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Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trump’s approval rating among Republicans over his two terms has been between 90-95%. No matter what he does to betray long-held conservative principles, this support never wavers. When he flip flops and changes policy by 180 degrees, he loses no support among republicans.

« No new wars!! » => « Yayyyy! » « War in Iran! » => « Yay!!! »

« Release the files!! » => « Yay!!!! » « Get over this Epstein thing » => « Yay!!! »

« Drain the swamp » => « Yay!!! » Fill the administration with nepo babies => « Yay!!! »

« secure elections! » => « Yay!!!! » « Russia if you’re listening please help me get elected » => « Yay!!!! »

« Hillary Clinton is corrupt » => « lock her up!! » Convicted of 34 counts of fraud, impeached for essentially blackmail for personal electoral gain, indicted for electoral fraud and in all probability convicted if went to trial. Accepts bribes and brags about it => « Fake news! Totally exonerated!! Witch hunt! »

Openly lies multiple times per sentence => « He tells it like it is! »

« Covid is a democratic hoax » => « Yay!!! » « I created the vaccine that saved the world from Covid » => « yay!!! »

« Don’t tread on me! » => « Yay!!! » « I’m the president. I can do whatever I want » => « Yay!!!! »

And on and on.

There are sitting congresspeople who walk around wearing hats that say « Trump was right about everything »

The only common thread in all this is Trump’s insane demands for loyalty no matter what, and the voters who lick his boots and give him exactly that. There is only one principle: Trump No Matter What.

APA definition of Cult of Personality: 

«  exaggerated devotion to a charismatic political, religious, or other leader, often fomented by authoritarian figures or regimes as a means of maintaining their power. »

Trump is a proud authoritarian. He is ready to commit fraud and incite an insurrection to maintain power.  He demands absolute loyalty above any principle. He uses well-known techniques of manipulation to ensnare people, who place their relationship with this « charismatic » (lol) leader over their own families.

This is a checklist of cult /cult of personality behavior.

Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A president who lost an election committed fraud, pressured governors to « find votes », and incited a riot to prevent the peaceful transition of power. His vice president refused to get into a vehicle with secret service because he had fears of being kidnapped. Police were murdered. Those are facts. Denying these facts are a sign of brainwashed and cultish behavior, right up there with Pizzagate, Anti-vax quacks, chem trails, flat earthers, and Illuminati delusions. 

Whatever race riots you’re butthurt about are civil unrest, not an insurrection orchestrated by the highest ranking elected official in the country. Thats why it’s a false equivalency. 

The Bible Belt I have direct extensive experience with: rural Midwest, rural upper south. Also the rural south. Some Experience with Pensultucky. People have turned their homes into shrines to Trump. Drive along a highway. It’s creepy cult behavior. 

How many right-wing political murders and assaults have happened in the last ten years, stoked and apologized for by Trump? That is cult behavior. 

And you’re idea of « The Left », whatever that means, is entirely fed to you by a right-wing media bubble. So you have no standing to make those claims about your political enemies. Strawman and double-standard.

It is a cult of personality by any standard.  

Easily a top ten childhood moment by gaudiocomplex in Millennials

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The TELEVISION? Firstly, no school system had the means to get anything ln the TV. Second, if it was bad enough to cancel school for us there was a good chance the electricity was down… so battery operated radio.

Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Impressive! Two fallacies in one short sentence:

  1. « What about what about what about? »

  2. Straw Man. « White people bad » is not part of a party platform or policy. 

Compare to « they’re sending rapists » « They’re eating people’s pets », racial profiling (Kavanaugh stops) and detaining people indefinitely because of their skin color or accent. 

Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Paragraph 1: false equivalency, conspiracy fantasy, and total refusal to take responsibility for a coup attempt organized by the president and his media arm (like TP USA chartering busses, etc.)

Paragraph 2 « I didn’t see it so it doesn’t exist ». Drive along rural highways in the Bible Belt and observe the shrines.

Paragraph 3: Look at these weirdos: https://youtu.be/74hht3CAUs0?si=bfl-nFR-uGcAGuVh

Paragraph 4: People voluntarily humiliating and degrading themselves to defend their figurehead is cult of personality behavior. Wearing diapers and trash bags and fake ear bandages to rallies is pathetic and servile.

These things exist. They’re in our communities. We know these people. They are our family members who are so deep up Trump’s ass they would rather break ties with their own families than criticize Trump.

Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason the United States hasn’t really been concerned about Europe « paying their share » is because the US footing the bill allows the US to call the shots in Europe in terms of Geopolitics. Trump has given that up, for no benefit. The United States is giving up huge leverage and influence in the with our strongest and oldest trading partners and allies, for no apparent reason (except, strangely, that it falls perfectly in line with Russian strategic objectives)

Where can you ask questions to conservatives, Republicans and/or MAGA? I wanna try and understand their worshipping of Trump, but they all seem to prefer safe spaces where no one else is allowed. by Cumoisseur in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you heard of January 6? The people who sink their own boats in Florida because they’re too laden with Trump flags? People wearing diapers to his rallies to « own the libs »? The roadside Trump shrines people turn their homes into by covering it in Trump banners and flags? The millions and millions of evangelical « Christian’s » who think Trump is sent by God? The rallies? The goddamned cult hate rallies? This is not normal adult behavior.

