All roads lead to...
April 28, 2005 7:06 AM   Subscribe

The Nexus of Evil So it seems as though the Chairman of the Colorado College Republicans (Jay Bob Klinkerman, no really, no kidding, that's his name) seems to be the one responsible for the removal of three Democrats from a Bush Social Security Sideshow. For some reason, and possibly it was always the case, all roads in this administration frequently lead to back to the same places, with the same names. What do all of the high profile actors in the current GOP have in common? Some sort of activity or affiliation with either the College Republicans or Young Republicans. If you are wondering about the names - how about Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist, Lee Atwater, and the central organizer, Morton Blackwell. College Republicans have been the footsoldiers for the right since the Draft Goldwater campaign, and have been rewarded for their service throughout the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush#41 and#43 . You can also find their fingerprints all over the various thinktanks, the direct-mail industry, and fundraising. I strongly recommend taking some time to read up on the history of the College Republicans (PDF).
posted by rzklkng (42 comments total)
 
Holy crap! In other news, members of the Order of the British Empire are all British!
posted by furtive at 7:10 AM on April 28, 2005


But the fact that they found out who dumped the three democrats is interesting.
posted by furtive at 7:11 AM on April 28, 2005


(excluding Honourary members of the OBE, which don't count towards the total)
posted by furtive at 7:16 AM on April 28, 2005


Not only were people in the current Bush administration once in the College Republicans, they remain still, to this very day, Republicans! Which is exactly the same as being evil, right?

A much more interesting "nexus" is the current Justice Department. Count how many are former members of the Federalist Society that went to either Harvard or the University of Chicago and clerked for Luttig or Kozinski. Seriously, count, because I don't know the number, but I think its a lot.
posted by Falconetti at 7:25 AM on April 28, 2005


To make up for my poor posting above, allow me to point out that there is also Young Democrats of America as well as a College Democrats of America (linked to Google Cache because site seems to be down).
posted by furtive at 7:28 AM on April 28, 2005


i think we all really know where republicans come from...they come from the supermarket.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 7:30 AM on April 28, 2005


The real Secret Service says the man who ousted Bauer, Weise and Alex Young from the president's speech was actually a Republican Party staffer. The Secret Service has told the three that the man admitted to an agent that he ousted them because they arrived in a car with a "No more blood for oil" bumper sticker.

The service is investigating that man on possible criminal charges of impersonating a Secret Service agent. He was wearing a dark suit, earpiece and lapel pin.


This is a much more interesting part. I understand that by wearing a police uniform or using a police badge you are impersonating an officer, but since when is a dark suit, earpiece and lapel pin a uniform? It might as well be a description of my grandfather attending a funeral!
posted by furtive at 7:37 AM on April 28, 2005


The nexus of evil?

What do all of the high profile actors in the current GOP have in common?

Wait, wait, I know this one... is it the baby-eating?
posted by loquax at 7:42 AM on April 28, 2005


Give that man a prize!
posted by stenseng at 7:47 AM on April 28, 2005


Evil, eh? Republicans are evil.....

Hmm.... And Bush is the one that is responsible for dividing the country?
posted by dios at 9:23 AM on April 28, 2005


My wife was going to Colorado College when I met her. It is a VERY liberal, Very expensive (30-40K per SEMESTER), and very private (no state assistance) college. The Republicans there are in the severe minority, so it doesn't suprise me that the head of the Young Repubs. would have a near fanatical zeal for his position.
The students try really hard to be hippies (Free Tibet stickers of their BMW's), with art and philosophy majiors abound, but when they talk about what they are doing for "spring break" it's usually something like "Kayaking in South America" or "Taking daddy's plane to daddy's island in the Bahamas", or "Mountian biking across France". The "locals" are usually shunned once they figure out that you're not like them.
Basically, most of them wouldn't know "Evil" is it was standing in front of them. It often does.
posted by Balisong at 9:31 AM on April 28, 2005


(Jay Bob Klinkerman, no really, no kidding, that's his name)

Yeah, that's a real knee slapper. You owe me a new keyboard!!! Soda hurts when it comes out your nose!! LOL!!
posted by pardonyou? at 9:40 AM on April 28, 2005


I've noticed that lately the Young Communists (excuse me, I mean rePublicans) have been posting a lot of flyers around campus on the U of W.
Since these people seem to worship the suppresion of free speech so much, it would seem perfectly logical that they would appreciate people in the neighborhoods turning out on college campuses to remove these flyers.
So how about it? College campuses have beautiful landscaping and architecture and are wonderful places to take a walk through, say three times a week, plus it would be an opportunity to 'beautify' the campus by removing these tasteless flyers.
Show your appreciation by beautifying aMerica's campuses. I'm sure the majority of students would be thankful.
posted by mk1gti at 9:43 AM on April 28, 2005


MeTa
posted by dios at 9:49 AM on April 28, 2005


You can also find their fingerprints all over the various thinktanks, the direct-mail industry, and fundraising.

