The Smug Style in American Liberalism

[Moonbeam]

This entire thread exemplifies what the author of that article is railing about, liberals on average come off like a bunch of pompous assholes when they go on the attack and they do nothing to be inclusive of the working class that has seen their jobs decimated by policies enacted by democrats as mentioned in the article....instead they ridicule them and suggest they are suffering from a brain defect.

I rather have to laugh at your mention of conservative talk radio...so you're suggesting its as mainstream as all of the outlets the author of that article had mentioned such as the daily show, the onion, or any host of various web sites, OP EDs in major news papers. I just don't see it, conservative talk radio while popular with those who are conservative doesn't get much exposure outside of that.

As others have mentioned Vox is a liberal site, chances are the author is liberal and realizes that continually giving people a hard time for their viewpoints isn't going to win anyone over, maybe that is why so much of the left has seemingly given up on working class white voters and is now focusing on minorities and pushing forward amnesty...they just don't want to bother.

If you want to see some of the stupidest assholes on the planet, watch working people's attitude toward unions. Those fuckers charge dues.

 

[trenchfoot]

If you want to see some of the stupidest assholes on the planet, watch working people's attitude toward unions. Those fuckers charge dues.

Gotta hand it to you Moonie, the way you make a point about some things is pretty bad ass man. :thumbsup:

 

[mikeymikec]

Yay, it's another thread bitching about "the left" or "the right".

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

If you want to see some of the stupidest assholes on the planet, watch working people's attitude toward unions. Those fuckers charge dues.

Even to those who don't even belong to the union. This is how "justice" works.

 

[fskimospy]

This entire thread exemplifies what the author of that article is railing about, liberals on average come off like a bunch of pompous assholes when they go on the attack and they do nothing to be inclusive of the working class that has seen their jobs decimated by policies enacted by democrats as mentioned in the article....instead they ridicule them and suggest they are suffering from a brain defect.

I rather have to laugh at your mention of conservative talk radio...so you're suggesting its as mainstream as all of the outlets the author of that article had mentioned such as the daily show, the onion, or any host of various web sites, OP EDs in major news papers. I just don't see it, conservative talk radio while popular with those who are conservative doesn't get much exposure outside of that.

As others have mentioned Vox is a liberal site, chances are the author is liberal and realizes that continually giving people a hard time for their viewpoints isn't going to win anyone over, maybe that is why so much of the left has seemingly given up on working class white voters and is now focusing on minorities and pushing forward amnesty...they just don't want to bother.

The daily show averages about 1.5 million viewers daily. Rush Limbaugh averages about 13 million unique listeners weekly and he is just one of dozens of right wing talk radio hosts. Not a perfect apples to apples comparison, but it seems pretty odd to call the daily show mainstream and then say conservative talk radio is not, considering collectively its audience is likely ten times larger if not more.

To me it seems like the left looks down on the right as anti-intellectual and backwards most definitely. For the most part it lacks the vitriolic hate that the right has for the left though. Go watch the daily show make fun of conservatives for awhile. You will generally see them functionally calling conservatives stupid or in some cases dishonest. Then go listen to Rush Limbaugh for awhile. (I used to have to at an old job) There is so much hate there it is unbelievable and he isn't even close to the most extreme. It's an incredibly toxic format, but one that millions listen to.

 

[Moonbeam]

Even to those who don't even belong to the union. This is how "justice" works.

Yes, except in 25 Republican, union-busting states where the just practice of freeloading is permitted owing to a sufficient number of asshole working-class people who vote for self mutilation thanks to their 1percent paid for programmed imbecility euphemistically called free will. Remember, you don't have to take a job in states that protect working people from freeloading assholes. You can start your own business and become a CEO. Nobody forces you to work. Now there's some justice.

 

[Jhhnn]

Even to those who don't even belong to the union. This is how "justice" works.

Yeh, free riders should get the benefits of membership for free, right?

 

[bozack]

If you want to see some of the stupidest assholes on the planet, watch working people's attitude toward unions. Those fuckers charge dues.

