Snowflakes. Groomers. Cucks.
For years the MAGA movement has approached politics the way a bully would approach a schoolyard, sparring with labels so nasty, they seemed expressly chosen to appeal to the kind of people who stuffed nerds in lockers in sixth grade. And for years Democrats, abiding by the mantra to go high, not low, have responded by trying to be the adults in the room: defending themselves with facts, with context, with earnest explanations that nobody remembers (if they defend themselves at all).
The problem is that taking the high road only works if politics is a sport played mainly by people who act like grown-ups, which it is not. And also: Facts and context don’t make for particularly sticky messaging.
Enter: Weird.
Over the past two weeks, as “Brat” and coconut memes have taken over the internet and Kamala Harris inches closer to Donald Trump in the polls, the Democrats have finally gone low, deploying a bit of verbal jujitsu so delightfully petty it might just work.
Adjectives are not nouns.
fuck us politics.
Non of them ever adress the actual issues.
The declining middle class.
That you are just an industrial war machine that has to constantly be in war.
That you are ruled by wall street.
Bernie Sanders…
I think it’s less about insulting them, and more a out no longer treating them with the utmost respect. We (and by we I don’t just mean lefties) should have called them weird when they called themselves the the tea party, but we handled absolutely insane rhetoric by trying to meet it from a place of thoughtful and respectful academic discussion. It was always the wrong strategy.
That said it could very easily backfire. Going to far would look really childish. I think weird really hits home with how most reasonable people feel about these guys.
Agreed. There are certain positions so out there that they do not deserve any kind of respectful discourse. Republicans have been far past that since Bush II. I don’t see a path to getting back there while they’re still one of the two major parties. They need to either die off, or we fix the systemic issues that prevent third parties from being viable. Both works, too.
Democrats have become so right wing they’re finally allowed to do name calling.
Name calling like that should work well with the youth vote. Smart. Politics is just a shit throwing contest. The other side will probably follow suit with terms that fit the demonized adjectives popular among the demographics of their base.
Contrary to the prevailing view that youth are rebellious, they always obey the patriarchy behind the scenes, the merchants of “the cool” dictating the popular image to them. Pretty hard to get milage out of calling a non-white woman creepy or weird. On the other hand, it is kind of a reflexive acceptance when those negative predicates are applied to any male over 20. Agreed. I think dicks of any age are weird and gross myself.
But will their POLICIES improve our lives?
Back when Michelle Obama said when they go low, we go high–I told my wife “I really wish that worked in American politics, I really do…but it simply doesn’t”. My wife disagreed. Because my wife is a mature, kind-hearted Democrat. She thinks you can bring an informational brochure to a bar fight.
Maybe there is a way to de-escalate things and return to more civil “statesmanship” style in our politics. But my guess is that these things follow some kind of up-and-down cycle, and you don’t want to be on the side that’s lagging.
I saw an article that summarizes people like your wife as those living in a West Wing (TV show) fantasy. I wish we lived in such a world too, but we definitely do not.
I do not mean offense to your wife. I envy people that still have that type of faith.
No offense taken. She has a hard time seeing how nasty it has become. She limits her exposure to the news, which is mostly a good thing.
It isn’t a good thing overall if it means she’s that out of touch.
Out of touch with what? How ducking awful humans really are?
Out of touch with current politics.
Elaborate. Which part of the GOP platform are we going to talk about? Oh, right, they don’t have one. There’s literally nothing to discuss.
The part where she thinks you can take information to a bar fight…?
They go low, we kick them in the teeth.
Knee to the nose would be my personal go to if someone “goes low”
As a democratic compromise i propose we do both
Meeting in the middle and taking the high ground has worked a LOT in the past. In about 12 years, though some would argue since 2002, things changed. We can return to a more reasonable time, though I am of the opinion that the modern Republican Party needs to be gutted and replaced before we can do that. They are so far right that they’ve done a complete circle and have ended up with various heads in far too many asses.
I’m a big picture kind of person and that large magical totally not a portal painting on the wall points to the party being beyond saving.
I sure wouldn’t miss them.
It’s further back than that. Newt Gingrich in the 90s proved that the “fuck you, I’m gonna break your shit” republican strategy was surprisingly (politically) effective in the context of winning American elections and curbing the (publicly apparent) effectiveness of the Democratic Party. The DNC just took over 30 fucking years to fully understand that, and in the interim, the American public has paid the price.
I considered pushing back even into the late 70s. I think though, the shift to the modern mental breakdown really began happening after Sept. 11th. With 2002 really kicking off the U.S. involvement in the middle east as a response to the incident. As we know now pointing the guns at the more convenient (for us) targets. I’m no historian though.
Yeah I think the winning move is “we can discuss the issues as mature adults whenever you choose to. But until then if you’re going to insist on name calling and fascism I’m going to call you the pathetic weirdo you’re being”
I mean honestly, this is correct. There are likely a few Republicans in positions of some power that disagree with how things have gone. Unfortunately, I feel they are far in the minority. Today it is no longer an issue of mild morality disagreements, or a lack of some fearless leader. The bigots, racists, and fascists have taken over the party.
