Traitor Watch - The 45 & 47 Thread

KidTDragon

Now with hi-res avatar!
Citizen
But if Fox mentions it too much, their viewers might start to notice that none of those tax cuts are trickling down to them. Better to not mention it at all and draw their attention away from it by getting them angry at people who not only have no negative impact on their lives, but might actually improve them by raising taxes on the rich.
 

Axaday

Well-known member
Citizen
When someone is sufficiently groomed, they never find out the tax cuts are not trickling down to them. What is happening is that they are so much better off than they would have been under the Democrats' failed policies.
 

Ultra Magnus13

Active member
Citizen
Are you actually saying that someone can't be objectively wrong about what's in their family's interests?

If so....I disagree in the strongest possible terms.

The idea that people (usually fathers/husbands) can "decide" what's best for their family, instead of having a responsibility to learn what's best, is not just incorrect. It's not even just incorrect on a deeper level than believing something untrue about a politician is.
It's one of the most harmful of all beliefs.
It's why parents who believe nonsense can get away with not vaccinating their kids; it's why so-called parents can hit their kids and not be charged with a crime; it's a major part of why even what does meet the too-narrow definition of child abuse often goes unreported.

They absolutly can. Did any of you guys have a real discussion with him to determine in what way he though they would be better? Why he thought that? If his family shares that opinion?

Not that I saw. I saw many of you acting a fool. Treating a forum member poorly, telling him to hug off, calling him a moron, and then celebrating, when he had been dog piled enough he said he wasn't coming here any more.
 

Xaaron

Active member
Citizen
Yeah, what just happened with Deathy is a microcosm of why the Democrats lost and why they will continue to lose for the foreseeable future.

* Caveat up front -- I voted Blue up and down the ballot because I fear for our democracy. * But I understand why they lost.

All Deathy said was he voted for Trump because it was best for his family. Maybe it was an economic issue. Nobody cared. Nobody was interested in his reasons. They just attacked him until he went away. Congratulations -- now your safe space is a little smaller and a little less permeable.

Democrat voters, take this mantra to heart -- Arrogance is the Luxury of Winners. Really let that sink in.

Progressives have been riding high on the idea that Obama's tenure gave them a mandate in this country, when its increasingly clear Obama was an anomaly to 21st century politics. Since Hillary, Democrats have acted as if they no longer need to explain or justify their views. They could be dismissive of anyone who doesn't agree because this country had a liberal / progressive majority. Well, silent majority. Well...maybe a plurality.

You are the minority. Your views are the minority. The majority of the country would rather have Donald Trump as President than agree with you. Best case scenario, if democracy survives the next 4 years, the Republicans will run someone more electable than Trump (because...that's literally anyone), and Democrats will lose again. And again. And again. Unless they start listening to the people who currently won't vote for them.

Democrats need to talk to people who voted for Trump. They need to listen and find out why. They need to actively convince people why voting Blue instead of Red in 2, or 4 years is better for them. They need to be contrite and accommodating because that's what you do when you're losing and need to change people's minds in order to win. Scoffing in their faces, rolling your eyes, and leaving them to figure out their mistakes on their own DOESN'T WORK.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not saying you have to listen to people like Deathy or agree with them. I'm saying that...as the LOSERS...the onus is on you to convince people that you're right for next time. By definition, humility is humiliating, but it has its purpose.

Deathy lost nothing just now. YOU lost a potential swing voter for next election if you heard him out and made a convincing counter-argument.
 

Xaaron

Active member
Citizen
Believe me, I understand that article's feelings. I unfollowed someone the day after the Election when they posted two images on their feed. The 1st was one of those "We'll still be friends after the election because I'm more mature than that" images, and the 2nd was a wiener dog dancing in a "F**K HARRIS" T-Shirt. Disingenuous people exist, yes.

But that article was about "Why should we stay friends with Trump voters?" My point is more about "Why should we court their votes?" Cutting people out on a personal level is different from engaging with them on a political level. You don't have to be friends with someone to listen to their point of view, and look for a way to change it. An impersonal political forum online may even be the best and safest way to do that.
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
I honestly can't think of what policy proposal of Trump's you could be craving for your family. He campaigned on so little. Deportations and Tariffs.
Trump campaigned on the IDEA that tariffs would result in lower prices across the board (and bring back domestic blue collar jobs). The reality of that being false doesn’t change the fact the IDEA was sold to a lot of people successfully. Again, I feel myself fairly knowledgable, but even my limited following of the election basically broke Harris down to “Trump is bad and Bad for democracy”. Great, how is that going to impact ME? (I know the impacts, but that self-centered attitude is prevalent in the US).
Trump, for however unlikely he is to be able to accomplish a fraction of what he promised, still made tangible promises with tangible benefits.