I am all for unions which are effective at keeping wages fair and giving workers a voice but not for unions that enable a condition inhospitable that jobs get pushed out of the country....GM is a great example of that

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/01/new-general-motors-cadillac-plant-officially-goes-online/

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gm-is-importing-a-buick-from-china-130758915.html

I know plenty of folks who are union, and from what I gather in listening to them if the work is there its great, if its not then sucks to be them as they get little to no assistance.

The daily show averages about 1.5 million viewers daily. Rush Limbaugh averages about 13 million unique listeners weekly and he is just one of dozens of right wing talk radio hosts. Not a perfect apples to apples comparison, but it seems pretty odd to call the daily show mainstream and then say conservative talk radio is not, considering collectively its audience is likely ten times larger if not more.

To me it seems like the left looks down on the right as anti-intellectual and backwards most definitely. For the most part it lacks the vitriolic hate that the right has for the left though. Go watch the daily show make fun of conservatives for awhile. You will generally see them functionally calling conservatives stupid or in some cases dishonest. Then go listen to Rush Limbaugh for awhile. (I used to have to at an old job) There is so much hate there it is unbelievable and he isn't even close to the most extreme. It's an incredibly toxic format, but one that millions listen to.

the daily show is but one data point, as the article said there are a multitude of outlets for progressive talking points and many/most of them carry a tone of condescension for folks and ideas they feel are "on the wrong side of history" when it comes to issues/positions.

I have a really hard time believing conservative talk radio has as much "reach" as the multitude of other outlets mentioned in the article, sure Rush may draw and audience but to me it seems folks have to make a conscious effort to listen in ...its near impossible to track online readership numbers so getting real data there is a challenge, and while the daily show has declined in viewership since Steward has jumped ship you've got John Oliver with 4.1 million weekly viewers, Bill Maher with 4 million, heck even Rachael Maddow is now up to a million viewers a week...and that is but a small sampling.

 

[Jhhnn]

I am all for unions which are effective at keeping wages fair and giving workers a voice but not for unions that enable a condition inhospitable that jobs get pushed out of the country....GM is a great example of that

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/01/new-general-motors-cadillac-plant-officially-goes-online/

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gm-is-importing-a-buick-from-china-130758915.html

I know plenty of folks who are union, and from what I gather in listening to them if the work is there its great, if its not then sucks to be them as they get little to no assistance.



the daily show is but one data point, as the article said there are a multitude of outlets for progressive talking points and many/most of them carry a tone of condescension for folks and ideas they feel are "on the wrong side of history" when it comes to issues/positions.

I have a really hard time believing conservative talk radio has as much "reach" as the multitude of other outlets mentioned in the article, sure Rush may draw and audience but to me it seems folks have to make a conscious effort to listen in ...its near impossible to track online readership numbers so getting real data there is a challenge, and while the daily show has declined in viewership since Steward has jumped ship you've got John Oliver with 4.1 million weekly viewers, Bill Maher with 4 million, heck even Rachael Maddow is now up to a million viewers a week...and that is but a small sampling.

Talk radio bores into people's brains while they're driving or working a job that doesn't require total attention. It's as effective as it is because it works at a nearly subconscious level.

This whole smug attack is Rovian in nature- attack the opposition at your own weakest points & drag 'em down to your level.

Who's more smug than Limbaugh or O'Reilly or the entirety of Fox News? Coulter, Hannity, Rosen or a plethora of right wing authors & talking heads?

Hell, who's more smug than Trump or Cruz?

 

[ivwshane]

I am all for unions which are effective at keeping wages fair and giving workers a voice but not for unions that enable a condition inhospitable that jobs get pushed out of the country....GM is a great example of that

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/01/new-general-motors-cadillac-plant-officially-goes-online/

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gm-is-importing-a-buick-from-china-130758915.html

I know plenty of folks who are union, and from what I gather in listening to them if the work is there its great, if its not then sucks to be them as they get little to no assistance.



the daily show is but one data point, as the article said there are a multitude of outlets for progressive talking points and many/most of them carry a tone of condescension for folks and ideas they feel are "on the wrong side of history" when it comes to issues/positions.

