Trump Is ‘Weird,’ Vance Is ‘Creepy.’ Finally, the Democrats Start Name-Calling
Trump Is ‘Weird,’ Vance Is ‘Creepy.’ Finally, the Democrats Start Name-Calling
The insults are delightfully petty and supremely satisfying.
Snowflakes. Groomers. Cucks.
For years the MAGA movement has approached politics the way a bully would approach a schoolyard, sparring with labels so nasty, they seemed expressly chosen to appeal to the kind of people who stuffed nerds in lockers in sixth grade. And for years Democrats, abiding by the mantra to go high, not low, have responded by trying to be the adults in the room: defending themselves with facts, with context, with earnest explanations that nobody remembers (if they defend themselves at all).
The problem is that taking the high road only works if politics is a sport played mainly by people who act like grown-ups, which it is not. And also: Facts and context don’t make for particularly sticky messaging.
Enter: Weird.
Over the past two weeks, as “Brat” and coconut memes have taken over the internet and Kamala Harris inches closer to Donald Trump in the polls, the Democrats have finally gone low, deploying a bit of verbal jujitsu so delightfully petty it might just work.
Back when Michelle Obama said when they go low, we go high--I told my wife "I really wish that worked in American politics, I really do....but it simply doesn't". My wife disagreed. Because my wife is a mature, kind-hearted Democrat. She thinks you can bring an informational brochure to a bar fight.
Maybe there is a way to de-escalate things and return to more civil "statesmanship" style in our politics. But my guess is that these things follow some kind of up-and-down cycle, and you don't want to be on the side that's lagging.
I think it's missing the point. It's not effective for being name-calling. It's just saying what everyone is already thinking. Like in the 2020 debate when Biden said "Will you just shut up, man?" It was relatable because Trump runs his fucking mouth all the time.
This is the same. It's a relatable feeling - Trump is deeply weird and out of touch. Vance is so creepy people didn't even bother to check if he really wrote about fucking a couch.I was annoyed at that “when they go low, we go high” rhetoric. No you kick them in the teeth. Politics is a pig wrestling competition and you gotta get dirty.
They’re both weird and creepy in their own ways. The GOP is like a Petri dish that someone smeared rabid monkey shit on, and we’re all watching it fester and mutate.
The primary difference being that the Dems are backing up the name calling with actual policies or things they've done.
Trump is weird bc he constantly says off the wall things, does weird shit, and supports unpopular policies (which are weird).
Vance is creepy because he believes and says super weird shit about women. Like how he believes women have to have kids to have value - that is creepy. If somebody said that on a date, there would not be another date. And how he nevertheless has no problem with childless couches - pretty hypocritical and creepy.
And from the repub side:
Schumer is a "member of Hamas" because.... it is inflamatory
Kamala is "laughing kamala" because.... she laughs sometimes. She is also a "radical democrat socialist" because.... she supports mainstream, popular, dem policies
I think it's less about insulting them, and more a out no longer treating them with the utmost respect. We (and by we I don't just mean lefties) should have called them weird when they called themselves the the tea party, but we handled absolutely insane rhetoric by trying to meet it from a place of thoughtful and respectful academic discussion. It was always the wrong strategy.
That said it could very easily backfire. Going to far would look really childish. I think weird really hits home with how most reasonable people feel about these guys.
Every friggin' (R) are weird and creepy POS.
Can we make a meme referencing the MyPillow guy with Vance's sofa smashing? After that all we'll need is Trump embracing the Turks to get the Ottoman reference in there somehow and we'll have a completely furnished set!
Poetic justice for the "fuck your feelings " crowd.
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If you have any questions or comments about me, you can make a post to LW Support lemmy community.Name calling like that should work well with the youth vote. Smart. Politics is just a shit throwing contest. The other side will probably follow suit with terms that fit the demonized adjectives popular among the demographics of their base.
Contrary to the prevailing view that youth are rebellious, they always obey the patriarchy behind the scenes, the merchants of "the cool" dictating the popular image to them. Pretty hard to get milage out of calling a non-white woman creepy or weird. On the other hand, it is kind of a reflexive acceptance when those negative predicates are applied to any male over 20. Agreed. I think dicks of any age are weird and gross myself.
But will their POLICIES improve our lives?
Regulatory agencies have been captured, scotus is corrupt, women's rights have been taken, the largest industries are enriching a miniscule handful of Americans, fascism is increasingly coming into style and our noble democrats have only just started a new grand strategy of.... name calling?
Forget about getting people fed, using the new immunity ruling, stacking courts, or any serious material change for Americans. We are fucked.
Democrats have become so right wing they're finally allowed to do name calling.
I'm still in the group of... This is childish behavior.
Adjectives are not nouns.
Seeing that thumbnail for the first time had me thinking "Who's the B movie token Russian guy?"
Finally?
It's all they have been doing for 10 years, this is just the latest programming as the others have all been disproven to the masses.