I’m glad UM13 and Xaaron spoke up. I’ve been struggling to find the wording to express my…discomfort with some forum members‘ actions with Deathy. I don’t necessarily share his views, but there is NO reason to rush to insult him or, worse, the purported hateful DMs. That’s the kind of crap Trump’s supporters have been mocked for around here.
We might be mostly liberal here, “our side” might have lost, but that doesn’t mean we should debase ourselves to mock someone who doesn’t share our views.
 

Ultra Magnus13

Active member
Citizen
Yeah, what just happened with Deathy is a microcosm of why the Democrats lost and why they will continue to lose for the foreseeable future.

* Caveat up front -- I voted Blue up and down the ballot because I fear for our democracy. * But I understand why they lost.

All Deathy said was he voted for Trump because it was best for his family. Maybe it was an economic issue. Nobody cared. Nobody was interested in his reasons. They just attacked him until he went away. Congratulations -- now your safe space is a little smaller and a little less permeable.

Democrat voters, take this mantra to heart -- Arrogance is the Luxury of Winners. Really let that sink in.

Progressives have been riding high on the idea that Obama's tenure gave them a mandate in this country, when its increasingly clear Obama was an anomaly to 21st century politics. Since Hillary, Democrats have acted as if they no longer need to explain or justify their views. They could be dismissive of anyone who doesn't agree because this country had a liberal / progressive majority. Well, silent majority. Well...maybe a plurality.

You are the minority. Your views are the minority. The majority of the country would rather have Donald Trump as President than agree with you. Best case scenario, if democracy survives the next 4 years, the Republicans will run someone more electable than Trump (because...that's literally anyone), and Democrats will lose again. And again. And again. Unless they start listening to the people who currently won't vote for them.

Democrats need to talk to people who voted for Trump. They need to listen and find out why. They need to actively convince people why voting Blue instead of Red in 2, or 4 years is better for them. They need to be contrite and accommodating because that's what you do when you're losing and need to change people's minds in order to win. Scoffing in their faces, rolling your eyes, and leaving them to figure out their mistakes on their own DOESN'T WORK.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not saying you have to listen to people like Deathy or agree with them. I'm saying that...as the LOSERS...the onus is on you to convince people that you're right for next time. By definition, humility is humiliating, but it has its purpose.

Deathy lost nothing just now. YOU lost a potential swing voter for next election if you heard him out and made a convincing counter-argument.

Thank you.

I'd started typing up a similar post several times, but was struggling to properly articulate it. You have done so better, than I ever would.

Post Obama, the Democratic party hasn't courted voters by showing how great they are and what they have to offer. They have essentially just been engaging in political negging. They have just said "look how bad THAT guy is! If you vote for him your a Nazi or an idiot."

They have pandered far too much to the vocal "terminally" online crowd. I believe most of the United States is pro choice. Most people understand it is something that should be available. Most (not all) of the Right has moderated away from a fully anti abortion stance. Most are somewhere in the "safe, legal, rare" "states rights" or "first trimester" camp. I think most Americans are more pro choice than this. But when faced with the Democrats who are associated with people celebrating abortions they feel the Republicans view lines up closer to there own.
 

Dekafox

Fabulously Foxy Dragon
Citizen
Trump campaigned on the IDEA that tariffs would result in lower prices across the board (and bring back domestic blue collar jobs). The reality of that being false doesn’t change the fact the IDEA was sold to a lot of people successfully. Again, I feel myself fairly knowledgable, but even my limited following of the election basically broke Harris down to “Trump is bad and Bad for democracy”. Great, how is that going to impact ME? (I know the impacts, but that self-centered attitude is prevalent in the US).
This was why I suggested if we make the Dem thread name snarky we go with "At least we aren't the other guy" - I saw some stuff regarding abortons, but all the messaging I recall was more about what they were against than what they were for. Switching gears to Harris did reinvigorate core Dems, but since she was dancing the tightrope of "I want credit for all the Biden things people like, while dodgeballing any people didn't" I don't know that what they were for besides safe abortion access etc was really made as clear as it could have been to the masses. Especially not in a simple one minute soundbyte way. "We're gonna keep the status quo because things are getting better" doesn't help if people don't think the status quo is actually good for them, regardless of whether it actually is.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I agree with this. People have the right to be terrified right now, but this is not the way. We can't give up on debate. I still believe Democrats would win a policy debate every time. So many of our positions are already more popular but this is how it ends up.

I had no confidence in Harris going into this, but she surprised me when she finally started talking about policy. I was starting to think I underestimated her. She might have this. But then the donors started screeching "How dare you talk about price gouging that we've even publicly admitted we're doing!", and she clammed up. For the rest of the campaign every focus group screamed "Please tell us more" but she was seemingly afraid to get bit again.

