(Cartoon above is by Keith Knight at kchronicles.com.)It was almost more than the right-wing (and racist) base of the Republican Party could stand, when the American people overwhelmingly elected an African-American to be president of the United States. They were convinced it had to be an anomaly, and the American people would come to their senses in 2012 and replace that scary black president with a rich white conservative man -- and then everything would be right with the world again.
But it didn't happen. President Obama again trounced a white right-wing opponent -- getting over 50% of the popular vote with more than a 3 million vote margin, and racking up an impressive 332 electoral votes. And many in the GOP just can't stand it. From the party's hierarchy to its dysfunctional base, Republicans have been searching for an excuse, any excuse, for the loss. Romney claims it was because the Democrats gave "gifts" to minorities, women, and young people (ignoring the massive "gifts" he had wanted to give the rich). The teabaggers think they just didn't nominate a candidate far enough to the right (even though Romney had moved so far to the right that he made Attila the Hun look like a bleeding-heart liberal).
Others just think there's no way they could have lost, especially considering their attempts to suppress the Democratic vote in numerous states. These people are convinced that President Obama must have stolen the election somehow. Think I'm kidding? Just look at these figures from a recent Public Policy Polling survey (taken between November 30th and December 2nd). These are all Republican responses:
DID THE DEMOCRATS ENGAGE IN VOTER FRAUD?
yes...............50%
no...............34%
not sure...............16%
DID OBAMA WIN LEGITIMATELY OR DID ACORN STEAL THE ELECTION FOR HIM?
won legitimately...............35%
ACORN stole it...............49%
not sure...............16%
Those are some pretty amazing numbers. Especially that 49% (virtually half of Republicans) think ACORN stole the election for the president. That's a pretty astounding accomplishment for ACORN -- especially considering the organization filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and has not even existed for the last two years. They might have known this if they had watched a real news organization, instead of just drinking the kool-aid served by Fox News.
But as crazy as that is, it doesn't even come close to the sour grapes craziness of those who want to secede from the United States over losing an election. Look at these numbers:
DO YOU SUPPORT OR OPPOSE SECESSION FROM THE UNITED STATES?
support...............25%
oppose...............56%
not sure...............19%
That's right. Fully one out of every four Republicans say they would support their state seceding from the United States -- and another 19% are not sure (meaning they might support it). Incredible!
The fact is that the American people turned out in large numbers on election day, and they rejected both the Republican candidate and the Republican policies. It's time for the sour grapes crowd to grow up and admit they were just beaten in a fair election.
