First up is the new Washington Poll on the Tea Party. It's nice to have some aggregate data on their views on race, immigration, and gay rights. Not that this will matter at all to those members of the Cult who believe that 99 percent of the GOP is decidedly not racist. Their assertions, echoed here in comments, remind me of my son with his hand in the cookie jar looking at me with straight face and saying that he is not snitching any cookies.
Let's take a look at the data.
- 74 percent of respondents think that equal rights are important for blacks and minorities to succeed but it's not the government's job to insure that they do.
- 78 percent disagree that over the years blacks have gotten less then they deserve.
- 46 percent think that if blacks tried harder they would be as well off as whites
- 54 percent think that immigration is changing US culture for the worse.
- 88 percent approve of the new Arizona law.
- 23 percent think that welcoming immigrants is a good thing for the US
- 73 percent disapprove of President Obama's engagement of Muslim countries
- 63 percent think we should single out Muslims for screening at airports
- 18 percent think that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry
- 52 percent think that gays and lesbians have too much political power.
They are largely united in being unsympathetic to African Americans, militant in their hostility toward illegal immigrants, and very conservative socially. At a minimum, these data throw cold water on the view that the TPM is essentially libertarian. Based on these data, I would say that TPM members have much more in common with social conservatives that welcome government intervention as long as it’s in support of their agenda.
As Bill Maher said, not all conservatives are racist but if you are a racist, chances are, you're conservative.
I think these numbers accurately reflect the Cult's view on these issues. Before any of my usual readers do their interpretive re-direct dance, answer the polls questions...honestly. And then we can have a discussion about your answers.
12 comments:
I'm getting tired of the whole "this group thinks X" game.
It's rather pointless to cite polls on social issues because polls always ask leading questions and don't allow you to respond with any kind of nuance.
It's always ridiculous when conservatives say "Liberals think X," when they actually are oversimplifying and misrepresenting what "liberals" think, and not every person who calls himself a liberal thinks that. And it's just as silly when Mark says "the Cult thinks X" when not every "Cult" member thinks X, and no one Marks says is in the Cult thinks he's in the Cult.
Yeah, I know Mark has simply adopted the right's tactic of tarring ideas by associating them with a group and then giving that group a pejorative name. But it's a bogus tactic ("Hitlerian" to coin an even more pejorative adjective) no matter who uses it.
Instead of arguing in the abstract about some indeterminate group of randomly selected people that no one can place into an actual coherent organization, you should talk about real people who have done real things or expressed real opinions.
Like, say, Rush Limbaugh, who is apparently opposed to gay marriage because it will destroy traditional marriage. Rush just got married for the fourth time to a woman nearly young enough to be his granddaughter. Looks like Rush is a one-man marriage wrecking crew.
Newt Gingrich is going to have to start dating overtime to catch up -- he still hasn't ditched wife #3 (the was he was cheating with during the Lewinsky affair).
And the funny thing is that Rush apparently paid Elton John a million bucks to sing at his wedding.
I disagree, blk. Rush Limbaugh hasn't destroyed marriage.
Ha! Just kidding...
Mark isn't labeling in the same way the right does. He's pointing to a systemic problem with the GOP that they deny continually: they don't like non whites. Much of their ideology stems from these feelings and this poll illustrates it perfectly. Let's see if anyone takes the poll!
As Bill Maher said, not all conservatives are racist but if you are a racist, chances are, you're conservative.
I could be precisely as accurate for precisely the same reasons if I said, "Not all liberals are lawbreakers but if you don't think you should have to obey the law, chances are you're a liberal."
Okay, so by your definition:
74 percent of respondents think that equal rights are important for blacks and minorities to succeed but it's not the government's job to insure that they do.
It is not enough to support equal rights, unless you think it is the government's job to insure non-whites succeed, you're a racist. Whether they likewise insure that whites succeed is completely beside the point.
78 percent disagree that over the years blacks have gotten less then they deserve.