I have a really hard time believing conservative talk radio has as much "reach" as the multitude of other outlets mentioned in the article, sure Rush may draw and audience but to me it seems folks have to make a conscious effort to listen in ...its near impossible to track online readership numbers so getting real data there is a challenge, and while the daily show has declined in viewership since Steward has jumped ship you've got John Oliver with 4.1 million weekly viewers, Bill Maher with 4 million, heck even Rachael Maddow is now up to a million viewers a week...and that is but a small sampling.

It's called truthiness and it's how Righties think in order to maintain their beliefs. Instead of thinking with your gut you could, you know, actually look things up.

 

[cubby1223]

If you want to see some of the stupidest assholes on the planet, watch working people's attitude toward unions. Those fuckers charge dues.

Many people I know who are in unions hate them because the unions enable and protect bad behavior among workers.

Unions are not in decline because the 1% conned working-class Americans. Unions are in decline because the unions themselves mismanaged their own affairs.


All the liberals in this thread keep searching and searching for an answer to why everyone around them is so stupid when the clear facts are so obvious and so readily available for everyone to know. It's quite pathetic to read. It really is. You really have two choices, either accept the world as it is, or continue being confused over how anyone could possibly dispute the factual truth you know to be right.

 

[cubby1223]

I have a really hard time believing conservative talk radio has as much "reach" as the multitude of other outlets mentioned in the article

It's because you haven't read the unbiased facts yet. Once you read the facts the truth will be crystal clear.


You do like facts, don't you?

 

[Moonbeam]

Many people I know who are in unions hate them because the unions enable and protect bad behavior among workers.

Unions are not in decline because the 1% conned working-class Americans. Unions are in decline because the unions themselves mismanaged their own affairs.


All the liberals in this thread keep searching and searching for an answer to why everyone around them is so stupid when the clear facts are so obvious and so readily available for everyone to know. It's quite pathetic to read. It really is. You really have two choices, either accept the world as it is, or continue being confused over how anyone could possibly dispute the factual truth you know to be right.

A prominent fact about the conservative brain defect is that the brain so debilitated by this defect is absolutely sure the delusional beliefs it holds are absolutely, certainly, and obviously correct. This astounding funny capacity to boldly state delusions as obvious truth is what makes conservatives hilarious to people who understand the nature of their defect, and appear to those not in the know to be the biggest fools on the planet. This of course, is all known scientific fact, part of a growing body on neurological studies that prove it beyond the possibility of error.

Allow me then ,cubby, on behalf of the scientifically uneducated but none the less correctly perceiving brains, that they are going to see you a one fucking stupid mother fucker.

 

[cubby1223]

A prominent fact about the conservative brain defect is that the brain so debilitated by this defect is absolutely sure the delusional beliefs it holds are absolutely, certainly, and obviously correct. This astounding funny capacity to boldly state delusions as obvious truth is what makes conservatives hilarious to people who understand the nature of their defect, and appear to those not in the know to be the biggest fools on the planet. This of course, is all known scientific fact, part of a growing body on neurological studies that prove it beyond the possibility of error.

Allow me then ,cubby, on behalf of the scientifically uneducated but none the less correctly perceiving brains, that they are going to see you a one fucking stupid mother fucker.

I don't know if I've ever said this to anyone before, but to you, the world truly will be a better place to live in after you pass on. And the sooner the better.

Enjoy what you can of your miserable existence while you continue to be able to. I won't miss you. I don't think many others will either. 50+k posts on internet forums aren't signs of healthy social lives outside of the internet, no matter how much you claim to love your life. You provide comic relief to some. Otherwise do you have any other shred of actual relevancy to anyone?


Unions have not been able to adapt to this new world of technology, travel, and global communication. Unions have become obsolete not because of "the stupid people with brain defects" but because the leverage they used to be able to wield no longer exists, and no one yet has the alternate answer that works within the realm of reality (read: a reality where every person has their own free will).

 

[Jhhnn]

I don't know if I've ever said this to anyone before, but to you, the world truly will be a better place to live in after you pass on. And the sooner the better.

Enjoy what you can of your miserable existence while you continue to be able to. I won't miss you. I don't think many others will either. 50+k posts on internet forums aren't signs of healthy social lives outside of the internet, no matter how much you claim to love your life. You provide comic relief to some. Otherwise do you have any other shred of actual relevancy to anyone?


