Hitting the Right political buttons....

originally posted by: mtnshredder
I've been around here about 13 yrs and I would feel comfortable in saying that ATS is fairly representative of society in general. A large portion of the members here are intellectually sound, have varied interest and part of the voting populace.

Hard to say. I don't think I'm typical of the average Joe out there, and I'm not the only one. This place sure doesn't have the same demographic as someplace like buzzfeed.com, or puppiesandcake.net.

A quick perusal of a typical general home page like Yahoo! News reveals a distinct lack of news around here about which talentless celebrity is having a baby or what psycho Florida Man has gruesomely slaughtered his entire family.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Am running low on names to call Trump so am kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel

Maybe that should tell you something? The fact that you have called President Trump every name you can think of and his support is only growing?

Look, liking the man has absolutely nothing... let me repeat, NOTHING to do with anything. I wouldn't show up at his house to have a brewski with him either... he's got an ego the size of Neptune and a streak of megalomania down his back wider than a 16-lane Interstate! I simply don't care about all that because he does what I wanted him to do (usually).

Do you want to know where all the ire is coming from? Let's take one simple example of many; follow my logic:

President Trump believes a barrier along the border is needed to control unchecked illegal immigration.

I believe a barrier along the border is needed to control unchecked illegal immigration.

"The left" does not believe a barrier along the border is needed to control unchecked illegal immigration.

"The left" then attacks President Trump, calling him everything from a racist to a xenophobe to a war criminal, and tries to impeach him, openly wants to imprison him, and even goes after his family, obviously because they disagree with him on the physical barrier.

Logically, "the left" would gladly label me a racist, a xenophobe, and a war criminal, try to have me fired, try to have me arrested, and do the same to everyone in my family. Thats not paranoia; it is logical progression. Now, how would you react to someone who tried to get you fired from your job, tried to have you imprisoned, and went after your family the same way because you disagreed with them? You'd defend yourself and not trust them!

That is where the ire is coming from, and that is exactly why so many are walking away from the DNC and turning to someone... anyone!... else. I believed then and I will always believe that the election outcome in 2016 hinged on one thing even more than the economy, illegal immigration, or any of the other hot-button issues: conservatives had been called "racist" for the previous 8 years if they dared speak out against their own government, and Hillary iced the cake when she raised the stakes with "deplorables." I would have thought that would be the end of the social persecution, but no... the DNC doubled down. I do not vote for people that absolutely hate everything about me and would gladly harm me over ideology... I might vote for someone who doesn't care, but never for someone who hates everything about me.

So remember that... every time you call President Trump a name or make a false accusation, that is telling everyone who agrees with him that you would be more than happy to do the same to them.

TheRedneck

a reply to: Grambler

Weak deflections. The self-righteous are not amused.

Neither the OP is the topic of this thread, nor some of his old postings. What's the matter now? Cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias or just emotions running high? Could be all of the above tho, never stop framing your perceived enemy after painting them with a broad brush!

Seems to operate like this:

If you don't accept the narrative and refuse to go with the flow...like asking questions about the official story..... you are a right wing lunatic.


If you accept the narrative put forth and go with the flow without ever questioning anything, you are a left wing lunatic.


I'd rather be in the first group myself.

a reply to: PublicOpinion

Pointing out those decrying bullying and name calling from one side actually engage in that themselves is relevant to the thread.

I have a problem with people who are not Americans, trying to tell Americans how to run their country or what they think of our government/leaders.


My forefather (an Irish immigrant) was a Captain in the revolutionary war because he didn't want the British telling him how to live or tax him to death.


In my case, I guess the acorn did not fall far from the proverbial tree.

originally posted by: PublicOpinion
a reply to: Grambler

Weak deflections. The self-righteous are not amused.

Neither the OP is the topic of this thread, nor some of his old postings. What's the matter now? Cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias or just emotions running high? Could be all of the above tho, never stop framing your perceived enemy after painting them with a broad brush!

Apparently I am the topic of this thread....

This is basically what they do when faced with a topic they don’t like....attack the player not the ball

But note the circle jerk, several members all attacking all off-topic.

Closed for staff review.



REOPENED

Reaffirming the Political Mud Pit Forum Guidelines

The Political Mud Pit was always intended to be a platform for members to hash out their political differences and to contentiously debate tough political issues, unencumbered by the usual constraints of civility and decorum found elsewhere on ATS. See SkepticOverlord's original Political Mud Pit Forum guidelines above.

