Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Donald Jessica Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

The lights are all blinking red.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / Dumb Ideologies Open Thread: Jade Helm, the Reboot — or Why There Will (Almost Certainly) Not Be Another Civil War This Weekend

Dumb Ideologies Open Thread: Jade Helm, the Reboot — or Why There Will (Almost Certainly) Not Be Another Civil War This Weekend

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Because this is the least intelligent timeline, Snopes has gone to the trouble of explaining:

Is ‘Antifa’ Planning a Civil War? – FALSE
Despite what random people might say in homemade YouTube videos, they offer no proof that any anti-fascist groups are planning even a skirmish…

In August 2017, rumors began to spread on social media that anti-fascists (a name often shortened to “antifa”, which has become shorthand for a subset of protestors, usually clad in black and accessorized with bandannas and who are evidently unnerving bloggers and vloggers enough to be the pet topic of many an angry online rant) were planning extended unrest, riots, killing random citizens, or outright civil war beginning on 4 November 2017…

Depending on the source, “antifa” (always treated as though it is one homogenous, unified group) is purportedly planning extended riots, joint violence alongside Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers, or a coup of the American government…

Of course, the Infowars faithful and other Trump voters automatically accept this as gospel (trans: good news), because they want to belief that the whole world is as fearful and doom-obsessed as they are. The Washington Post notes the hype, goes to interview the idiots on the other end of the political horseshoe:

… Infowars has warned “Antifa Plans ‘Civil War’ to Overthrow the Government.” The John Birch Society put out two recent videos warning Americans to “stay home and tell your children to do likewise” on Saturday. YouTuber “A Glock Fanboy” notched more than 400,400 views for a clip raising the alarm about “the first day of the revolution or whatnot.”

“Honestly, I’m happy,” the YouTuber told his followers. “Dude, we’ve been on the verge of the great war for what seems like forever and I’m just ready to get it going.”

While Nov. 4 has become a rallying point on the conservative landscape — complete with a hashtag “civilwar2017″ — down on the other far end of the political spectrum, the reality is equally significant. The left-leaning group Refuse Fascism is planning rallies across the country on Saturday, the first step in a large-scale, long game demonstration organizers hope will achieve nothing less than the unseating of the Trump administration.

“We formed this organization around two main points,” Andy Zee, one of the group’s organizers, told The Washington Post. “One is that the nightmare must end, and second, in the name of humanity we must refuse to accept a fascist America.”

Zee maintains that Refuse Fascism is committed to nonviolent protest, and scoffs at the ideas floating through the far right of antifa super-soldiers waging war on mainstream society. If anything, the jarring disconnect over Nov. 4 shows how easily facts are eaten alive by social media and regurgitated as conspiracy theory. The possible violence coloring that disconnect illustrates how truly ideologically isolated the two sides are from one another.

Zee’s group does have big plans for the weekend — and beyond. He tells The Post the group is organizing demonstrations on Saturday in more than a dozen locations, including New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco.

Tapping the same kind of energy unleashed in the Occupy Wall Street movement and Women’s March, Refuse Fascism hopes to spark regular protests against the administration, daily actions that will snowball until “every day there are tens of thousands of people protesting, creating a political crisis in the country with international repercussions, and where you do get a reaction from those in power that they have to do something about it,” Zee said…

Still, the online hysterics over Nov. 4 have put the potential demonstrations in the crosshairs of extremists…

And who are the people behind ‘Refuse Fascism’? This seems to be where the worst of 1970s extremist politics crawls undead from the Mausoleum of Fail…

… Less than one year ago, as protesters flooded Washington, D.C., for President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Refuse Fascism materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, brandishing their now-iconic black and white “NO!” posters. Since then, the anti-fascist organization has become a mysterious yet omnipresent force throughout the past year’s wave of protests. As demonstrators have continued to spill into the streets with anti-Trump resentment, Refuse Fascism frequently emerges with signs, shirts, pins, and orators primed with a megaphone.

