This response is so telling. Bluesky is fucking AWASH in comments like, “ha! how can anyone be this dumb?” “HEY, they said A when yesterday they said B!” Americans still refuse to look at what the far right is doing right in their faces.
This isn’t stupidity, it’s a intentional tactic. For MAGA, it’s a sycophancy test. The more absurd the claim, the more useful the test. Believing it or thinking it is so far from the point. It’s about ensuring the base continues to publicly demonstrate their willingness to abandon reality on command. “The more obvious bullshit we ask you to swallow, the more enthusiastically you will have to do it because you’d look SO WEAK choosing THIS spot to draw the line.”
For the rest of you, it’s a demoralization tactic. They’re rubbing your nose in how ridiculous they can be and STILL be an electoral threat. They know their supporters won’t abandon them, and they know that their opponents will do little more than express outrage, call them stupid on social media, and move on. “We can say absolutely anything, no matter how absurd, and you still have no choice but to treat us like legitimate opposition. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”
“The animals jump onto the solar panels and get fried,” Trump says. Not because he’s an idiot, but because the truth doesn’t matter when you’re not actually trying to convince anyone of anything.
This isn’t persuasion, it’s a demonstration of impunity. They’re showing everyone listening that they can make a mockery of reality, demand that their followers applaud, and force everyone else to spend their time arguing about whether the fucking animals are actually getting fried.
I was actually referring to the base, not this guy specifically. I understand that the politicians and think tanks and pundits and entire conservative system know exactly what they’re doing.
The base knows too. They love how upsetting it is for the people they hate to watch them do this. Their willingness to debase themselves is fueled by spite.
WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
This response is so telling. Bluesky is fucking AWASH in comments like, “ha! how can anyone be this dumb?” “HEY, they said A when yesterday they said B!” Americans still refuse to look at what the far right is doing right in their faces.
This isn’t stupidity, it’s a intentional tactic. For MAGA, it’s a sycophancy test. The more absurd the claim, the more useful the test. Believing it or thinking it is so far from the point. It’s about ensuring the base continues to publicly demonstrate their willingness to abandon reality on command. “The more obvious bullshit we ask you to swallow, the more enthusiastically you will have to do it because you’d look SO WEAK choosing THIS spot to draw the line.”
For the rest of you, it’s a demoralization tactic. They’re rubbing your nose in how ridiculous they can be and STILL be an electoral threat. They know their supporters won’t abandon them, and they know that their opponents will do little more than express outrage, call them stupid on social media, and move on. “We can say absolutely anything, no matter how absurd, and you still have no choice but to treat us like legitimate opposition. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”
“The animals jump onto the solar panels and get fried,” Trump says. Not because he’s an idiot, but because the truth doesn’t matter when you’re not actually trying to convince anyone of anything.
This isn’t persuasion, it’s a demonstration of impunity. They’re showing everyone listening that they can make a mockery of reality, demand that their followers applaud, and force everyone else to spend their time arguing about whether the fucking animals are actually getting fried.
Cruxifux@feddit.nl 1 week ago
I was actually referring to the base, not this guy specifically. I understand that the politicians and think tanks and pundits and entire conservative system know exactly what they’re doing.
WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
The base knows too. They love how upsetting it is for the people they hate to watch them do this. Their willingness to debase themselves is fueled by spite.
Cruxifux@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Idk how sure I am of that. I know and work with a lot of people like this and they’re actually just stupid as all fuck.