Something I keep thinking about

[vercetti2021]

Just a little over 10 years ago during the 2012 election. Romney shot himself in the foot when the hidden video came out with his 47% comment. That alone killed his chances, outside of binders full of women and corporations are people too. Now this is literally a decade ago when these types of comments were campaign killers.

Now hypothetically. Imagine what is being planned if Trump does indeed get put back in about becoming a dictator and turning America into a fascist shit hole. Now apply those words and plans a decade ago. People would have been absolutely shocked and appalled if Romney or any other conservative that might have gotten the nom would have uttered their plans to install a dictatorship. Obama literally would have ended up well above 400 ECV's because people would have been absolutely terrified by the idea of that.

Now fast forward to now. Where these words actually don't fuck your campaign, they actually might boost you. Now this is my question. Where the fuck in this timeline did people become so desensitized to this crazy shit that they are actually okay with giving up being free?

[Nictuku]

1. I think it was having a Black President that broke them

[onecaliberal]

11. But how is one so small that such a historic thing could break you?

If there was a god, these people would not exist.

[electric_blue68]

29. Because they're serious racists, such an event "shouldn't" have happened. ...

...Twice!!!!!

imho think that President Obama being elected twice is what did it.

How so?

Well it happened only once some could argue it was a fluke, they "momentarily" got shifted into The Wrong Timeline - and now they were back where they "should" be, and all's right with the world. ("Phew!", they think)

But Twice?!!!
That's some kind of trend. "Omg" - there's less racist white people!

Cue panic, rage for then, and misery for the rest of us when drumphf was elected. 😒😔

[MOMFUDSKI]

2. A black man was elected President.

That is exactly the moment a load of normal white people lost their minds. I watched it happen close up to a good friend of mine who I have had to walk away from.

[vercetti2021]

4. I get this is likely a huge catalyst

But given Obama had a landslide victory 4 years after his first victory, I feel the minds weren't completely busted just yet. I just wonder where in the years following between 2012 and 16 where the timeline got fucked up.

[Scrivener7]

9. It was an electoral college landslide, and the popular numbers were impressive but it was still

66 million to 61 million. A 5 million difference which is not that much if you figure we have about 150 million adult people in the USA.

I do think some people left the political arena and all the people who absolutely hated the idea of the Obama presidency but didn't habitually vote came out of the woodwork when the defendant began spouting his dog whistles.

[Polybius]

14. Ehh

I don't even consider it an Electoral landslide. A true landslide hasn't happened since 1988, and consists of 400+ Electoral Votes. Here's a great thread on the topic:

Will there ever be another true Presidential landslide (400+ Electoral Votes) ever again?

[Polybius]

15. It wasn't a landslide

In fact, he got less Electoral Votes than he did in 2008, and far less than Bill Clinton did both times. Last true landslide was 1988.

[inthewind21]

30. It didn't

It literally happened in 2008. That was when the doors to asylum opened and the loons came flooding out into the public. Think the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. These loons have ALWAYS been here, they just weren't as vocal and in your face so the warning bells that have been ringing for decades and steadily getting louder (especially after 2008) were dismissed, ignored or completely missed.

The issue as I see it, the left, center and sane republicans (if there is such a thing) failed to recognize/acknowledge the huge problem charging right at us and it was assumed "that would/could never happen here" and then there was the election 2016, and it was too late. I wish I had a dollar for every time pre 2016 election night I heard from liberal friends or family members "don't worry, Trump will never be elected, don't worry, ROE is decided law or Oh that would never happen here" etc., hell I was even hearing that well into election night 2016. And now, the rest is history.

[uponit7771]

38. If a black women gets elected maybe they'll go all mad and jump in the lake !!

[elocs]

3. What is with it with DUers who seem incapable of writing a few paragraphs without using profanity?

I have used profanity, usually at home alone, not in public and never in over 50 years of writing, especially if what I've written is public.
But then I did go to college for newspaper writing and was taught that the use of profanity is the sign of a limited vocabulary. I agree.

[vercetti2021]

5. Really?

That's your take away? Because I dropped a few curse words? This isn't about how I write my FUCKING threads, it's about where in this ten year gap where shit started to become bad.

[Scrivener7]

6. That is one kick-ass fucking question you pose there, elocs!

Let us all ponder the fucking scourge of cussing.

[Tree-Hugger]

7. Well la-dee-da nt

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. What is it with DUers

Who think they have been appointed the profanity police.

[Niagara]

19. There was profanity in the OP?

Anyways ... Science says that people who curse actually have more intelligence, are more honest, have a higher pain tolerance and have a much larger vocabulary compared to those that don't. Swearing is also a way some people deal with stress.


