Do you know what members of the Democratic Party pretty much never do?

[LuckyCharms]

1) Issue death threats to people who are on the other side of the political spectrum, regardless of the amount of disdain they hold for those people.

2) Threaten the families of those on the other side.

3) Plaster their homes and trucks with flags and stickers of their party leader, ESPECIALLY when it is not election season.

4) Shoot their mouths off, at every conceivable social gathering, making sure that the entire room knows their political affiliation.

5) Take whatever their party leader says on blind faith.

6) Look at something that is put in front of them on Facebook or Twitter, and immediately accept it as the truth. This one bothers me the most. Somebody sitting in their home makes one of those Facebook memes, and that counts as "research".

Feel free to add your own observations.

I'm so fucking sick of these people, and I'm not looking forward to 2024.

[Sympthsical]

1. Humans do these things

The only thing that seems culturally unique is the flag/stickers thing in my experience. Unless it's Berkeley. But Berkeley's a weird place to begin with, and it isn't common.

But all the other stuff is just people, and I see plenty of that behavior regardless of politics.

[LuckyCharms]

2. I dunno.

I'm 65 years old, and I've never seen anything like the scale of this cult worship, in this country anyway.

[Sympthsical]

4. Oh, the Trump cult thing is unique to them for certain

I've seen people go all in on politicians to an alarming degree before, but I think the sheer numbers of people who just blindly accept Trump's bullshit is pretty unique in modern politics.

But, you know, things like blindly accepting Facebook posts and whatnot. That's just people. I see people take obviously wrong/untrue things from Twitter on faith on the daily. It's just how people are.

But threats, seen those. People who announce their politics in social gatherings when absolutely no one asked is something I experience across the political spectrum.

But the stickers thing. Yeah. Even in California, I really only ever see it if they're on the Right. It's like a cultural thing. I don't get it. "I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on this vehicle. Behold as I totally ruin it!"

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Not Just The Prevalence...

...but the scale that's unique.
4' by 6' flags on their flagpole or pickup, signs 4 feet by 3 feet, with 6 inch lettering, jukbo flags paying homage even at businesses, and so on.
We've all seen political signs forever, but the "in your face"/"fuck your feelings" sentiment is punctuated by size.
That is unique to this movement, IMO.

[progressoid]

11. I parked next to a rusted out Toyota Camry a few days ago that was plastered with Trump bumper stickers.

And FJB stickers. And NRA stickers, etc. I doubt Kelly's Blue Book would even give it a value.

It was in a part of town that is home to the Trump base. They are low educated and low wage earners. You see faded Trump flags on houses that are in dire need of repair.

It's really kind of sad. It's also frightening. I was a poll watcher in 2016 in that neighborhood. I vividly recall two older men who came in to vote who had never voted in their lives before. They were memorable because they were functionally illiterate. They had to have the ballot read to them by poll workers (we have machines that read it to them now). One voted for Trump and ignored the rest of the ballot. He proudly declared that was the only reason he wanted to vote. The other guy tried to get through the whole thing but gave up about half way through. He too voted for Trump.

[Evolve Dammit]

55. The propaganda worked. They went to the polls with the predominant message they heard, had ingested and acted upon. nt

[sop]

60. I saw a Trumped-out Vanafesto the other day.

One of those vehicles covered with lunatic Trump pronouncements and old campaign memorabilia, the requisite "Let's go Brandon" crappola, multiple threatening NRA stickers promising extreme violence if liberals even think about taking away their guns, a handful of crazy conspiracy theories about Covid vaccinations, the usual moronic climate science denialism, a couple of ghoulish anti-abortion stickers depicting "unborn children" and some vengeful Old Testament bible verses.

Just another day in Florida.

[progressoid]

63. Just another day in Florida.

Just another day in Florida...and Iowa too.

[Beartracks]

14. The whole "fuck your feelings" thing. LOL My feelings aren't ever fucked...

... and neither am I "offended" -- but, oh, how they wish our feelings to be hurt!!

Such babies.

==============

[Maraya1969]

16. OHHHHH and the ones who left their "Trump Pence" signs up well after the election.

I used to walk around here and there were 3 of them in front of houses. They are all gone now.

[birdographer]

50. They are all still up here

in WNC. Four feet high.

[Maraya1969]

51. West North Carolina? I just saw that had a professional Trump MAGA paint job all over thee car

Just like they do with Nascar. It was weird.

[appalachiablue]

21. Amen

[barbtries]

27. ditto

this is not a both sides do it situation.

[dchill]

34. "...this is not a both sides do it situation."

- a statement that I could make multiple times a day, if I didn't get tired of repeating myself.

