Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis
By "your side," I meant RepubliQ conservitards in general, not just here, but we did (and do) have those scum here who continue to bleat that the election was "stolen." Furthermore, many aspiring Republiholes have baked that message into their campaigns. So it ain't over. Polls show that more than half (I think it was 62% most recently) of self-described Republiholes still believe that Trump was really the winner in 2020. Don't kid yourself that it's all gone away.
And lest you forget, Trump's proclamation that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged was enthusiastically embraced by all the MAGA morons. He duly lost...so the "base" believes the Big Lie. If the Orange Pusbag runs in 2024, we'll hear more of the same.
You don't need to try to defend your ideological stance. I already explained to you how cognitive dissonance would prevent you from being objective and self-aware. You maybe don't realize that I'm complimenting you here. Most of those who joined the evil asshole RepubliQ did so because they're evil and they're assholes. You did so for other reasons. The evil assholes feel no internal conflict, but you do--that's patently obvious. A bad person, or an idiot (Millerscum, Boilerboob, Charles the Nasty, Roger the Smarter Than a Chimp, Albeit Barely, Peckerwood, Tom the Toddler, etc.) feels no cognitive dissonance from being a Trumper.
Your mystical 'cognitive dissonance' theory is skewed and just flat wrong as a causative reason for my personal support of conservative positions. It is about basic issue and policy stance differences between left and right , which represents a 230+ year old ideological conflict extension between the opposing participants of this republic. We disagree on issues because those stance differences are fundamentally oppositional at their core; so there is a 'dissonance' (clash / disagreement) that exists. So, I'll admit to my personal 'dissonance' with your side on many issues...we fundamentally disagree. Big deal, what do we do about it without going to jail and/or firing live rounds at each other?
We have the power of the vote as a means to elicit ( or, alternatively, discourage ) change based on individual choice ( call that liberty, just for corny labeling fun). I won't list basic tenets of the core conservative stances because it's a waste of time with you; it's a waste of time because you apparently believe most if not all those tenets are 'immoral' on their face value. That's one of your many and available rights, yet fundamentally is where we likely begin to disagree.
Your well-known corny, lawful and meaningful options for influence or change are to vote, run for office, donate to candidates/ causes you support, form or support lobbyist / fundraising groups for the causes you believe in, and include an option to voice your opinion in the various forms of the public square. You practice the latter often in this largely noninfluential arm of the public square here. How much progress/ change towards your position/s have you elicited here, truly? Very little if any, imo, but it provides an outlet for participants to vent, argue, release frustration, squall, scream, and disagree without committing real acts of crime / violence. I guess if we stretch the premise enough we could somehow view that as providing some sort of slightly positive EV ( vs some alternatives).Simultaneously, I know my limited participation here hasn't swayed a single soul, either. So , as far as attempts at real change / influence, this ain't the place to do it; it just functions as an outlet for folks to align and bitch via a miniscule form of social media ( country throw up gravy, scuse me). That's OK.
Again, one of my largest disagreements with you beyond the issues is how you make arguments / present your positions in here. When you call conservative-leaning participants idiots, evil, assholes, wackadoodle scumbags, go-fuck-off-and-die, etc..you immediately begin to lose your side of the base argument and simultaneously stengthen your opposition's group alignment, imo. It's bullyism, and I question whether all your arguments are always based on real and truthful facts. I guess there's some skewed form of entertainment value derived from that approach for many in here, apparently. I fully admit that I personally and those on my side in here make mistakes as well...humanity is unavoidable. Words matter..so does how they're presented, imo. I'm personally weary (sick and tired, actually) of the current ongoing civil war in this republic (and in it's tiny facsimile in here). Is it 1861 again? Are we going to sacrifice another 600K+ citizens to defend our individual causes? Don't assume that's not possible. There has to be some more palatable alternatives and, beyond voting and opposing side consideration for the other's opinions, I have no magical easy answers. I'm still deluded by believing solutions exist ..we just ain't found em yet. How skewed is that? Admittedly and wholeheartedly, I'm voting for the conservative ticket because I believe more solutions are offered there. You liberals can cancel out my ballot tally with your individual votes..way it works ( beyond acts of corruption). Have at it.
Vote Tuesday..and brush your teeth/ clean your dentures where applicable.