You mean clawprints.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 9:54 AM on April 28, 2005


Bushes Social Security Sideshow was paid for by taxpayer money. Anyone who is a taxpayer should be able to attend.
The fact that Secret Service shouldn't be able to kick people out on a whim has led to outsourcing of bouncer duties to private citizens sympathetic to "the Cause". But impersonating a secret service agent is a felony, and should be brought to people's attention.
posted by Balisong at 10:03 AM on April 28, 2005


but since when is a dark suit, earpiece and lapel pin a uniform?

I think the charge comes from him claiming to be Secret Service, not from how he was dressed. I mean, they never arrested the guy from the Village People, did they?
posted by InfidelZombie at 10:05 AM on April 28, 2005


furtive: I understand that by wearing a police uniform or using a police badge you are impersonating an officer, but since when is a dark suit, earpiece and lapel pin a uniform?

I think the part where he threatened them with arrest had something to do with it...
posted by warbaby at 10:11 AM on April 28, 2005


I remember being approached by the College Republicans at my university, promoting some rally or other, and seeing how fervent they were in their Republicanism, and being dismayed.

My thought was, "geez, you're what, 18, 19? A bit early to turn into gung-ho Party operatives, isn't it?"

They were pretty much my diametric opposites. Weird.
posted by zoogleplex at 11:01 AM on April 28, 2005


plus it would be an opportunity to 'beautify' the campus by removing these tasteless flyers.

If you can't beat 'em, silence 'em.

Not saying that both sides haven't been guilty, but that's everything that's wrong with a lot of the left these days. Shouting down speakers, tearing down posters, it happens way too often. It might just be a function of the left having less power in Washington and needing to express their positions somehow, but it's embarassing and probably harmful in the long-run.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 11:13 AM on April 28, 2005


My thought was, "geez, you're what, 18, 19? A bit early to turn into gung-ho Party operatives, isn't it?"

Isn't it just possible that they support particular policies and have logical reasons to do so? You don't need to admit that they're right. You just need to acknowledge that it's possible that somebody other than you holds a rational viewpoint based on a reasonable set of assumptions and goals about how the world works. How hard is that? A lot of people on MeFi seem to have trouble accepting it.

And, no, I have never been a member of the College Republicans, the Republican Party, or voted Republican. So don't try the "today's talking points" BS since the only political site I read with regularity is DailyKos.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 11:16 AM on April 28, 2005


Isn't it just possible that they support particular policies and have logical reasons to do so?

If you don' t believe it's possible then you are just as closed-minded as the people you denounce. In order to make the claim that it's impossible they have a point you must claim some sort of special knowledge about how the world works. Incidentally, that's completely at odds with a liberal philosphy that no one person knows everything and that anybody can be wrong.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 11:28 AM on April 28, 2005


Somehow, the fact that Bush doesn't allow anyone attend one of his little cheerleading events that isn't a rabid rePublican, paid for with taxpayer money, gets twisted in thedevildanced lightly's mind into this:

that's everything that's wrong with a lot of the left these days. Shouting down speakers, tearing down posters, it happens way too often. It might just be a function of the left having less power in Washington and needing to express their positions somehow, but it's embarassing and probably harmful

Head spinning faster than Linda Blair's in the Exorcist.
The statement puts me in mind of "blame the victim" speeches of those defending racists, rapists and wife beaters.
Yeah, that's the ticket, the GOP's exclusionary tactics are the fault of a MeFi poster humorously suggesting that Young Republican flyers be removed from campus posts. Tut, tut, you bad, bad leftists!
How dare you taint the goodness of Holy Joe and the corporate whore show!!
Why don't you go start a war or some other manly thing like the GOP does instead?
posted by nofundy at 11:44 AM on April 28, 2005


One ought to consider that it was rational to exclude people from the presentation based on expected behavior.

If rapid partisans from the left showed a tolerance to listen to the opposing ideas without tearing down signs, protesting, being disruptive in the middle of a presentation, or trying everything possible to ruin the lecture, then perhaps they would be allowed in the speech. We have plenty of evidence about vandalism, stealing signs, yelling during speechs and even the Convention itself, and other distracting behavior.

But when we see the behaviour of those partisans who rabidly disagree with Bush, we see that few of them are capable of listening to the speech in a manner that permits others to listen to it. If they displayed civility in the politics, then there wouldn't be issue of excluding them.

