Bigots.
This is a common refrain in right-wing circles these days:
Scanning national media over the last several days, one sees words such as homophobia, bigotry and xenophobia thrown like confetti by liberals at anyone who dare say that under the federal constitution, states have the right to define marriage. These scare tactics are actually working—Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, felt compelled to appear on national TV and explain that Catholic religious belief that marriage is between a man and a woman forever, to create life is not bigotry but a religious teaching. The left's response—not enough. Nothing is enough short of changing religious doctrine to fit the beliefs of the liberal masses.
This is driving the wingers to distraction. Theirs is an entire movement built on the politics of resentment, from the racist Southern Strategy to anti-gay ballot initiatives. Now those roosters are coming home to roost, and the damage inflicted is incalculable.
We liberals always knew modern conservatism was (literally) built on racial resentment, from the day the Republican Party accepted the Dixiecrats with open arms. But that brand is seeping into the broader mainstream. I keep going back to this GOP focus group in Ohio after the 2012 election, where young working-class white voters expressed dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama and the Democrats, but were just vicious in their assessment of the GOP:
None of them expressed great enthusiasm for Obama. But their depiction of Republicans was even more lacerating than the women’s had been. “Racist,” “out of touch” and “hateful” made the list — “and put ‘1950s’ on there too!” one called out.
Remember, those aren't liberals, but the kind of white working-class swing-state voters Republicans need to attract to offset their growing disadvantages with non-Anglo voters. But few want to vote for a racist, hateful, out-of-touch party straight out of the 1950s.
That's why you'll now see the bigots spend half their time arguing that they're not bigots and don't really hate gay people, it's just that they can't tolerate something consenting adults are doing so fuck them and their rights. See? It's not bigotry. It's just intolerance, which is totally different than bigotry!
The mask is off the modern GOP, and all the whining and revisionism can't change the fact that America sees them for the hateful paranoid bigoted xenophobes that they are. And if that hurts their chances at winning elections? It just means that sometimes, there really is justice in this world.