I'm not sure what the BFD is, we're all adults here. Even Pres. Biden has dropped a few profanities in his day. It's all good.

[LuckyCharms]

21. +1 well said

[Niagara]

23. Whew.

Thank you, Baloney Butt.



I'm simultaneously typing responses and trying to get ready for work at the same time. It's not really panning out. I'll try to get to your dermatologist thread in a few hours.

[LuckyCharms]

24. Whewwww!!

Have a nice day, Niagara.

[LuckyCharms]

20. Profanity is a legitimate tool when expressing a thought.

It is colorful, and can be used for emphasis.

I cannot relate to people who never swear.

I grew up being chastised by my older siblings because I sometimes use profanity.

It took me years to overcome that guilt, and realize there is nothing wrong with swearing.

With all the problems in the world, profanity use isn't even on my radar of undesirable things.

[TwilightZone]

26. "sign of a limited vocabulary' - nope, exactly the opposite.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S038800011400151X

[inthewind21]

31. Wht is it with DUers

who seem incapable of entering a discussion without announcing their own imagined superiority first?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

33. Well shit

If you dont like profanity dont post it.

However its not my responsibility to avoid setting off your particular peeves.

Some people cuss others dont sometimes oh poopy does not express what needs to be said.

Besides cussing is psychologically healthy and tends to be a trait of honest people. Look it up.

[cachukis]

8. Social scientists have found that very few

people, less than 10%, want the responsibility of leadership. Religion has capitalized on that reality very well.

The demigods of history are made on this factor.

Look at the Soviet Union's attempt at democracy. Look now at China's inept response to Hong Kong economics.

Autocrats rule because they can.

We were born out of the Enlightenment. It's like we wouldn't be here if a giant asteroid hadn't done in the dinosaurs.

I believe in the 20% rule. We are where we are because 20% of us have it together. 80% don't have a clue but will manage what they accept.

If we let it go it will be gone forever. Because there is another 20% who want to take it away.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

34. What about people

That tend to get put in leadership roles when they arent even thinking of it?
This kind of recruitment has happened to me a few times in my life. I have great leadership skills they say and I think, who me? Oh hell no.

Sometimes my moral compass gets me in that position.I cant stand bullies abusing or taking advantage of people. So I stand up even when nobody's standing up because I cant let the bullshit continue or my conscience will kick my ass.

[cachukis]

37. You are in the 20% who have it together.

My point was that very few people want the job. Those who rise to the occassion are generally more humble and considerate.

[senseandsensibility]

10. That is a scary thought

It's the crux of the matter, really. And to answer your question, enough voters have become desensitized to the crazy largely because the media enables it.

Also, although I don't use swear words because I do think it's more interesting to find other ways to communicate intensity of feeling, I don't blame you at all. It was warranted.

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. Ypu missed one thing.

Those words won't sink you if you are a repug. Those rules don't apply to Democrats.

[KentuckyWoman]

16. I cannot understand how

How the GOP went from Mitt Romney to Donald Trump in one election. It makes no damn sense. None.

All things considered, I don't understand how in the blue smithereens so called Conservatives would support him in a primary, let alone in an election. Sure social media propaganda will work on some, but 74 million? That just hurts me.

[betsuni]

17. The 2012 election was all about the economy, "Romney's trickle-down economics on steroids

versus Obama's focus on the middle class" "the issue that exposes the contradiction between GOP policies and political imperatives. By (accurately) painting Romney as a plutocrat fighting for his fellow plutocrats, Obama claimed the populist mantle and easily won reelection ... won in rural, very white midwestern areas on the strength of his economic message.

"Afterwards, Republicans dissected Romney's political carcass to determine cause of death. The RNC released a report that called for the party to be less racist (LOL). ... There were analysis of data, technology, and campaign spending. The Republicans were simply out-messaged in quality and quantity. ... The Republicans needed the ability to change the subject to issues that animated their base. ... What came next were more media outlets, better data, more digital ads, and a souped-up messaging operation.

"Four years later, the economy was barely an afterthought in the presidential campaign. ... By controlling the narrative and centering the campaign on racially divisive cultural issues, Trump turned out Republican voters, won over a shocking number of people who had voted for Obama in 2012, and helped convince more than 4 million 2012 Obama voters to stay home. The 2016 election proved that disinformation-based politics was a necessary ingredient of Republican success. ... True, conservatives could abandon their unpopular corporatist policies and racist rhetoric, but that would anger their donors and the base. ... So, rampant disinformation and propaganda it is!"

