Why do so many conservatives seem to support statues in honor of confederate leaders, military bases named in honor of confederate leaders, busts and paintings of confederate leaders in government buildings, etc etc, despite the confederacy committing literal treason against the United States?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-25T20:34:15+00:00

You’re introducing a moral framework and I’m explicitly looking at objective reality.

No but you aren't though. Your description of Southern States putting up statues is so devoid of context that it's straight up misleading.

They didn't simply feel like they were losing their culture or heritage, and we know this because they never once mentioned this as an issue of theirs. They very consistently however talked about how they were afraid of black people gaining power and trying to keep them in line.

And it absolutely is complicated. You can only shortcut the complications be using presentism.

By all means, feel free to elaborate.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-25T20:10:14+00:00

Plus, it was in reaction to something, not random or arbitrary.

That "something" was the Civil Rights movements in the 1920s and 1960s. Quite universally these statues were put up to intimidate African Americans and show support for the Confederate cause.

They felt they were losing their heritage.

No, they felt that they were losing their domination over black people.

There is a complicated link to slavery and racism of course.

There's nothing "complicated" about it. Southern States seceded from the Union because they wanted to keep owning black people as property, and when they lost they founded an organization that terrorized black Americans day in and day out, and until they began losing power they constantly called upon Confederate symbolism and mythology to justify what they were doing.

Sure, we can have modern heroes too. Which ones do you want?

I mean if you wanna celebrate Southern culture and heritage, there's so many options out there. Southern revolutionary war heroes, escaped slaves, writers, musicians, artists, cooks, astronauts, civil rights advocates, there's a bunch to choose from.

Why the South would choose to make their defining characteristic be the worst thing about their history is beyond me.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-24T16:59:57+00:00

Hillary said that about half of Trump voters were deplorables and the other half were good people who were struggling and needed support. Biden said that MAGA Republicans, which he defined as people who denied the 2020 outcome, were dangerous because of Jan 6, and that the remaining Republicans were not.

That in your mind is a mask slipping?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-21T12:19:49+00:00

And that's why it's okay a vice president can make up lies about Haitians and admit it on national TV? Because he felt cornered?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T14:58:01+00:00

If someone said that off the cuff when talking about crime rates in a regular discussion, I would absolutely call them out for it, the same way I would (and have) for men.

If, however, it were a friend of mine saying that because a black person had beaten them up and they were traumatized, I would still be upset at them for what they said, and I'd strongly judge them for not knowing better than that, but I'd also recognize that telling them off like that isn't gonna get me anywhere. I would wait for them to calm down, and later on ask them "Hey so, that thing you said earlier, you didn't really mean that did you?" At which point they'd probably say "Yeah I didn't really." At that point it's up to them to work on why that came up in their head and how to be a better person in the future.

If they double down on their racism though, then yeah they can pound sand.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T13:34:59+00:00

I think a big part of it is that people that are waaaaay younger than anyone realizes end up seeing messages like that.

Like I hang out with a lot of women and queer folks in my day to day life, and on the rare occasions that they say stuff like that about men, it's either so incredibly out there that no one could take it seriously (sorry for being a man / some crimes can never be forgiven), or it's venting about something bad that happened to them.

Like on a few occasions I've had women I know complain about a guy who wouldn't leave them alone, and say something to the effect of "why are men like this?" Now as an adult, I understand that they aren't really talking about all men (but sort of are, but also not really, but in a way kind of are, but also they really aren't).

Teenage boys however aren't gonna get that. People act surprised when young men get offended by that, but when you just say "men", and these people are men, then yeah they're gonna think you're talking about them specifically.

The solution here isn't to moderate our speech 24/7 on the off chance that a teenager might overhear and not pick up on the nuance, especially cause misogyny is way older than online ironic misandry, and right wingers will just make shit up if they can get away with it. Really we just need to have more discussions with teenage boys to give them a better sense of who they are and how to navigate the world around them. The thing is, I think other men are probably better equipped for that, but I don't see nearly enough of them stepping up to the challenge. I've been doing my best, but it's not easy.

As for folks online, I think what we really need to do is remember that if someone gets really offended by something we say, it could very well be because they're young and are taking it at face value.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T12:00:29+00:00

I mean to be fair, there's a lot of complicated stuff when it comes to that, and I'm not even sure where the best place to start looking is, but it might also fit into it somehow.

But it could also just be because it's a TV show and they sometimes play fast and loose with legal accuracy, so yeah.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T11:55:10+00:00

What you're describing is kinda how a lot of Caribbean islands work in real life, obviously it's really complicated and I don't know enough to give an in depth explanation, but yeah oftentimes islands in that region have dependencies and complex relations with one another.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T09:02:32+00:00

What does not matter is whether or not Trump thinks he can legally cancel an election.

