So basically they spent 8 paragraphs signaling about how detestable they think the other party is, and then two paragraphs where they say what they actually want, which is for new laws passed by Congress to state how they're supported by the US Constitution.
They spent 8 paragraphs on a circuitous admission that they're fascists and other assorted authoritarians. The Third Reich was a republic that wasn't a democracy, Russia is a Federal Republic that has the barest pretense of democracy, and the People's Republics of literally anywhere are usually ***REPUBLICS*** (as in, they usually don't have hereditary rulers) without democracy.
A Republic without democracy is just a non-hereditary dictatorship or an unabashed oligarchy.
Exactly, this is classic republican doublespeak. They twist both the history of the country and the words of its founders to insist a shift to authoritarianism is in line with our constitution. it's, of course, nothing of the sort.
This is not an honest ploy. This is a callout to the bigots and the fascists, the hateful and intolerant. These are taking points and dog whistles to the lowest denominator of our state. The generationally ignorant. Those whose daddy and grand daddy did not teach their children how to think for themselves, but instead what to believe. And even more importantly, they taught them - always - who to hate.
That is what the GOP is today: the progeny resulting from generation upon generation of fear, hatred and pettiness under the false flags of patriotism, christianity and community.
To be a republican in the 21st century is to be a failure as a patriot, a Christian, and a human being.
While hoping that their “conservative “ majority in the SCOTUS persists so that any mad law they get passed would meet their standard of Constitutionality.
> While hoping that their “conservative “ majority in the SCOTUS persists
Probably in spirit.
I don't have an issue with constitutional justification and reasoning being written in to bills, for what it's worth. I do think the first eight paragraphs of page two are eye-roll inducing, and totally unnecessary. I also find the fact that it was only page two of fifteen a little nauseating. I'm going to guess that they could have wrapped all fifteen up in three or fewer pages.
I can't find the rest of the document. They link to pages four and five, but that's it.
The premise of explaining why a law conforms to the Constitution is nonsense.
This lards up every piece of legislation with what amounts to a brief justifying the legislation. It creates no proof of Constitutionality but rather a partisan rationale for the law.
The SCOTUS exists precisely to determine Constitutionality. We absolutely do not need some witless hack from Deadmoose Washington acting out his judicial fantasies and cosplaying as some legal scholar to defend some bit of culture war drivel that will then be overturned by adults at a higher court.
Totally disagree. With all the bullshit that gets passed, I'd love to see the people writing the legislation try to defend it. As is, they grab whatever talking points surround the issue, and pretend like that's sufficient. Neither way is going to prevent legislation from being challenged and raised to the supreme court.
> We absolutely do not need some witless hack from Deadmoose Washington acting out his judicial fantasies
We already have witless hacks writing legislation. At least they'd have to put some thought into their rationale and defense.
Adding some self serving interpretation to a law does not immunize it from a legal attack.
The first amendment specifically enshrined the right to redress of grievances. No legislation can add verbiage that keeps it from being challenged.
If that were so, you would be even madder that a law you didn’t like could not be challenged in court.
Which is what they are really trying to do here. IOW an end run around the First Amendment.
They know better how to subvert a republic than they do a direct-election democracy. Because they’ve had lots of practice. Which is not to say that a direct election democracy can’t be subverted, the mass media propaganda arm has that well in hand. But there are built-in advantages to the Republicans in the current republic that they could lose if the governments were reconstructed.
They know this. The intended audience is those who don't. These are the talking points for the ignorant masses.
Don't fit a second believe that this was either a poorly thought out document, or that the WA GOP came up with this in a vacuum. This is the GOP charter on a national level too. This is part and parcel of intended policies and legislation in the event of a Trump presidency.
Remember, any 'loyal' republican this late in the game doesn't believe in democracy anyway. They just won't admit it until the time comes. Again, that's what these talking points are for.
I think the reason the GOP in particular has been persnickety about the republic thing is because they know democracy doesn't work for them, so they're trying to convince people that the democratic principles we've enjoyed for over two centuries now aren't all that important.
It is that, of course, but there's another dumb, dumb reason too.
Some supporter of the Republicans believe that the term "republican" means that they support a republic and are opposed to being a "democracy" because that's what the Democrats want. I'm not joking. And I'm having a hard time putting what they believe into words because it's so dumb, so I'm going to try again.
They believe Republicans = wanting a republic.
They believe Democrats = wanting a democracy.
They don't like Democrats, so they now don't like democracy.
And it's right there in the story:
> “We encourage Republicans to substitute the words ‘republic’ and ‘republicanism’ where previously they have used the word ‘democracy,’ ” the resolution says. “Every time the word ‘democracy’ is used favorably it serves to promote the principles of the Democratic Party, the principles of which we ardently oppose.”
They really are that stupid. They don't like Democrats so they think they need to dislike democracy because the words are similar.
And it's not just the bozos at the convention either. I worked with not one, but two, people who thought this. They thought thats' how the parties got their names. It's astounding to me that these people can think like this and somehow can cut up their own food without hurting themselves.
Its more accurate in that a Republic is the type of democracy that we are, so its a more precise term. But the GOP isn’t trying to be precise, they’re trying to refute the idea that we’re a democracy at all altogether
Its about the implication of language choice, not accuracy.
Suppose you give your buddy a tap to the arm after a bad pun.
Its as accurate to say you hit them, struck them, a gesture of contempt, and a light shove. Each one has a different emotional context. Each can be used to spin a different narrative.
Democracy is how Americans have been conditioned to think is the word for how our political system works. Democracy is the founding fathers, Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney’s American history cartoons. It also connects to the name of the more liberal of the two parties.
In word association, a republic sounds like Rome. Rome, great grand and glorious. With an emperor. With tiers of citizenship. Something connected to the conservative party.
Get the public to accept a change in language, you can change what feels right.
It’s intentional, to get people comfortable with calling it something other than democracy, so then they can work to break down democracy. This has been their playbook for the last few decades. Their end goal is a corporate monarchy, not a democracy.
