On ignoring stupidity.

[garybeck]

Over the years, there has been a conventional wisdom especially in the Democratic Party, that when your opponent says something stupid, you should ignore it.

THIS TACTIC IN ITSELF IS STUPID.

Did ignoring stupidity work with Kerry's swiftboat attacks?

Has ignoring stupidity in the global warming debate worked so far?


You have to realize that a good 30% of our population is stupid enough to believe just about anything. And hearing a political candidate say it is good enough proof that it must be true.

Never misunderestimate the power of stupidity.

If you are attacked with stupidity, you have to fight back. If you are right and they are wrong, it should be a simple process, especially if you have a microphone and an audience. There are such things as facts in this world and I have no idea why some people seem to be afraid to admit this in the political arena.

You have to fight back, and you use facts. You might not change every mind, but if you are right, and you are straightforward in presenting the facts, you will make a difference,and put stupid in its place. Sure, the liars will attempt to ignore your facts and only make more demands every time you provide facts, but the truth is every time this happens, they lose some of their base. And the further down their hole they dig themselves in the process, the better. So now that we have the birth certificate, I'm sure some will want more proof. But the more they want the stupider they appear to the public, and even the stupid are not THAT stupid. Stupid has its boundaries.

I applaud President Obama for finally releasing his birth certificate. I believe he should have done it a long time ago.

The longer you ignore stupidity, the more it grows. You have to fight it. Look at the global warming "debate". Statistics show that the number of people who believe global warming isn't real has INCREASED. But the denier arguments are nothing but stupid. the problem is their stupidity has been ignored for too long.

Kerry lost because he ignored stupidity.
We are losing the global warming debate because we're ignoring stupidity.
Obama finally has the upper hand because he fought stupidity with facts.

I will never understand the "ignore stupidity" tactic and I think it is a recipe for failure.

[DCKit]

1. Unfortunately, even the majority of our Congresscritters aren't well versed in the art of argument.

It is something we should all study far more than we do.

Unfortunately, the teabaggers I know become frighteningly hysterical when their world-view is questioned - sometimes to the point that I fear for my safety.

[politicasista]

7. Obama gets applauded for taking the high road while Kerry gets berated for doing the same

When he did respond and released all his Navy records, but people will always want to paint him as a poster boy for not "fighting back." :shrug:

[librechik]

2. I believe you are right, but we must remember there won't be a satisfying

facepalm and the stupid person goes oh of course! you are right! Most likely they will still kick and scream and never concede. You have to do it for you and not for results.

[garybeck]

3. every time you confront stupidity with facts, you win a few hearts and minds.

certainly not all, but some will realize the gig is up.

there's a thing called the law of diminishing returns. a good example is insulation. If you double the amount of insulation in your walls, you get a good payback and save energy and money. If you double it again, you get some more savings. But at some point you're wasting your time when you keep adding more.

the same is true for stupidity. you have to give it some attention. Fight the biggest and first arguments. You'll get the best payback. You don't have to keep going on and on when they're still asking for the kindergarten records and immunization records. But if you keep ignoring it from the beginning it will grow and grow.

[librechik]

4. absolutely. n/t

[politicasista]

13. and you are a political genius, or your an unofficial poster man for ignoring stupidity

Just sayin.

[garybeck]

16. i'm not a genius, i'm just commenting on obvious patterns.

[StarburstClock]

5. So Bigfoot isn't real?

Somebody better hold a press conference and say that to make it official.

[politicasista]

6. Yep, blame ONLY Kerry. That's what Democrats, Progressives and the media do.

And Obama is Mr. Perfect when it comes to this!

Really. :rofl: :rofl:

[marmar]

10. WTF are you talking about?

nt

[politicasista]

12. The OP blames Kerry instead of the REAL culprits like the media, GOP

while applauding Obama for standing up for himself. Kerry took the high road and got, and still gets hated on for it. Maybe he should have choked Bush, Cheney, and Rove, so he wouldn't be accused of "ignoring" the attacks.

He also ignores that Kerry DID release all of his military records and gave a speech at a Firefighters Convention that the media ignored. He also ignores that Obama has the presidency and media; and has many advantages that Kerry and Gore didn't. Social media for that matter, and a party that wasn't busy looking out for themselves and siding with Bush.

More facts here, but that never gets in the way of Dem bashing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4829159

[garybeck]

15. no I didn't blame Kerry

I only implied that he would have been better off if he fought back. That is not the same thing as blaming him for what happened.

[politicasista]

17. Oh. Ok n/t

[Ohio Joe]

8. I agree completely - nt

[kenny blankenship]

9. The best defense is a good offense

THAT's what Democrats refuse to get. There is PLENTY of vulnerable, exposed flank on the Republican Party, but they never need to defend it because Democrats don't attack. (WHat happens is that Republicans get so drunk on power that their abuses and scandals and failures can't be kept hidden anymore, and Democrats benefit by default) Or you might say that Republicans defend their weakness by constantly attacking Democrats on a wide front. They assert their superiority by implication: look at us attacking! We are strong and fearless, because we are always right and our opponent is always wrong, unAmerican, and criminal. Their tactic is to always be on offense, no matter how ragged they look doing it. The birther hysteria is an example of how this tactical predilection can drag Republicans into vulnerable flat-earth positions with their naked irrationality as a party shoved way up in the air for all to see - but does anyone think the Democrats will capitalize on it?

[spanone]

11. with the media in play, there is no fairness.

as in trump's birther bullshit, the truth doesn't even factor into it

it's a matter of how many times he appears in the media repeating a lie over and over and over

cheney proved that if you repeat a lie enough times, a lot of people take it as truth

[DCKit]

14. Goebbels and Stalin set a bad example for a young Dick Cheney.

But you'd have thought, as a patriotic American, he would have vilified instead of idolizing the tactics they used to sway a populace into helping them murder millions of their fellow citizens.

Dog bless A'murka.

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. Except, this time, it was racism and hatred...not just stupidity.