Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 18, 2013
August 17, 2013
August 19, 2013
Transcript:
Mark: The honest man has returned... and he doesn't look happy. One republican who never succumbed to magical thinking is our old friend Jim "Honest Man" Andrews... So, Jim, what's your take on what ails your party? Jim: Well, it's perfectly obvious... The democrats have vacuumed up all the special interests-- blacks, hispanics, Asians, gays, kids, labor, women, suburbanites... leaving us with only angry, straight, white, well-armed, evangelical men! And do you know why there's no future for angry, straight, white, well-armed, evangelical men? Mark: They can't reproduce? Jim: Exactly! They need women! That's the problem!
Divide et impera. “Divide and rule.” The motto of the Roman Empire. “United we stand, divided we fall.” The motto of the American Revolution. We are all hard-wired to divide the world into “us” and “them”. And to fear that what is “ours” is being taken by “them”. The first part of the GOP message is simple: "THEY are trying to take your … " Fill in the blank: money, gun, job, liberty, control, religious or ethnic dominance, etc. The second part is “THEY are going to give that which is rightfully yours to those who are unlike you, and who are your moral inferiors.” And the third part of the GOP message is “But we will stop them.” As long as people rightfully or wrongly are fearful of the loss of the things they have and hold dear, and believe that persons morally inferior to themselves are the beneficiaries, they will follow this message. No matter how little else you have to offer, or how clueless you may be in regard to the actual, modern, largely urban world. No matter how little this message reflects reality. They don’t have to promise to make things better, they only have to promise to prevent the scapegoat of the month from making things worse.