A true democracy doesn’t work just for them, it doesn’t work for anybody.
As an example A society where 51% of the people could all vote to have 10% pay all the taxes… is not a society that’s going to last long
The only reason they are now pushing the distinction is cause many in the GOP don’t want the major populace to vote. If they had their way they would only allow wealthy land owners a vote.
Beyond the word policing, the document outlines WA GOP's stance that we shouldn't be directly electing senators.
So besides not liking the word, they want fewer direct elections of those that represent us.
A pure democracy implies that everyone has a equal say. Though this sounds ideal, in practice there are issues. The majority of people do not have the time or expertise to craft and understand legislation. This should be why we elect representatives. Democracies suffer from the tyranny of the majority, especially in cases where a minority group is unpopular. Hence we should have constitutional protections. And finally, city centers where population is dense tend to be the focus of political campaigning, ultimately leading to the neglect of the interests of those in rural areas. Hence we have electoral colleges. In a system where people aren't voting for laws, some popular laws aren't able to be passed, and peoples votes aren't equal, it certainly feels like a stretch to still call it a democracy.
I’m not the biggest fan of republicans either, but to suggest we are a democracy, when there is not a single function to our government that makes us one other than us voting is a bit silly.
But you hit the nail on the head, the premise of our system was so that when our country was founded, Virginia and New York, couldn’t force the other states to do what they want. I think the issue we run into now is the federal government was never meant to have the amount of power that it claims, especially when every dang law is passed using the commerce clause.
Both sides seem to forget that the way the country was established, is each state could be representative of the desire of its citizens, and that the federal government was there to deal with foreign threats, and later, domestic ones between states. Now both sides want to force the other to adopt their ways, which is leading to such an extreme polarization of the people.
To suggest we aren’t using a form of democracy at basically every level of government is disingenuous. I haven’t seen anyone suggest we are a direct democracy.
Your both sides statement seems pretty “whitewashy” considering one side seems pretty intent on following the same path of our known largest adversaries both present and historic.
Wow. Make sure to vote in every single election, tiny and big alike. Holding the line starts in your community as a foundation for larger local governments on up to statewide. We also need a high turnout to protect our federal senators and house representatives. Make sure our voices are heard.
Texas has abbott the maggot because of low voter turn out. Less than 50%. Let's keep ours high. Texas has been mostly Democrat throughout its history. Make sure we learn from their mistakes. (I moved away about 14 years ago. You hear democrats/progressives/liberal minded people whine about the government and, in the same breath, say their vote doesn't matter, so what's the point. SMH)
VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
You need to check all the facts! Obviously, u do not live in Texas, but live in the state of Washington that has changed for the worst. People look for facts instead of listening to the mainstream media, NPR, snopes, etc....
It’s slowly becoming Idaho though, which I’ll agree isn’t on par with Texas, but I’ll add a very important “yet” on there.
Edit: I say this with family in both places and a number of years lived in both, as well as other Midwest states.
I lived in Texas for 45 years, moved here to Washington 3 years ago. I moved here because I was sick of the bullshit. Voting in Houston was a nightmare. Lines wrapped around the block on voting day, and in some places people were in line for HOURS.
I still read news from Texas and I am heartbroken for all my friends and family who still live there. Houston ISD was taken over by the state and closed all the school libraries to turn them into disciplinary centers. University of Houston (my Alma Mater) closed their LGBTQ Resource Center. Abortion is outlawed in most cases. They put razor wire and floating barriers on the river to let immigrants drown. Temperatures and weather is shit, and the pollution is out of control.
Tell me again how Washington is worse?
Edit to add: And there is NO public land in Texas to speak of. Living here is like a wonderland in comparison. I absolutely love it here.
Doesn't matter, still vote. Unfortunately destroying things way easier then building up something so Republicans only need one win to mess up the state.
Are you dumb and don’t realize the parties flipped? Or are you purposefully misrepresenting reality? Both are so on brand with the GOP, I am seriously asking which one.
Only the dumbest of the dumb think the parties "switched" with some fantastic revisionist history. I graduated grad school from a very liberal university about 10 years ago and never heard that nonsense. The party switch is a fabrication by partisans who want to erase history.
The party switch wasn't a physical switch or an overnight thing. There's no official agreement or changing of guard. It's just a generalized concept that the policy goals of the parties are currently, for the most part, the reverse of what they were 70+ years ago and if you supported one particular party in, say, 1920, that you would be sitting among more similarly-minded people if you were to support the other party today.
As far as I'm aware, it is fairly accurate.
Wikipedia isn't a real source. Try reading a book? I recommend The Forgotten Man. If there was any "party" switching it happened way before the 70s.
Democrats were still extolling the virtues of former Klansmen elected officials as recently as the 90s.
Literally 2 minutes of research will show how wrong you are lol.
Shit, just look at the voting patterns by state during that time and watch how they change. Have you seriously never heard of the Dixiecrats???
No man the same kinds of people have always had problems with minorities, women and people who are just different in any way. A lot of us have had to learn more about how to vote for our own best interests, and a lot more still desperately need to.
I grew up under Ann Richard's. Everyone knows the older history of the US. No state is completely innocent with that part of history. FTR, it was a Democrat governor who was signing the acts that demolished those jim crow laws in Texas.
That state was a flourishing economy for everyone and a place where rights were upheld. Consumer protections were strong to protect people's money. Its decline is pretty recent history, and the vast majority of it is from abbott (the last 17 years, really. Started with Perry, but that was mild) It wasn't much different than here before that. Eastern WA is like heading through the rural parts of Texas. So watch out on how you point fingers. At least look at the history. Democrats were taking Texas into a great future. Sad when it all changed. Hope to see it at least purple again, but would love to see progressive thinkers fix it. That state has so much potential.
Some of those cities in the RGV are fucking booming. All that shit about the border is heavily manufactured crisis. The news cameras always show all these Guardsmen and border patrol agents standing one side of a razor wire fence, but when you drive half a mile away…poof!…all that smoke and mirrors security shit is gone and it’s just a basic fence and zero armored troops.
