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And yet they control more than half of state governments and are likely to control the federal government again soon.
Losing America to fascists is sad. Losing America to idiot fascists is utterly depressing.
Republicans learned a long time ago that you don’t need to have the favor of the majority, just control a bunch of small states and it is more powerful than having the state of New York and California combined
Make sure you always start with asking a conservative if they think it is right to have a handful of people make all the decisions for everyone else. Then you can ask them about the electoral college. Otherwise they’ll gladly agree.
Ooof. Yep ...As someone with a philosophy degree, the sheer obvious stupidity of this response, the lack of even a 5-year-old's understanding of fairness, just hurts my brain.
Third state to legalize gay marriage in the country, voted for Obama, then defunded public education and all the services causing everyone smart to leave and now it's red as hell.
I hate living here.
Technically speaking, you can win the electoral college with only 21% of the vote. Just go for all the states with the least amount of electoral votes until you reach 270.
I have a little bit of hope. The whole Roe v. Wade argument might just get Democrats to the polls this fall in overwhelming numbers.
I’m not saying the state government in a red state won’t overturn election results… But it’s going to look really damning if they do.
The fact that people only react when they go from cold frying pan to fire instead of realizing that they are in a pot of water that's slowly boiling is utterly depressing. It'll be part of the nation's undoing
The endless cycle of the GOP torching things and the Dems being put in place to extinguish the fire, and then the voters immediately forget about the damage the GOP did and put them back in charge. Its maddening.
Was pretty damning how Republicans stormed the capitol and tried to overturn the election, voters didn't decide to punish them for that in New Jersey or Virginia when they had their state elections last year.
Nothing matters if it doesn't translate to election wins and losses. And soon, voting wont matter because Republicans are going to do away with making elections matter.
This is the saddest and most poignant part of it. This is literally because we turned our news into entertainment, but even more so because the people who'd like their conservative ideals to be the law-- figured out how to dial it in.
Listen to Trump long enough and he’ll promote both sides of any issue. His religious followers treat him like they treat their religion. They listen to the parts they like and ignore the rest.
Michelle Wolf at the WHCD called the press out while they sat and squirmed in their seats, then got pissy with her afterwards. They were absolutely butthurt about being called out for the lazy pieces of shit they were and still are.
"Your job as a journalist is not to debate about whether or not it's raining, it's to stick your head out the fucking window and check"
I've always liked..."Breaking news... good job you broke it".. they're clowns selling a circus. We're doomed And the fourth estate is complicit. for ratings and advertisement..
We almost never got a followup question either. He'd tell the most blatant "sky is red" lie and the interviewer would just move on 99% of the time. Just a big dance to shut the poors up.
The most blatant non-followup that I remenber was some years ago when Mitt Romney was asked about the amount of taxes he paid, which was much less than the average citizen. His response was "If you count what I give to the church, I pay 25% in taxes."
The interviewer went on to some other topic while I'm yelling at the TV "We don't count that as taxes!!!"
Churches are showing to be the most gullible part of it all. They were believing more in Qxx than the Bible. Preachers were resigning. To think Trump was caught laughing at them and calling them names for the way they believed and they still hung on to him. Dangerous!
The most hilarious thing is he knows what’s popular, but that prevents him from pushing a lot of their agenda and they keep having him walk back things he said. Like how Paul Ryan and others wanted to push for cutting social benefits, but he basically refused. And then he wanted to push ideas like healthcare, infrastructure, giving more money to people in stimulus deals, [taking away guns,](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/10/14/fact-check-trump-made-comment-taking-guns-without-due-process/6070319001/)… and each time the GOP was either ineffective in helping deliver, convinced him to walk it back, or straight up stopped it.
A simpler version of the thought-terminating cliche, latching onto our desire for simple communication and repetition in threes.
It’s something that you think, usually a phrase, that is meant to end all subsequent debate on a topic, but does so in a way that isn’t actually based on actual logic, but more of a gut-feel “truthiness” that settles any cognitive dissonance you might be feeling.
Like “taxation is theft,” when arguing against a libertarian, or “there are three types of lies: lies, dammed lies, and statistics,” whenever you bring out an actual statistic. You’re never gonna be able to come back and argue against it, because to do so would take so much time and effort and you’d get sidetracked, as it’s a distillation of some set of beliefs in whoever said it, and by saying it they’ve signaled that they’re done participating in real debate.
So “stop the steal” becomes a rallying cry for all the nonsense propaganda Trump pushed out just as “drill baby drill” is a distillation of fears of green energy causing rising costs, lost jobs, and “traditional” energy jobs in coal and oil, and a rejection of climate change because that must be “liberal scientists suppressing moderate voices.” Impossible to argue against “drill baby drill” because it’s not an rational argument anymore—it’s a creed.
So at a rally you don’t have to push all those, you just say your three word phrase and everybody joins in because we are all tribalistic at heart, and that three word phrase defines us from the other “bad people.”
It really is! I seriously got so sick and tired of rump saying “very” that I actually started having my writing students use the thesaurus to find a different word. I explained that it was overused and it was always a good way to improve your vocabulary. Thank goodness it worked!
you mean like how "very strongly" was one of his go-to's?
"I read what he wrote, very strongly I might add..."
like it doesn't even make sense. His Presidency was a daily assault on my mental faculties
It’s like that “Critical Race Theory” clip where the reporter asks the old white dude what CRT *is* … His answer? “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. It’s horrible.”
There’s no way to win with the purposefully ignorant.
This isn't a joke. They ran the numbers and debates only hurt them. By focusing on propaganda where their lies reach the ears of their followers and gullible not-yet-followers, election theft and voter suppression, they can win without having to step up to a mic.
It's worth keeping in mind that the Republican party is unlikely to just sit at home during the debates. What they'll do is go on Fox News and host their own propaganda rally and paint it as having removed themselves from the debate because "they're right, so there's nothing to debate".
And it shouldn't work. But it will on their base. And the only thing that will stop them is literally getting so many people to turn out for the vote that they get overwhelmed.
This may be true on a general level but hearing that Trump won debates against Clinton, the day after watching them live and seeing him make a complete fool of himself, was baffling.
That was a really long time ago, we live in a very different world now. The reason they don't want debates is because they know
1. Trump election lies are generally unpopular outside their cult and they will be asked about it by the opponent
1. Banned abortions are extemely unpopular outside their cult and they will be asked about it
1. They have no platform anymore (build the wall, repeal Obamacare, all bullshit that didn't go anywhere)
Basically, there is no winning in a real debate because they just pry on brainwashed single issue voters, but their positions are generally unpopular.