This has all led up to the group’s plans for Nov. 4, which have become shrouded in misinformation. This Saturday, Refuse Fascism will kick off its loftiest project yet: mass demonstrations in the streets — every day until Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are out of office…

For prominent thinkers and activists on the socialist left who spoke to Mic on background, and many reporters, scholars and activists over the past decade, Refuse Fascism is seen as nothing but a diversion, the latest front group for a scientology-like communistic cult of personality…

Ten years ago, another full-page advertisement in the New York Times declared that “Dangerous times demand courageous voices.” It was cosigned by prominent leftist activists like Cornell West and Cindy Sheehan; Slavoj Žižek later signed an online version. And who was this necessary voice? Bob Avakian.

“Chairman” Bob Avakian is a ‘60s-era radical who, in 1975, founded the Revolutionary Communist Party, also known as RCP or RevCom — a small group of Maoists that’s managed to survive for decades by embedding, some say parasitically, within nearly every major protest movement of the past 40 years, from the L.A. race riots to the anti-war movement of the Bush years. The RCP is often referred to as a communist doomsday cult that is obsessed with Avakian, its mysterious leader, and hastens unto a final emancipation of humanity through a populist revolution…

Chairman Bob (or, as usual, his latest batch of deluded recruits) versus Based Stick Dude (ditto). And here you thought Halloween was over!

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  2. 2.

    Viva BrisVegas

    Why would you start a revolution on the 4th November?

    Remember, Remember the Fifth of November.

    Only the historically and cinematically illiterate would expect the revolution a day early.

  3. 3.

    Anne Laurie

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Why would you start a revolution on the 4th November?

    Because America FIRST!!!!

    (Also, the antifa guys can’t wait till Sunday, that’s when they bring their laundry over to mom’s house and have a nice meal while they’re waiting on the dryer cycle.)

  4. 4.

    opiejeanne

    @Viva BrisVegas: Well, the 4th is a Saturday, and they all have something to do on Sunday, like take Mom to brunch.

    The part about daily protests is a bit much. Most people have jobs or other things they need to do. By Tuesday or Thursday at the latest everyone in the protest will be tired and everyone else will be tired of them. .

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    ? BREAKING: Hillary rigged World Series

    Forced Dodgers to pitch Yu Darvish instead of lefty Sanders.

    Bernie Woulda Won.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @opiejeanne: I commented on this yestermorn. The potatoes are for the potato gun (you need a can of hair spray for the propellant) and the carbide is for the “bombs” (a trash bag with a handful of carbide and a liberal dollop of water, tied shut and attached to a helium balloon and a lit fuse taped to the garbage bag. Let it go and wait for the BOOM. It will rock your world. And every one else’s too)

  13. 13.

    Baud

    No civil war his weekend? But I just bought the Ashokan Farewell album, with the new extended dance mix.

  14. 14.

    BlueDWarrior

    Have I mentioned today that movement conservatism has degenerated into an apocalyptic death-cult? Because I don’t think it can be said enough. Meanwhile, the chunk of the far left that’s at “Bomb everything to inspire the People’s Revolution” is still a good size smaller than it was during the late 60s/early 70s.

    Something something asymmetric polarization or whatever.

  19. 19.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    ABC News Poll — Oct. 29-Nov.1, 2017 — (link)

    Robert Mueller Job Ratings:

    Approve………..58%
    Disapprove……28%

    Is there a wider Russia conspiracy or is it limited to Manafort, Gates, and Papadopoulos?

    Wider…………….53%
    Limited………….28%
    ———————————————

    Looks like 28% is the new 27%

  20. 20.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Via the Palmer Report (link)

    Emails recently surfaced in which the head of Cambridge Analytica admitted to trying to conspire with Russian puppet Julian Assange with regard to emails stolen from Hillary Clinton. This appears to have been a violation of federal law. Subsequent emails revealed that Rebekah Mercer was aware of this plot at the time

    Mercer announced today that he’s resigning from his day job as co-CEO of a major hedge fund. He’s also selling his stake in Breitbart, and he put out a statement distancing himself from Breitbart personalities Steve Bannon and Milo Yiannopoulos.

    This is Mercer’s version of deleting a Twitter account. A desperate act hoping that washing his hands will save him and his daughter.

    It’s interesting that John Schindler (the former NSA guy) said about five months ago in a podcast that Mercer was involved.

  22. 22.

    Marmot

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    This is Mercer’s version of deleting a Twitter account. A desperate act hoping that washing his hands will save him and his daughter.

    Except I read yesterday that Mercer sold that Breitbart share to his daughter.