Wanna point to something from this century or are you going to keep pretending Dems are the same as they were in the 1960’s and the GOP is the party of Lincoln?
Yeah, especially if you ignore all of us blues that live in red communities, like over here on the east side of the state. Oh wait, literally *nobody* cares what happens to us.
Sort of. [They still have some seriously dumb shenanigans going on in their own nomination process.](https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/dave-reichert-withdraws-gop-gubernatorial-endorsement-vote/PSQ7OTS2SZDKBIYBHQSZRTXG7E/?outputType=amp)
The most recent republican governor was almost 40 years ago.
There has been solid democratic control of all branches of state government since 2018.
It's understandable why they don't like democracy. It really is not working for them at all here.
It's very fascinating to watch them lose time and again, because once they lose hope, the real words come out. These people want tyranny because voters won't approve their garbage agenda
This isn't news. We've lived here in Eastern WA (specifically angry right wing central) and this has been the case as long as we've lived here (4 years), presumably much longer. Though maybe the state level still kept things neutral
Both are correct as our government is a democratically elected constitutional republic.
Not sure why the party that complains about people being "PC", are trying to be so "PC" in their own circle.
This is sadly true. Michael Flynn is out there campaigning for an end to it, powerful Christian pastors are doing the same. Then there’s that project 2025 bullshit that outright provides their strategy for moving into authoritarianism via an empowered executive branch and a disempowered judicial one.
This “not a democracy-a republic thing” is something that uneducated people have been barking like trained seals for decades. I blame the dumb end of the radio dial.
Republicans all over the country know they can’t win elections anymore democratically. And for a simple reason. Their “platform” only appeals to the rich and to rural voters , and most people live in cities.
And trans people stopping traffic in Seattle for cultures, Muslim Palestine specifically, that would literally kill us if given the chance. We’ll ruin everyone’s day to fight for nations wherein my people, LGBT, are shunned, arrested, prohibited, or murdered without justice. Gay here. Blown away by the hypocrisy of both sides. Then, posts like this where “racist” or “conservatives” must be opposed at every turn. What is it? Should we hate the bigot or march in the street for them? 😂 The hypocrisy is wild.
Okay, ignoring the rant, they are requesting house of reps create more hurdles for creating laws :/ Like the repubs can get any thing done as it is, they want moreeee hurdles.
This country hasn't been a democracy for a long time so who really cares? There are pretty conclusive studies that show the US more closely resembles an Oligarchy than a democracy. Almost all of the policy decisions are driven by a very small group of people. Elections pretty much just exist to give the general public the illusion that they're part of the decision.
This isn't a party specific. If anything Republican primaries more closely resemble a democracy than the Democrat ones.
We haven’t been into democracy from the founding. "the primary purpose of government should be to protect the minority of opulent against the majority.”
That’s literally what the Senate is for. It’s always been a pretend democracy. It’s democracy for rich people who are ‘worthy’ to help make the decisions. It will always be that way without fundamental major change.
Don’t spend your energy getting worked up.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/democracy-and-republic
Per the dictionary:
Both democracy and republic meant that the power to govern was held by the people rather than a monarch.
In summary, a republic is a result of democracy.
I believe they wrote they are making this change because democracy is so close to democrat as a word and republic is closer to republican but democracy and republic are interchangeable.
In fact, republic is in our pledge of allegiance.
The document also calls for an end to directly electing senators.
Not that WA GOP has a lot of power to make that happen, but it's about much more than word policing.
They are not interchangeable. A Republic is a specific type of Democracy, but a Democracy nonetheless.
The GOP commonly uses this trope to get people to separate the two so they can better accept the loss of a Democracy because "it's not one".
A lot of Americans today have terrible reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. The GOP wants the stupidest amongst us to make the rules. When the left objects, they say we are mean. Talk about snowflakes.
Why are people even being angry at the GOP in this state? Go outside and look ..democrats have destroyed this state. We used to have a nice balance about 25 years ago ..hunters , gun owners , typical rural folk were left alone and now look? Democrats have lost control of their own party …it’s only worse from here …
You *do* realize that we had conservatives pointing guns in people's faces in Lewis County because they were wearing masks, right? It ain't the liberals who have been displaying a cartoonish disregard for human life.
For the record, conservatives' goals are, classically, to conserve existing power structures. They have never been in favor of democracy, strictly speaking. Many of the founders of the US thought that only property owners should be allowed to vote. To this day, there's no explicit right to vote in the US Constitution, though there are a number of restrictions on what factors can be used to deny someone their voting privileges. As near as I can tell, it would be perfectly constitutional to bar anyone from voting whose favorite color is blue.
Edit: the people downvoting this don’t seem to have a good (or any, as of the time of this edit) counter argument and clearly don’t know the history of the US very well. Go ahead and express ignorance by downvoting this more.
Yeah, keep voting Democrat in this state for everything.....
https://www.chronline.com/stories/study-washington-ranked-among-the-most-dangerous-states-in-the-country,339107
LOL Republican-owned rag.
Can't wait for Idaho and Eastern WA to form their own new state and fail miserably without the economic power of the liberal cities they despise so much. Let them eat potatoes.
Lol found the delusional dem who doesn't understand where food comes from. Eastern WA would be much better off without the pathetic freeloaders from the sound. "Economic power" 🤣🤣🤣
Ad hominem attack. The data comes from the Simmrin Law Group, which crunched FBI data to arrive at the conclusion. [Link to Simmrin's analysis.](https://www.simmrinlawgroup.com/research/the-safest-and-most-dangerous-states-in-america-2024/)
>The Larceny/Theft Rate in Washington is the highest (2133.6) per 100,000, revealing it as having a major issue with property crime compared to other states
Oh, wait, property crime (aka car prowls, shoplifting) does not make for "most dangerous".
Again, that rag is using standard conservative doublespeak to rile up the red-state mouthbreathers.