[Evolve Dammit]

53. I agree with that. The "guardrails" and "envelope" have been pushed beyond the Twilight Zone.

[paleotn]

28. I think the propensity is much higher on the right

Lack of critical thinking and knee jerk memes fits their world view. They seem to enjoy being told what to think. Less.effort required I guess. Not that we’re immune. Some of that here but not nearly to the level of magats.

[Attilatheblond]

56. The willfully ignorant are often also extremely insecure

They think being with Trump makes them one of the cool kids, finally. And they want the other cool kids to notice them. A most sorry and underdeveloped crowd.

[dchill]

30. And I do not.

Over-the-topness definitely belongs to Republicans. Your results may vary, of course.

[Kingofalldems]

32. Nope.

[ShazzieB]

35. I kind of agree, except for the first two.

I honestly can't remember any case of a Democrat issuing death threats to people they disagree or have a beef with, much less threatening their families, etc. We talk a lot of trash about various Republicans and their supporters here at DU, but we don't take it any further. The MAGA crowd learned that from their dear leader.

[Sympthsical]

39. It's a curation thing

Where people will tend to only see what is reported in their social media spaces. They'll focus on the other side's bad behavior while never having motivation or desire to see bad things on their own side.

I try to read a very diverse spread of spaces, so I see us discussing the worst parts of the Right, and I see the Right discussing nonstop the worst parts of the Left. And there are bad parts, because bad things exist wherever humans do.

I'll give you one prominent example. JK Rowling. That woman gets a crazy amount of violent threats on social media. I've seen them. There has been some very graphically violent imagery tossed in her direction. All kinds of fantasies about her rape and murder.

Will we ever discuss it? No, because we don't like her politics. No one's rushing to share the stories, talk about the violent threats, or get into it, because there's just no real interest to defend or protect someone from the other team. If we've created filters where we're only exposed to bad behavior coming from one place, we're just going to start to assume bad behavior largely exists in that place. Remove the filters and start paying attention, and all kinds of shit is made visible in all kinds of areas.

I think the recent antisemitism on campuses came as a shock to a lot of people, which illustrates this a bit. I knew it was there for years, because I didn't assume all antisemites were only right-wing, and I was reading critical articles about bigoted campus environments that almost never appeared in my Left social spaces. So, I knew that all people had the capacity to suck in that way. When it finally erupted, my initial thought wasn't surprise. It was surprise that people were surprised. What was everyone expecting when that behavior had already existed for years?

The only solution is to speak out against humans being shitty wherever one sees it. It'll never steer a body wrong.

[ShazzieB]

42. I see what you mean.

I'm familiar with the JKR controversy, but didn't realize just how bad it had gotten. The antisemitism didn't really shock me, as I know how deeply embedded it is in western culture it is. Somehow I didn't connect either that or JKR with this coversation, UT I totally get what you're saying now.

As for using filters, I plead guilty. I steer clear of RW websites, because they enrage me too much. We all have our limits, and that's one of mine!

[yagotme]

43. Kavanaugh had a guy come from California to kill him.

Guy was pro-gun control, and pro-abortion. I would hazard a guess he was from our side.

[Kid Berwyn]

37. No, MAGA Republicans do these things.

Former FBI guy Frank Figliuzzi on MSNBC explained that the phenomenon of modern political violence in the USA is one-way: from MAGA Repuglians toward anyone who has opposed Trump via office, elections, the law or whatever. For an example, Figliuzzi noted the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, wherein the justices who voted to keep dip off the ballot are receiving all manner of hatred, including death threats, while the justices who sided with dip have not.

[DBoon]

54. I've noticed republicans do them much more often than normal humans

We all get angry, but most of us are not constantly angry and don't make a political philosophy out of anger.

[ismnotwasm]

3. Republicanism fits most of the definition of a cult

Trump actively encourages this so I think he must be doing it on purpose. A person can’t be a republican and be a person of good will—it’s impossible

[usonian]

5. It's cult behavior.

See my previous posts on this matter.

Every accusation is a confession.

[dalton99a]

7. Kick

[Sky Jewels]

8. ...

" Somebody sitting in their home makes one of those Facebook memes, and that counts as "research". " ...
Or, somebody is sitting at their Russian troll farm workplace making up shit to get right wing American dumbasses all fired up.

[yardwork]

20. Those troll farms work the right and left.

[Wednesdays]

45. Both sides do it. nt

[yardwork]

47. I don't agree with that. Only one side funds troll farms.

[orangecrush]

9. Kick

[Harker]

10. Those are sound observations, Lucky.

I'll add one, since you invited it...

33) Ban books.

[zanana1]

12. They remind me of a Charlie Brown cartoon...

The one where Lucy says "If you can't be right, be wrong at the top of your voice".

[ShazzieB]

22. Perfect!

There are some vintage Peanuts quotes that are priceless. That's one of them, but my personal favorite is Linus saying: "I love mankind. It's people I can't sand!"

