Blabbermouth May 16, 2018 at 1:53 pm

Blabbermouth Podcast Episode 149: Primaries, Persuadable "Deplorables," and Twinks

Episode 149 talks about Tuesday's primaries, whether it's possible for liberals to persuade Trump voters, and whether it's alright to be a straight twink. CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES

Comments

1

Yes. Because every citizen has a vote between two individuals for president. Every person's decision is their purogative, and reflect's that person's best decision for their own interest at the time. Respect for the process takes precedence over our subjective emotions, regardless who the candidates are.

2

They might be correct but it's also against their long term interests (and the underlying principles of representative democracy)

4

@2: Yes, but nothing infuriates Tumpers more than elitists telling them that they don't know what their own best interest is. In the long run it just amplifies their resentment and actually worsens the deterioration of democracy more than if snippy people just buttoned their lips.

5

Over 25 twink = twunk.

6

Paul Waldman had, I think, the best commentary on the stupidity of "if we'd just be less smug and nicer they'd come around" idiocy Herzog is, predictably, defending. It's not primarily actual interactions between smug liberals and Trump supporters that are causing the problem, it's the perception that liberals are being smug and dismissive, which is largely driven by media. Liberals could suddenly become 90% less smug and they'd never notice, because the media promoting that narrative would just focus on the other 10%.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/05/15/why-democrats-cant-win-the-respect-of-trump-voters/?utm_term=.f0047f9a929e

8

@4 Yes. Although to be fair, everyone on every part of the political spectrum hates that; however, "you don't know what's in your best interests" is most strongly associated with urban progressives (which is why liberal liberal-scolds like me think it's more incumbent on libprogs to cut it out than on other groups)

9

@7 the opposite is true: If someone thinks you disrespect them, they'll make it their business to NOT change their mind (as @4 says) and they'll make it their business to form opinions specifically to be against whatever yours is. Just think of how you react to anything Trump does - most liberals are reflexively against it, regardless of anything else. Now imagine that Trump and his people had been the dominant political group for 30 consecutive years [you may not have noticed, the GOP has won 1 popular vote since 1988]. That's where many conservatives are at with regards to their relationship to the DNC and liberal-progressive ideology. It hardly matters that they disrespect us back, they're not in power. It's the "reverse racism" argument applied to politics.

10

Who cares? Trump voters call people all sorts of names - libtards, snowflakes (and any and all kinds of horrifically racist and misogynist epithets). Trump voters are whining and crying now that they see he' fucking them over left and right - destroying their jobs and lives - wondering how this could be happening to them. This makes them stupid. They were stupid to believe that POS was going to do anything for them. They were stupid and hateful and voted or him because they thought they'd get theirs and all they're getting is fucked. Why shouldn't they be called stupid? They are stupid, that is based on fact, not opinion.

11

With wholly-corps-owned Mass Media to rely on exclusively for (mis-) information, is it any wonder so many are ignorant? (Actually, poorly-informed may be the better term. IF one wants to be heard.) And all those Billion$ spent on keeping Citizens the fuck away from the voting booth, they wouldn't be spending it if it weren't very Effective. They're not, sadly, stupid.

Ignorance is NOT stupidity. People CAN learn. The truly stupid, not so much...
But what a Golden Opportunity* Trumpy has given us.

.* and why not -- he's the Golden Showers Prez!

12

Is meting out justice always pragmatic?

13

Correction: Is meting out punishment always pragmatic?

14

We wont win by persuading the bad people to vote good, we win by getting good people to vote. Please ignore the deplorables!

15

I suppose in the sense that it can only hurt the chances of Dems to get elected it is not the smartest decision. But it is more about catharsis and getting through the grief than anything, so logic really doesn't enter into the equation.

Also should keep in mind that the people getting angry and lashing out online and at protests are likely True Believers, and do not need to be encouraged to vote one way, as their voting habits are already set. So really you should be asking if calling Trump voters stupid is appealing to the majority of fence sitters or not.

In the end, the GOP can get away with such behavior more because their voters are much more "disciplined," for lack of a better term. They vote very consistently, something Dems have not really been able to count on from their constituents.

18

@14: The "good people" you allude to didn't vote in high enough numbers, probably because they were so apathetic and proud of their obstinate dispositions. The "good people" are also Tump voters who might vote differently in 2018, but because you deem them as "deplorables" and you'll never engage with them, Trump is your president till 2024.

With an attitude like yours, cultivated by St. Hillary, we're doomed.

19

@17: Not sure if it is that cut and dry. The more time people spend on internet message boards and social media, the more they are going to assume that what they see there reflects the general zeitgeist.

If that leads to more people thinking "everyone keeps saying X" or "why is everyone mad about Y?" and "look at what all of those Z's are doing this time." When in reality, all those things are usually isolated incidents or not reflective of reality.

Remember when there was all that hubbub about people boycotting the new Star Wars movies, and how racists and sexist everyone was? Well that was literally the same three or four people tweeting about it over and over. But the internet made people believe it was a real thing, with actual support.

Perception matters more than it should sometimes, and it is not hard for me to imagine something of this nature affecting how people vote if it can so deeply affect how people think.

Otherwise, why should we care if "Russian" bots and shills overrun social media and comment threads?

20

By engage (@18) i mean don't have them over for tea but simply recognize that good grass roots politicking in red states can swing elections even in our modern digital era.

22

@21: Nothing you say is wrong, but at the same time, you have to recognize that the internet just being background noise is certainly not the norm, and will increasingly not be the norm going forward for most people.

Sure, nothing we do in this sparsely populated, echoing backwater of the internet likely matters. But then again, the vast majority of people never comment, so really we only know what the tiny and vocal minority thinks about anything.

It is not hard for me to imagine a fence-sitting reader seeing a bunch of liberals call anyone with a hint of disagreement a literal Nazi and think "wow, these guys aren't for me," or for that same reader to see someone wish all the homeless people would just die off and think the same about conservative viewpoints.

With how close elections are sometimes, maybe enough of those fence sitters start to matter, once they add up.

23

@17 you're thinking too small. If the anger isn't be nicer, what is the answer? It certainly isn't "be meaner" - that's a race to the bottom. The way ensues the status quo is the best case scenario. It serves your ego, your desire for righteous revenge, but nothing else.

25

@10 please continue to rant and wear your emotions on your sleeve. It’s thousands like you that make me laugh every day. Make sure that when you awaken you let the whole wide world know that you and your army will be the downfall of Trump and all of his ignorant voters. Good job my little sheep. Now go get em

26

Thank you, blip, xina, JimDeBlasio, kristofarian and others for already beating me to it and covering the bases so beautifully. Well done, and Jim (@14), that's why I avoid Twitter altogether.
@25: If you're not mad as hell about the current illegal occupants and their hostile takeover of the Divided States of Korporate AmeriKKKa, you're among those not paying attention.

27

Everyone in the Podcast Episode 149 photo looks pretty stupid to me.

28

Not at all! They are dumb regardless of what they call us.

29

@28 MollyC: I was referring to the picture of the whooping, and hollering RepubliKKKan frat boys in glaring red Mein Trumpfy caps, suit jackets, and buzz cuts, with their bimbos as looking pretty stupid (@27). These clowns would most likely drive over a cliff in a drunken stupor, laughing their asses off, again providing woeful evidence that there is no cure for terminal stupidity.

30

And again, all the pandering! "ANYONE can be a twink!" Thank goodness he walked it back a bit.


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.