Will the US Republican party learn from what is happening in Egypt today?

It would seem the parallel is more appropriate for Obama. He won by 2% and gives little credence to the other 49%.

No they will not. Why? Because:
1. They will deny that Morsi and his cohorts are right wing. They will attempt to equate him with Obama, who they claim is a muslim anyway. well, would you look at that
2. They do not see their own military the same way as the Egyptian military. Conservatives think that the american military is solely comprised of true, goody, god fearing, freedom loving patriots who would only ever “protect america’s freedom”.

What would they learn? The military in the U.S. is a lot different to that in Egypt.
In Egypt the military has effectively ruled for several periods of its existence.
The Egyptian government is much weaker compared to its military than the U.S. gov’t is to its.

I haven’t seen much evidence that conservative Republicans have the desire or open-mindness to seize any historic watersheld event, foreign or domestic, as a learning opportunity.

I seriously doubt that the sort of Republicans that we all hear about will ever learn anything, but more Moderate Republicans may decide to be a little more bipartisan, even if that means being kicked out of the party.

@Jaxk Given the number of unelected Conservatives that still hold positions of power in the US, no, the parallel doesn’t seem appropriate to Obama. Just because Obama has done some things wrong, that doesn’t make him totally evil, just as Mark Sanford doesn’t’ make all Republicans adulterers. I really don’t think you are capable of painting with a wider brush!

I doubt it. They are so certain that their way is the only way, they can’t consider anything else; or so it seems to me.

Most of today’s Republican party is completely immune to the fact-based universe, so learn for Egypt. They don’t even learn when their right-wing policies explode in their face. And they are hard at work purging from the party ranks the remnant of reasonable, thoughtful GOP members who believe in evidence above ideology.

Morsi was elected with about 51% of the vote, but he totally ignored the other 49% of the electorate and put his own (far right wing, fundamentalist religious) people in charge of almost everything. Essentially he ignored the other half of the country – basically gave 49% of the country his middle finger. This sounds like what W did when he appointed probusiness people to fill in posts responsible for the welfare of our enviroment and workforce. Compassionate conservative my ass, and the more info that I dig up on W shows me what a scumbag he really was. Hopefully Republicans will learn that theocracies don’t work, and that theocracies which thrive off of hypocrisy are even worse.

Only moderate Republicans are capable of learning anything, and they have little power these days.

Wow! such little understanding, or actual thought into what republicans are & believe. Religious fundamentalists do not equate to republicans, this comparison is actually insulting. I’m agnostic, believe in gay rights, environmental conservation…and a republican. The republican party no longer has a voice since the conservative talking heads give all of us a bad name. They don’t represent us, yet most liberals tend to think we act and believe what they do. Most other folks I meet working in the STEM fields favor conservative beliefs very strongly. By nature they deal with FACTS and not conjecture. Facts can sometime be harsh and appear cold to others. The extremes of both parties have little to offer humanity and should both be suspect whenever one gains too much power. This polarization guarantees that sensible moderate common-sense thinking citizens never have a voice. Trashing republicans not only lowers your credibility but also ensures that things stay polarized. Most of us, when stripped of our political cards and can actually talk to each other about politics will meet happily in the middle, especially if the facts are available and not left/right propaganda. If we could do this then we could all collectively tell the extremes to shut the hell up, like the religious right and the marxists.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – you’re joking, right?

I applaud you for your defense of Republicans, inaccurate as it appears to be.

One needs only look at the Republican Party (and its stepchild, the Tea Party) to observe how accurate my original assertion was. And the fact that you are unable to see that yourself tells me that you are as willfully blind as the rest of the R.P.

You can’t rewrite history, nor can you dispute facts.

Elaborate… You have said nothing. What makes YOU a democrat aside from just saying you’re smarter and pointing fingers? That’s not going to cut it.

@ARE_you_kidding_me While I understand what you’re saying, and agree with most of it. the fact that Republicans like you are generally less vocal about opposing the extremists amongst your midst and unwilling to either purge them or leave (thus splitting the party) means that you find their extremism agreeable enough to not oppose it.

You know how, when a bank is robbed, the person who drives the getaway car is criminally liable as well, right? By not only not opposing the batshit brigade, the moderate Republicans such as yourself are likewise accomplices, at least in the eyes of many.

Also note that not all non-Republicans are Democrats. Many are like myself; “least of all evils” people who are more likely to vote Democrat (at least on a national level) simply because most of the Republicans who run for Congress/President either support disagreeable policy, or are batshit crazy. The state and local levels tend to have Republican candidates who are Republicans only because the person they’re running against is a Democrat in “Limit 1 per party” elections and they don’t feel safe running as an Independent.

BTW, the one thing I disagree with you on is dealing with facts over conjecture, at least on matters involving economics. I mention that simply because I think that is where Republicans lose most of their credibility; the economy.