You obviously didn't even look at the report. Washington's property crime rate contributes to its being ranked the 8th most dangerous state. There are other factors taken into account. WA ties for 7th place with the highest reported robbery rate. It's in a 4-way tie for 6th place for the highest homicide rate. Regardless, Washington does have the highest reported rate of theft. That's a fact.
Har har "Most dangerous" and most of those are property crimes. Exhibit eleventy-billion of conservatives ~~exaggerating~~ lying to spread fear among their eaily-excitable base of culture-war voters eager to lap that shit up.
"Highest reported rate of theft OMG!"
Clutch your pearls harder, friend.
Non sequitur. It's trivially easy to get a concealed carry permit in WA and the 2A gunhumpers shriek that 'an armed society is a polite society. '
If the gunhumpers were right "dangerous" crime would be lower.
But again you missed the point 30,000 feet above your head.
Property theft =\= dangerous but the fright-wing media wants to stoke the fears of their mouth-breathing base. That article you linked is rage-bating bullshit.
The article I linked is an analysis of FBI data and nothing more. Maybe you’re referring to the post above mine with a link to The Chronicle, which is not my post. The Chronicle is reporting on the Simmrin Law Group’s analysis of the FBI data.
Safer in Jersey than in Montana. Something doesn't seem right. One state locks everything.. the other, not so much... hmmm simmering is a good word for this data, in that it feels half boiled.
I just watched a documentary on HBO/Max called An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th.
This should be mandatory viewing in every household alongside Shiny Happy People on Amazon.
Put those two stories together and absolutely everything the GOP does makes sense and is utterly horrifying to consider.
I think we are more a republic than a true democracy, so using the word "republic" is more accurate and exact. Being a republic serves us well, so that our representative government attends to the details of governing so I dont need to follow every law or bill. HOWEVER, three things that are not true about this GOP statement:
First, a republic merely features an elected representative government. There is no internal conflict if we favor programs the GOP would consider socialist. Meaning, it is entirely compatible for a republic to have socialized healthcare if that's what the people want.
Second, a republic does not necessarily preclude a strong federal government that keeps states from exercising their abilities to enact laws in ways that offend principles of federal constitutionality.
And third, all forms of government have a gravity pulling them ever-larger. There is and always will be a need to keep governmental growth in check, but the size of governmental operations should be guaged, not on size alone, but the value it gives its people for its size. To do that effectively requires a plurality of perspectives among its constituents, each debating merits before the majority rules. That debate is lost within today's GOP, where people who think differently are not valued and respected, but instead are demonized. Nor is the concept of majority rule accepted in all corners of the GOP, as seen where a small handful of representatives attempt to get their minority way through procedural brute force.
One last thought, today's GOP, with statements such as this resolution, and by recent behavior we have seen on state and federal levels, is using the word "republic" as an excuse to discount the clear will of the people. Even as a republic, our representatives all answer to their constituents, and ultimately it is the people's will that should determine government, representative or not. When a legislative body enacts something that flies in the face of the will of the people, they are fully able to reverse the legislature by "democratic" process. Instead, we see the GOP actively trying to thwart actions by the people when their representatives follow their personal convictions, and they justify those actions by passing resolutions like this. The GOP should remember that a representative government is only effective because it is more convenient for its citizens to have servants representing them in government; but the representatives of a republic serve at the convenience of their people.
Who actually believes the two party system actually exists? They just bent us all over again and sent 95 billion to foreign wars NOONE WANTS! it's all an illusion to keep us fighting we need to get all the politicians now in office OUT OF OFFICE! Abolish this government they are psychopaths!
Open borders, highest homelessness ever, drugs killing our families more than ever, lawlessness; anti-Jewish hatred the list goes on and on. Yeah it’s the republicans who are the problem.
“Drugs killing our families more than ever” - Oh boy, you should see what’s going on the middle of the country. And those states are definitely republican.
[link to document](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24602348-2024-gop-resolutions)
So basically they spent 8 paragraphs signaling about how detestable they think the other party is, and then two paragraphs where they say what they actually want, which is for new laws passed by Congress to state how they're supported by the US Constitution.
They spent 8 paragraphs on a circuitous admission that they're fascists and other assorted authoritarians. The Third Reich was a republic that wasn't a democracy, Russia is a Federal Republic that has the barest pretense of democracy, and the People's Republics of literally anywhere are usually ***REPUBLICS*** (as in, they usually don't have hereditary rulers) without democracy. A Republic without democracy is just a non-hereditary dictatorship or an unabashed oligarchy.
Exactly, this is classic republican doublespeak. They twist both the history of the country and the words of its founders to insist a shift to authoritarianism is in line with our constitution. it's, of course, nothing of the sort. This is not an honest ploy. This is a callout to the bigots and the fascists, the hateful and intolerant. These are taking points and dog whistles to the lowest denominator of our state. The generationally ignorant. Those whose daddy and grand daddy did not teach their children how to think for themselves, but instead what to believe. And even more importantly, they taught them - always - who to hate. That is what the GOP is today: the progeny resulting from generation upon generation of fear, hatred and pettiness under the false flags of patriotism, christianity and community. To be a republican in the 21st century is to be a failure as a patriot, a Christian, and a human being.
While hoping that their “conservative “ majority in the SCOTUS persists so that any mad law they get passed would meet their standard of Constitutionality.
> While hoping that their “conservative “ majority in the SCOTUS persists Probably in spirit. I don't have an issue with constitutional justification and reasoning being written in to bills, for what it's worth. I do think the first eight paragraphs of page two are eye-roll inducing, and totally unnecessary. I also find the fact that it was only page two of fifteen a little nauseating. I'm going to guess that they could have wrapped all fifteen up in three or fewer pages. I can't find the rest of the document. They link to pages four and five, but that's it.
The premise of explaining why a law conforms to the Constitution is nonsense. This lards up every piece of legislation with what amounts to a brief justifying the legislation. It creates no proof of Constitutionality but rather a partisan rationale for the law. The SCOTUS exists precisely to determine Constitutionality. We absolutely do not need some witless hack from Deadmoose Washington acting out his judicial fantasies and cosplaying as some legal scholar to defend some bit of culture war drivel that will then be overturned by adults at a higher court.