Specifically:

We've come to accept that many feel the "political stakes" are so high, that intense debate is necessary, and very often name-calling, baiting, and activity we've previously classified as "Political Trolling" are simply part of the process. Have at.

Note that it indicates name-calling, baiting and activity otherwise labeled as political trolling elsewhere on the site. Not generally hateful, bigoted, mean-spirited or gratuitous personal attacks on fellow members. It's also not exempt from the usual forum expectation of remaining on topic.

The Political Mud Pit is not a safe space for trolling for laughs. It's not a place to abuse fellow members. It's not a place to post every inane story you just want to rage about. It's not a place to spam off topic content.

This is simple: The mud pit is not a place where members can personally insult each other. You can rip each other's politics up but you can't get personal just to slag someone you don't like. Additionally, posts must be relevant to the stated thread topic.

Going forward, please be advised that failure to adhere to the stated posting guidelines of this forum will result in staff action against your account, possibly including post-bans and account terminations. Additionally, political trolling outside of the confines of the Political Mud Pit is strictly forbidden and will also be actioned accordingly.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: ScepticScot

That seems to be assuming that ATS is in anyway representative of society as a whole.

It is.

I believe that assumption is accurate to some degree, though. I will admit ATS is skewed towards US members, but there is also a huge number of people from other countries. I see, accounting for local bias, similar viewpoints here as I see in everyday life, in similar proportions. That is anecdotal, but it leads me to believe that ATS is indeed a fair representation of general society, as much as one can get on the Internet.

Certainly it is more reliable in that respect than Facebook, Twitter, or Google, where there is documented evidence of an anti-conservative bias from the administrators of the forums. It is also more representative than any news network on TV (and that includes Fox).

TheRedneck

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

So you talk about you having facts meanwhile you post no facts, you make asinine claims and then some, and end up proclaiming how you seem to be so better than anyone who DARES not be as far left-wing as you are...

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

So you talk about you having facts meanwhile you post no facts, you make asinine claims and then some, and end up proclaiming how you seem to be so better than anyone who DARES not be as far left-wing as you are...

Now this may come as a shock to you but all the facts required are right here in this thread, op posted his opinion and was quickly validated.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Honestly I didn't read your whole post. I read two paragraphs, figured I knew where it was going and decided not to waste my time.

ATS is alternative media. As such, your brainwashing talking points will never gain traction here. It's not new or interesting, it's the same thing we see at every mainstream news outlet. It's "the narrative." Furthermore, in 9/10 cases it's not "denying ignorance" it's spreading it.

Now, as for why the "right political button" posts get the traction: We've reached a point where you're either with us or against us. The debates are done. Sure, we still debate often and will engage with those on the left, but we're not doing so in the spirit of making you feel like your opinion is actually correct when it's not. We're not debating for the sake of debating anymore.

You either love america and her founding principles or you don't. You either recognize the socialist democrat party for what it is or you don't. You either recognize the deep state or you don't. You either see the mass censorship or you don't.

If you fall on the don't side, you're too late to the party, sorry. There are thousands of threads you can go out and read to find out why we have all come to this conclusion. Think of it as the "97% consensus." We're right, you're wrong. Plain and simple.

ETA:
Went back and finished it. Yeah, went about where I figured, but was a little more whiny than I had anticipated.

Would like to add, it's not "facts be damned" it's conventional wisdom be damned. This is a conspiracy site, not snopes. If you want to have a liberal tell you what the facts are, you have 1000 different sites to go to.

It's just like america really, there's really only one place and it's unique but the lefties can't stand that so they want to turn it into one of the other mediocre #holes they "love." Nevermind that they could just go there, they can't let us have our one great country that values freedom and self government over government healthcare.

ETA2:
Adding on a little more, isn't it weird that the lefties love to boycott everything their political opponents do but the one thing they don't boycott is the country. They never leave it. I mean if you listen to them we're running concentration camps, the wealthy are wealthy at the expense of everyone else, who is living in squalor and struggling. We're all racist and hate minorities. Our cops kill people just for fun, as a matter of policy, especially minorities. We want to jail as many people as possible, especially minorities. We hate women, think they're dumb and incapable and only useful in bed or the kitchen.