    I’m damn curious about what’s going on!

  25. 25.

    Marmot

    If my memory is serving me properly, the big 2003 anti war protest and movement in NYC was initiated by the dumb RCP. I heard a representative on WNYC trying to promote the cause and making a hash of it with ‘70s leftist rhetoric.

    At the time, it would have been nice to hear a strong, reasoned counterbalance to the nationalist war fervor of the time. But no. The guy was a loon, and did a lot to discredit GW Bush opposition. The host — Leonard Lopate or the other guy — was clearly dismissive. What a waste.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    “Evangelical” is the new “Racist”.

    “I don’t identify myself with that term any more,” Boz Tchividjian said recently. He was talking about being “evangelical”, the movement his grandfather, the Rev Billy Graham, helped popularize in America. “Words matter,” Tchividjian said, “and ‘evangelical’ isn’t like Baptist or Episcopalian, which can be clearly defined. The minute you use that term to someone,, “you’re defined by how they interpret it.”

    Tchividjian is among a growing number of religious people and groups in America who have stopped identifying as evangelicals in order to distance themselves from the more extreme elements of Christian society, while remaining true to their principles.
    ……..
    And in a recent interview, Tony Campolo, a pastor and founder of the Red Letter Christians movement, said succinctly what others have also said publicly: “We feel uncomfortable calling ourselves evangelicals any more, because the general public assumes things about us that aren’t true. We are not for capital punishment, we are not pro-war, we don’t hate gays, we’re not anti-feminist.”

    “Because we have such a broad and vague definition of evangelical, one person could automatically assume every evangelical is a Trump supporter, while another could think they’re anti-Trump, because that exists as well,” Tchividjian said. “We’re looking at faith through a political lens, and that’s unfortunate and dangerous.”

    Well Boz, that’s because some of your brethren have politicized faith and are continuing to do so.

  29. 29.

    dogwood

    @Marmot:
    There was a great reasoned objection to the war delivered by a state senator from the south side of Chicago. The speech wasn’t that well-received at the anti-war rally where the people wanted red meat. But no democrat in the House or Senate ever spoke with the prescience that Obama delivered in 2003 in Chicago.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Marmot: He has 3 daughters, Rebekah is the political one, Jennifer and Heather Sue are the “Tiffanys” (not visible children) of the Mercer family.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

    What word? What impact?

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud:

    Christopher Stroop, a former evangelical who now speaks out against the faith, says this has contributed to a wave of Christians fleeing the term “evangelical”.

    “There’s a support group on Facebook called ‘Exvangelical’,” he said, “and I see a lot of people on there saying it was after the 2016 election that they decided they needed to distance themselves from that term. These are people who don’t agree with the politics of evangelicals. And really, these days, anyone who doesn’t agree with the politics of evangelicals, but wants to still use that term, are too much of a minority to be relevant to its definition.”

    It’s an interesting read, at least to this atheist.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    A desperate act hoping that washing his hands will save him and his daughter.

    I disagree on “desperate act”- they are supremely confident they can do just about anything and nothing will happen to them. He can and did bankroll this poisonous shit for years and he believes he can fix it in a day, with a non-apology and a phony on-paper transfer. When they achieve their objectives and it’s time to re-enter the mainstream they just walk back in and are welcomed as if nothing happened. It’s the confidence and arrogance that comes with privilege.

    All those breathless stories about Trump becoming “Presidential”? – that’s all he had to do- denounce this or that and he would have been immediately forgiven for any and all transgressions. The standards are REALLY low for privileged people- they know this.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I don’t know about “political” but I know quite a few evangelicals and they are anti-gay and anti-feminist. Proudly. I’m not sure they could be any more openly anti-gay and saying “feminism ruined families and therefore society” isn’t shy either. In fact, they now claim that anyone who objects to or disagrees with their anti-gay or anti-feminist opinions is restricting their religious liberty. They’re worse than they used to be.

  44. 44.

    Aleta

    (There’s more to the beginning of this thread that’s also important…) https://mobile.twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/926329971588714496

    Joy Reid
    @JoyAnnReid

    So here’s the deal: the DNC is full of super-Democrats who are party loyalists and yep, they favored Clinton over the independent Sanders.

