Tank engine

From Wikipedia:

The term "tankie" was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defence of the Soviet use of tanks to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions.

I've never understood why there is any confusion over the word "tankie." It applies to the pro-cop left. If a leftist believes that it's necessary for cops to beat minorities and dissidents into submission for their society to function, they're tankies. If they approach leftism in a way that does not involve state violence against civilians to enforce those ideas, they're not tankies. To me there isn't a lot of gray area.

It’s really not though

Whoever taught liberals that word, I hope they have diarrhea forever.

Its become the boomer equivalent of calling everything bad communist.

Just replace "woke" with "russian".

True but only for terminally online liberals. I still haven't heard anyone in real life ever use that word.

Authoritarianism is authoritarianism. Doesnt matter how you paint it.

Tankie doesn't really mean anything to me anymore. Even self-proclaimed tankies often have trouble defining it in a way that is consistent among leftist groups.

I'm not into that authoritarian stuff. Worshipping a fascist authoritarian state is not a leftist make.

-- and they both punch left; exactly as conservatives like to do.

Do people genuinely take badempanada seriously?

Truly. Any moderate support for AES? Immediately labeled a tankie, I've seen Anarchists and even Liberals labeled a tankie. The term only exists to punch left from the Liberal POV, just like "Woke" is used to punch anything left of fascism.

Do MLs consider anarchists liberals now?

"Liberal" is just

Shut up, tankie!

The conversation around "tankies" reminds me heavily of "neolibs" - loosely defined in the minds of the folks discussing them. Basically a catch-all term for your own idea of what a liberal outgroup should be.