I wouldn't expect Clinton to have let in College Republicans into his speech if they would have started yelling "RAPIST!" during his presentation. And I would have supported Clinton in excluding such disruptive forces since a speech is not the place for it.
posted by dios at 11:55 AM on April 28, 2005


thedevildancedlightly = 'Nothing to see here, move along'.

dios = 'Nothing to see here, *comrade*, move along and comply, comply, comply. And shut up, shut up, shut up.'

And I'll just repeat Thomas Jefferson's quote here once again. When tyranny rears it's ugly head, I'm not going to let some tyrannical dingbat take away freedom without a fight. Use your weasel-words someplace else dios, thedevildancedlightly

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
-- Thomas Jefferson --

p.s. I haven't seen any right-wing protestors get the crap kicked out of them, hair pulled, shut up in free speech zones and other fascistic, tyrannical crap like has happened with this administration. You both are base hypocrites and everyone who has any conscience knows this for an inarguable fact.

Have you no shame, sirs? At long last have you no shame?

Quislings . . .
posted by mk1gti at 12:13 PM on April 28, 2005


Use your weasel-words someplace else

WTF?

You both are base hypocrites and everyone who has any conscience knows this for an inarguable fact.

Or I believe in rational discourse rather than fearmongering on either side. What part of "I didn't vote for Bush" are you having trouble understanding? I think that the Republicans do a lot of stupid things. I think the Democrats do a lot of stupid things. You, yourself, are proving that at least one of those two parties is incapable of accepting rational discourse and prefers to use ad-hominium attacks when logic fails.

You, my friend, are a boor.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 12:19 PM on April 28, 2005


But when we see the behaviour of those partisans who rabidly disagree with Bush, we see that few of them are capable of listening to the speech in a manner that permits others to listen to it.

Shouldn't these things be judged on a case-by-case basis? The problem in the bumpersticker case is that the people weren't disruptive at all. Should no lefty-leaning person ever be admitted to any Bush event then?

How do you propose the President work on convincing those not already on his side, then, if they are not admitted to the events where he is attempting to make the case for his policies?

If it really is just preaching to one party, it ought not be done on the taxpayers' dime, at all.
posted by beth at 12:36 PM on April 28, 2005


I can't locate the thread, but didn't we discuss the ejection of the 'no blood for oil' bumper sticker folks at great length just a month or so ago?
And cover much of the same ground?
posted by fixedgear at 1:50 PM on April 28, 2005


Liberals = rational discourse

Conservatives = shut up, shut up, shut up.

When persons of one group won't give one the benefit of a discussion of issues but want to suppress one's freedom to express oneself, the time for discourse has come to an end.

It was not liberals who started this crap, but liberals better stop talking (or discussing) because if they don't start getting out there and taking action and soon, the option of 'rational discourse' will have well and truly come to an end.

thedevildancedlightly, the time for playing devil's advocate has come to an end. Choose your side and stay with them.

Conservatives do not play fair, they don't care to discuss 'issues' they only want to suppress, disempower, regress, turn back or otherwise impede the progress of civilization. I would rather sit and talk all day given the choice, but those days no longer exist. Acknowledge that and get with the program. Once those knuckle-dragging neanderthals are shut up in their caves and disempowered once and for all, then we can all sit around and 'discuss' till the cows come home. Right now we need to get out there and defend liberty, democracy and freedom.

Not talk about it *DO IT*
posted by mk1gti at 2:12 PM on April 28, 2005


thedevildancedlightly, the time for playing devil's advocate has come to an end. Choose your side and stay with them.

Y'know, that sort of "either you're with us or you're agin' us" attitude is one of the things I most hate about Georse W. Bush's worldview.
posted by COBRA! at 2:17 PM on April 28, 2005


Liberals = rational discourse

Conservatives = shut up, shut up, shut up.
***
Conservatives do not play fair, they don't care to discuss 'issues' they only want to suppress, disempower, regress, turn back or otherwise impede the progress of civilization.


I don't think I've heard such gross simplifications since "The Axis of Evil." Are you George Bush's evil twin?
posted by pardonyou? at 2:21 PM on April 28, 2005


Conservatives do not play fair, they don't care to discuss 'issues' they only want to suppress, disempower, regress, turn back or otherwise impede the progress of civilization.