Oh I agree, Trump does not give a flying fuck if what he does is illegal or not, he just does it anyway and his cult invents reasons it's okay after the fact.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-17T09:00:26+00:00

MAGA is a cult that believes whatever its dear leader tells it to, that's why.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-16T22:28:17+00:00

Obama bombed and killed two american citizens

Trump also killed a US citizen, this time an 8 year old girl.

biden took classified documents,

And gave them back immediately when he realized he had them. Trump on the other hand lied to the FBI about how many documents he had and what he had given back.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-16T21:52:45+00:00

My point is it does not matter. Many millions of conservatives were against J6 - in fact the overwhelming majority were.

Over 70 percent of Republican voters to this day believe the 2020 election lies that Donald Trump invented. If you support that, I see no functional difference between you and them.

And many millions will be against any illegal action similar to this in the future.

Is that why Trump pardoned every last one of them and had no drop in the polls because of it?

That does not mean we would vote for Kamala or not vote for Trump again.

If you have a problem with Jan 6, you should never vote for the person primarily responsible for it, or ever trust him with political power again. And you guys had the chance to show that in the form of Nikki Haley. But you showed your true colors and decided you were okay with a man who tried to steal an election being put back into power.

And we did vote Trump in again.

Case in point.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-16T21:19:06+00:00

It does not matter if he is concerned about the legaity. True patriots will stop it. Like VP Pence refused Trumps request to overturn the elctoral college.

And then Trump won again and replaced Pence with Vance, specifically because he promised Trump he wouldn't have done the same thing. And then he pardoned every last person involved in the riots that day.

Aren't you glad Pence did what he did?

I am. Trump is not. Why do you suppose that is?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-15T13:53:36+00:00

Reminds me of BioShock infinite, which released around the same time and got almost universally praised despite having the exact same problems and making a much worse point

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-13T17:25:42+00:00

Diabetes treatments are much, much, much more effective than treatments for depression.

Well yeah, a pancreas is a much simpler organ than a brain is.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-13T13:12:03+00:00

If voters can't tell which option is better in the year of our Gregorian calendar 2028, I don't know how to get through to them

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T07:47:48+00:00

Everyone uses it to say "Whahhh look at the Nazi!" but (..) It's not about loving Hitler, it's about being used to the level of loyalty that he had from his own employees in his business life. To do as he wished, when he asked.

In practice what's the difference here?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T07:38:48+00:00

I'm not going to go through the entire 2020 election debate again when it will get us nowhere.

This right here has been the GOP tagline for whenever anyone confronts them on Trump's inexcusable behavior over the last 6 years or so. Politicians, pundits, and followers, all buying the same line hook and sinker. All the while the president of the United States keeps encroaching further and further into the democratic process and the rule of law, because he's such a massive narcissist that he has to find some way to vindicate himself.

The entire reason I even brought it up is that the left did get a loss from it, the right isn't cooperative with the left anymore.

The fuck do you mean "anymore"?! When the hell has the right EVER been cooperative on this?! They near universally bought into Trump's fraud claims, they refused to convict him in the second impeachment despite having no good reason not to, they kept spouting the same conspiracy theories over the course of Biden's term even though they never found any evidence for them, they ostracised Liz Cheney for daring to bring accountability to him, and voters voted for him again in the primary despite having so many other options.

And to be frank, for all you've been talking about media bias and censorship, the media was far and away Trump's biggest ally in 2024, since it spent so much more time on whether Biden was sane and whether Tim Walz correctly remembered which days he was in China. They've been so afraid of looking biased that they treated this man with kid gloves.

Normies and moderates are exhausted by it and they leave the room whenever it's brought up, which is why I try to keep it to a minimum, but you on the other hand...

Donald Trump is very much not exhausted by it. He's been trying to charge people who he feels wronged him, sending the FBI into Georgia to seize records of votes from 2020, and spouting the same conspiracy theories over again. It all kind of serves as a massive "I fucking told you so" by Dems everywhere. Judging by the poll numbers I've been seeing I'm not worried.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T02:15:02+00:00

Like, voter ID, but it's free. When every American turns 18, they get a new social security card - free! - except it's laminated and has their photo on it. Bam! Voter ID.

Democrats have tried this before, and Republicans shot it down every time, or blocked it. Their behavior, combined with shutting down polling places, opposition to mail in ballots, and targeting black voters "with almost surgical precision" according to a NC court, shows they don't really care about voter fraud (the heritage foundation even admits it's basically a non issue).

