"you can see a lot of derogatory remarks thrown at people because of where they live, and assumptions made about their character and intellect."

Blacks and immigrants have been living with this forever in this country.

#7 Those are good ideas, but two problems. 1. Gerrymandering is a state's rights issue, and if Republican states want to Gerrymander, it's legal. 1. A cap on campaign contributions won't survive Citizen's United.

I do support making the filibuster so it requires actually talking, like in Texas. If not just doing away with it altogether. I don't think ending/reforming the filibuster alone is enough to fix things. But it would be a good start.

"and for the most part, we acknowledge the political/legal reality that hospitals are burdened with all sort of patients they don't want."

Public hospitals, I believe. Private hospitals can still turn people away in a non-emergency setting.

Same with public schools vs private schools. And that's why vouchers won't work. Private schools will never accept those problem students, voucher or not.

"The truth was democrats with slavery, Jim Crow, KKK and more."

The truth is Democrats then adopted Civil Rights in the 1950s, and Republicans stuck with Jim Crow.

And that's how Strom Thurmond went from being a Democrat to a Republican.

#4 You can't put an AI on the witness stand and ask it why it did something.

Despite the fact that they work, this is a huge hurdle to overcome to have them integrated in society. Or, maybe we don't want AI's in charge of things, even if it's plain to see they usually do a better job than humans.

"Conservatives believe individuals have responsibilities in conjunction with our freedoms and the government should have limited involvement in our lives."

Boaz doesn't believe we have responsibilities in conjunction with our freedoms.

"As we've seen in the US people can become permanent wards of the state which certainly is not the goal."

Being Tough On Crime has been a rallying cry of the right for as long as you've been alive. It's put millions of people in that position, largely for non-violent drug offenses. The War on Drugs flies in the face of government having limited involvement in our lives. Conservatives are the biggest supporters of the War on Drugs.

Your statement are all too often sweeping, grandiose, and wrong.

Remember when Mike Pence went to a NFL game, just to walk out before the game even started, when the players took a knee?

Players have the freedom to take a knee.

But you'll never hear a right-winger celebrate that freedom.

The total number of deaths from HIV is about 700,000 since the first case in 1980. Which was 41 years ago.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has killed (checks today's number) 629,862 in a year and a half.

Republicans are really, really bad at math.

"Covid can kill, but overwhelmingly has little, if any long term impact on the people that come in contact with it."

I guess that's why it killed 30x more people than HIV did.

"Currently in Louisiana, 11.1% of the hospitalized were previously fully vaccinated."

This just in: Old people go to hospital more than young people.

"Floyd was suffocated till death in Minneapolis."

That was race related? It wasn't because Floyd had COVID?

"Looking at the comments so far you can see why it's an easy sell for the GOP."

A much harder sell is getting you to acknowledge Democrats are actually better than Republicans.

What's the hold-up?

"light is taking the shortest path"

I believe it is the path of shortest time. Not the path of shortest distance, which "shortest path" suggests in normal speech.

"Snoofy I'm not complaining or scolding anyone."

Yeah you are. You even did it when you asked "What meaningful change and improvement have the Dems brought to rural America?"

Fact is, health care in rural America in blue states is better than health care in rural America in red states. I'm surprised you don't know that, but I won't be surprised if you don't believe it.

"What meaningful change and improvement have the Dems brought to rural America?"

Do you even think government should do that, or are you just being Devil's Advocate?

Meawihle:
What meaningful harm have Republicans brought to rural America?
Right To Work. And lately, anti-mask and anti-vaxx messaging.

#3 Abortion much?

"Should gays be forced or pressured to take an experimental HIV vaccine as soon as it becomes available?"

^
To put this deeply flawed analogy in perspective, In 2018, there were 15,820 deaths among adults and adolescents with diagnosed HIV in the United States and 6 dependent areas.

COVID-19 kills about 30x more people than HIV does in a year.

I just watched the local news and most of the sound bites were white people saying it should be a choice whether or not you wear a mask.

"I have no faith in the Dems to have what it takes to fight these monsters."

What exactly would that be, though?

Cooler heads have had the chance to prevail in the GOP for five years now.

It's Trump's party, and it will be Trump's party until Trump is dead. Then one of his kids will take over. See also: George Bush, George W. Bush.

#26 only disease-carrying immigrants have to make that oath.

People who are born here don't have those obligations attached to their citizenship.

I've got a right to bear arms and I owe society nothing for giving me that right.

Now what could possibly go wrong with this scenario?

Why not go full Ayn Rand Superman?

If taxes is the only thing you think you owe society, that's literally the only thing holding you back.

I wonder when you figured out you owe society nothing if you're so poor you don't have to pay taxes. Did you learn it on the Democrat Plantation?

I can't remember actually hearing those kinds of comments about small town rural folks coming from the mouths of actual Democrat politicians.

So, ScottE, while it's certainly true that you'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar;

You sound like a scold when you complain about Democrats feeding into the stereotype when it's Republicans who created the myth.

Lots of white supremacists point to black crime rate, black high school dropout rate, and black teen pregnancy to support their beliefs.

What you're doing here is the equivalent of scolding black people for proving the racists right. Like it's the black people's problem to fix white racism.

The strategy definitely works. Republicans have been cashing in on Lee Atwater's strategy for 40 years and counting. It's become part of the mythology, as you said.

Only Republicans can change the Republican Party. Trump became a Republican, and changed it, for example. And Republicans like this one better.

"I'm just pointing out how the GOP maintains a strong loyal following in rural America."

Through fake news and propaganda.
It's called Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.

Facts don't work on people who believe in Alternate Facts.

If you have a way to get through to them, I'm all ears.

Do you think there comes a point where there's no getting through to some people? I do. Try getting through to an Orthodox Jew for example.