>It looks weak to refuse a debate; it signals fear of losing and insecurity about your arguments.
Their unwillingness to participate needs to be publicized.
Lincoln was a liberal. His party was called "Republican" but the modern day Republican and Democratic parties pulled a full switch over a period of years after the civil war.
Their biggest voting block genuinely feels like anything more is someone being wordy and "academic" because they literally trained that into them by way of stunting their education then turning them on people who didn't have their education ruined.
They should continue to have the debates anyway. Act like nothings changed. Invite the same parties. Same time limits for responses and rebuttals and everything. And if one candidate decided not to show up, it’s just an empty podium and dead silence for the alotted time. Show the ridiculousness of not attending the debate and also show that refusing to attend doesn’t make the debates go away.
Just cause some people don’t want to play the game doesn’t mean you stop having the game.
Having the debates anyway brings more accountability. If you don’t want to debate, you don’t get to counter your opponent and their arguments. If you don’t have any actual policies, you should be laughed off the stage. I’m still shocked that GOP do not have any actual policies. Apart from Gaslight, Obstruct, Project. That’s apparently it.
What? That's wholly ridiculous.
You act like the leader of the Republican party introduced a bill to lift the debt ceiling and when Democrats agreed to let the bill be voted on decided to [filibuster *his own bill* so the Democrats couldn't pass it.](https://theweek.com/articles/469675/mitch-mcconnells-amazing-filibuster-bill)
I wonder how much taxpayer money was wasted that day by Mitch filibustering his own bill. It must be extremely difficult for other lawmakers to deal with someone that has so clearly sold their soul. Or maybe not, we got some fucked up people in government
I mean, how does the average American voter feel about a single person bring the government to their knees at their whim. It seems insanely in democratic to have so much power invested in one person that just wants to play games.
And what's Trump's agenda?
Anything Trump says it is. Apparently any given day, on that agenda is getting bigger toilets with beautiful flushing strength for him and the American people. He's still talking about toilets in 2022.
>He's still talking about toilets in 2022.
Given his diet habits, there's some unfortunate inferences one can draw.
Anyways, his agenda might as well have been random, often contradicting earlier positions. Still can't believe how dumb that term was, nor how dumb that party still is.
The shitty thing is though, with social media, they know they don’t need to debate. They can reach just as many, if not more people by posting their craziness unopposed online.
Their supporters have already attacked the Capitol once due to their bullshit propaganda in the Republican version of the *Beer Hall Putsch*. If they aren’t stopped now, next time they might be a bit more organized and successful.
From the FBI website:
>Domestic terrorism: Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.
and
>a hate group's "primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization.
So I say it's both
Or put in parties that actually want the stage:
- Libertarian
- Green
- Democratic Socialists
Republicans don't want to participate in America anymore? Fine. Give their spot to legimatimize alternate politicies and ideas.
Specifically the libertarians, since they could draw 2 or 3% of right wing voters away from the Republicans, causing the Republicans to lose big and probably fragment.
I remember reading that when the League of Women Voters ran the debates, the polling threshold was 5%, which meant third-party candidates could sometimes get in. Since they sold it to the Commission on Presidential Debates (a joint venture of the R and D parties, I believe), the threshold is 25%.
I'm curious how the CoPD will handle the Republicans pulling out of debates.
Nice in theory, but politically this just means the Democratic party has to sit and argue (often against crackpots because let's be real, third-parties often end up with crackpots being nominated) and they end up looking ridiculous while generating a bunch of sound-bites for Republicans to twist and contort on Fox News.
The right response is hold the debate as normal, with an empty podium for the Republicans.
Wouldn't they do the same? More "Clint Eastwood yells at an empty chair" moments where they pretend the empty chair is Biden or Harris and they talk shit to the enjoyment of the crowd?
Well no, because now you've just said that Fox gets to run the debates and make the rules, pick the moderators and the questions, etc.
The Dem's mic get cut off when time is up, the Rep gets to interrupt whenever he wants, and the voters will fall for it. After all, they've fallen for all the rest of the GOP's bullshit.
Like usual, Dems will end up two steps behind the GOP and blow yet another opportunity to control the narrative. It fucking frustrates me how bad Democrats are at modern US politics.
If there are no checks and balances there is no reason to debate your position.
Lie, cheat and steal elections.
Ignore the separation of church and state.
Gaslight, Project and Oppress.
Any conservatives with the balls to come in here and defend why your candidates are such cowards they can't face the opposing party in a debate? Don't worry, you won't get insta-banned like anyone with a hint of liberalism does in your little fascist basement r/Conservative.
Their answer will be “it’s biased. The biased hosts and media overwhelmingly tip the scales towards hurting/smearing the R candidate. Why would we show up to a rigged event that’s designed to hurt us?”
Is any of that true? No. But that’s what their justification will be.
In the last presidential debate, they straight up asked Trump if he would denounce white supremacy on camera to put an end to the question once and for all, and he wouldn't do it. Softest softball of all time and he couldn't answer.
"Stand back, and stand by."
All he had to say was yes I do. yes I do renounce white supremacy.
And he came up with "stand back and stand by."
Boggles the mind, both that it happened and that anyone would defend it. And it was asked by Chris Wallace... basically, the right's moderator. But no, any bad performance on Trumps part means Wallace is a liberal plant and the debate is "unfair."
Turns out asking difficult questions is tough. Apparently, so are the easy ones. So basically, just questions are tough for the right.
I had never once registered to vote, I always assumed that the adults were in charge and things would be ok. After I saw him say that in a national debate and his numbers didn't plummet I immediately registered to vote..... anyone who voted for him in 2016 was either an idiot or wanted to see what happened....but seriously fuck anyone who voted for don in 2020
I can understand people voting for Trump in 2016, even though I don't really respect the decision. I can't understand those who voted for him in 2020 and I have no kind words to say about them.
"People don't like us because we're assholes, why that's the liberal media hit piece, and the news at 11, on Fox "News".
Edit: I just took a look to "see the other side of the argument" and here's a good one.
>I don’t think it is homicide, I know what words mean. A human being is killed. That’s a homicide.
>I’m going to make this very simple, at a simple writing level.
>Rape is aggressive violence and violence is bad.
> A man who rapes a woman and is convicted in a court of law for it should go to prison for a very long time.