    They snarked about him in emails stolen and released by Russian hackers. They were a sloppy organization that was broke and needed Clinton.

    And they entered into a deal that basically saw the more or less inevitable nominee, based on the primary calendar, loan them money.

    But snarky emails didn’t cost Bernie Sanders the nomination. DNC fundraising deals with Clinton (for money to spend in the GENERAL election)

    didn’t either. Sanders didn’t win the nomination because Hillary Clinton got more votes than he did. She won the calendar.

    And she got more votes particularly in states with large black voting populations, which is how Democrats win primaries.

    The DNC, from what I gather, including from Donna’s book excerpt, could barely function, let alone rig 50+ primaries.

    Because again, how would an organization compel/force more people to vote for one candidate over the other?

    Perhaps if they had run a disinformation campaign against Sanders? Which is odd because there was one: that Russia ran against Clinton.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Did you see that Leahy wants Attorney General White Citizens Council to come before the Committee again and explain himself?
    You know that I am skeptical.??

  50. 50.

    Baud

    @Aleta: Good on Joy, but I’m afraid people want to cling to their hate, and politicians want to pander to those people.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    The standards are REALLY low for privileged people- they know this.

    You mean they have standards? The things I learn here…

  53. 53.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    IMO Sessions is really in trouble. He’s different than the rest of the Trumpsters. They are measured using a low standard. He will be compared to other AG’s. The attorney general can’t lie repeatedly to Congress. That’s a problem and it isn’t going away until it’s addressed or resolved in some way.

    Comey actually hinted at this. Comey said they had information that he couldn’t reveal publicly that made it imperative for Sessions to recuse which I forgot about but was reminded of yesterday.

    Sessions was so unequivocal about knowing nothing! He said it over and over- scolded the senators repeatedly for daring to question his integrity. I was convinced! I actually bought it because he didn’t shade it- he said he knew NOTHING.

  54. 54.

    Honus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m waiting to hear about the economic anxiety of the TriBeCa truck terrorist. He was apparently OK until his trucking business started failing and repossession of his equipment began, then he became disillusioned with America, and eventually plotted his attack. But it’s all-ISIS all the time instead.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I think you understand but this is pretty common on the Right. They dismiss peoples’ rights as “political” – a distraction from the real issue, which is “gayness” or “being a feminist”. They don’t want to get caught up in all that nasty “politics”- they just want to restrict rights and impose their religion on everyone! :)

  57. 57.

    Chyron HR

    @Aleta:

    And she got more votes particularly in states with large black voting populations, which is how Democrats win primaries.

    But how did the leader of the civil rights movement, who was endorsed by an actual rap musician, LOSE the AA vote? Explain that, shills!

  60. 60.

    Joey Maloney

    @Baud: Hey, want to end civil forfeiture? Indict a couple of these asshole zillionaires and use it to pauperize them. Watch how fast Congress will act!

  61. 61.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I wonder if Trump wants to get rid of Sessions not because Sessions recused but because Sessions is a high-profile liability who will be questioned repeatedly until this issue of whether he lied or not is resolved. He’s different. They can’t use the “coffee boy” excuse with the AG. The Sessions problem isn’t going away and it’s real- it’s real peril.

  62. 62.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Marmot: To be fair to the RCP clowns, often they’re jumping into a vacuum created by mainstream politics not being willing to go somewhere that needs to be gone (or not being willing to go there hard enough). Cede the ground to a bunch of loons and loons are what you’ll get.

  63. 63.

    Patricia Kayden

    They’re just trying to portray Antifa in a negative light because Antifa has been effective at opposing White Supremacists and the alt-right. Just like they’ve tried to muddy the name of Black Lives Matter. Sydney, Australia is giving BLM an award for being a peacemaker so everyone isn’t buying the anti-BLM nonsense spread by Fox News and other Conservatives. They really hate it when you oppose racism.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: I am not an expert on Evangelicals (my personal experience with them is mostly horrible) so I make allowance for a qualifier: For some Evangelicals, they see other people’s rights as being in conflict with their rights, such as their religious right to discriminate against gays, or their religious right to force women to complete unwanted pregnancies.

  65. 65.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Matt McIrvin: but the space wasn’t ceded. Howard Dean, Wes Clark, Al Gore, Obama, and others vigorously opposed the war, but the corporate war loving media either mocked them or ignored them.