I’ve actually voted third party in the last four elections. I basically voted for Obama since I could not bring myself to vote for Mitt and I helped split the conservative vote. It’s the left-right dichotomy that forces us into one camp or another…at least on the surface. If I’m forced to identify with one or the other I choose the republicans, but I’m closer to the center. Trust me, I’m politically a paleo-conservative/paleo-anarchist and would love to throw out the extremists. I associate more with the tea party but will generally vote republican in local elections because it’s much easier to know the individuals who are running and what they stand for. I did vote for our mayor who is a moderate democrat. People are simple and don’t get third party like you said and will not run on an independent ticket. Above your local base, politics is corrupt and I don’t believe that it really matters if it’s red or blue in the office on the big issues like the economy or wars. Has anything really changed from G.W. to B.O.? Same thing can also be said for democrats, they accommodate the marxist extremes on their side of the spectrum as well. That said, I usually call out folks who flash their political card as if it was some badge of honor or holiness and are unwilling to talk about issues as individuals. I’m over this you’re a democrat-republican nose snubbing baloney.

@ARE_you_kidding_me “Above your local base, politics is corrupt and I don’t believe that it really matters if it’s red or blue in the office on the big issues like the economy or wars.”

Well, on many issues, Republicans in high office cannot take a non-extremist position and still retain party membership these days, so it still matters. That pretty much ruins things for all Republicans as the only way they can avoid being ostracized is to be pro-corporate, anti-gay, pro-life, anti-poor, and basically following the batshit brigade. Considering that these are the people setting policy for the entire nation (and, in some cases, the world), it matters.

Of course, this forces high-office Democrats to swing to the Left in order to have things average out somewhere in the middle instead of us becoming Iran, yet even our Liberals are often rather more conservative than Conservatives in other parts of the industrialized world.

As for the Tea Party, they have the same issue only worse; they started out as a noble movement (that I actually agreed with on many things) and got taken over by radicals who would rather take hostages and grind the nation to a halt than even think about contemplating the possibility of a chance of negotiating a compromise alternative to their extremist agenda. It’s rather sad that they are now nothing more than petulant children, and rather scary that their temper tantrums have repercussions that affect us all.

Pretty much agree with you, I don’t see pro-lifers as batshit crazy though. Pro-life makes a helluva lot of sense to me, late-term anyway. Morning after not so much. Left have been pretty extreme too. It’s all political pandering for the drama and show. If we put a moderate republican or democrat in office (A.K.A. an average American) we would see change and change for the better. What we have now is our nation being attacked from the right when it is their turn and the left when the pendulum swings their way. The tea party has no central leadership therefore no cohesion so anything goes and any mantra can be labeled as “tea party” the bulk of which is simple anti-right propaganda.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Those who are Pro-life enough to push to legalize the murder of abortion providers qualify as “batshit crazy” to me, and those restrict access no non-abortion healthcare just plain will get voted against. We already have pretty sever restrictions on late-term abortions (yay!), and I feel that the only way to prevent back alley abortions (which I personally know a few people that almost died that way) is to keep it legal; abortions will happen anyways, and I’d rather htey be performed by medically trained personnel in a clinical environment than with a coat hanger in a gas station bathroom.

Still, the fact that you and I have a lot of common ground and the ability to disagree civilly is rather nice, and it really is too bad we can’t get more Moderates in. Then again, politicians only get into office if people vote for them; it’s a popularity contest, and the voters are the same people that allowed Firefly to get cancelled after one season while Jersey Shore lasted seven seasons. Accordingly, I have very little faith in the general voting population; only slightly more than I do in the people they vote for.

It’s kinda hard to be pro-life and call for murder, that’s the definition of batshit crazy. Most pro-lifers are a bit more reasonable than that though. I can’t agree more about firefly, as a browncoat myself I can hardly watch TV anymore. I do have faith in most people, separated from the herd they are generally reasonable and have common sense. Too bad the statistical outliers run politics and entertainment. I will say that people simply need to be more independent, we all follow he leaders way too much and never really voice our own opinions enough. Things would be different if we were all more open with each other. All this political correctness is going to get us all in a lot of trouble.

@ARE_you_kidding_me I was a registered Republican for many years, and I’d probably revert back if there were more of the likes of Gary Johnsons or Chris Christies (I know that the latter two’s views are drastically different from one anothers). I do at my core support smaller government, less red tape and personal freedom. Until the Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter faction of the Republican Party disintigrates, true freedom loving Republicans will be labled as RHINO’s.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – I’m a liberal and I believe that our countries need smart open-minded conservatives expressing different views. That’s essential for any democracy. If all people think the same, we are doomed. We need a culture of respect and debate. And that’s what we are missing when encountering hardliners. And yes, there are hardliners on the left too, however in much smaller numbers when we compare this to the tea party movement.

I see hardliners more on the left, but that’s because my left wing friends are from the demographic that creates that. I always see more common sense on the right but that’s with my interaction with friends, family, coworkers and anyone you may run into in the public. I really don’t see any correlation to how they think and act with the way the “right” or “left” act on tv. “Right” or “left” viewpoints change as you look at them in different populations and in different locations.