Unless you consider eligibility for welfare that whites don't qualify for, employment preferences that whites don't qualify for, and a plethora of little cultural things embraced as "pride" when blacks do it, but demonized as "racism" if whites do it... unless all that is still "less than they deserve", you're racist.
I guess it all depends on how you define "over the years".
46 percent think that if blacks tried harder they would be as well off as whites
Unless you think blacks are inherently inferior, and cannot possibly achieve equal result by equal effort under equal circumstances, you're racist. I'm surprised you're willing to openly admit to that one, Mark.
54 percent think that immigration is changing US culture for the worse.
My my, how very substantive and factual and stuff. Since you present this as evidence of racism, the obvious corrolary is that anyone who disagrees with you on this subject is therefore racist. Since it's entirely subjective, it amounts to "you're a racist because I said so."
88 percent approve of the new Arizona law.
Which mirrors California law and Federal law. So, expecting law enforcement agencies to actually enforce the law is racist.
73 percent disapprove of President Obama's engagement of Muslim countries
There is no possibility of disagreement with Obama's Middle East policy on substantive grounds. Either you agree 100% or you are racist. I can't say that surprises me at all coming from you.
63 percent think we should single out Muslims for screening at airports
If actual safety trumps whether people's feelings are hurt for you, so much so that you're willing to single out the demographic the vast majority of terrorists comes from for special attention, the fact that so many terrorists are from that demographic is immaterial, the real reason you're doing it is because you're racist.
18 percent think that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry
52 percent think that gays and lesbians have too much political power.
If you do not agree 100% with the gay rights agenda, you're racist. Your ethnicity, the ethnicities of gays you may know, and your own sexuality have nothing to do with it. You disagree, therefore you are racist.
This is sad Mark, even for you.
Mark - do you think people that are minorities have as much innate potential as anyone else? You'd of course claim that you do think that, but I think you are subconsciously racist. You seem to think that minorities need an artificial leg up in order to compete on an even level with whites and asians. Why not let that condescending attitude go Mark?
Mark isn't labeling in the same way the right does.
Bullllllllll-shit.
The amazing thing here is that M is always throwing libertarians into his cult mix. Here the data says, nope, no libertarians here. But does that change HIS definition of the cult?
It must be nice having a standard so flexible you can tie it in knots like that.
When there's any possible way, by even the most insane stretch, that something could be motivated by racism, then "not all conservatives are racist but if you are a racist, chances are, you're conservative."
But if a liberal does something racist, assuming it's so OMG blatant that you can get his supporters to admit the possibility at all, then "everyone is racist".
It's amazing how "everyone is racist", but only as long as liberal racism is in the news. The moment it slips out of the headlines, conservatives corner the market on racism, again.
How DO they do it?
"54 percent think that immigration is changing US culture for the worse.
"23 percent think that welcoming immigrants is a good thing for the US"
What kind of immigration? Legal? Or Illegal?
Both of these questions are invalid and expose the bias of the pollster.
"Rush just got married for the fourth time to a woman nearly young enough to be his granddaughter. Looks like Rush is a one-man marriage wrecking crew."
I wouldn't say he's a "one-man" crew, because he could not cause that much damage all by his lonesome. But he has certainly destroyed his own credibility on what marriage is.
So blk, do you think Rush's actions damage the institution of marriage? Do you think there is a reason why the "traditional" definition of marriage exists and that therefore it should be defended against actions which damage that institution (which would include Rush's action)?
So let me get this straight…
Conservatives are "racist" because we insist on colorblind policies (which is what the poll reflects), but leftists like Bill Maher aren't, no matter how much actual racist crap they spew?
So when are you going to claim that we've always been at war with Oceana?
Let's see if Ed understands what the word "reflection" means. Can you think of a reason why your question above would be considered out of touch with reality by someone who isn't white?
And how would you have answered the poll?
Can you think of a reason why your question above would be considered out of touch with reality by someone who isn't white?
You mean someone like Ward Connerly?
Talk about who is out of touch with reality!!! Way [waaaaayy out there] to go M!
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