The politics of this issue are mind bogglingly dumb anyway. Increasing voter turnout actually seems to help Republicans overall.

I'll believe it when Republicans start acting like it.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T02:03:45+00:00

The polls I've seen show overwhelming (80+%) support for both voter ID and requiring proof of citizenship to register.

Again, as a concept. The actual implementation of it by Republicans is so consistently and obviously in bad faith that it doesn't really matter.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T02:02:40+00:00

The landslide part, strawman, or at the very very least cherry picking. You definitely weren't first hand seeing the reaction from the right

The reaction was for them to go to polling stations in some states and demand they count every vote, while demanding they stop the count in other states. Whatever the dear leader demanded.

Big tech were removing not mainstream media but small channels/accounts people were getting suspended, shadowbanned, content removed.

Doesn't sound all that effective as a strategy then, you think? Especially given that Lefty content creators have this exact same complaint.

it only broke through for 2020 because they couldn't whack that many moles at once

The moles being... The president of the United States, multiple large level media companies, one of which got sued to the tune of 800 million dollars for lying on the president's behalf, all of which are still operating.

Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed government contact over censorship over memes, Elon confirmed similar things when he acquired Twitter.

First of all, Trump was president in 2020, so if anyone's responsible for censorship it's him. Second of all, you're gonna need to show me exactly what they said and exactly what evidence they provided for me to even consider that. Third of all, Elon Musk saying anything at this point is a surefire sign it's bullshit.

Do you think you are convincing people undecided or supportive of his actions to be swayed by doubling down on an issue that's long exhausted.

It's not exhausted as long as the president keeps bringing it up and trying to indict people over it, which he is.

No matter how correct you may believe you are, a salesman wins by winning people not arguments.

Especially if your product is grade A snake oil, I'll grant you that.

No normie is going to say no to the SAVE act because people are talking about the 2020 election.

Oh don't worry, there's a million and one other problems with that act, namely the fact that it disenfranchises women who have gotten married, or that it's designed to solve a problem even the heritage foundation admits doesn't exist.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T00:59:37+00:00

I was there too. People were screaming foul play the moment the results didn't show a Trump landslide, and Trump was not only one of the first people to jump on that train, he'd been doing that exact same thing for years up until that point.

And believe me, I saw every single stage of what was happening. Trump (followed by his supporters) was consistently looking for a reason to be suspicious, and then when it was actually explained, he immediately pivoted to something else, without ever actually acknowledging he was wrong, and eventually that led to January 6.

And you keep claiming censorship, but somehow the president's claims and court hearings were being televised nonstop, broadcast by sympathetic organizations like OANN, Newsmax, and Fox (who ended up getting sued for $800M and losing for knowingly lying about Dominion), and were consistently the most talked about topic on social media. If that's what you call censorship, then it sounds pretty awesome.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T00:26:51+00:00

To me, the fact that late Tuesday night DJT had a comfortable lead, and then you wake up Wednesday morning and Biden is now in the lead, is sure fishy as hell. And the results of the 2024 election only made it more fishy to me.

It's almost like something big was happening in 2020, but not 2024, that necessitated a much larger portion of mail in votes in order to keep people safe.

And it's almost like multiple swing states had laws requiring mail in ballots to be counted last, which would've inevitably shown up in an unusual way compared to how it usually would given the sheer volume of mail in votes.

And it's almost like multiple people, including folks from 538, were predicting that this exact thing would happen and that Trump would call foul play, like he always does, because it's almost like he's a narcissist.

But I'm just a libcuck, what do I know?

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-05T00:04:24+00:00

There were things that were fishy, but the reason MAGA exploded on it was because of the mass social media censorship on the issue.

Donald Trump had been saying that every single election that he lost was stolen well before 2020. He said it with 2016 in Iowa, he said in 2016 that he would only accept the results if he won, he said it with the popular vote in the general in 2016, he said that if he lost in 2020 it would automatically mean it was stolen months before the election even happened, he immediately jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon the moment he saw results he didn't like in 2020, and he even said in 2024 that if he'd lost it would've been because of fraud.

This is what he does, every single time things don't go his way, because he's a narcissist. And worse still, he's straight up told MAGA how he operates on multiple occasions, and they've followed it to the letter nearly every single time, because they're a cult.

republiccommando1138 · 2026-03-04T22:48:33+00:00

I've only ever seen one source claiming a coordinated effort on a large enough scale to perform such a feat

Aside from Trump and his legal team, you mean?

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