  67. 67.

    Ian G.

    I’ve said this many times before, but the nitjobs on the left like Bob Avakian make me laugh, while the nutjobs on the right like, you know, THE GODDAMN PRESIDENT, make me cry.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I just can’t believe he was dumb enough to get himself into this mess. OF COURSE they pounced. He fucking lectured them on how honorable he is! Like a too-small rooster strutting around crowing and puffing out his feathers. All he had to do was detail his exposure to anything Russian-related and he can’t seem to get it done. If he had done it months ago it would have been forgotten by now- IF it’s incidental and unimportant- but putting on the “you have offended MAH HONOR, Sir!” act was more important.

  71. 71.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: My wife has the Today show on as background while getting up. In the first minute or two they basically give the headlines of what topics they’ll cover in the first half-hour. Brazile’s book or the “Democrats in disarray” theme wasn’t mentioned at all. This may be too inside-basebally for the normies.

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: Not in my Google News “Top Stories” either. But a comedy headline: “Asia trip is a chance for Trump to act like a leader.” Sure, CNN, sure. And today’s my chance to do the nasty with Kate Upton before Justin marries her.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’m not an expert on evangelicals either but I wish just once they would take up for someone or something that is genuinely reviled or powerless. Everyone loves babies. Babies are easy. “Defending motherhood” is easy. “Families”-
    people are broadly in favor of “families”. Defending or standing with a gay teenager who comes out in a conservative area is harder- THAT involves some risk. I don’t know why they’re so aggrieved and defensive. I’m not clear on what great sacrifices they have made.

  80. 80.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly: We have folk that take the freeway into the mountains so the news choppers and the police choppers can’t follow them. That happened Wednesday night. Dude headed north on I-5 and once he got past Castaic, the choppers couldn’t follow him.

  81. 81.

    TS

    @Kay:

    Like a too-small rooster strutting around crowing and puffing out his feathers.

    Best description ever of the little elf – describes him perfectly.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @gene108: Yes, hence my “that’s because some of your brethren have politicized faith”. I don’t give them a pass for it either. They could speak out against the RWNJ Evangelicals from a perspective of faith but I hear precious little from them. They have quietly acceded to the hijacking of their faith for a political party’s benefit.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Gin & Tonic: I assume the big news story is still “TERROR IN NEW YORK”. I think Trump got a little poll bump from it that’s just now being reflected in the rolling averages.

  90. 90.

    satby

    @Gin & Tonic:

    This may be too inside-basebally for the normies.

    of course it is.

    @Baud: I said it would be yesterday. It’s all background noise to non-political junkies. They don’t know who Brazile is. And they know Clinton got more votes. And the die hard Sanderites will always scream their hero was robbed. ss,dd.

  91. 91.

    hueyplong

    It’s doubtful that the Wilmer Cult will be helped by a better understanding of the details of Russia’s interference.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    @satby: I’m happy if it’s fading, but the deplorable president of the United States got involved, so I’m not taking any attacks lightly.

    @hueyplong: Don’t know about that. My news feeds were all over the story yesterday. If it’s a one-day wonder, then nobody is more happy than I am.

  93. 93.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    I wish just once they would take up for someone or something that is genuinely reviled or powerless.

    You mean… Act as Jesus would??? Heaven forbid!

    I do have such a story tho: My wife has had her hair done by a local lady for years who’s husband is a preacher for a small Crawford County congregation. They had a gay couple join their church. A number of congregants objected. He told them to go pound sand, that “we are all God’s children” yada yada yada. So the objectors left his church. Keep in mind, this is a small congregation, so he paid a price for his stand as he knew he would.

    I do not know which branch of Christianity he adheres to, but there are good preachers out there.

  95. 95.

    Matt McIrvin

    @satby: Regardless of what the die-hard Sanderites think, they need to be on board with the Democrats in future elections, or we will keep losing–everything is too damn close to give them up. Up to now, Trump seemed to be driving them back into the fold, as long as the subject didn’t come up. Anything that reminds them of the Democratic Party being mean to them a few days before an election is really bad, and it’s an easy string to pull.

  97. 97.