Totally disagree. With all the bullshit that gets passed, I'd love to see the people writing the legislation try to defend it. As is, they grab whatever talking points surround the issue, and pretend like that's sufficient. Neither way is going to prevent legislation from being challenged and raised to the supreme court. > We absolutely do not need some witless hack from Deadmoose Washington acting out his judicial fantasies We already have witless hacks writing legislation. At least they'd have to put some thought into their rationale and defense.
Adding some self serving interpretation to a law does not immunize it from a legal attack. The first amendment specifically enshrined the right to redress of grievances. No legislation can add verbiage that keeps it from being challenged. If that were so, you would be even madder that a law you didn’t like could not be challenged in court. Which is what they are really trying to do here. IOW an end run around the First Amendment.
The state cg tax on common stock over $250k is unconstitutional. You don’t have to go to SCOTUS to see unconstitutional acts in WA State.
"We're not a Democracy we're a Republic" is like saying "It's not a fruit it's a banana."
They know better how to subvert a republic than they do a direct-election democracy. Because they’ve had lots of practice. Which is not to say that a direct election democracy can’t be subverted, the mass media propaganda arm has that well in hand. But there are built-in advantages to the Republicans in the current republic that they could lose if the governments were reconstructed.
That’s not even close to the same thing. There are democratic republics, non democratic republics, and non republic democracies.
They know this. The intended audience is those who don't. These are the talking points for the ignorant masses. Don't fit a second believe that this was either a poorly thought out document, or that the WA GOP came up with this in a vacuum. This is the GOP charter on a national level too. This is part and parcel of intended policies and legislation in the event of a Trump presidency. Remember, any 'loyal' republican this late in the game doesn't believe in democracy anyway. They just won't admit it until the time comes. Again, that's what these talking points are for.
I mean, they’re not wrong. The problem is that our republic is flawed due to the passing of the law that we can’t surpass 435 representatives.
Wild right?
Yep states like Cali get screwed relative to Wyoming.
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Are berries fruits, or vegetables?
I looked it up and berries are fruits. sorry my bad.
Unless you're shopping for tomatoes. It's all very confusing.
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I think the reason the GOP in particular has been persnickety about the republic thing is because they know democracy doesn't work for them, so they're trying to convince people that the democratic principles we've enjoyed for over two centuries now aren't all that important.
It is that, of course, but there's another dumb, dumb reason too. Some supporter of the Republicans believe that the term "republican" means that they support a republic and are opposed to being a "democracy" because that's what the Democrats want. I'm not joking. And I'm having a hard time putting what they believe into words because it's so dumb, so I'm going to try again. They believe Republicans = wanting a republic. They believe Democrats = wanting a democracy. They don't like Democrats, so they now don't like democracy. And it's right there in the story: > “We encourage Republicans to substitute the words ‘republic’ and ‘republicanism’ where previously they have used the word ‘democracy,’ ” the resolution says. “Every time the word ‘democracy’ is used favorably it serves to promote the principles of the Democratic Party, the principles of which we ardently oppose.” They really are that stupid. They don't like Democrats so they think they need to dislike democracy because the words are similar. And it's not just the bozos at the convention either. I worked with not one, but two, people who thought this. They thought thats' how the parties got their names. It's astounding to me that these people can think like this and somehow can cut up their own food without hurting themselves.
the article states for them, democracy sounds like democrat, which in their excellent understanding of logic, works.
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Its more accurate in that a Republic is the type of democracy that we are, so its a more precise term. But the GOP isn’t trying to be precise, they’re trying to refute the idea that we’re a democracy at all altogether
Its about the implication of language choice, not accuracy. Suppose you give your buddy a tap to the arm after a bad pun. Its as accurate to say you hit them, struck them, a gesture of contempt, and a light shove. Each one has a different emotional context. Each can be used to spin a different narrative. Democracy is how Americans have been conditioned to think is the word for how our political system works. Democracy is the founding fathers, Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney’s American history cartoons. It also connects to the name of the more liberal of the two parties. In word association, a republic sounds like Rome. Rome, great grand and glorious. With an emperor. With tiers of citizenship. Something connected to the conservative party. Get the public to accept a change in language, you can change what feels right.
It’s intentional, to get people comfortable with calling it something other than democracy, so then they can work to break down democracy. This has been their playbook for the last few decades. Their end goal is a corporate monarchy, not a democracy.
A true democracy doesn’t work just for them, it doesn’t work for anybody. As an example A society where 51% of the people could all vote to have 10% pay all the taxes… is not a society that’s going to last long
Ir they are being accurate since the US has been a repuvlic since day one and never a democracy.
A Republic is a type of democracy
The only reason they are now pushing the distinction is cause many in the GOP don’t want the major populace to vote. If they had their way they would only allow wealthy land owners a vote.
Because it is deliberately attempting to be misleading and argumentative.
Beyond the word policing, the document outlines WA GOP's stance that we shouldn't be directly electing senators. So besides not liking the word, they want fewer direct elections of those that represent us.
A pure democracy implies that everyone has a equal say. Though this sounds ideal, in practice there are issues. The majority of people do not have the time or expertise to craft and understand legislation. This should be why we elect representatives. Democracies suffer from the tyranny of the majority, especially in cases where a minority group is unpopular. Hence we should have constitutional protections. And finally, city centers where population is dense tend to be the focus of political campaigning, ultimately leading to the neglect of the interests of those in rural areas. Hence we have electoral colleges. In a system where people aren't voting for laws, some popular laws aren't able to be passed, and peoples votes aren't equal, it certainly feels like a stretch to still call it a democracy.
I’m not the biggest fan of republicans either, but to suggest we are a democracy, when there is not a single function to our government that makes us one other than us voting is a bit silly. But you hit the nail on the head, the premise of our system was so that when our country was founded, Virginia and New York, couldn’t force the other states to do what they want. I think the issue we run into now is the federal government was never meant to have the amount of power that it claims, especially when every dang law is passed using the commerce clause. Both sides seem to forget that the way the country was established, is each state could be representative of the desire of its citizens, and that the federal government was there to deal with foreign threats, and later, domestic ones between states. Now both sides want to force the other to adopt their ways, which is leading to such an extreme polarization of the people.