A bit of a broad brush there, eh? Let me guess, they also see things in black-and-white, view their enemies as a unified block, assume that everyone is out to get them, and always attack the other side personally instead of their policies and positions.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 2:27 PM on April 28, 2005


Aaah, shit. Georse, and his better-known brother George.
posted by COBRA! at 2:27 PM on April 28, 2005


And just to be clear, I don't care personally what you call conservatives in private. I don't consider myself one. The problem is that it (1) makes liberals look stupid, and (2) has the same effect that was talked about in the pedophelia thread in that there are plenty of conservatives who come across as perfectly nice people in "real life" and demonizing them will make people question the characterization rather than the conservatives.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 2:32 PM on April 28, 2005


thedevildancedlightly, you need to stop being so darn logical. There's really no place for reason in this ideological pep rally.
posted by pardonyou? at 2:41 PM on April 28, 2005


What do all of the high profile actors in the current GOP have in common? Some sort of activity or affiliation with either the College Republicans or Young Republicans.

Of course they do. The Republican Party has, over a period of thirty years, built up an excellent organization that recruits, trains, and indoctrinates young people on college campuses.

Through various channels, the Republican Party spends more than 60 million dollars annually on college campuses alone. This includes money for College Republicans, but also money for things like The Leadership Insitute and Campus Crusade for Christ.

Another tactic is the conservative college newspaper. If you are a college student at a university of any reasonable size, it is likely that you have a conservative rag of a newspaper/magazine. It will have three features: humor (at least, it will try), it will be conservative, and it will make fun of student government and voluntary student fees. These newspapers generally get their money for printing and staff (if they pay them) from private donors and grants.

I can say this not because I have surveyed a statistically significant number of college campuses (although, anecdotally, I've seen that this is pretty accurate), but because instructions are distributed to conservative students interested in starting these papers.

A while back the New York Times Magazine ran an article called The Young Hipublicans (Free Repbulic link, they've reproduced the whole article.) The 'revolution' that campus conservatives have undergone in the last ten years or so did not happen spontaneously; it was a result of a calculated strategy, adopted by the Republican Party as a long-term counter to the problems that they saw on college campuses during the Vietnam War. They see college campuses as a breeding ground for the young liberal activists and politicians who will one day oppose them, and they are taking steps to change that.

For lefties looking for solid evidence of a 'Vast Right-wing Conspiracy,' you need look no further. It perhaps does not qualify as a conspiracy, because this information is there for anyone who cares to look for it, but 'vast' and 'right-wing' certainly apply.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 4:15 PM on April 28, 2005


there are plenty of conservatives who come across as perfectly nice people in "real life

I've been on several continents with both 'murican and foriegn 'conservatives' as well as poor conservatives and rich (runs own successful real estate business), so I'm not talking in general terms. This is experience gained since 1972 forward when I was old enough to start hanging with these people and really, truly get to know them personally.

They do not care about your debate. They do not want to hear your free speech. they are not 'perfectly nice people'. They do not care about you, they just want you to stop being a freedom-loving american and just go to their churches, conform to their deluded beliefs and conform, conform, conform. That is not what being an american is all about. If someone wants to try to play devil's advocate for these people, fine. To me and many others out there they really do look like the definition of a horse's ass.
posted by mk1gti at 4:24 PM on April 28, 2005


This reminds me of the kid at the Bush convention that kicked a female protestor while she was being held down on the ground, then turned around and mugged over his accomplishments.

I know there are some pretty decent "conservatives" out there, but too often I meet people who do nothing but repeat what they heard on the radio, or just downplay it all and pretend it isn't happening.

What they refuse to acknowledge or admit is that all of the crappy things that have happened to our country - the scandals, the wars, the high gas, the pollution - is their fault because they voted for Bush.
posted by rougy at 5:08 PM on April 28, 2005


I know, it's like they see the world as a cartoon and they are the only real people . . .
posted by mk1gti at 6:13 PM on April 28, 2005


-sound of wanking-
posted by mk1gti at 6:13 PM PST on April 28 [!]


Feel free to believe in your stereotypes all you want. I think it's been explained pretty clearly why they'll only hurt you and how they betray your closed-mindedness.

Yes, there are some ignorant fucktards who claim to be conservative. No doubt there are some equally ignorant fucktards who claim to be liberal. But to truly engage in debate both sides (including you) need to see the world as more than black-and-white, and people as individuals instead of members of a unified block.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 9:28 PM on April 28, 2005


Unintelegent fuckatards -1
Intelegent fucktards +1
posted by Balisong at 10:26 PM on April 28, 2005


I've always seen the world as brilliant, living color, thedevildancedlightly. I've also been an adult as I've watched this country have the color taken away by those who prefer to live in black and white.
Expressing anger at those who wish to turn back progress to the middle ages is legitimate and warranted. Case closed.
posted by mk1gti at 9:38 AM on April 29, 2005


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