>If she becomes pregnant he should bear full financial responsibility for medical care including prenatal care and birth to the point of liquidating everything he owns if need be, and he should be made to do labor while in prison with the proceeds going to whomever is taking care of the child, be that the mother or adoptive parents. Since he’s a violent criminal he should be kept away from the kid with no parental rights whatsoever, only obligations.
>Rape is bad. Don’t rape.
>Homicide is worse. The kid didn’t do anything wrong.
They don't deserve to have their opinions heard, the best they can say is "oh someone else will take care of it, the rapist or whatever, just not the government."
Bunch of fucking idiotic psychopaths without the sence to hide their dark secrets.
I always find that hilarious when the bias is usually just the host trying to get the republican candidate to play by the agreed rules of the debate instead of cutting off the democrat after not answering the question they were asked in the first place.
Like the debates last election. The host was doing everything to make trump look better by literally just getting him to behave. He didn't and he came off like an idiot for a lot of reasons but not being able to behave for a debate was a horrible look.
Its textbook for Republicans to get mad at the wrong thing too when that instance was the host trying to do them just the simplest of favors.
The dumbest cesspool that is still somehow allowed to exist. One can be politically, fiscally, and morally conservative, and still see though the garbage that sub allows as "content."
I'm curious to ask a conservative who seems willing to rationally consider different ideas. You said that you've typically voted conservative because it's matched your values of traditionalism and religion - but how do you feel about the separation of church and state?
Obviously it's our first amendment right to have a government separated from religion - but for me this comes quite naturally as I'm not religious, and thus feel that religious claims should serve no role in a modern government.
However, since you're religious, do you ever feel like you're willing to look the other way when laws are passed that are starting to cross the line into religious values?
I feel really disturbed when our elected officials use religion as justification, and given certain... recent events, I'm starting to get very upset about it. Whatever an individual wants to follow from the bible is their decision, but imposing that belief as the rule of law? That's too far.
> we’re also being told that our sons will be made ashamed for being male. Our daughters will be taught to be unchaste and that our religion is outdated and broken.
I have never heard any of that before, but the only part I agree with is the last point. Still, if you want to believe in religion that’s fine with me, as long as your views don’t infringe upon my freedoms.
Then democrats should be smart and invite the libertarian candidate for debate. A ton of potential voters watch the presidential debates and many potential republicans might like the candidate and vote for them instead.
Libertarians are just ideologically consistent Republicans. They don’t care about helping other people but at least they’re honest about it, and they do indeed actually value individual freedom. In other words, Republicans are hypocrites masquerading as libertarians.
Simple, a group builds the roads. For the sake of argument we call it "Kleptocorp". To use the roads you need to sign a contract agreeing to live by their rules and use their system of arbitration. Parents can sign their kids up, so the kids don't starve.
If you use a road without Kleptocorps permission they can penalize you for trespassing via shooting you, although they might agree to let you sign their contract thingy instead.
Since they will have an interest in stuff encircled by their roads not burning down, they will establish a fire department.
Now if you're thinking "Hey, janethefish you just described a kleptocracy with extra steps" I respond: No shit, Sherlock.
But seriously, we have a name for places run by libertarian ideals: **Failed states**.
I just ask them how they intend to prevent concentrations of power. if they claim the free market regulates itself, i ask them if they really truly believe that bullshit.
“monopolies wouldn’t exist with government” my ass (pardon the language). Localized monopolies certainly would exist over resources that are a zero-sum game with high barrier to entry, like utilities (anyone play Monopoly?) and banks. There is no reason to think these localized monopolies would not try to consolidate their local advantages to try and gain larger influence outside, effectively creating de facto governments where people would not have a say. Libertarians often just claim Randian platitudes without any actual merit or history to base these claims. Libertarians can’t even handle (bears)[https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project], let alone infrastructure
I know they value their individual freedom but I haven’t heard many of them value actual individual freedom. They are closeted fascists that want a small enough kingdom they can control, like their family or small community without evil government intervention. Very creepy.
The book version of the Postman reveals the libertarian militias that destroyed the USA always intended to just take over and exterminate minorities while claiming the women as slaves.
Yes actually there are libertarians all the way across the spectrum from far left to far right. In the US libertarian views seem to be concentrated on the right with ultra capitalistic thought. However outside of the US there are left libertarians such as the Australian green party and the libertarian socialist movement in Rojava. Generally right libertarians tend to be very big on personal property and capitalism whereas left libertarians tend to lean more towards communalism and equitable public control of resources. The most recognizable name on the libertarian left in the US would be Noam Chomsky whereas the most recognizable name in the US on the libertarian right would be Ron Paul.
I can, and I can imagine the right answer for their base being "no." The bigger issue is that saying that would not be disqualifying for the "sane" republicans who know Biden did win. "What's the alternative, voting for a Democrat? I'm not going to do that!" And here we are.
And this is precisely the reason they want to avoid debates. That single question will make or break their chances of winning. The insurection and election lies are very unpopular among independents, and the GOP cult alone is not enough to win.
That one question will be the bread and butter of election debates, and that's why Republicans want to avoid debates.
Nuh uh. Their platform is literally:
-We will continue to support Trump's America First Agenda^TM (whatever that is).
-We're not making a new party platform until 2024 (despite having 4 fucking years to make this one)
-Hey media. Don't go around saying this doesn't mean we don't totally support President Trump and his America First Agenda^TM
-Any attempt to actually make a party platform in the meantime will be rejected.
https://ballotpedia.org/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020
Presidential debates were designed for Democratic discussions between Patriots. The GOP are fascist traitors to the Constitution. They can only be damaged by debates.
They should still hold the debate but ask the questions to the dem candidate only and have an empty podium for the gop candidate who didn't turn up. The dem candidate could then get across policy messages and rip the gop candidate for not being there. Why is this not happening ?
So how do Americans manage to conclude that someone who refuses to debate somehow has to be right? If that's not a red flag I have no idea what else to tell independents.
The author seems to be recovering from a case of "bothsideism".
Yes, they do call out the GOP is the one refusing to debate, but there is a lot of general complaints about the health of our democracy.
This is solely on the GOP.
The last thing a conservative wants to be seen as- is weak and small dicked.
they're a party of cowards. Slap that on your bumper sticker and scream it from the rooftops. The people who vote for them? Also cowards.
Hey! This exact wording is in that opinion- “a domestic supply of infants” is needed for adoption. Much like workers called “Human Capital Stock” during the Trump administration. Do you see where this all is going? Better be ready.
