as much as reason.

As far as the guys at Iwo or at Bastogne, they were fighting so that those rights, life and property, could continue. Back home. In the land of Liberty. Your damn right they were fighting for those things, what’s more, they knew it.

I’ll tell you what they weren’t fighting for, it wasn’t so that you could tell other candidates supporters to creepily take this chance that was sent from God.

It’s beyond frightening if you believe any of these people were sent from God. I’ll stick with Jesus, he seems like a safer bet than the Donald. They’re all just a bunch of politicians, the Donald included.


123 posted on 03/03/2016 7:18:42 AM PST by LurkLongley (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam-For the Greater Glory of God)
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I


124 posted on 03/03/2016 7:20:20 AM PST by LurkLongley (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam-For the Greater Glory of God)
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To: LouD
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! "Intolerance"??? Really??? Put on your big boy pants and understand that when you take a dump in someone else's yard, they're apt to kick you off their property.

Intolerance isn't what destroyed the GOP. Being bought off, paid for and completely inept is what destroyed the GOP. It started dying many years ago and passed away in 2010...officially.

Now, people keep trying to resuscitate a patient who's been brain-dead and non responsive for 6 years.

125 posted on 03/03/2016 7:21:55 AM PST by Solson (Trump plays to win. Deal with it.)
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To: LouD

Mega BTT


126 posted on 03/03/2016 7:24:29 AM PST by Sideshow Bob (FreeRepublic - the new home for moderator-aided Trump circle jerks)
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To: ConservativeWarrior

Exactly.


127 posted on 03/03/2016 7:25:51 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (Cruz=VAT tax= No thanks.)
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To: mad_as_he$$

I heard that The Onion is buying National Review and combining the staffs since they both have very similar writing styles and commitment to the truth.


128 posted on 03/03/2016 7:38:07 AM PST by R Rogers
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To: LouD

Please copy and paste some of the ‘hate’ responces you’ve received from fellow freepers... It’s easier to believe you when you give us facts and screen names not just ‘feelings’...

As far as this radio show host - I can only say that one of the common dirty ticks used by the left is to write hate letters AS IF THOSE LETTERS ARE WRITTEN BY CONSERVATIVES. I’ve talked about this off and on since I became a freeper in 1998.

It’s done in War Rooms and Political Consultant Firms (PR companies). Rush caught this type years ago - - they would call his show with the opening, “I’ve been a Republican for _____ (fill in the blank number of years) BUT I’M UPSET WITH... (then they would go on to bash some Republican)

The other trick to to write letters to our guys with fake direction... it’s dreadful. All I can say to this radio hosts is he needs to ask himself if any of the people he knows in is real world who are backing Trump act like the people in the letters.


129 posted on 03/03/2016 7:49:18 AM PST by GOPJ (:Corrupt white liberal elites propped up by a criminal underclass dancing on burning cars)
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To: R Rogers

lol....winner!


130 posted on 03/03/2016 7:55:54 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (Cruz=VAT tax= No thanks.)
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To: Helicondelta

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Prager, who advertises his writings as “Wisdom.”

Too much ego, not enough humility.


131 posted on 03/03/2016 8:00:07 AM PST by Loud Mime (Liberalism: Intolerance masquerading as tolerance)
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To: LouD

Incorrect.

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform


132 posted on 03/03/2016 8:36:12 AM PST by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: GOPJ; Travis T. OJustice
I didn't mention hate responses from FReepers, but since you asked for Trump zombie insane FReepmails, here you go...

Your wife cheats on you. Your neighbors laugh at you.
___________

Ok, come pick up that pig of yours.
She’s probably going to need a really good shower.
She’s such a dirty girl.
Would you rather I bring her home? i’ll use one of my work truck and throw her in the back so it doesn’t stink the cab up.
At least your neighbors are used to seeing her get dropped off like that.
______________________

You live next to a sewage lagoon, and you wife sleeps with the trash guy, and you can’t do a damn thing about it because you’re a freakin sissy, louzer. You don’t even make enough to get out of the relationship, and she owns your balls, bitch.

Nice, huh? There are lots more, but you get the idea. These are what serves as reasoned civil discourse in the age of Trump, courtesy of one of his zombie true believers, one "Travis T. OJustice" who I am certain is quite brave while sitting behind a screen, but would never have the balls to say any of this in person.

I'm not too concerned about this, because I recognize that Mr. OJustice is just a cowardly half-wit following the example of, and living vicariously through the bullying behavior of a reality TV star turned presidential candidate, but you asked for an example, so there it is.

And actually, this is pretty mild - I've gotten multiple death threats on facebook for posting anything that conflicts with the Trump party line. Again, I can take care of myself, so I'm not concerned with these a-holes - but the behavior ought to be troubling.

Read this, if you doubt the tactics used by Trump supporters like our dim-witted friend Travis.

133 posted on 03/03/2016 8:43:48 AM PST by LouD
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To: CaptainK

Absolutely correct. You point to plan details he revealed this week, which are contradicted by his own statements in support of the individual mandate as recently as a couple of weeks ago.


134 posted on 03/03/2016 8:46:19 AM PST by LouD
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To: LouD

I go by what’s written and not by your hearsay.


135 posted on 03/03/2016 8:50:18 AM PST by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: CaptainK
Trump's own words are "hearsay?" Wow, you're really willing to suspend that disbelief, huh?
136 posted on 03/03/2016 8:54:06 AM PST by LouD
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To: LouD

Who the hell are you? FO.


137 posted on 03/03/2016 8:57:48 AM PST by ohioman
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To: LouD

Why do you get to decide who is Conservative and who isn’t? Your opinion contradicts with others. We all have the right to vote our own minds. All these who just name call and insult aren’t persuading anyone to change their minds. Your post is an example of the intolerance. If a person dares think differently from you, “ they have abandoned Conservative principles”.

The GOP has destroyed itself, with the majority of Republicans elected totally ignoring their electorate. I’m sick of elitist telling me to think a certain way and shut up and continue to vote for us. Done. Your no different from them, if I dare to disagree. My intelligence, religion, Conservatism, patriotism, etc. gets called into question for not going along with this or that poster. All that does is make me question why I thought This group was any different from any other large gathering of people on the internet. Still the same rudeness and child like behavior you get any where else.


138 posted on 03/03/2016 9:01:12 AM PST by 1scrappymom (No, I am not a Republican. I am a CONSERVATIVE.)
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To: LouD

I watched the entire clip on the bottom of this page.
It’s note mandatory in the Obamacare sense.

He talks about open market competition for the majority of the paying public and an emergency care system the indigent.

http://therightscoop.com/donald-trump-really-said-this-i-like-the-obamacare-mandate/


139 posted on 03/03/2016 9:04:57 AM PST by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: LouD
Frepmails can trolled.. Tell me something I can confirm... something in the forum.
140 posted on 03/03/2016 9:05:49 AM PST by GOPJ (Corrupt white liberal elites propped up by a criminal underclass dancing on burning cars.- Demorats)
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