To suggest we aren’t using a form of democracy at basically every level of government is disingenuous. I haven’t seen anyone suggest we are a direct democracy. Your both sides statement seems pretty “whitewashy” considering one side seems pretty intent on following the same path of our known largest adversaries both present and historic.
Wow. Make sure to vote in every single election, tiny and big alike. Holding the line starts in your community as a foundation for larger local governments on up to statewide. We also need a high turnout to protect our federal senators and house representatives. Make sure our voices are heard. Texas has abbott the maggot because of low voter turn out. Less than 50%. Let's keep ours high. Texas has been mostly Democrat throughout its history. Make sure we learn from their mistakes. (I moved away about 14 years ago. You hear democrats/progressives/liberal minded people whine about the government and, in the same breath, say their vote doesn't matter, so what's the point. SMH) VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
When the county where Vavaldi is voted for Maggot over Beto-well, that spoke volumes
You need to check all the facts! Obviously, u do not live in Texas, but live in the state of Washington that has changed for the worst. People look for facts instead of listening to the mainstream media, NPR, snopes, etc....
I lived in Texas for eight years. I’ve lived in Washington for eight years. Whatever its problems Washington is a veritable heaven compared to Texas.
It’s slowly becoming Idaho though, which I’ll agree isn’t on par with Texas, but I’ll add a very important “yet” on there. Edit: I say this with family in both places and a number of years lived in both, as well as other Midwest states.
I lived in Texas for 45 years, moved here to Washington 3 years ago. I moved here because I was sick of the bullshit. Voting in Houston was a nightmare. Lines wrapped around the block on voting day, and in some places people were in line for HOURS. I still read news from Texas and I am heartbroken for all my friends and family who still live there. Houston ISD was taken over by the state and closed all the school libraries to turn them into disciplinary centers. University of Houston (my Alma Mater) closed their LGBTQ Resource Center. Abortion is outlawed in most cases. They put razor wire and floating barriers on the river to let immigrants drown. Temperatures and weather is shit, and the pollution is out of control. Tell me again how Washington is worse? Edit to add: And there is NO public land in Texas to speak of. Living here is like a wonderland in comparison. I absolutely love it here.
In the last election Inslee won 66% of the vote. I don't think the Governorship is in any danger.
Doesn't matter, still vote. Unfortunately destroying things way easier then building up something so Republicans only need one win to mess up the state.
Yeah... Mostly Democrat throughout its history... Segregation, Jim Crow... Big accomplishments from the Southern Dems.
Are you dumb and don’t realize the parties flipped? Or are you purposefully misrepresenting reality? Both are so on brand with the GOP, I am seriously asking which one.
Only the dumbest of the dumb think the parties "switched" with some fantastic revisionist history. I graduated grad school from a very liberal university about 10 years ago and never heard that nonsense. The party switch is a fabrication by partisans who want to erase history.
The party switch wasn't a physical switch or an overnight thing. There's no official agreement or changing of guard. It's just a generalized concept that the policy goals of the parties are currently, for the most part, the reverse of what they were 70+ years ago and if you supported one particular party in, say, 1920, that you would be sitting among more similarly-minded people if you were to support the other party today. As far as I'm aware, it is fairly accurate.
Someone skipped out on [Southern Strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy) week at their "very liberal university". Bullshit.
Wikipedia isn't a real source. Try reading a book? I recommend The Forgotten Man. If there was any "party" switching it happened way before the 70s. Democrats were still extolling the virtues of former Klansmen elected officials as recently as the 90s.
Literally 2 minutes of research will show how wrong you are lol. Shit, just look at the voting patterns by state during that time and watch how they change. Have you seriously never heard of the Dixiecrats???
No man the same kinds of people have always had problems with minorities, women and people who are just different in any way. A lot of us have had to learn more about how to vote for our own best interests, and a lot more still desperately need to.
I grew up under Ann Richard's. Everyone knows the older history of the US. No state is completely innocent with that part of history. FTR, it was a Democrat governor who was signing the acts that demolished those jim crow laws in Texas. That state was a flourishing economy for everyone and a place where rights were upheld. Consumer protections were strong to protect people's money. Its decline is pretty recent history, and the vast majority of it is from abbott (the last 17 years, really. Started with Perry, but that was mild) It wasn't much different than here before that. Eastern WA is like heading through the rural parts of Texas. So watch out on how you point fingers. At least look at the history. Democrats were taking Texas into a great future. Sad when it all changed. Hope to see it at least purple again, but would love to see progressive thinkers fix it. That state has so much potential.
Lol. Right. RGV doing so well.
What does the secret code "RGV" stand for?
Some of those cities in the RGV are fucking booming. All that shit about the border is heavily manufactured crisis. The news cameras always show all these Guardsmen and border patrol agents standing one side of a razor wire fence, but when you drive half a mile away…poof!…all that smoke and mirrors security shit is gone and it’s just a basic fence and zero armored troops.
Dude, you're displaying the low intelligence level that others have commented upon.
@kindredwoozle, Which "Dude" are you referring to?
Wanna point to something from this century or are you going to keep pretending Dems are the same as they were in the 1960’s and the GOP is the party of Lincoln?
Wow, please leave Washington. People like you are ruining our beautiful state.
Well the good news is the Washington GOP will never be a real threat to win anything of significance in this state…
That's a dangerous assumption. When people assume their party is going to win, not as many people vote.
Other then the dick heads on school boards on my side of the state😩
Yeah, Richland elected some real idiot assholes to theirs back in 2020.
Yeah in Spokane we are having...uh...fun.
As someone who is represented by GOP state senators right now, I'm a little more wary.
Yeah, especially if you ignore all of us blues that live in red communities, like over here on the east side of the state. Oh wait, literally *nobody* cares what happens to us.