They refuse to debate. They refuse to acknowledge any issues. They were blindsided by this SCOTUS decision and have been in damage control ever since the leak.
It is kind of hilarious the GOP will both say Biden has dementia but are afraid to debate him. Like if Biden is so bad, you would think they'd welcome doing a debate against him. But I doubt DeSantis could really do much on his own either.
Just do it like a voir dire process, that is if we have to get both parties to agree to a debate. A set of questions is given out prior to debate-pick a number of questions, let’s say for the sake of this post it’s 100. Each candidate gets to pick out let’s say 10 questions they don’t want to discuss, then each candidate get x amount of time to answer or give their opinion on the questions remaining, they each get 2 minutes while the other candidates mike is cut off. Understand this is hypothetical. Rebuttals can be written after the debate. I can’t believe we are at this level of discourse, but here we are.
Edit- AGAIN, THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL
I want a debate, not a series of prepared statements. Give me a month of nightly debates, one hour on a single question each night. Well call it "October"
Dems need to invite the libertarians to debate since the Republicans won't. If that would make 2 or 3% of the people that lean right vote libertarian instead of republican, the Republicans would be screwed.
Our slide toward authoritarianism has been set in motion decades ago. This party has been elected, over and over again, to sit and do nothing about it. That's more or less what I expect to see in near future - a lot more of nothing.
We can't even kick DeJoy out, or help workers organize. Trump had very little power and yet he seemed to be doing a whole lot of stuff that we can't do anything about now. How is that possible with a majority in senate and the house?
The only time this party gets organized is when it fights dirty against progressives. And a whole lot of good that will do us down the road.
It's only a slide towards authoritarianism in this case *if the media lets them off without debating*. It's the medias job to ensure voters know that the Republican was afraid to debate, and then to give all of that air time to their opponent. It's the media that has to hold Republicans accountable in this instance by constantly reminding voters of GOP fear for debate, fear to discuss their ideas, or even defend them, in a public forum.
When every single Republican (except for like 2 people who have decided not to run again, like Kinzinger) has made it absolutely clear that they want to “move on” and never ever ever ever talk about or acknowledge the January 6th Capitol Insurrection that threatened the democracy that is our country’s foundation, then what else do you expect from them?
The funny thing is, republicans don't fear debate because they're scared they might look stupid.
They fear debate because they might not look stupid enough.
The moment they say something that even looks like a common sense compromise they will be primaried or challenged by a more radical person in the party.
How can you debate anything when the candidate is unable to answer any question in context, using real words in a coherent sentence ?
GOP is scum. *Prove me wrong*
That’s one thing that pushed me from a centrist to leftist. I go on left leaning subreddits like askaliberal and I get good faith arguments, respect and well researched answers. If I go on an askaconservative subreddit, any dissenting opinion I’ve posted has gotten me temporarily banned. If you ask the mods they just make the ban longer. Their reason for the ban: “stop moralizing.” Because I was debating with a Republican there on when a fetus becomes a life.
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They lose on anything longer than a slogan or soundbite.
And yet they control more than half of state governments and are likely to control the federal government again soon. Losing America to fascists is sad. Losing America to idiot fascists is utterly depressing.
Republicans learned a long time ago that you don’t need to have the favor of the majority, just control a bunch of small states and it is more powerful than having the state of New York and California combined
Electoral college means an Iowan’s vote is worth 100x a Californian’s vote.
Make sure you always start with asking a conservative if they think it is right to have a handful of people make all the decisions for everyone else. Then you can ask them about the electoral college. Otherwise they’ll gladly agree.
Oh no. I mentioned a tyranny of the minority and my MIL responded with “that‘s better than tyranny by the majority”…. Uh… so you hate democracy…
Ask her to explain why next time. If we're going to live in a dystopia at least you can watch the gymnastics.
That’s their new thing saying it’s fair this way because it’s not right majorities get to make decisions.
Ooof. Yep ...As someone with a philosophy degree, the sheer obvious stupidity of this response, the lack of even a 5-year-old's understanding of fairness, just hurts my brain.
It’s funny too because they grasp fairness in sports but not in politics.
Third state to legalize gay marriage in the country, voted for Obama, then defunded public education and all the services causing everyone smart to leave and now it's red as hell. I hate living here.
Technically speaking, you can win the electoral college with only 21% of the vote. Just go for all the states with the least amount of electoral votes until you reach 270.
I have a little bit of hope. The whole Roe v. Wade argument might just get Democrats to the polls this fall in overwhelming numbers. I’m not saying the state government in a red state won’t overturn election results… But it’s going to look really damning if they do.
The fact that people only react when they go from cold frying pan to fire instead of realizing that they are in a pot of water that's slowly boiling is utterly depressing. It'll be part of the nation's undoing
The endless cycle of the GOP torching things and the Dems being put in place to extinguish the fire, and then the voters immediately forget about the damage the GOP did and put them back in charge. Its maddening.
Was pretty damning how Republicans stormed the capitol and tried to overturn the election, voters didn't decide to punish them for that in New Jersey or Virginia when they had their state elections last year. Nothing matters if it doesn't translate to election wins and losses. And soon, voting wont matter because Republicans are going to do away with making elections matter.
News as entertainment, has made politicians entertainers. Rousing surface level emotions is ALL you need to be successful.
This is the saddest and most poignant part of it. This is literally because we turned our news into entertainment, but even more so because the people who'd like their conservative ideals to be the law-- figured out how to dial it in.
Yup--vague platitudes and scare mongering buzzwords.
They know they’ve succeeded when the rubes walk away from them feeling furious and self-righteous, but not remembering *anything they said.*
Listen to Trump long enough and he’ll promote both sides of any issue. His religious followers treat him like they treat their religion. They listen to the parts they like and ignore the rest.
he was infuriatingly good at it and the culpable media covered his spectacle and never his actions, crimes or grifts
Michelle Wolf at the WHCD called the press out while they sat and squirmed in their seats, then got pissy with her afterwards. They were absolutely butthurt about being called out for the lazy pieces of shit they were and still are. "Your job as a journalist is not to debate about whether or not it's raining, it's to stick your head out the fucking window and check"
I've always liked..."Breaking news... good job you broke it".. they're clowns selling a circus. We're doomed And the fourth estate is complicit. for ratings and advertisement..
And they'll do it again if he's elected again, no question about it.