    Matt McIrvin

    @satby: I wouldn’t blame them too much for that–Russia was playing every side of every available fence and it was (and is) really hard to avoid their influence. They had fake Black Lives Matter groups, fake pro-Muslim groups, fake everything.

    Did you see the story about the Texas rally where they’d organized both sides to go and fight each other? There were examples there of Russian pro-Hillary propaganda–it did exist, though it wasn’t a large fraction of what they were doing.

  98. 98.

    satby

    @Matt McIrvin: I never considered them Democratic voters to begin with, most seemed to be Paulite-curious and others were non-voters. It would be better if we could retain them as voters, but they’re too close to becoming a left tea party, so we need to be realistic about their loyalties. It isn’t to Democratic values.

  99. 99.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Well Boz, that’s because some of your brethren have politicized faith and are continuing to do so.

    I guess I’m of mixed feelings about this. The reality is that faith impels people to act on their values. Jesus certainly did. He threw the money changers out of the temple because his faith called him to point out injustice. There are many people of faith who oppose wars, support women’s autonomy over their bodies, advocate for marriage equality, and equal rights because their faith calls them to act in support of human rights. The problem I have with evangelicals is that their religious beliefs, values, and political activities are so antithetical to the teachings of the Christ they claim to follow.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    @satby: I’m not talking here about the Bernie-or-Busters who went to Jill Stein–they’re just lost. These are the people who grudgingly voted for Hillary but still grumbled about how the DNC had forced her on them after she lost.

  101. 101.

    FlipYrWhig

    @satby: Are you suggesting that left social media is filled with idiots who eagerly parrot things they see on the Internet? Why would Russians find THAT profile so appealing? o.O

  102. 102.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Matt McIrvin: The subject was always going to come up. Worrying about it is a waste of time. We can talk to them as adults but if they want to react like a 3 year old there is nothing we can do about it. I’m not going to try to soothe their hurt feefees. The ones I know are horrified by the reality of trump and the GOP and know there is really only one viable opposition.

  103. 103.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Matt McIrvin: They’re the first group EVAR to be so wronged and put-upon as to have to vote for a candidate other than their first choice!

    They are stupid people who do stupid things and I’m tired of being told I need to kiss their collective ass every fucking election cycle.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s one thing we can do, and that’s to try to expand our base so we’re not so dependent on these voters. How to do that is harder to explain.

  105. 105.

    satby

    @Matt McIrvin: Anyone who still grumbles about the person who got the most votes winning the primary is lost too. That’s how primaries work. This election didn’t just show us how popular authoritarianism is on the right, it showed us there’s a lot of left-leaning people who would be just fine with a leftist authoritarian too.

  106. 106.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense:

    The reality is that faith impels people to act on their values.

    Exactly. And they choose the values they act upon. The other day I posted an article on the uproar within the Catholic Church because the Pope is acknowledging reality (divorced Catholics taking communion, gay families in the pews, women taking the pill etc etc) and the conservative factions want to rail against these things because they are….

    Damn, brain fart brain fart… there is a specific phrase rattling around in my empty head but I can’t find it.

    Well, against historic church teachings which are absolute truths and no deviations can be tolerated.

  109. 109.

    Honus

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: and Donald Trump! Don’t forget his vigorous opposition to the war! He hasn’t.

    On the eve of the war I wrote a detailed letter to the local paper noting the lack of justification and listing the probable negative consequences of the war, all of which proved to be correct. The paper refused to print it.

  110. 110.

    Boatboy_srq

    @Viva BrisVegas: And only the historically illiterate would celebrate the single most colossal failure among sectarian uprisings. 5 November was a catastrophe for the future Roundheads: the plot failed, Parliament was saved, and the ringleaders were all executed.

    But then we’re discussing Ahmurrrrkkkans, who don’t have the least historical literacy anyway (otherwise David Barton would be a pauper scribbling his horribly inaccurate musings in a basement).

  112. 112.

    russell

    “the revolution or whatnot”

    That is some soaring inspirational prose, right there. Patrick Henry couldn’t have said it better.

  114. 114.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    They’re worse than they used to be.

    Well they aren’t going to get better on their own. That ship has sailed long, long ago. It’s unfortunate that they are so far gone that the only way for them is worse. It’s a pity that their whole world crumbles because everyone is not just as fucked up as they are. They are tiny, scared children in grownup bodies.

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