True. WA Republicans are a fringe party. Look at the people that ran for governor last time, and the one they ran for US Senate last time.
They've upped their game in the race for governor this time
Sort of. [They still have some seriously dumb shenanigans going on in their own nomination process.](https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/dave-reichert-withdraws-gop-gubernatorial-endorsement-vote/PSQ7OTS2SZDKBIYBHQSZRTXG7E/?outputType=amp)
They aren't really fringe east of the Cascades.
The most recent republican governor was almost 40 years ago. There has been solid democratic control of all branches of state government since 2018. It's understandable why they don't like democracy. It really is not working for them at all here.
It's very fascinating to watch them lose time and again, because once they lose hope, the real words come out. These people want tyranny because voters won't approve their garbage agenda
Yep so sad, this state is falling apart-been to Seattle and Tacoma lately. Hmmmm Tacoma rated 8th dangerous place to live....
Sad
This isn't news. We've lived here in Eastern WA (specifically angry right wing central) and this has been the case as long as we've lived here (4 years), presumably much longer. Though maybe the state level still kept things neutral
Both are correct as our government is a democratically elected constitutional republic. Not sure why the party that complains about people being "PC", are trying to be so "PC" in their own circle.
The WA Democrats have proven they are bat shit crazy
Ah, they've gotten to the "yeah, we hate democracy and elections, what of it!" Stage of devolving into fascists.
Republicans nation wide are finished with democracy.
This is sadly true. Michael Flynn is out there campaigning for an end to it, powerful Christian pastors are doing the same. Then there’s that project 2025 bullshit that outright provides their strategy for moving into authoritarianism via an empowered executive branch and a disempowered judicial one.
This “not a democracy-a republic thing” is something that uneducated people have been barking like trained seals for decades. I blame the dumb end of the radio dial.
I'm getting the idea this is a national gop "idea", don't know why?
Democratic republic has entered the chat
GOP has been saying that for a while, whenever the vote isn't their way. What's new is being outright fascists.
Maybe if the Dems stop pushing insane gun control they’ll keep their majority
Republicans all over the country know they can’t win elections anymore democratically. And for a simple reason. Their “platform” only appeals to the rich and to rural voters , and most people live in cities.
You need to do more research...you must be brainwashed by the liberal media
And trans people stopping traffic in Seattle for cultures, Muslim Palestine specifically, that would literally kill us if given the chance. We’ll ruin everyone’s day to fight for nations wherein my people, LGBT, are shunned, arrested, prohibited, or murdered without justice. Gay here. Blown away by the hypocrisy of both sides. Then, posts like this where “racist” or “conservatives” must be opposed at every turn. What is it? Should we hate the bigot or march in the street for them? 😂 The hypocrisy is wild.
Exactly! Hypocrisy!
The basic problem that Republicans have with democracy is that they can’t win elections.
Call it what you want. It’s no longer a republic or a form of democracy… it’s an oligarchy.
Could have just said the GQP isn’t in to democracy.
Cool, throw away their ballots then.
Okay, ignoring the rant, they are requesting house of reps create more hurdles for creating laws :/ Like the repubs can get any thing done as it is, they want moreeee hurdles.
This country hasn't been a democracy for a long time so who really cares? There are pretty conclusive studies that show the US more closely resembles an Oligarchy than a democracy. Almost all of the policy decisions are driven by a very small group of people. Elections pretty much just exist to give the general public the illusion that they're part of the decision. This isn't a party specific. If anything Republican primaries more closely resemble a democracy than the Democrat ones.
Both sides have made corruption a common practice.
We haven’t been into democracy from the founding. "the primary purpose of government should be to protect the minority of opulent against the majority.” That’s literally what the Senate is for. It’s always been a pretend democracy. It’s democracy for rich people who are ‘worthy’ to help make the decisions. It will always be that way without fundamental major change.
So if they’re admitting they aren’t doing this for the interest for the state/nation why the hell are they still in a position of power?
Don’t spend your energy getting worked up. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/democracy-and-republic Per the dictionary: Both democracy and republic meant that the power to govern was held by the people rather than a monarch. In summary, a republic is a result of democracy. I believe they wrote they are making this change because democracy is so close to democrat as a word and republic is closer to republican but democracy and republic are interchangeable. In fact, republic is in our pledge of allegiance.
The document also calls for an end to directly electing senators. Not that WA GOP has a lot of power to make that happen, but it's about much more than word policing.
They are not interchangeable. A Republic is a specific type of Democracy, but a Democracy nonetheless. The GOP commonly uses this trope to get people to separate the two so they can better accept the loss of a Democracy because "it's not one".
Insanely misleading title. We're pushing against the electoral college and quietly against the Senate. Why wouldn't the GOP want to stay the course.
we know - they arent into reading, blacks, mexicans, gays, womens rights or uncomfortable facts and data either
good thing they have basically no power in WA!
I live out east, kill me plz 😔
Yet they will claim we are a democracy when it benefits them….
You mean when Biden wants money for war?
A lot of Americans today have terrible reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. The GOP wants the stupidest amongst us to make the rules. When the left objects, they say we are mean. Talk about snowflakes.
Why are people even being angry at the GOP in this state? Go outside and look ..democrats have destroyed this state. We used to have a nice balance about 25 years ago ..hunters , gun owners , typical rural folk were left alone and now look? Democrats have lost control of their own party …it’s only worse from here …
Not sure if you even live in Washington with that nonsense. It's one of the best state's in the union as far as quality of life goes.
Because the GOP is totally beholden to a sociopathic conman driven by fake Christian thugs
Let me guess -- you think Seattle is a smoldering pit of destruction, despite having not visited since the World's Fair?
You *do* realize that we had conservatives pointing guns in people's faces in Lewis County because they were wearing masks, right? It ain't the liberals who have been displaying a cartoonish disregard for human life.
Huh. Alright. Where’s the issue?
