Loudest applause line at CPAC: “Democrats are not Americans but the enemy”

[GP270watch]

America could be a better nation.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Naso certainly does a lot of complaining about the United States for someone who purports to love them unconditionally. In fact, I'm not sure that I could name any poster who is more negative about this country. He doesn't like most of the people here, how they live, or what they believe. Why doesn't he leave?

Naso complains about persons who are incapable of stating unqualified love for America.  People who can't say "I love America!" and leave it at that.  People who cannot unequivocally state that America is a GOOD Nation. 

Can YOU say "America is a GOOD Nation!" unequivocally?  Without any add-ons?  Just leaving it at that?

As I said before, we aren't living in North Korea.

No one should have to unequivocally say "I love America", and no one should question the patriotism of someone just because they criticize this country, as there are many issues that we have that need to be seriously discussed and can't just be swept under the rug in the name of patriotism.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

[GeorgiaModerate]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

Ok, I'll meet you in the middle.  I'll agree: America is a good nation.  Will you agree that it could be a better nation?

[Karpatsky]

What does it even mean to call a construct as broad and impersonal as a state 'good'? As in a net positive to their citizen's lives? By that definition, practically any state is 'good' as the alternative to anarchy. This entire debate is being used to silence and minimize legitimate criticisms of American society and governance, which have nothing to do with the 'moral character' of the state as a whole, if such a concept is even meaningful.

[Hindsight was 2020]

I’m changing the title to better sum up the thread

[Devout Centrist]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

You weren't born married to your wife

[Peeperkorn]

"They want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved."

lmao what

[GP270watch]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

 America is not your spouse. America is a people and its government. The government could better serve the interest of the people and Americans themselves could stand to get along and treat each other better.

 To play along with your tortured analogy, if your spouse treated one of your children greatly and mistreated the other, pointing it out or attempting to stop it wouldn't mean that you didn't love your wife.
 

[Dr. MB]

Trump hasn't changed the right, he's revealed them.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

Ok, I'll meet you in the middle.  I'll agree: America is a good nation.  Will you agree that it could be a better nation?

Well, of course, I'd agree to that.   Ilhan Omar and AOC don't agree, however.  They believe that America is a steaming pile of racist trash.

[alancia]

First of all,

"They want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved."

lmao what

Second, what I could say about this has already been said - that this is a rather dangerous point of view. I still have some more sympathies than not with most American conservatives (except those of the foreign-interventionist kind) but this view creates ground for bad stuff in the future, as well as retaliation (sort of a political MAD if I had to make a name for it)

In the end I don't really care about the US - even if I am in uselectionatlas.org - and I view stuff from the point of view of Argentina. Here the GOP has the advantage in that they support defunding Planned Parenthood which funds the pro-abortion campaign here - something I don't support obviously. Any US politician that lessens American influence on the rest of the world (especially Latin America) has my support.

[BlueSwan]

They hate the guy on our $20 bill, they hate the police, they hate borders, they hate the pledge of allegiance, they hate our gun laws, they hate the national anthem, they hate religion (unless it's something muslim or controversial) they hate our electoral college, they hate our President, they hate many of our Supreme Court justices, they hate big gulp sodas, normal bathrooms, even freaking Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

The list goes on and on. The only thing the left likes about America is the right they have in America to speak about what they hate about America.

I unapologetically love America. So does Trump. Unlike Obama, he can say it without adding a "but". There are no buts. If you don't like it, leave. Please. Leave.

It's really not worth my time to respond to this lunacy, but let me just debunk/explain a few of the incomprehensible talking points you've used here.

1). the guy on our $20 bill was an absolute sociopath who dueled to the death and massacred Native people. secondly, it's odd how you would love a racist Democrat 🤔

2). This is just a strawman, not really much to debate here. I could just as easily say Republicans hate all teachers because they critizice them so often. with that said, criticizing police brutality and cops acting like action heroes who think they're above the law does not = hating police. the number of Democrats/leftists who actually hate police is almost certainly smaller than the number of Republicans who actually hate minorities solely for existing.

3). Again, a strawman that has no basis in reality. the bipartisan 2013 immigration bill would have secured the border and nearly all Democrats in Congress supported it, but of course those on the fringes of the GOP killed it because muh amnesty or something. so to recap on borders; we had a chance to secure the border, Republicans killed it. sit down and shut up.

4). I personally would not pledge allegiance to any country, but to say that the average Democrat shares this view point is yet again another strawman that's devoid of any factual basis. what most Democrats and progressives believe is that no one, particularly children, should be forced to say the pledge of allegiance. the United States is not a personality cult like North Korea - you don't have to tirelessly take an oath saying how much you love this country.

5). This is possibly my favorite part of your rant thus far. there are countless laws that Republicans "hate". look at how Republicans argue against our current abortion or immigration laws, and notice that they claim these laws are leading to death or disaster or whatever scare words they use. Democrats share the same view, and for good reason, on lax gun laws.


