Shocking revelation: Republicans are Heavily White, Conservative, Religious

Do we really need a survey to tell us that the base of the Republican Party in the U.S. is White, Conservative and Religious? You may as well tell me the sky is blue. Welcome to another installment of the "Department of the Obvious" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the kind of study that I look at and wonder just how much was paid to tell us this. Here is the press release for the Gallup survey in question. Let's look at some highlights:

• "More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives. . . ." (Duh!)
• "Further, by well over a 2-to-1 ratio, whites who identify as Republicans claim a conservative, rather than a moderate or liberal, ideology (or have no opinion when asked about their ideology)." (Double duh!)

And then, there is this little gem: "A great deal of attention has been paid to the plight of Republicans who at this juncture in history find themselves not controlling the presidency, the House, or the Senate." I am sorry, but after their eight years of politics of destruction where they disregarded the common good in just about any way possible in order to make a profit for their peers, I am not feeling exactly sympathetic. If they went the way of the Whigs tomorrow, that would not be fast enough. And I am not even touching how their demagogues use hate speech to incite violence, like they did with that abortionist in Kansas. Sure, there may be a couple of pro-life people now saying, "please don't get us mixed up with that killer," but let's be honest: your hands are just as bloodied, and if this was not the 21st century, you'd probably want to smear the doctor's blood on your children to pass on some twisted value on life.

And no, I am not sympathetic to the Democrats either, who pretty much laid down while the Republicans were ruining the nation and destroying its reputation abroad. Way I see, if both parties went the way of the dodo bird, and we started from scratch tomorrow, that would not be soon enough. The Democrats may have the advantage in diversity (this is noted in the poll as well), but they are not exactly doing any better given their lack of intestinal fortitude. A big reason they are barely on top now is because the Republicans pretty much insist on destroying themselves. Which is perfectly fine by me because I have no love for a bunch of willfully ignorant bigots who use religion as an excuse to discriminate against anyone who is different and who would rather put profits before things like, oh, I don't know, universal health care and the common good.

Anyhow, did we really need a survey to tell us this? At the end of the day, those of us who are informed already know the results. And the willfully ignorant will keep ignoring it anyways.