Now there are ways to change this. Shift the status quo away from their foolish and evil ideologies. BUT it would take commitment from leaders of both parties - NOT assigned leaders, people who are instead well-respected, to step up together. Problem is there is no one on that side of the fence who fits that role right now. Chances are we’d have to vote them in. After all, we can affect that too. If we know a Democrat isn’t likely to take a seat, push for the better Republican. No reason we can’t move left by yanking and pulling in equal measure.
Fully agree except I don’t think it will be republicans who join us there. I think we’ll end up with a Democrat split once the republicans are unviable
Exactly, we don’t go high because they go low, they go low because they know we’ll go high.
I have to upvote Innuendo Studios.
Have to fight back against the bullies to get them to stop.
It’s not just one or the other.
You can’t ignore it, you can’t pick it apart and expect people to listen. Even if they listen, now you’re spending all your time explaining.
What you is dismiss them quickly and broadly, then talk about what you would do.
They won’t waste time trying to talk policy, so they’re reduced to making the same insults and getting the same dismissals.
It makes them look “weak” and the more they fight back the crazier shit they have to make up. It’s a feedback loop.
Biden tried to do it, he just couldn’t string together enough words. Kamala can, but it’s not some master strategy, just the common sense response to the situation
Sure, I hear you and what you’re saying, and it all makes sense. I think it depends on the time, the place, and the audience. I would say in general there has been a sea change here in the Trump post-truth world. And in general, things are much, much nastier as far as the tone and style goes. Things were very nasty when it came to policy and actual backroom deals back when Reagan took over. But at least the evil old bastard was charming and liked most Americans in his own goofy / phony way. He did pit us against each other but more in the grandpa wants to watch the kids wrestle kind of way compared to Trump’s “let’s destroy democracy” kind of way.
I also think it’s very important that the Democrats continue to be for some things and not just 100% against things like the Republicans are.
Finally?
It’s all they have been doing for 10 years, this is just the latest programming as the others have all been disproven to the masses.
They’re both weird and creepy in their own ways. The GOP is like a Petri dish that someone smeared rabid monkey shit on, and we’re all watching it fester and mutate.
Republicans are disgusting
https://archive.is/JGSPb Because I hit that wall.
Also, holy shit. That’s the most mind-blowing article I’ve read in awhile. Thank you!
You’re welcome. I did my own research after Trump got elected into the Authoritarian Personality, Dark Triad and the F-Scale.
Don’t let Shady Vance go near your couch cushions.
You mean JD Vance, the man who wrote Wet Goddess: Recollections of a Dolphin Lover under the pen name Malcolm Brenner?
Are you saying JD Vance not only
lovesfucks couches, he also reallylovesfucks dolphins?Does he like fish sticks?
Are you saying JD Vance keeps Kanye’s song “Gay Fish” on constant rotation?
Future Presidential debates:
“Shut up you lying little bitch”
“Come make me, fuckface!”
Schoolyard Insults: Presidential Edition
I love how b!t©h is removed but “fuckface” is peachy.
Only because you’re on ml, my instance gives me the full uncensored text.
Still hilariously arbitrary, no matter who’s dumb idea it was.
wait is it just straight up removed, or censored like b****?
There’s a hunter2 joke here but I’m too old and tired
Why did you just type a bunch of asterisks in the middle of a sentence?
I think it’s missing the point. It’s not effective for being name-calling. It’s just saying what everyone is already thinking. Like in the 2020 debate when Biden said “Will you just shut up, man?” It was relatable because Trump runs his fucking mouth all the time.
This is the same. It’s a relatable feeling - Trump is deeply weird and out of touch. Vance is so creepy people didn’t even bother to check if he really wrote about fucking a couch.Vance is so creepy people didn’t even bother to check if he really wrote about fucking a couch.
Nailed it. Pre-Trump era I would have frantically searched for a source. These days my expectations from the Republicans are so unbelievably low.
I’m still in the group of… This is childish behavior.
The walk around while holding on to your ankles group?
No the, “politics should remain professional” group.
McCain Defending Obama: https://youtu.be/JIjenjANqAk&t=30s
That ship has sailed years ago. Maybe we’ll get back to it if everyone votes and the Fanta Menace goes to jail.
i find weird and creepy to be less name calling and more fact pointing
Also way less offensive than what they deserve.
For Heaven’s sake, someone make this person a Lemmy Mod
Unfortunately, fact pointing doesn’t work.
Let’s keep up the “name calling” facts
Matt Gatez creepily traffics children
Gym Jordan is, at best, a creepy enabler of pedophiles
Mike Johnson weirdly discusses individual porn movies with his children
(I’m not trying to stick to a theme here)
Lauren Boebert seems to weirdly enjoy public indecencyRepublicans ain’t like us.
Party of family values 🙄
(I’m not trying to stick to a theme here)
Sometimes a creepy pattern just emerges from the data. :shrug:
MTG literally feeling-up a cardboard cutout of TFG is SUPER weird. what in the sugar frosted fuck was that??? Southern republicans were fucking weird 20 years ago but god damn
yes! they key is to use factual words that these very simple, emotionally driven people understand.
Have some Lemmy Gold.
i love how there are like 10 different kinds of lemmy gold
Good observation!
Take these!
And these as well!
Gotta catch em all!
They are all as valuable as that other gold too!
If you want name-calling, these work:
Can we make a meme referencing the MyPillow guy with Vance’s sofa smashing? After that all we’ll need is Trump embracing the Turks to get the Ottoman reference in there somehow and we’ll have a completely furnished set!