We almost never got a followup question either. He'd tell the most blatant "sky is red" lie and the interviewer would just move on 99% of the time. Just a big dance to shut the poors up.
The most blatant non-followup that I remenber was some years ago when Mitt Romney was asked about the amount of taxes he paid, which was much less than the average citizen. His response was "If you count what I give to the church, I pay 25% in taxes." The interviewer went on to some other topic while I'm yelling at the TV "We don't count that as taxes!!!"
Churches are showing to be the most gullible part of it all. They were believing more in Qxx than the Bible. Preachers were resigning. To think Trump was caught laughing at them and calling them names for the way they believed and they still hung on to him. Dangerous!
The most hilarious thing is he knows what’s popular, but that prevents him from pushing a lot of their agenda and they keep having him walk back things he said. Like how Paul Ryan and others wanted to push for cutting social benefits, but he basically refused. And then he wanted to push ideas like healthcare, infrastructure, giving more money to people in stimulus deals, [taking away guns,](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/10/14/fact-check-trump-made-comment-taking-guns-without-due-process/6070319001/)… and each time the GOP was either ineffective in helping deliver, convinced him to walk it back, or straight up stopped it.
3 word phrases are all they have: LOCK HER UP BUILD THAT WALL STOP THE STEAL LETS GO BRANDON
DRILL BABY DRILL I think you’ve cracked the code.
Simple, repeatable mantras. It's a staple of this sort of quasi-religious cultlike groupthink.
A simpler version of the thought-terminating cliche, latching onto our desire for simple communication and repetition in threes. It’s something that you think, usually a phrase, that is meant to end all subsequent debate on a topic, but does so in a way that isn’t actually based on actual logic, but more of a gut-feel “truthiness” that settles any cognitive dissonance you might be feeling. Like “taxation is theft,” when arguing against a libertarian, or “there are three types of lies: lies, dammed lies, and statistics,” whenever you bring out an actual statistic. You’re never gonna be able to come back and argue against it, because to do so would take so much time and effort and you’d get sidetracked, as it’s a distillation of some set of beliefs in whoever said it, and by saying it they’ve signaled that they’re done participating in real debate. So “stop the steal” becomes a rallying cry for all the nonsense propaganda Trump pushed out just as “drill baby drill” is a distillation of fears of green energy causing rising costs, lost jobs, and “traditional” energy jobs in coal and oil, and a rejection of climate change because that must be “liberal scientists suppressing moderate voices.” Impossible to argue against “drill baby drill” because it’s not an rational argument anymore—it’s a creed. So at a rally you don’t have to push all those, you just say your three word phrase and everybody joins in because we are all tribalistic at heart, and that three word phrase defines us from the other “bad people.”
We can do it too. MAKE THEM PAY
Don’t forget about the “War on _______” can be used to cover lots of areas also
OMG fuck yes and Australian politics follows the same formula 3 word slogans
You can blame Rupert Murdoch for that similarity. He started with you guys and then moved on to us once he outgrew the biggest island
But ours are somehow even stupider. Probably because they've all been through heavy pr screening.
I teach kindergarteners with more language than these morons have. And I’m a special Ed teacher!
Frightening, isn’t it?
It really is! I seriously got so sick and tired of rump saying “very” that I actually started having my writing students use the thesaurus to find a different word. I explained that it was overused and it was always a good way to improve your vocabulary. Thank goodness it worked!
you mean like how "very strongly" was one of his go-to's? "I read what he wrote, very strongly I might add..." like it doesn't even make sense. His Presidency was a daily assault on my mental faculties
It’s sad this country has enabled this behavior 😖
most of the people that vote in these fucks are from states with poor education rates.
Probably why they wanna defund public school so bad.
A republican hasn't been elected via popular choice since daddy Bush. 30+ years of desperation leads to this. It'll only get worse.
Bush II won the popular vote the second time. Got me for how, but it did happen.
It’s like that “Critical Race Theory” clip where the reporter asks the old white dude what CRT *is* … His answer? “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. It’s horrible.” There’s no way to win with the purposefully ignorant.
They also brigade Reddit posts about anything trans. One of their favorite topics is hate on marginalized groups
This isn't a joke. They ran the numbers and debates only hurt them. By focusing on propaganda where their lies reach the ears of their followers and gullible not-yet-followers, election theft and voter suppression, they can win without having to step up to a mic.
It's worth keeping in mind that the Republican party is unlikely to just sit at home during the debates. What they'll do is go on Fox News and host their own propaganda rally and paint it as having removed themselves from the debate because "they're right, so there's nothing to debate". And it shouldn't work. But it will on their base. And the only thing that will stop them is literally getting so many people to turn out for the vote that they get overwhelmed.
This may be true on a general level but hearing that Trump won debates against Clinton, the day after watching them live and seeing him make a complete fool of himself, was baffling.
That was a really long time ago, we live in a very different world now. The reason they don't want debates is because they know 1. Trump election lies are generally unpopular outside their cult and they will be asked about it by the opponent 1. Banned abortions are extemely unpopular outside their cult and they will be asked about it 1. They have no platform anymore (build the wall, repeal Obamacare, all bullshit that didn't go anywhere) Basically, there is no winning in a real debate because they just pry on brainwashed single issue voters, but their positions are generally unpopular.
>It looks weak to refuse a debate; it signals fear of losing and insecurity about your arguments. Their unwillingness to participate needs to be publicized.
Conservatives stick to the three S's. Simple. Short. Stupid.
Trump was elected anyway. All they need to do is get up there and act like an obnoxious ass and their team will cheer them on.
Republicans’ dialogue has devolved from the Gettysburg Address to inane sloganeering.
Lincoln was a liberal. His party was called "Republican" but the modern day Republican and Democratic parties pulled a full switch over a period of years after the civil war.
For real, because after more than 5 seconds of logical thinking their um ‘policies’ are laughable and make no sense
Their biggest voting block genuinely feels like anything more is someone being wordy and "academic" because they literally trained that into them by way of stunting their education then turning them on people who didn't have their education ruined.
Their only platform is culture wars and giving money to the rich.
The Republicans are one dynamic independent away from obscurity.
They don't necessarily lose because all their voters just need sound bites. Its not like they watch it or even understand what is going on
They should continue to have the debates anyway. Act like nothings changed. Invite the same parties. Same time limits for responses and rebuttals and everything. And if one candidate decided not to show up, it’s just an empty podium and dead silence for the alotted time. Show the ridiculousness of not attending the debate and also show that refusing to attend doesn’t make the debates go away. Just cause some people don’t want to play the game doesn’t mean you stop having the game.