[OAITW r.2.0]

13. Nailed it.

[Maraya1969]

15. I heard this is a way for the unscrupulous to get information but even if that is so the people who forward it piss me

....... Posts that try to get you to respond by using guilt or some emotional need.

Like, "In this house we say, "Merry Christmas"
Type "AMEN" if you agree.


Or the ones that go into detail about cancer or other bad diseases and then end with "I want to see who reads my posts so if you get to the end respond with how we met"

Actually it doesn't mean they are conservatives but I think the vast majority of them are.

[barbtries]

29. i have liberal friends who do this.

especially with cancer. i stroll on. Never did chain letters back in the day either.

[ShazzieB]

31. I hate those, too.

They remind me of those email forwards that have a quote or statement about something and end with "if you agree, forward this to 10 more people." i haven't gotten one of those in ages, but about 15 or 20 years ago, I used to get them. All. The. Damned. Time.

[Maraya1969]

36. Oh yea, and the ones that said you would have bad luck if you didn't forward! I refused all the time.

[DFW]

17. I'm currently at a gathering with quite a few diverse Democrats

From Maine, Iowa, New York (a few etc.).

No one is under any illusions about how tough next year will be, but all think it CAN be made a good year with some serious effort.

[Kennah]

18. 46) Indecent liberties with livestock

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

38. Given their history

I'm far more worried about the indecent liberties they take with children.

[Kennah]

40. That's probably #18

[yardwork]

19. I can't agree with you about #6.

I see way too many Democrats who believe stuff they see on the internet.

[Martin68]

23. I'm afraid that's true. Anti-vaxers are often liberals of the New Age anti-modern medicine kind.

[Wednesdays]

46. Both sides do it. nt

[yardwork]

48. People from all kinds of backgrounds are susceptible to propaganda and falsehoods.

Democrats are not immune.

[LT Barclay]

24. Here's one I hate so much I had to write a short specific letter to the editor of Sierra magazine about it:

It seemed for a while every issue had a story about someone who “always thought environmentalists were nuts “ and were now trying to fight some monolithic corporation who was poisoning the entire area and they couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t rallying around their cause.

[hibbing]

25. #4

I have a neighbor I used to go over to talk with regarding his garden and whatever. I cannot do it anymore. Within a few minutes, he is spouting.

Peace

[barbtries]

26. 7. Value guns more than humans

8. Are willing to give up their own rights to "own" their political opponents (re: abortion)

[Kingofalldems]

33. And as a rule we don't troll conservative sites -

so we can own the MAGAts.

[Warpy]

41. I've seen (5) from time to time, but Democrats listen to all the words

and not just the buzz2words thrown in at regular intervals to hold their wandering attention.

I saw it with Eugene "Clean Gene" McCarthy in 1968.

I saw it with Hillary Clinton in 2008 (but not 2016, oddly enough).

I don't think it happens very often. We look for executives who can run things. They look for heroic leaders. It's just a different mindset. If we could get them to stop looking for their heroes among movie and TV stars, that would be a great help. Unfortunately, their mindset makes them confuse acted characters with the real person.

[The Wizard]

44. Don't leave Pox News out of the equation

Since its inception Pox has vilified all things not GQP. Their underlying message has been eliminate Democrats by any means necessary.

[Trueblue Texan]

49. I have to correct you on #6...

They only assume a FB or other social media post is accurate IF it reinforces their opinion. If it doesn't, they're not going to do any research into the matter to determine if it's true or not.

[drmeow]

52. Good point

and the other posts that suggest that Dems do that, too, are also correct.

[AKwannabe]

57. You are not the only one

NOT looking forward to 2024

When someone says happy new year…
I say it’s an election year. That sucks
And Trump is running again.

SO not looking forward to 2024!!!!

Fuck djt!

[JohnnyRingo]

58. ..Threaten to shut down the US govt. over and over and over.

Why do they hate America?

[ejbr]

59. Don't conspire

to spread lies with strangers who agree with us politically.

[spanone]

61. K&R

[mucifer]

62. I would say an exception would be in places where there is NO republican party We need

two parties because one party breeds corruption.

That's the way it is in Chicago. Case and point Ed Burke just convicted of corruption. A racist piece of crap IMO who fought Mayor Washington tooth and nail back in the 80s. Also, Michael Madigan who was legislative speaker in Illinois was corrupt.

Thankfully, both are not in politics currently.

When only one party can be elected then you can get right wing nut bag democrats with lots of power being bribed by corporations and spouting racist threats.

It's very sad but true.

Things could be much worse and have been in the past.

[jerseyjim]

64. Treaten the weather man at:

the mere mention of climate change.
RE: Iowa incident