Unions have not been able to adapt to this new world of technology, travel, and global communication. Unions have become obsolete not because of "the stupid people with brain defects" but because the leverage they used to be able to wield no longer exists, and no one yet has the alternate answer that works within the realm of reality (read: a reality where every person has their own free will).

I do love the Free Will! bullshit- as if that's the same for the Trumps of the word as it is for the rest of us. Ordinary citizens have no power until they band together which is precisely why the corporate kleptocracy advances the bullshit ideology you espouse.

 

[Moonbeam]

I do love the Free Will! bullshit- as if that's the same for the Trumps of the word as it is for the rest of us. Ordinary citizens have no power until they band together which is precisely why the corporate kleptocracy advances the bullshit ideology you espouse.

Careful there Jhhnn. You fuck with the man's programmed delusional bubble and he's going to wish the world to be happier with you dead. You scratch that superficial certainty of his and out flows the puss.

 

[Blackjack200]

Careful there Jhhnn. You fuck with the man's programmed delusional bubble and he's going to wish the world to be happier with you dead. You scratch that superficial certainty of his and out flows the puss.

I wonder what a man's soul looks like when he types out a post like that.

 

[interchange]

I need some popcorn for this thread. And a Geiger counter for smugness.

 

[fskimospy]

I don't know if I've ever said this to anyone before, but to you, the world truly will be a better place to live in after you pass on. And the sooner the better.

Enjoy what you can of your miserable existence while you continue to be able to. I won't miss you. I don't think many others will either. 50+k posts on internet forums aren't signs of healthy social lives outside of the internet, no matter how much you claim to love your life. You provide comic relief to some. Otherwise do you have any other shred of actual relevancy to anyone?

It seems odd to complain about someone having too many posts on an internet forum as a sign of stunted social status while simultaneously becoming so enraged with a person you have never met that you hope they die. That seems pretty socially stunted to me.

 

[Moonbeam]

I wonder what a man's soul looks like when he types out a post like that.

I have only to look at myself to know the answer to that. I learned to hate myself as a product of conditioning as a child and it filled me with rage. It is the product of self hate that knows no pity. I see nothing about myself that is better than he is. I can find nothing at all that makes me better than he is other than the knowledge I have through shear dumb luck, experience that broke my certainty and caused me to suffer and grieve. I know the pain he suffers and doesn't know he does.

I wish he didn't, but once one is damaged there's no wishing it away. The only contempt I can have for him I will have for myself. Why add to it? Rage is the result of futility. In love there is hope. I came to love you, by the way, in the L & R forum. Your soul looked bright to me.

 

[Moonbeam]

I need some popcorn for this thread. And a Geiger counter for smugness.

Just don't be anywhere nearby when you set it for background baseline radiation.

 

[interchange]

Just don't be anywhere nearby when you set it for background baseline radiation.

I knew there had to be a reason why I was having difficulty with calibration...

And then, there is the question, is smug bad?

 

[Blackjack200]

I wish he didn't, but once one is damaged there's no wishing it away. The only contempt I can have for him I will have for myself. Why add to it? Rage is the result of futility. In love there is hope. I came to love you, by the way, in the L & R forum. Your soul looked bright to me.

My soul would be dull if not for reflecting the brightness of the thousand souls better than mine that surround me. I take special comfort in the reading the kind words of those enjoying what they can of their miserable existences with 50k posts in internet forums. They are some of the very best.

 

[Bowfinger]

[ ... ]
And then, there is the question, is smug bad?

Indeed, I wondered that myself. "Smug" doesn't seem so bad when the alternative appears to be "enraged hate-monger." Hoping for the death of another poster just because you disagree with him? That's not a healthy mind.

 

[Bowfinger]

It seems odd to complain about someone having too many posts on an internet forum as a sign of stunted social status while simultaneously becoming so enraged with a person you have never met that you hope they die. That seems pretty socially stunted to me.

IIRC, he's the same person who said my post count showed I lacked success in life, even though his posting rate was roughly the same as mine. It suggests a weird obsession with superficial traits, as well as a lot of self-loathing.