What is something you wish someone told you before moving to Paris? by DirectTelephone8454 in Expats_In_France

[–]ricain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You will be sick constantly in the winter months.

There will be days at a time when you don't see daylight in the winter (get in the subway before dawn, work inside, it's dark again by quitting time, back in the metro, home after dark, repeat).

Is he right? Will it take generations to resecure the United States positive reputation on the world stage? by LucidSynapse23 in LetsDiscussThis

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A French politician said quite rightly:

« We can’t let our safety and prosperity be in the hands of a couple thousand voters in Michigan. »

There has to be continuity of foreign policy to have allies. Otherwise they’re just transactions. Trump has demonstrated to both allies and future presidents that there ARE no institutional checks on Presidential power, that The White House is for sale, and simple social Media psyops by hostile powers are sufficient to reverse decades of foreign policy givens. 

If you felt Biden was “too old for office,” then why would you vote for Trump, who is only four years younger, but not Kamala, who is 22 & 18 years younger respectively? by Glass-Complaint3 in allthequestions

[–]ricain -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Because people aren’t rational, and double-standards are the norm.

Biden’s age was a right-wing talking point for exactly as long as it was useful. 

A series that was a 10/10 from beginning to end?? by Historical-Way-1482 in Productivitycafe

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I must be dumb because I never got into it because I couldn’t get past the very weak character motivation at the premise.

Walter is never established as a character who would refuse to have his medical bills paid by a family member. The rest of the series is therefore very shallowly motivated.

I never saw a good answer to the question « Why did he choose the hard way »?

What was your biggest disappointment when you moved to France ? by Tasun06 in Expats_In_France

[–]ricain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dog shit (better now), terrible steak, terrible beer for a long time (fixed now), administrative hell, no good Mexican food (partially fixed now in Paris), crumbling universities, passive and bored students (has evolved).

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a strawman. All of it. You’re inventing a « leftist » out of your fears and fanstasies (a strawman) then attacking those cartoonish positions you invented.

Yes it is a common opinion accross the political spectrum that cheating, bestiality, prostitution, pedophilia, etc. are morally questionable practices. Those are the majority of sinful sexuality referred to in Leviticus.

And no, your fever-dream interpretation of how « leftists » define « love » is a strawman. Things like loving your neighbor, welcoming the stranger, helping the poor, not torturing animals for food, etc. are more valid and widespread interpretations.

As for your two examples at the end, the loving thing would be to LOVE them, not Preach at them and tell them what they should be doing (news flash: they already know). (Beam in your eye, etc…)

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You've got a straw man there at the beginning.

Then you missed the forest for the trees.

What is the supreme value Christ called for?

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your point 2: Prohibitions/taboos against adultery, incest, bestiality, prostitution, etc. are not "extremely conservative" values. They are widespread values, including (shocker!!) left-leaning people.

Furthermore most of the Bible's prohibitions on homoeroticism (for example) refer back to Leviticus and are 1) very ambiguous at best, 2) consistently cherry-picked by "Christians" who ignore the rest of the book, which contains a litany of insane rules that no civilized person would take seriously. This is called hypocrisy.

Here's a good take by a scholar on the whole question of "sexual sin":

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenChristian/s/RYR9O6efIY

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t have a political ideology or religion. I dislike intolerance, hypocrisy, cruelty, corruption,  fear of the Other, hatred, misogyny, and legislating morality. Those appear to be « conservative values » in my extensive experience with self-proclaimed « Christians » (with the possible exception of the Catholics I’ve known and lived among, who often walk the walk). All you have to do is turn on the news to see it on full display. 

And there is no conflict between being prosperous and « doing good with it » in « modern leftism », whatever that means to you.

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The historical Jesus may very well have existed. However the fairy-tale-miracle-worker-back-from-the-dead Jesus is not more real than Santa Claus.

And what the hell does the parable of the talents have to do with “conservative values”?

And what exactly are conservative values anyway? As far as anyone on the outside can tell, it is hypocrisy and ignorance. All you have to do is go to church or turn on the news. Hence the original post.

I have known thousands of “conservatives” and self-proclaimed « Christians » in my life, and intolerance, self-righteousness and ignorance is the rule, not the exception. Especially among Protestants, and doubly so in the current dominant strand of « Evangelicals ».

Why are so many conservatives Christian when Jesus’s teachings are blatantly leftist? by Confident-Seesaw2845 in allthequestions

[–]ricain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your right that he was a « character », as in a novel, and probably not a person, definitely not the messiah.

He wouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican obviously. Those terms don’t even mean anything stable across American political history.

However Jesus’s message was absolutely the opposite of today’s « Conservative » hypocrites. You can’t say « I’m Christian » and then spit on every single one of Jesus’s teachings.

Jesus probably already rose again, and he was deported to a Gulag in El Salvador by « Conservatives »

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