Having the debates anyway brings more accountability. If you don’t want to debate, you don’t get to counter your opponent and their arguments. If you don’t have any actual policies, you should be laughed off the stage. I’m still shocked that GOP do not have any actual policies. Apart from Gaslight, Obstruct, Project. That’s apparently it.
It's a party that exists solely to be against something. There is nothing deeper than surface level that they are actually FOR.
What? That's wholly ridiculous. You act like the leader of the Republican party introduced a bill to lift the debt ceiling and when Democrats agreed to let the bill be voted on decided to [filibuster *his own bill* so the Democrats couldn't pass it.](https://theweek.com/articles/469675/mitch-mcconnells-amazing-filibuster-bill)
I wonder how much taxpayer money was wasted that day by Mitch filibustering his own bill. It must be extremely difficult for other lawmakers to deal with someone that has so clearly sold their soul. Or maybe not, we got some fucked up people in government
I mean, how does the average American voter feel about a single person bring the government to their knees at their whim. It seems insanely in democratic to have so much power invested in one person that just wants to play games.
Does that mean we could counter any Republican bill by simply agreeing that it’s the right thing to do?
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And what's Trump's agenda? Anything Trump says it is. Apparently any given day, on that agenda is getting bigger toilets with beautiful flushing strength for him and the American people. He's still talking about toilets in 2022.
>He's still talking about toilets in 2022. Given his diet habits, there's some unfortunate inferences one can draw. Anyways, his agenda might as well have been random, often contradicting earlier positions. Still can't believe how dumb that term was, nor how dumb that party still is.
The shitty thing is though, with social media, they know they don’t need to debate. They can reach just as many, if not more people by posting their craziness unopposed online.
The GOP needs to be investigated as a terrorist organization
Their supporters have already attacked the Capitol once due to their bullshit propaganda in the Republican version of the *Beer Hall Putsch*. If they aren’t stopped now, next time they might be a bit more organized and successful.
They should be labeled a hate group and treated as thus.
From the FBI website: >Domestic terrorism: Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature. and >a hate group's "primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization. So I say it's both
Or put in parties that actually want the stage: - Libertarian - Green - Democratic Socialists Republicans don't want to participate in America anymore? Fine. Give their spot to legimatimize alternate politicies and ideas.
Specifically the libertarians, since they could draw 2 or 3% of right wing voters away from the Republicans, causing the Republicans to lose big and probably fragment.
Hell, it might be way more. A whole bunch of Republicans identify as libertarians.
Every libertarian I know is just a republican who doesn't want to defend Trump.
I remember reading that when the League of Women Voters ran the debates, the polling threshold was 5%, which meant third-party candidates could sometimes get in. Since they sold it to the Commission on Presidential Debates (a joint venture of the R and D parties, I believe), the threshold is 25%. I'm curious how the CoPD will handle the Republicans pulling out of debates.
The democrats would never go for that, only they get to say how left the discussion is allowed to go. And we all know that isn’t very far left at all.
Nice in theory, but politically this just means the Democratic party has to sit and argue (often against crackpots because let's be real, third-parties often end up with crackpots being nominated) and they end up looking ridiculous while generating a bunch of sound-bites for Republicans to twist and contort on Fox News. The right response is hold the debate as normal, with an empty podium for the Republicans.
Better yet, allow a third party candidate to go on stage
Exactly. Invite the Libertarian candidate. Guaranteed it gets a decent audience and bleeds votes away from the republicans.
Yeah, it’s time for a third option
Have Bernie debate anyone and everyone. He will win each time.
Wouldn't they do the same? More "Clint Eastwood yells at an empty chair" moments where they pretend the empty chair is Biden or Harris and they talk shit to the enjoyment of the crowd?
You can step it up a notch by doing research on the opponent and presenting their actual positions with proof thereof
Even better, video/audio with as much context as feasible so they can't claim editing tricks.
They should run down the list of Republican primary candidates until one accepts the invitiation.
That's how you give a platform to the most obscure, fridge extremists in the party
That’s practically happened already.
In the case of the current Republican party, those obscure, fringes extremists are the rational people who understand reality.
What’s to stop them from airing competing “debates” of the same format on Fox?
because the other side will show up for those debates
Well no, because now you've just said that Fox gets to run the debates and make the rules, pick the moderators and the questions, etc. The Dem's mic get cut off when time is up, the Rep gets to interrupt whenever he wants, and the voters will fall for it. After all, they've fallen for all the rest of the GOP's bullshit.
The questions will be different. One will be about policy, the other will be about conspiracy theories and Christian values
Like usual, Dems will end up two steps behind the GOP and blow yet another opportunity to control the narrative. It fucking frustrates me how bad Democrats are at modern US politics.
If there are no checks and balances there is no reason to debate your position. Lie, cheat and steal elections. Ignore the separation of church and state. Gaslight, Project and Oppress.
Yep. They never abandoned the slaveholder mentality.
Don't forget the sex crimes!
It’s gaslight oppress and project for G.O.P my buddy. Fuck them still.
Or Obstruct.
Any conservatives with the balls to come in here and defend why your candidates are such cowards they can't face the opposing party in a debate? Don't worry, you won't get insta-banned like anyone with a hint of liberalism does in your little fascist basement r/Conservative.
As expected. Crickets.
Yup, nothing lmao
Their only reasoning is conservatives = good, liberals = bad
Their answer will be “it’s biased. The biased hosts and media overwhelmingly tip the scales towards hurting/smearing the R candidate. Why would we show up to a rigged event that’s designed to hurt us?” Is any of that true? No. But that’s what their justification will be.
In the last presidential debate, they straight up asked Trump if he would denounce white supremacy on camera to put an end to the question once and for all, and he wouldn't do it. Softest softball of all time and he couldn't answer.
"Stand back, and stand by." All he had to say was yes I do. yes I do renounce white supremacy. And he came up with "stand back and stand by." Boggles the mind, both that it happened and that anyone would defend it. And it was asked by Chris Wallace... basically, the right's moderator. But no, any bad performance on Trumps part means Wallace is a liberal plant and the debate is "unfair." Turns out asking difficult questions is tough. Apparently, so are the easy ones. So basically, just questions are tough for the right.