6). Every NFL player who kneeled has explicitly said they were not protesting the national anthem or America itself, but only police brutality and institutional racism - two very serious issues that must be addressed. you'll note that right-wingers had no problem with Tim Tebow kneeling during the national anthem in prayer... I wonder why.


7). The absolute base of the Democratic Party (women of color) are extremely religious, more so than most white Republicans. further more, the vast majority of elected Democrats are Christians or belong to some branch of Christianity. calling other religions weird and showing your Islamaphobia here is also a cute little side note. if you truly love this country, you would believe in freedom of - and freedom from - religion.


. They believe the electoral college is unfair  and/or outdated, and so did Donald Trump when he falsely claimed that Romney had won the PV and lost the EC in 2012 - what exactly does this have to do with the left's alleged hatred of America, again?


9). Again, are you under the impression that we live in North Korea? the fact that we have the right to hate our President is part of why America is a good country. also, Republicans hated Obama just as much as Democrats hated Trump so I'm unsure where you're even going with this one. most Democrats hate Trump because they believe his policies are wrong and are harming this country - that's the definition of patriotism.

10). Republicans also hate many of our Supreme Court justices. similarly to your last point, this one also makes no sense considering the exact same is true of Republicans.


11). Wanting to tax unhealthy things isn't something I agree with, but it's also far from being un-American or unpatriotic. people support this because they want Americans to be healthier, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that even though I disagree with this specific policy.

12). trans people have a right to use the bathroom of their choice, and the scare tactic/BS conspiracy theory that predators will use this and claim to be trans so they can assault women or little girls or something is totally invented by the right - like the idea of their being widespread voter fraud or a crisis on our Southern border. you're more likely to be raped by Roy Moore or Dennis Hastert than a sicko pretending to be trans so he can molest children.


13). A tiny, tiny, group of leftists (morons, to be more accurate) said that about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. again, this is an extremely fringe view so bringing it up as an example of why liberals hate America is like me saying Republicans hate America because they want to make it illegal to criticize the President.

And finally, I'll respond to your last statement here.

No prominent Democrats or liberals hate this country, they hate the injustices and issues that exist in this country and want to fix them. wanting to make this country better does not in any way imply it's not already great - unlike a certain slogan used by our current President. and I'd add that you have a history of racist and anti-Semitic comments, so I would find it really hard to say you love this country unconditionally when you seem to hate anyone who isn't exactly like you. America is not defined by race or religion or ethnicity or sexuality or any of those things, it's defined by a shared goal and a shared belief in our ideals. blindly accepting everything that goes on in this country in the name of patriotism is in fact the opposite of patriotism. true patriotism is not being afraid to criticize your country when she goes wrong, and working to make it a better place for all it's inhabitants. I love this country, I love the wide diversity of people you can find here - people of all different backgrounds, races, and creeds all coming together is fundamentally what America is about. our country has many flaws, but these can be overcome. I believe America is an exceptional country, and her people are among the best in the World. I do not like Donald Trump. I do not like the Republicans and what they want to do to this country - but I do love this country. I love it's people, I love it's ideals. I believe that our best days are ahead of us, and America will be even greater once our long national nightmare is over. I don't hate this country just because I hate the current Government, and I hope Republicans won't either once it becomes majority-minority, or once candidates they don't like win elections. we can disagree on policy, but we can all agree that this country is all we have, and we should make the best of it. we should embrace and love our fellow Americans, and we should put our differences aside and embrace the common goal of making sure this country lives up to what the founders intended.

Standing ovation!

[T'Chenka]

He doesn't get to define what the United States is from his La-Z-Boys and then tell the rest of us that we're un-American for having different values.

Many trumpists REALLY, truly, deep down in their souls think that it IS their God-given right to pontificate to us all from their La-Z-Boys though, without any protest or resistance. ANYTHING less than that is a "cultural Marxism attack on white straight conservative men". Which in turn causes a greater need to "own the libs", because the libs "attacked them first".

[pbrower2a]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

We can't be perfect, but most of us could improve ourselves.

This said,

(1) Donald Trump is thoroughly awful in his ethics and his lack of empathy for vulnerable people
(2) the religious right is full of hypocrisy
(3) our economic elites are no better than most of the people that we know, and
(4) dividing America between those who believe in a certain set of ideas and demonizing anyone who fails to hold them has potential for monumental tragedy.

Is it possible to be a Stalinist or Maoist and an still be an American? Sure. is it possible to be a Kluxer or a neo-Nazi and be an American? Sure. Is it possible to be a serial murderer like Ted Bundy and still be an American? No part of his sentence was to strip him of US citizenship. But let us remember that if a tornado drops down onto America and kills scores of people, it is still an American tornado. 

