- Joined
- Dec 12, 2016
- Messages
- 35,040
- Reaction score
- 14,503
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
Warning, as a lefty, what follows will reflect my own biases, but I will try to insert some exampkes folks on the right might appreciate. The purpose of the title of this thread was to highlight the following things past and present that seem to define our gotcha political culture:
- Today FOX is apparently backtracking on the false story that Biden says we can't eat meat; this, after a GOP freak out
- Kudlow talks about plant based beer in response to the phony "no meat" story; makes a bit of a fool of himself, and people jump on him, pretending to miss his sarcastic point
- AOC said we should cut back on air travel and push trains, and people remind her about oceans, as if she was talking about taking a train from NY to London instead of Chicago to St. Louis
- Tucker Carlson says having kids wear masks is the equivalent of beating them
- Romney says corporations are people too, and people make fun, pretending they don't know what he was talking about
- AOC says that young people believe the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change, and people insist on taking her literally
- Dr. Fauci, like a good scientist, adjusts his advice as new information about the pandemic appears or new patterns of infection occur, "Fire Fauci" becomes a battle cry for some on the right
- Republicans toggle between "Reagan proved deficits don't matter" and "O Lordy, Lordy, the debt!", with the key to understanding why they take one side or another at a particular time being who's holds the presidency
- A strong criminal case is made against what Chauvin did to Floyd in Minneapolis and people seem to blame rioters in Portland for the verdict
- The response to the "Black Lives Matter" slogan is a valid "Blue Lives Matter" one, but also a lets-miss-the-point-on-purpose "All Lives Matter."
- Rush Limbaugh says a woman who testified about birth control pills as useful to regulate an erratic menstrual cycle is having so much sex it's amazing she can walk. Trump gives him a Medal of Freedom (no one seen gagging); she has to go through life hearing people say "aren't you the slut?"
Here is where a form of "what aboutism," (otherwise disparaged in DP) would actually be useful, if critics asked "what about?" questions relating to each of the above, to allow the person making the statement to respond. (This probably wouldn't work with Trump, as his reflexive response seems to be to double down rather than walk back.) But current toxic political culture won't allow this.
But the larger question is how this came to pass. Some say it started years ago with the "bomb throwing" by Gingrich, who opposed things he supported just because democrats supported them too. Others, me among them, blame the GOP for not having an agenda, other than hoping for failure. We are not being served well by these ways of non-thinking. How did it come to this?
- Today FOX is apparently backtracking on the false story that Biden says we can't eat meat; this, after a GOP freak out
- Kudlow talks about plant based beer in response to the phony "no meat" story; makes a bit of a fool of himself, and people jump on him, pretending to miss his sarcastic point
- AOC said we should cut back on air travel and push trains, and people remind her about oceans, as if she was talking about taking a train from NY to London instead of Chicago to St. Louis
- Tucker Carlson says having kids wear masks is the equivalent of beating them
- Romney says corporations are people too, and people make fun, pretending they don't know what he was talking about
- AOC says that young people believe the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change, and people insist on taking her literally
- Dr. Fauci, like a good scientist, adjusts his advice as new information about the pandemic appears or new patterns of infection occur, "Fire Fauci" becomes a battle cry for some on the right
- Republicans toggle between "Reagan proved deficits don't matter" and "O Lordy, Lordy, the debt!", with the key to understanding why they take one side or another at a particular time being who's holds the presidency
- A strong criminal case is made against what Chauvin did to Floyd in Minneapolis and people seem to blame rioters in Portland for the verdict
- The response to the "Black Lives Matter" slogan is a valid "Blue Lives Matter" one, but also a lets-miss-the-point-on-purpose "All Lives Matter."
- Rush Limbaugh says a woman who testified about birth control pills as useful to regulate an erratic menstrual cycle is having so much sex it's amazing she can walk. Trump gives him a Medal of Freedom (no one seen gagging); she has to go through life hearing people say "aren't you the slut?"
Here is where a form of "what aboutism," (otherwise disparaged in DP) would actually be useful, if critics asked "what about?" questions relating to each of the above, to allow the person making the statement to respond. (This probably wouldn't work with Trump, as his reflexive response seems to be to double down rather than walk back.) But current toxic political culture won't allow this.
But the larger question is how this came to pass. Some say it started years ago with the "bomb throwing" by Gingrich, who opposed things he supported just because democrats supported them too. Others, me among them, blame the GOP for not having an agenda, other than hoping for failure. We are not being served well by these ways of non-thinking. How did it come to this?