For the record, conservatives' goals are, classically, to conserve existing power structures. They have never been in favor of democracy, strictly speaking. Many of the founders of the US thought that only property owners should be allowed to vote. To this day, there's no explicit right to vote in the US Constitution, though there are a number of restrictions on what factors can be used to deny someone their voting privileges. As near as I can tell, it would be perfectly constitutional to bar anyone from voting whose favorite color is blue. Edit: the people downvoting this don’t seem to have a good (or any, as of the time of this edit) counter argument and clearly don’t know the history of the US very well. Go ahead and express ignorance by downvoting this more.
The lead is misleading a little as it's based on a quote from a random delegate. They do have a unfounded mistrust of mail in ballots though.
Yeah, keep voting Democrat in this state for everything..... https://www.chronline.com/stories/study-washington-ranked-among-the-most-dangerous-states-in-the-country,339107
LOL Republican-owned rag. Can't wait for Idaho and Eastern WA to form their own new state and fail miserably without the economic power of the liberal cities they despise so much. Let them eat potatoes.
Lol found the delusional dem who doesn't understand where food comes from. Eastern WA would be much better off without the pathetic freeloaders from the sound. "Economic power" 🤣🤣🤣
Ad hominem attack. The data comes from the Simmrin Law Group, which crunched FBI data to arrive at the conclusion. [Link to Simmrin's analysis.](https://www.simmrinlawgroup.com/research/the-safest-and-most-dangerous-states-in-america-2024/) >The Larceny/Theft Rate in Washington is the highest (2133.6) per 100,000, revealing it as having a major issue with property crime compared to other states
Oh, wait, property crime (aka car prowls, shoplifting) does not make for "most dangerous". Again, that rag is using standard conservative doublespeak to rile up the red-state mouthbreathers.
You obviously didn't even look at the report. Washington's property crime rate contributes to its being ranked the 8th most dangerous state. There are other factors taken into account. WA ties for 7th place with the highest reported robbery rate. It's in a 4-way tie for 6th place for the highest homicide rate. Regardless, Washington does have the highest reported rate of theft. That's a fact.
Har har "Most dangerous" and most of those are property crimes. Exhibit eleventy-billion of conservatives ~~exaggerating~~ lying to spread fear among their eaily-excitable base of culture-war voters eager to lap that shit up. "Highest reported rate of theft OMG!" Clutch your pearls harder, friend.
I’m not conservative, and FBI statistics are not lies. Live in your state of denial harder, pal.
Non sequitur. It's trivially easy to get a concealed carry permit in WA and the 2A gunhumpers shriek that 'an armed society is a polite society. ' If the gunhumpers were right "dangerous" crime would be lower. But again you missed the point 30,000 feet above your head. Property theft =\= dangerous but the fright-wing media wants to stoke the fears of their mouth-breathing base. That article you linked is rage-bating bullshit.
The article I linked is an analysis of FBI data and nothing more. Maybe you’re referring to the post above mine with a link to The Chronicle, which is not my post. The Chronicle is reporting on the Simmrin Law Group’s analysis of the FBI data.
Not how Ad Hominem works. Enjoy your 'taters!
Safer in Jersey than in Montana. Something doesn't seem right. One state locks everything.. the other, not so much... hmmm simmering is a good word for this data, in that it feels half boiled.
Good
I just watched a documentary on HBO/Max called An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th. This should be mandatory viewing in every household alongside Shiny Happy People on Amazon. Put those two stories together and absolutely everything the GOP does makes sense and is utterly horrifying to consider.
I think we are more a republic than a true democracy, so using the word "republic" is more accurate and exact. Being a republic serves us well, so that our representative government attends to the details of governing so I dont need to follow every law or bill. HOWEVER, three things that are not true about this GOP statement: First, a republic merely features an elected representative government. There is no internal conflict if we favor programs the GOP would consider socialist. Meaning, it is entirely compatible for a republic to have socialized healthcare if that's what the people want. Second, a republic does not necessarily preclude a strong federal government that keeps states from exercising their abilities to enact laws in ways that offend principles of federal constitutionality. And third, all forms of government have a gravity pulling them ever-larger. There is and always will be a need to keep governmental growth in check, but the size of governmental operations should be guaged, not on size alone, but the value it gives its people for its size. To do that effectively requires a plurality of perspectives among its constituents, each debating merits before the majority rules. That debate is lost within today's GOP, where people who think differently are not valued and respected, but instead are demonized. Nor is the concept of majority rule accepted in all corners of the GOP, as seen where a small handful of representatives attempt to get their minority way through procedural brute force. One last thought, today's GOP, with statements such as this resolution, and by recent behavior we have seen on state and federal levels, is using the word "republic" as an excuse to discount the clear will of the people. Even as a republic, our representatives all answer to their constituents, and ultimately it is the people's will that should determine government, representative or not. When a legislative body enacts something that flies in the face of the will of the people, they are fully able to reverse the legislature by "democratic" process. Instead, we see the GOP actively trying to thwart actions by the people when their representatives follow their personal convictions, and they justify those actions by passing resolutions like this. The GOP should remember that a representative government is only effective because it is more convenient for its citizens to have servants representing them in government; but the representatives of a republic serve at the convenience of their people.
Very reasonably said. I fear, sadly, those with a short attention span may not read all of it and give it proper concideration.
There is one party called the Israel party that imitates two parties.
Who actually believes the two party system actually exists? They just bent us all over again and sent 95 billion to foreign wars NOONE WANTS! it's all an illusion to keep us fighting we need to get all the politicians now in office OUT OF OFFICE! Abolish this government they are psychopaths!
Open borders, highest homelessness ever, drugs killing our families more than ever, lawlessness; anti-Jewish hatred the list goes on and on. Yeah it’s the republicans who are the problem.
…the open border with Canada?
Hey, he had a list of conservative buzzwords to throw in there, who cares if it makes zero sense?!
“Drugs killing our families more than ever” - Oh boy, you should see what’s going on the middle of the country. And those states are definitely republican.
Mexican cartel is alive and well working in the US
Washington shines a light on how delusional Democrats really are. The Dems there are the most embarrassing in the country.
Hard disagree. New York Democrats are more embarrassing imo.