Dan Pfeiffer, "Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media are Destroying America"

[raging moderate]

28. Yes. Many rural whites do not know many Black people.

Many rural whites in the northern United States hardly ever see a Black person, except on TV or the internet. I lived in various small towns up and down the state of Illinois during my lifetime. No matter what was going on, no matter what verifiable facts I stated, these people were determined to keep their prejudices intact. I remember one man, about 45 years ago, fulminating on how he would chase off any Blacks who tried to invade his little town. Another man in this school district said at some point that Hitler actually was not a bad leader. I remember a woman in another town, about 30 years ago, fulminating how how awful it was that a white girl she knew was dating a Black kid. "What's wrong with him?" I asked. "Nothing. He's a nice kid," she said. "Well, then, why are you upset?" I asked. She turned away, fulminating under her breath. As I spoke to whites in this town, a few of them finally told me that they believed they had managed to get a small band of only the finest Black people to settle in their town, and they did not want to stretch their luck by allowing any others in.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

35. A county over from where I live

In Cecil county
There is an actual sunset town,Rising Sun.

That place is creepy and has 1 traffic light a yellow blinking caution light . Its a small town,tiny.

At dusk the racist butthole sheriff will chase you out of town and follow you out aggressively if there is a black person in the car with you..

Its like a trip back to the bad old days.

[KentuckyWoman]

32. That is quite good

Thank you for posting.

[Xavier Breath]

27. That is striking to think about, the contrast between those two.

It would be like saying in 2012 that your personal hero was Mr. Rogers, but by 2016 that had changed to Ted Nugent.

[JHB]

36. Then you're forgetting the 2012 primary clown car...

...and how the base wanted "anybody but Mitt", but they spent the whole season cycling through the darlings of the moment. One guy would say something they liked, they'd all go "YAY!", then their opposition would turn up other things they said and the mob would turn on him: "BOO!" And this happened for what? Five? Seven? different candidates. They all got a piece of the action, but the only one consistently racking up delegates was Mitt. Once Mitt was a lock, the base grumbled but went with him. Well, except the ones who wouldn't vote for him because he was Mormon.

In 2015, the base was still pissed at the establishment for losing in 2012 (despite how much FOX had assured them Mitt would win), Trump roared out with the sort of unvarnished bile they'd been suckling on from Rush and FOX and the whole RW echo chamber for decades, and they all thought "He says what I'm thinking". Of course he did: he'd had people research what was most popular in RW media and fed it back to them at full volume, not in code like the regular politicians.

So he got the anti-establishment faction behind him right out of the gate, while Jeb proceeded to demonstrate that there was no such thing as "the smart Bush", and all the others -- Cruz, Rubio, etc. -- were inept clods whose only hope was for Trump to flame out, but the base they'd all built wouldn't budge from him. The base was Ahab, and Trump promised them white whale steak dinners for life, and the hagfish would pay for it.

Trump didn't change the party, he stripped off the last bit of glossy varnish and exposed the rot.

[Joinfortmill]

18. Lots of bigots out there and

They're hiding in plain sight.

[Niagara]

22. I see several contributing factors.

The first was already mentioned, we had a black man as President and the bigots lost their minds.


The second is there is a cult leader running his cult. I remember two different instances where what TFG said riled people up and there were people hell-bent that it was the absolute truth, even though it wasn't.

Early 2011, he falsely accused PBO of being born in Kenya and people believed him, and some still do.

Back in 2014, Ralph Wilson the owner of the Buffalo Bills died. There were two people seriously considering buying the team, John Francis Bongiovi Jr also known as Bon Jovi and TFG before he was the former guy. TFG enlisted a man named Michael Caputo (doubt he ever paid him) to convince the entire City of Buffalo that if Bon Jovi purchased the team, it would become a Canadian team. Bon Jovi said no that wasn't true, but the damage was already done and it was so bad that the Buffalo DJ's refused to play Bon Jovi songs. Again, people still believe to this day that Bon Jovi would have moved The Bills to Canada. In the end, Terry and Kim Pegula purchased The Bills.


It looks to me that we also have a programming problem with certain Media outlets. Unfortunately, I was subjected to Right Wing Hate Radio on station WBEN during two separate jobs that I had in the past. When people are generally subjected to this nonsense, they fall into being brainwashed and I continually zinged them out loud and during work hours when I subjected to this type of programming.

[Hotler]

25. Yeah they dislike black and brown people but, they hate Dems and Libs with every fiber of their being.

It gnaws at them 24/7. If they take power, they will come for us.