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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333651: Oct 13th 2020 at 11:04:28 PM

Trump believers are insistent that he is well loved, competent, and a doing a good job.

In other words, they're ****ing divorced from reality.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 13th 2020 at 11:04:49 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#333653: Oct 13th 2020 at 11:44:12 PM

[up]What are the chances that some of the more nutty or loud Trumpeters on the internet are actually just trolls?

Scaled seeker
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333654: Oct 13th 2020 at 11:47:32 PM

It doesn't really matter if they're trolls or not. They're assholes spreading harm either way.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#333655: Oct 13th 2020 at 11:50:25 PM

Damn you, Poe's Law / "Just Joking" Justification. It also happens to be the hardline Trumpeters' favorite excuse whenever the orange cheeto spews something utterly stupid or contradictory.

Scaled seeker
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333656: Oct 13th 2020 at 11:53:38 PM

Qanon is trying to justify the fact Trump was "cured" with a treatment made from fetal tissue, which is apparently against their ideology.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ayk5p/qanon-fans-try-to-explain-why-trump-took-a-drug-developed-with-fetal-tissue?utm_source=reddit.com

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#333657: Oct 14th 2020 at 1:29:46 AM

I have just as much interest in what Q supporters think on that topic as on any other topic, which is zero. They're like (and usually are) Republicans; take objective reality, then twist it until it fits with their messed-up worldview. Knowing the process it takes along the way inside their head is about as appealing as watching how sausage is made, and at least sausage is delicious at the end.

It's been fun.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333658: Oct 14th 2020 at 1:37:51 AM

Looking at a Qanon believer's thought process is kind of like watching a spider eat. And at least spiders serve a useful purpose in the natural order.

Disgusted, but not surprised
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333659: Oct 14th 2020 at 1:42:50 AM

Just a warning, like Qanon believers are quite good at presenting their conspiracy wacky job theories in a reasonable light.

That's how they fool regular decent people.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333660: Oct 14th 2020 at 1:45:32 AM

More like the people who listen to them are the ones already inclined to do so. Basically, people who are, for whatever reason, feeling angry and lost and looking for something to give them meaning (or at least a scapegoat).

Pretty much like any other conspiracy theory.

Qanon's taken off in large part because the world's also going through something of a loneliness epidemic (which the ongoing pandemic certainly isn't helping). See that part about "feeling angry and lost" again.

For example, one Qanon supporter was a woman who lost custody of her kid for being an unfit parent. She fell into Qanon because the conspiracy theory let her indulge in a version of reality where her kid was taken from her due to some evil "librul" pedophilia conspiracy and not because she was incapable of taking care of her kid.

Edited by M84 on Oct 14th 2020 at 4:50:16 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333661: Oct 14th 2020 at 1:58:10 AM

[up] A not unfair assessment.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#333662: Oct 14th 2020 at 2:16:56 AM

I just finished filling out my ballet and putting it in the mail. All I can do now is wait and hope.

thok That's Dr. Title, thank you! (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Non-Canon
That's Dr. Title, thank you!
#333663: Oct 14th 2020 at 4:18:26 AM

[up] Dances are nice for lightening up the mood, but actual votes are good as well. (I'm sorry, I had to make a joke about that typo.)

ChrispyBacon Since: Oct, 2020
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333665: Oct 14th 2020 at 4:38:24 AM

If nothing else, Qanon shows we really need to improve our mental health care and social services. A lot of these people are falling through the cracks, and the internet is not exactly helping matters.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333666: Oct 14th 2020 at 4:41:22 AM

Oh, no, there's nothing particularly wrong with these people that social services or mental health services would help. Social services and mental health services aren't really meant to help people with persecution complexes, most of whom are objectively not that bad off.

What's really needed to crack down on Qanon is for social media platforms to step up. Which they have (finally).

That's another reason Qanon got as bad as it has - because social media platforms let them get that bad.

Edited by M84 on Oct 14th 2020 at 7:43:31 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#333667: Oct 14th 2020 at 4:44:19 AM

Yes, these past few years have really shown the downsides of social media. It's been creeping up on us for quite a while as the algorithms silently helped polarize people and allow them to shut out all opposing voices.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333668: Oct 14th 2020 at 4:45:39 AM

And as Facebook's recent crackdown's proven effect on reducing Qanon's influence has shown, all that's really needed to mitigate these downsides is actual effort to moderate your own damn platform.

Disgusted, but not surprised
MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
#333669: Oct 14th 2020 at 6:27:45 AM

Poor moderation of an online platform is like running late for appointments. Now and then, it might happen by mistake. But if it happens constantly to you, then it's a choice.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#333670: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:01:30 AM

Social media platforms are worried about the political regulations of banning hate speech, on account of how many actual Republican politicians would be kicked off their platform. They're afraid of kicking that hornet's nest, especially when Republicans are currently in power and one of the most prominent Republicans to be affected by such regulations is the literal President.

It's fucked up.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 14th 2020 at 7:02:14 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Altris from the Vortex Since: Aug, 2019 Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
#333671: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:01:49 AM

So apparently Hunter Biden got hired for a Ukranian energy company and then Joe used his influence to get a prosecutor investigating the company fired. How convenient.

Needless to say, I am suspicious, because it's the same energy company Russia was hacking, and the prosecutor was actually fired for not investigating.

Also apparently Hunter dropped a laptop at a repair shop but didn't leave contact info or a name, and yet somehow the "shop owner" produced a receipt to Hunter Biden? The unnamed owner also copied the hard drive of the computer and gave it to ...Giuliani's lawyer before turning it over to the White House. And the newspaper supposedly learned of this through Steve Bannon. Trustworthy sources, the both of them.

I wish this story would die like the stupid misinformation and Republican projection that it is. I thought we were done with it, but no, they had to dig up its rotting corpse and parade it around.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333672: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:03:29 AM

That article also comes from the New York Post, itself a trustworthy source, whose headline is "Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad"

Edited by sgamer82 on Oct 14th 2020 at 7:04:18 AM

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#333673: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:03:43 AM

Oh, look, it's that story Trump illegally tried to extort Ukraine into fabricating evidence for and then got impeached because of.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333674: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:12:44 AM

NY Post? Oh ffs.

Disgusted, but not surprised
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333675: Oct 14th 2020 at 7:14:25 AM

What's with that newspaper?

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"

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