I know you ca
Michelle Obama Is A Woman
- Thread starter Arthur Brain
- Start date
I know you can’t believe your lying eyes.
Arthur Brain
Well-known member
Hey, maybe you can find a pic of Hilary Clinton where she looks like a lava lamp and believe it as well. You are just a joke frankly, one of those ones that aren't that funny either.
Hey, maybe you have your eyes closed to depravity and perversion.
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
No one knows anything about Q, that's part of the conspiracy narrative, all you can do is guess and speculate about who he is (or IMO who's propping up the Q narrative).
I'm about a third of the way right now through The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols, and he's talking about confirmation bias and conspiracy theories. Like every other human, I'm prone to confirmation bias, and because it's basically hard-wired into us, it's not easy going against it. So, understandably, you might think I've just confirmed my bias by even posting an excerpt here but I'm still gonna do it:
"If trying to get around confirmation bias is difficult, trying to deal with a conspiracy theory is impossible. Someone who believes that the oil companies are suppressing a new car that can run on seaweed is unlikely to be impressed by your new Prius or Volt. (That's the efficient car the industrial barons will allow you to have.) The people who think alien bodies were housed at Area 51 won't change their minds if they take a tour of the base. (The alien research lab is underground, you see.)
Arguing at length with a conspiracy theorist is not only fruitless but sometimes dangerous, and I do not recommend it. It's a treadmill of nonsense that can exhaust even the most tenacious teacher. Such theories are the ultimate bulwark against expertise, because of course every expert who contradicts the theory is ipso facto part of the conspiracy. As the writer Jef Rouner has put it,
'You have to remember that the sort of person who readily subscribes to conspiracy theories already fears that there are vast, powerful forces maliciously allied against the areas of life that mean the most to them. Any denial of the threat increases the power of the threat by virtue of its being allowed to operate undetected.'"
I see this played out on TOL regularly. If I or others challenge certain unfounded narratives about pedophilia, for example, we're labeled pedophiles ourselves. By challenging false information, I'm being led by Satan or I hate freedom or am actively working the playbook of some ephemeral Marxist leader. The great fears of the 'patriots,' therefore I cannot be a 'patriot,' no matter how much I love my country or could never harm a child or see totalitarian communism as anything other than a danger to human rights.The harm that comes - and has come - (Capitol insurrection driven by still unproven election fraud theories, Comet Pizza shooter, anti-maskers/anti vaxxers, Seth Rich, Parkland, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas shootings) from right-wing conspiracy theories isn't solved by Trump being out of office. Qanon has taken their greatest fears (Satan, Democrats, Clinton, Soros, Gates, pedophiles) and connected them with their apocalyptic religious beliefs (New World Order, Armageddon, etc.) and a 'God-directed' leader that was just this side of receiving idol worship. That core of Qanon is still there. Maybe the less committed have fallen away in disillusionment but the core carries on, just changing the game theory as they go, and looking to other leaders like crazed Marjorie to pick up the standard and rally the enlightened troops and drive up membership in 'patriot' militias.
I reluctantly agree with Nichols, I can't argue you out of being an Anon, and I honestly don't know what the future holds if the Q core keeps its hold on a good portion of the GOP. But I know sometimes people might lean a certain way and get sucked in - but for that one person who says something that clicks with them. As you may know, I was once a conservative but you may not know that once I was also a birther. When I joined TOL in 2009 I was a birther. Not a diehard birther, but I'd definitely followed (and believed) the 'proof' of photo-shopped layers, and all the various fevered internet citizen ('patriot') research that went with it. I escaped it, I was one of the lucky ones, but I didn't do it by myself. So that's why I still challenge your information, even knowing I can't change your mind. Maybe someone out there not as true a disciple of Q as you are will, just maybe, start questioning the QAnon or MAGA/Trumper narrative.
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THIS surprised me.
Arthur Brain
Well-known member
She escaped that stuff, that's the main thing.
Oh I know. Anna was actually one of the decent Republicans, like John McCain.She escaped that stuff, that's the main thing.
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
It horrifies me, looking back.
I wasn't aware until years later how much birtherism was tied to racism. It definitely wasn't about racism for me, it was politics and ideology. But I fell into the discussions about digital manipulation, long form vs short form, Hawaii birth announcement, and so on, I've forgotten more than I remember.
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
She escaped that stuff, that's the main thing.
Thankfully. But it's complicated, wrestling with assumptions and biases and misplaced trust and so on.
Meh, it happens. Because I was aware of trump and his history of cheating, racism, lies and personal vendettas, I immediately dismissed anything coming from his lying mouth. Honestly, Obama wasn’t my first choice until Palin entered the race.It horrifies me, looking back.
I wasn't aware until years later how much birtherism was tied to racism. It definitely wasn't about racism for me, it was politics and ideology. But I fell into the discussions about digital manipulation, long form vs short form, Hawaii birth announcement, and so on, I've forgotten more than I remember.
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
I didn't know much about Trump prior to 2015. Wish I could still say that.
Wish I could still say that about Palin, too.
I was pretty thrilled when she spoke at the GOP convention that year. (Yes I just covered my face with my hands...)
eider
Well-known member
You just want to watch her take her clothes off, I reckon.
And then you'll forget that you ever made such claims, I would bet.
Do you stare at people's groins a lot?
No ,but that pathetic point is more than enough of a reason for libtards to ignore the truth.
Arthur Brain
Well-known member
Laughable ignorance, wild conspiracy theories and your continuing asinine blather don't count as "truth".
eider
Well-known member
kiwimacahau
Well-known member
idiocy, on your part, I may add.