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Naso certainly does a lot of complaining about the United States for someone who purports to love them unconditionally. In fact, I'm not sure that I could name any poster who is more negative about this country. He doesn't like most of the people here, how they live, or what they believe. Why doesn't he leave?

Naso complains about persons who are incapable of stating unqualified love for America.  People who can't say "I love America!" and leave it at that.  People who cannot unequivocally state that America is a GOOD Nation. 

Can YOU say "America is a GOOD Nation!" unequivocally?  Without any add-ons?  Just leaving it at that?

Nothing could be easier than calling the United States a "good nation" when you define everything that you dislike about it as un-American.

Since you're asking, I can easily write a response mirroring his screed, but with an emphasis on a different set of virtues:

You hate the guy who wrote Civil Disobedience, if you've even heard of him, you don't value this country's natural beauty, you abhor our major cities, you have only contempt for American pluralism, you despise our environmental laws, you have no appreciation for this country's art or literature, you hate our Congress, and you hold plastic pop culture and a highly personalized sense of cheap nostalgia above all of our higher national ideals.

Naso's perverse vision is not unapologetically "loving America." He doesn't get to define what the United States is from his La-Z-Boys and then tell the rest of us that we're un-American for having different values. Even if his posts often read more like some kind of public decree. All that's missing is a leaden seal.

*Yes, I realize that most Democrats are sad and pathetic enough to apologize for anything, and that many on the left are too preoccupied with guilt and suffering to recognize goodness, but there's a world outside these increasingly dolorous alternatives.

Well, yes, it's no more virtuous to hate San Francisco and Manhattan than it is to hate "The Heartland" (rural flyover country).  I certainly don't think small towns have cornered the market on virtue.  In truth, I see more "Peep Show" establishments when I drive through a certain rural stretch of WV than I do in suburbanized FL, so I get that.

There are posters here that, quite frankly, never say a positive thing about America.  Some are foreign, yet leftist Americans here side with them unequivocally, never thinking that their viewpoint is  one in which the welfare of America and Americans does not come before the welfare of themselves and THEIR nation, which is not America.  That's fine, as far as it goes, but I will point out the "conflict of interest" on the matter.

I'll simplify it:  If you look at the flag and dwell on how racist, sexist, imperialist, etc. America is, and meditate on all of America's faults, it is not reasonable for me to believe that you love the American Nation unequivocally.  There are some here that, based on their posts, have convinced me that they truly hate America and only wish to remake it in their own image (while they rail about the Mike Nasos of the world being "intolerant".)   They will never acknowledge the great good that comes from America, and the force for good that America has been in the World, because that is in conflict with at least some of their rhetoric.  And I use the example "look at the flag" because a nation's flag is a symbol for that nation as a whole; looking at the Hammer and Sickle flag brings to mind the former Soviet Union, while looking at the Union Jack brings to mind not just England, but the former British Empire, do they not?  Let's be real; many Americans loathe America and only seek from it what they can get, while never acknowledging what it has given to them.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Naso certainly does a lot of complaining about the United States for someone who purports to love them unconditionally. In fact, I'm not sure that I could name any poster who is more negative about this country. He doesn't like most of the people here, how they live, or what they believe. Why doesn't he leave?

Naso complains about persons who are incapable of stating unqualified love for America.  People who can't say "I love America!" and leave it at that.  People who cannot unequivocally state that America is a GOOD Nation. 

Can YOU say "America is a GOOD Nation!" unequivocally?  Without any add-ons?  Just leaving it at that?

Nothing could be easier than calling the United States a "good nation" when you define everything that you dislike about it as un-American.

Since you're asking, I can easily write a response mirroring his screed, but with an emphasis on a different set of virtues:

You hate the guy who wrote Civil Disobedience, if you've even heard of him, you don't value this country's natural beauty, you abhor our major cities, you have only contempt for American pluralism, you despise our environmental laws, you have no appreciation for this country's art or literature, you hate our Congress, and you hold plastic pop culture and a highly personalized sense of cheap nostalgia above all of our higher national ideals.

Naso's perverse vision is not unapologetically "loving America." He doesn't get to define what the United States is from his La-Z-Boys and then tell the rest of us that we're un-American for having different values. Even if his posts often read more like some kind of public decree. All that's missing is a leaden seal.

*Yes, I realize that most Democrats are sad and pathetic enough to apologize for anything, and that many on the left are too preoccupied with guilt and suffering to recognize goodness, but there's a world outside these increasingly dolorous alternatives.

Well, yes, it's no more virtuous to hate San Francisco and Manhattan than it is to hate "The Heartland" (rural flyover country).  I certainly don't think small towns have cornered the market on virtue.  In truth, I see more "Peep Show" establishments when I drive through a certain rural stretch of WV than I do in suburbanized FL, so I get that.