I saw something different happening locally. Democrats had some fantastic candidates this year. I got to meet a few. They didn't say anything about being Democrats. No labels. No judgment. No team slogans. No vibes. Just "Here's all the specific ways you're getting screwed right now, and here's what I'm going to do about it." It was good stuff, and it worked. We stayed blue while frigging Miami-Dade flipped red.


On the other hand, having a debate on policy as if it's just academic is a privilege not everyone has right now.
 

Axaday

Well-known member
Citizen
Dogpiling Deathy was rude, but he didn't just appear out of nowhere yesterday. He has posted a lot of nothing comments in the last couple of weeks. Never saying anything except some version of "Not everyone thinks so"
 

wonko the sane?

You may test that assumption at your convinience.
Citizen
Tangentially related: vance is threatening to pull the US out of nato... if the EU imposes regulations over disinformation on twitter.

We're all going to die to musk can make money.
 

M. Virion

Bent but unbroken
Citizen
Trump's administration has been very open about its plans with the LGBTQ+ community. Especially the trans community. They want to legislate, or worse, us out of existence.

I don't have the luxury of kindness or empathy on this issue. If you have a problem with that, do feel free to put me on ignore, because I won't be adapting my position.

I've tried for decades to reason with people opposed to my existence, it has not worked. I'm in survival mode now, and your tired and laughable finger wagging is falling on deaf ears. This isn't an academic exercise, it's my continued existence.

Deathy said he made a call 'for his family' sure, he also explicitly said he couldn't take into consideration other people's issues - the problem is, at least for me, we're not discussing tax breaks or subsidies. We're talking about elected officials intent on ENDING people like me. If he meant it or not what he told me with that statement is that didn't care if I lived or died.

I can't be kind in response to that, I don't know what more to tell you. My best friend planned on killing herself over this, thankfully she's been convinced not to, but I'm still terrified I'm going to wake up to a phone call from her mom at any point going forward, and I'll just lose her - and there'll be nothing I can do. I don't know how I manage to survive that myself, if it happens. So again, go chide someone else, I'm not ******* listening.
 

Pocket

jumbled pile of person
Citizen
All Deathy said was he voted for Trump because it was best for his family. Maybe it was an economic issue. Nobody cared. Nobody was interested in his reasons.
Including him. If he was actually interested in having a discussion, he would have attempted to contribute more than that. But like most of Trump's base, he's so convinced that he's right and that it's so self-evident that he's right that it would be a waste of time to go any more in detail than that. So he just does the equivalent of honking at us and pointing to his bumper sticker as he drives past and off into the sunset. People like that are no different from the "NPCs" they love to accuse us of being for daring to have a different opinion than theirs.
 

wonko the sane?

You may test that assumption at your convinience.
Citizen
The majority of the voters in the last election made it clear that they either willingly, deliberately, intentionally chose to not know what trump was all about, or they DID know, and voted for him anyway.

If this was the 1800's, and it was easy to hide what you said, and the horrible things you did in other communities; I wouldn't be pissed at the former group. It's not, and I am. There was absolutely no excuse to believe any of trumps lies, and certainly not because "well, he promised". Most people have access to the sum total of human knowledge in their hands, and when they chose to only believe twitter and OAN when it LITERALLY TAKE FIVE SECONDS to check: that is a massive failing on their part.

It's killing me that deathy's family is going to suffer because he cannot think or act critically. Because he chose to believe a proven liar, thief and rapist.
 

Pale Rider

...and Hell followed with him.
Citizen
FB friend:
You know how haters on YouTube will say that the latest Marvel movie is "awful" based on what their favourite influencers told them, even though they didn't watch it?

Imagine them applying that same behaviour to politics, and the 2024 election makes more sense.
How is the average voter so lacking in the faculty of reason that he can't tell someone is bullshitting when he uses phrases like "destroying America"? When someone says that his political opponents want to destroy the country they live in, that is an utterly moronic statement that should instantly disqualify its speaker as a person who can't be taken seriously.

Sure, someone might want to alter the country he lives in, or destroy certain institutions within that country, or even hurt other people, but nobody (much less a huge group of people counting in the millions) wants to actually "destroy" the country they live in. As soon as someone uses that kind of rhetoric, they're obviously morons, and it's deeply depressing to me that millions of people cannot figure out something so obvious.
It's hard to deny that Democrats botched this election, but it's also hard to deny that this election was influenced by billionaires, foreign interference, and rampant general stupidity. When people only bother to look up "what is a tariff" on or after the day of the election, it's pretty obvious that they're going in blind and stupid, because of their own laziness.

It turns out that evil people don't just triumph when good people stay silent: they also triumph when most of the people are stupid and lazy, and allow themselves to be passively programmed by their preferred media.
 


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