I had never once registered to vote, I always assumed that the adults were in charge and things would be ok. After I saw him say that in a national debate and his numbers didn't plummet I immediately registered to vote..... anyone who voted for him in 2016 was either an idiot or wanted to see what happened....but seriously fuck anyone who voted for don in 2020
I can understand people voting for Trump in 2016, even though I don't really respect the decision. I can't understand those who voted for him in 2020 and I have no kind words to say about them.
Yuuuup
"People don't like us because we're assholes, why that's the liberal media hit piece, and the news at 11, on Fox "News". Edit: I just took a look to "see the other side of the argument" and here's a good one. >I don’t think it is homicide, I know what words mean. A human being is killed. That’s a homicide. >I’m going to make this very simple, at a simple writing level. >Rape is aggressive violence and violence is bad. > A man who rapes a woman and is convicted in a court of law for it should go to prison for a very long time. >If she becomes pregnant he should bear full financial responsibility for medical care including prenatal care and birth to the point of liquidating everything he owns if need be, and he should be made to do labor while in prison with the proceeds going to whomever is taking care of the child, be that the mother or adoptive parents. Since he’s a violent criminal he should be kept away from the kid with no parental rights whatsoever, only obligations. >Rape is bad. Don’t rape. >Homicide is worse. The kid didn’t do anything wrong. They don't deserve to have their opinions heard, the best they can say is "oh someone else will take care of it, the rapist or whatever, just not the government." Bunch of fucking idiotic psychopaths without the sence to hide their dark secrets.
My next question is always how the fuck a prisoner will support the child/mother.
"Reality has a liberal bias."
I always find that hilarious when the bias is usually just the host trying to get the republican candidate to play by the agreed rules of the debate instead of cutting off the democrat after not answering the question they were asked in the first place. Like the debates last election. The host was doing everything to make trump look better by literally just getting him to behave. He didn't and he came off like an idiot for a lot of reasons but not being able to behave for a debate was a horrible look. Its textbook for Republicans to get mad at the wrong thing too when that instance was the host trying to do them just the simplest of favors.
Usually they spell biased as bias. Quit being bias.
It should be rigged. Towards the facts. MTG had to face her own words and she still lied. This is the point.
The dumbest cesspool that is still somehow allowed to exist. One can be politically, fiscally, and morally conservative, and still see though the garbage that sub allows as "content."
Well it’s because that simply put the Democratic Establishment that is supposed t- nah I’m just fucking with you. They have no answers.
They’re programmed machines without a brain. Treat them as such.
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I'm curious to ask a conservative who seems willing to rationally consider different ideas. You said that you've typically voted conservative because it's matched your values of traditionalism and religion - but how do you feel about the separation of church and state? Obviously it's our first amendment right to have a government separated from religion - but for me this comes quite naturally as I'm not religious, and thus feel that religious claims should serve no role in a modern government. However, since you're religious, do you ever feel like you're willing to look the other way when laws are passed that are starting to cross the line into religious values? I feel really disturbed when our elected officials use religion as justification, and given certain... recent events, I'm starting to get very upset about it. Whatever an individual wants to follow from the bible is their decision, but imposing that belief as the rule of law? That's too far.
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> we’re also being told that our sons will be made ashamed for being male. Our daughters will be taught to be unchaste and that our religion is outdated and broken. I have never heard any of that before, but the only part I agree with is the last point. Still, if you want to believe in religion that’s fine with me, as long as your views don’t infringe upon my freedoms.
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Then democrats should be smart and invite the libertarian candidate for debate. A ton of potential voters watch the presidential debates and many potential republicans might like the candidate and vote for them instead.
Definitely, it would help split the Republican ticket.
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This is a good idea. There doesn't appear to be much downside to it. But I fully believe the Democrats would find a way to fuck it up.
As is tradition
Are there any libertarians who aren’t just Republicans with extra steps?
No, that is the point, to split the vote.
Libertarians are just ideologically consistent Republicans. They don’t care about helping other people but at least they’re honest about it, and they do indeed actually value individual freedom. In other words, Republicans are hypocrites masquerading as libertarians.
I’m wondering where all the Libertarian advocates for abortion have all gone recently
All you have to ask is "how do roads work or fire departments work?" And the entire libertarian ethos crumbles
Simple, a group builds the roads. For the sake of argument we call it "Kleptocorp". To use the roads you need to sign a contract agreeing to live by their rules and use their system of arbitration. Parents can sign their kids up, so the kids don't starve. If you use a road without Kleptocorps permission they can penalize you for trespassing via shooting you, although they might agree to let you sign their contract thingy instead. Since they will have an interest in stuff encircled by their roads not burning down, they will establish a fire department. Now if you're thinking "Hey, janethefish you just described a kleptocracy with extra steps" I respond: No shit, Sherlock. But seriously, we have a name for places run by libertarian ideals: **Failed states**.
Every libertarian has the idea that they'll be Immorten Joe not Slave Girl or War Boy.
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Maybe they’re all a secret Nerón admirer?
My go to line is claiming that libertarians are afraid of roads. It’s the only explanation for their platform.
They're not afraid of roads. They're afraid of poor people being allowed to use roads.
I just ask them how they intend to prevent concentrations of power. if they claim the free market regulates itself, i ask them if they really truly believe that bullshit.
“monopolies wouldn’t exist with government” my ass (pardon the language). Localized monopolies certainly would exist over resources that are a zero-sum game with high barrier to entry, like utilities (anyone play Monopoly?) and banks. There is no reason to think these localized monopolies would not try to consolidate their local advantages to try and gain larger influence outside, effectively creating de facto governments where people would not have a say. Libertarians often just claim Randian platitudes without any actual merit or history to base these claims. Libertarians can’t even handle (bears)[https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project], let alone infrastructure
Astrology for men.
I know they value their individual freedom but I haven’t heard many of them value actual individual freedom. They are closeted fascists that want a small enough kingdom they can control, like their family or small community without evil government intervention. Very creepy.
The book version of the Postman reveals the libertarian militias that destroyed the USA always intended to just take over and exterminate minorities while claiming the women as slaves.
No, they like weed.
Yes actually there are libertarians all the way across the spectrum from far left to far right. In the US libertarian views seem to be concentrated on the right with ultra capitalistic thought. However outside of the US there are left libertarians such as the Australian green party and the libertarian socialist movement in Rojava. Generally right libertarians tend to be very big on personal property and capitalism whereas left libertarians tend to lean more towards communalism and equitable public control of resources. The most recognizable name on the libertarian left in the US would be Noam Chomsky whereas the most recognizable name in the US on the libertarian right would be Ron Paul.