There are posters here that, quite frankly, never say a positive thing about America.  Some are foreign, yet leftist Americans here side with them unequivocally, never thinking that their viewpoint is  one in which the welfare of America and Americans does not come before the welfare of themselves and THEIR nation, which is not America.  That's fine, as far as it goes, but I will point out the "conflict of interest" on the matter.

I'll simplify it:  If you look at the flag and dwell on how racist, sexist, imperialist, etc. America is, and meditate on all of America's faults, it is not reasonable for me to believe that you love the American Nation unequivocally.  There are some here that, based on their posts, have convinced me that they truly hate America and only wish to remake it in their own image (while they rail about the Mike Nasos of the world being "intolerant".)   They will never acknowledge the great good that comes from America, and the force for good that America has been in the World, because that is in conflict with at least some of their rhetoric.  And I use the example "look at the flag" because a nation's flag is a symbol for that nation as a whole; looking at the Hammer and Sickle flag brings to mind the former Soviet Union, while looking at the Union Jack brings to mind not just England, but the former British Empire, do they not?  Let's be real; many Americans loathe America and only seek from it what they can get, while never acknowledging what it has given to them.

Im sorry that in a day and age in which we are being run by a former tv celebrity with narcissistic personality disorder, were our courts are being stacked with accused sexual assaulters who are gradually taking a sledgehammer to a women’s reproductive right, when little kids are being thrown into “camps”  were they being physically, emotionally, and even sexually abused because our their parents work visas expired, were we are govern by a party that is destroying our democratic norms in a cynical persuit of power, and were we stand as the only major western country to be denying the science of climate change that will likely lead to a horrible future for the next generations that we aren’t smelling the roses

[President Johnson]

I love how Chris Cuomo on CNN totally destorys CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp on Trump's lies here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbZPYwPXmM4

[GP270watch]

  Let's be real; many Americans loathe America and only seek from it what they can get, while never acknowledging what it has given to them.

 Uh, those ungrateful other people, who could you be talking about?

 Maybe some Americans see everything they and their ancestors have given to America and are still treated unfairly.

 Conservatives venerate a hollow and dangerous patriotism. They were against integration in the Army. Women serving in combat roles, or serving all together in some cases. They were against gays in the military and now are still seeking to and blocking transgender military members. So if serving your country is one of the ways that you express love for country according to Conservatives, why have they always tried to deny others that right? It's because they don't love America, they love sanctimony.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The phrase "the last refuge of the scoundrel" comes to mind.

[Jags]

Nice to see Republicans advocating for personal freedom... oh.

[7,052,770]

America could be a better nation.

If my wife ended every suggestion that I was a good husband with, "He could be slimmer!" or "He could make more money!", I don't think I'd be convinced that she loved me.  If that were the case, our song would be Weird Al Yankovic's "Good Enough For Now".

Ok, I'll meet you in the middle.  I'll agree: America is a good nation.  Will you agree that it could be a better nation?

Well, of course, I'd agree to that.   Ilhan Omar and AOC don't agree, however.  They believe that America is a steaming pile of racist trash.

You literally voted for a president who's central, overarching campaign plank was that America isn't great. His opponent, who you have regularly bashed and demonized, always countered with America is great and always will be.

The argument is over. You lose.

[Stranger in a strange land]

The Left: maybe you should eat a little less beef so the planet doesn't burn.

The Right: SJW SNOWFLAKE LIBTARDS WANT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR HAMBURGERS!!!!!

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

My God, the right has become a bunch of disgusting treacherous snowflakes who can't take criticism at all. I love how thru misconstrue things to rabidly attack Democrats and the left while at the same time prioritizing defending dictators and other enemies of America.

 I got to say it's also one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my political history. And you have people like Sanchez and Naso here who are so triggered by people of differing opinions they have to resort to petty attacks. For example at CPAC, Sebastian Gorka went on an unhinged rant saying we want to take away their hamburgers just because we ask to reduce beef consumption because it was one of the big causes of global warming. Or because we want better gun safety laws that means we want to break into your house in the middle of the night to take away all your guns.

It's also funny how obsessed the right is with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, they feel so threatened by her like she's the new incarnation of Stalin or some stupid S***. The right itself is growing into a dangerous movement that seeks to do exactly what they claim the left wants to do

 - stifle free speech and make it so their ideology remains the sole ideology in this country because "muh freedom man".

[Ban my account ffs!]

The Left: maybe you should eat a little less beef so the planet doesn't burn.

The Right: SJW SNOWFLAKE LIBTARDS WANT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR HAMBURGERS!!!!!

On the other side

The right:  Maybe global warming isn't quite as bad as is being hyped and we don't have to reorganize the foundations of society and life just to keep the planet from broiling.

The left:  DEEEENNNNNIIIIIEEEEEEEEEERRRR MONSTER MURDERER!!!!!