If this were the case, then it would be the thing to boycott, so if you believe this trash, leave. That's how you make it collapse right? By not leaving you're endorsing it. Of course they can't do that because it wouldn't collapse and it would just be a bunch of racist white people who view themselves and the benevolent overlords of minorities who left. Meanwhile we'd get more and more people crossing the border (mostly minorities, *gasp*). But the worst part, for those that believe that America is so awful, when it didn't collapse and in fact thrived, they would be proved wrong. Their idea that America is the garbage heap they make it out to be would be rebuked and everything they stood against would be validated. That's why they don't leave. Just like why Nancy doesn't want to impeach trump, he wouldn't be convicted. We can't have him running around saying "see they were wrong, I was innocent." By not impeaching, they can hang over him like a cloud of uncertainty, just like they do to America by not leaving.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

ATS radicalized itself. I'm not sure how much it was targeted by.... others. But most of the posters here these days are absolutely nuts. In the last couple years I have seen people cheer for concentration camps, advocate using nuclear weapons on impoverished countries, actively promote domestic terrorist groups (with some posters bragging about having joined said groups), and graphically fantasize about killing their fellow countrymen.

Seems like you just want someone to circle jerk you, good luck with that.

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

ATS radicalized itself. I'm not sure how much it was targeted by.... others. But most of the posters here these days are absolutely nuts. In the last couple years I have seen people cheer for concentration camps, advocate using nuclear weapons on impoverished countries, actively promote domestic terrorist groups (with some posters bragging about having joined said groups), and graphically fantasize about killing their fellow countrymen.

Totally Busted.

a reply to: Aazadan

No one has advocated killing their countrymen in the US, just commies and socialists.

Look, all of this has happened. It's like a f*cking history book of the last 30 years except he told us all what was going to happen 40 years ago. You'll have to excuse us for believing he knows what comes next. The difference this time is that we're ready for it and fighting back.

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

ATS radicalized itself. I'm not sure how much it was targeted by.... others. But most of the posters here these days are absolutely nuts. In the last couple years I have seen people cheer for concentration camps, advocate using nuclear weapons on impoverished countries, actively promote domestic terrorist groups (with some posters bragging about having joined said groups), and graphically fantasize about killing their fellow countrymen.

I know exactly what you mean, I've seen posters literally support fascist who cover their faces and assault others, seen posters lie that there are concentration camps on the border. Not to mention this Russia witch hunt hoax for the last years and various other states of seeing themselves as victims some how.


Next ISIS.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

All you have to do is step outside ATS to have your opinion validated and shared by the vast majority of the commentariat, academia, Hollywood, and political elites. But one little website has an opposite opinion and it gets you going.

originally posted by: BuckyWunderlick
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

All you have to do is step outside ATS to have your opinion validated and shared by the vast majority of the commentariat, academia, Hollywood, and political elites. But one little website has an opposite opinion and it gets you going.

The point I am making is more about the nature of how those opinions impact on the course of debate. So take this thread for example. The debate hasn't be so much about the topic at hand but rather a point scoring game, some of the very first posters were deflecting by going over my greatest hits!.

I am trying to stay that when you become part of this, when you ask the guy next to you to move over a little bit so you can join the metaphorical circle-jerk then you actually stop caring about facts. You start debating entirely form the perspective of "who do I agree with" not "who is factually correct"

Let me give you a recent example, no names shall be used.

On a thread a member accused me of claiming that Boris Johnson became PM thanks to Russian interference, now I never once said that or hinted at it yet this dude was getting stars and am pretty sure I saw a few supporting posts...yet I never actually said that. Its getting the "pats on the back" not because its accurate but because it hits the right political buttons.

See what am getting at?

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin

originally posted by: BuckyWunderlick
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

All you have to do is step outside ATS to have your opinion validated and shared by the vast majority of the commentariat, academia, Hollywood, and political elites. But one little website has an opposite opinion and it gets you going.

The point I am making is more about the nature of how those opinions impact on the course of debate. So take this thread for example. The debate hasn't be so much about the topic at hand but rather a point scoring game, some of the very first posters were deflecting by going over my greatest hits!.

I am trying to stay that when you become part of this, when you ask the guy next to you to move over a little bit so you can join the metaphorical circle-jerk then you actually stop caring about facts. You start debating entirely form the perspective of "who do I agree with" not "who is factually correct"

Let me give you a recent example, no names shall be used.

On a thread a member accused me of claiming that Boris Johnson won the UK election thanks to Russian interference, now I never once said that or hinted at it yet this dude was getting stars and am pretty sure I saw a few supporting posts...yet I never actually said that. Its getting the "pats on the back" not because its accurate but because it hits the right political buttons.

See what am getting at?

Yes, I see it on every late night television show or event, for instance on Stephen Colbert or at the Oscars. Insert anti-Trump joke followed by applause and jeering.

If you hold these standards for a small conspiracy website, does it also apply to much larger venues with far greater reach and influence?