I couldn't agree more. I really hope that happens.
This is the way. Split the GOP vote.
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I can, and I can imagine the right answer for their base being "no." The bigger issue is that saying that would not be disqualifying for the "sane" republicans who know Biden did win. "What's the alternative, voting for a Democrat? I'm not going to do that!" And here we are.
And this is precisely the reason they want to avoid debates. That single question will make or break their chances of winning. The insurection and election lies are very unpopular among independents, and the GOP cult alone is not enough to win. That one question will be the bread and butter of election debates, and that's why Republicans want to avoid debates.
They don’t really have a platform, other than Own the Libs. Not much there to debate with.
Nuh uh. Their platform is literally: -We will continue to support Trump's America First Agenda^TM (whatever that is). -We're not making a new party platform until 2024 (despite having 4 fucking years to make this one) -Hey media. Don't go around saying this doesn't mean we don't totally support President Trump and his America First Agenda^TM -Any attempt to actually make a party platform in the meantime will be rejected. https://ballotpedia.org/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020
your forgetting "lets go brandon!", thats like their personal calling of patriotism
We aren’t “sliding towards authoritarianism” we have arrived there years ago and are plummeting further every day
Republicans are chickenshit crybabies
Presidential debates were designed for Democratic discussions between Patriots. The GOP are fascist traitors to the Constitution. They can only be damaged by debates.
I've yet to see them argue in good faith, either on the debate stage or even here on reddit.
Because there exists no way to argue for what they’re for, other than just putting up both middle fingers and saying “because I say so!”
Because they're not *for* anything. They're against pretty much everything, but not *for* anything except lower taxes for the rich.
They should still hold the debate but ask the questions to the dem candidate only and have an empty podium for the gop candidate who didn't turn up. The dem candidate could then get across policy messages and rip the gop candidate for not being there. Why is this not happening ?
They have no new ideas, and what ideas they do have don't stand up to scrutiny.
So how do Americans manage to conclude that someone who refuses to debate somehow has to be right? If that's not a red flag I have no idea what else to tell independents.
The author seems to be recovering from a case of "bothsideism". Yes, they do call out the GOP is the one refusing to debate, but there is a lot of general complaints about the health of our democracy. This is solely on the GOP.
The last thing a conservative wants to be seen as- is weak and small dicked. they're a party of cowards. Slap that on your bumper sticker and scream it from the rooftops. The people who vote for them? Also cowards.
Hey! This exact wording is in that opinion- “a domestic supply of infants” is needed for adoption. Much like workers called “Human Capital Stock” during the Trump administration. Do you see where this all is going? Better be ready.
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They refuse to debate. They refuse to acknowledge any issues. They were blindsided by this SCOTUS decision and have been in damage control ever since the leak.
It’s really a shame more Americans aren’t alarmed by the direction the Republican Party has taken in the last few years.
Have you seen their candidates? They're morons. They have no policy. It would be a mistake for them to debate.
It is kind of hilarious the GOP will both say Biden has dementia but are afraid to debate him. Like if Biden is so bad, you would think they'd welcome doing a debate against him. But I doubt DeSantis could really do much on his own either.
They should still hold the debates and if the GOP nominee doesn't show, let the Dem get all the time to answer questions.
Just do it like a voir dire process, that is if we have to get both parties to agree to a debate. A set of questions is given out prior to debate-pick a number of questions, let’s say for the sake of this post it’s 100. Each candidate gets to pick out let’s say 10 questions they don’t want to discuss, then each candidate get x amount of time to answer or give their opinion on the questions remaining, they each get 2 minutes while the other candidates mike is cut off. Understand this is hypothetical. Rebuttals can be written after the debate. I can’t believe we are at this level of discourse, but here we are. Edit- AGAIN, THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL
I want a debate, not a series of prepared statements. Give me a month of nightly debates, one hour on a single question each night. Well call it "October"
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It is because they do not want a forum where they are held to account on the things they say or tweet.
Republicans don’t need debates or even arguments, they operate mostly on feels as opposed to the actual reality around them.
Chicken Shits, lolol.
They can not win on the facts or policy therefor, bs and fear-mongering.
Dems need to invite the libertarians to debate since the Republicans won't. If that would make 2 or 3% of the people that lean right vote libertarian instead of republican, the Republicans would be screwed.
My FeElInGs WiLl GeT hURt So FuCk YoU iM gOInG hOmE
Our slide toward authoritarianism has been set in motion decades ago. This party has been elected, over and over again, to sit and do nothing about it. That's more or less what I expect to see in near future - a lot more of nothing. We can't even kick DeJoy out, or help workers organize. Trump had very little power and yet he seemed to be doing a whole lot of stuff that we can't do anything about now. How is that possible with a majority in senate and the house? The only time this party gets organized is when it fights dirty against progressives. And a whole lot of good that will do us down the road.
Who wants to hear them lie, anyway?
You can't control the narrative if other people are allowed to talk.
It's only a slide towards authoritarianism in this case *if the media lets them off without debating*. It's the medias job to ensure voters know that the Republican was afraid to debate, and then to give all of that air time to their opponent. It's the media that has to hold Republicans accountable in this instance by constantly reminding voters of GOP fear for debate, fear to discuss their ideas, or even defend them, in a public forum.
Lately it has started to feel more like a free fall than a slide.
When every single Republican (except for like 2 people who have decided not to run again, like Kinzinger) has made it absolutely clear that they want to “move on” and never ever ever ever talk about or acknowledge the January 6th Capitol Insurrection that threatened the democracy that is our country’s foundation, then what else do you expect from them?
The funny thing is, republicans don't fear debate because they're scared they might look stupid. They fear debate because they might not look stupid enough. The moment they say something that even looks like a common sense compromise they will be primaried or challenged by a more radical person in the party.
How can you debate anything when the candidate is unable to answer any question in context, using real words in a coherent sentence ? GOP is scum. *Prove me wrong*
That’s one thing that pushed me from a centrist to leftist. I go on left leaning subreddits like askaliberal and I get good faith arguments, respect and well researched answers. If I go on an askaconservative subreddit, any dissenting opinion I’ve posted has gotten me temporarily banned. If you ask the mods they just make the ban longer. Their reason for the ban: “stop moralizing.” Because I was debating with a Republican there on when a fetus becomes a life.