# I pit over-the-top Anti-Trump hysteria **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 5, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735 "2025-08-05T18:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 113
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2428 "2026-07-21T17:09:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel if I had titled this thread “You guys are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect.” it would have been difficult to follow it up with a post telling them why they need to change. No one asked you to do anything even close to that, asshole. Do you use a Strawman Generator program, or are you coming up with these weak-as-shit “examples” yourself? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2429 "2026-07-21T17:09:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel if I had titled this thread “You guys are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect.” it would have been difficult to follow it up with a post telling them why they need to change. You don’t know about the fallacy of the excluded middle? This fallacy occurs when an argument presents two extreme alternatives as the only possibilities, ignoring other valid middle grounds. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2430 "2026-07-21T17:12:25Z")
The Fallacy of the Excluded Middle has been pointed out so many times to @Little_Nemo that it pretty much has to be Deliberate Ignorance at play. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2431 "2026-07-21T17:25:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel if I had titled this thread “You guys are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect.” it would have been difficult to follow it up with a post telling them why they need to change. This is a really good example of how to be an asshole without using any direct insults. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2432 "2026-07-21T17:30:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But I feel this thread will persuade some of the people who are reading this thread rather than posting in it. Over 2,000 posts here. Is there any evidence whatsoever that you’ve changed anyone’s mind who is participating in this thread? If not, then thinking that you have changed minds of the people reading this thread but not posting is most likely a delusional fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2433 "2026-07-21T17:40:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I know I’m not going to persuade everybody. But I feel this thread will persuade some of the people who are reading this thread rather than posting in it. Like that mouse in your pocket, right? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2434 "2026-07-21T21:22:44Z")
I’d actually like to hear from posters who were once concerned about a Trump grab for power but have read this thread and been persuaded otherwise. What arguments changed your mind? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2435 "2026-07-21T22:29:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I feel if I had titled this thread “You guys are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect.” it would have been difficult to follow it up with a post telling them why they need to change. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > If you’d started a thread saying ‘if you’re talking to potential Trump supporters who are considering opposing him, don’t say he’s going to commit genocide or start a nuclear war. They’ll shut right down, Talk about how he’s screwing up their pocketbooks. That’s the language they can hear’ — you’d have gotten an entirely different reaction. But instead you started by attacking the people you claim to be trying to convince Hi, Discourse! I think I’ll get as far talking to you as to Little Nemo. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2436 "2026-07-21T22:35:13Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > If you’d started a thread saying ‘if you’re talking to potential Trump supporters who are considering opposing him, don’t say he’s going to commit genocide or start a nuclear war. They’ll shut right down, Talk about how he’s screwing up their pocketbooks. That’s the language they can hear’ — you’d have gotten an entirely different reaction. But instead you started by attacking the people you claim to be trying to convince Here’s what I wrote in the OP. > Why do I think this needs to be said? Because I feel that these false accusations (which have been made on this board) are helping Trump by making the crimes he is committing seem less serious. > > Trump can legitimately deny he’s committing genocide as he illegally arrests people. Trump can legitimately deny he is restoring slavery as he guts civil rights. Trump can legitimately deny he is planning on launching nuclear weapons as he ruins America’s standing in the word. Making these wild and untrue accusations against Trump gives him cover for the things he’s actually doing. > > The truth is on our side. We don’t need to fight Trump and the Republicans with lies. (And besides, the Republicans are much better at telling lies so they’d have an advantage in that fight.) Are you saying this was an attack? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2437 "2026-07-21T22:59:52Z")
You said board members were making false accusations and called them, in the thread title, “over the top hysteria”. Yes, that was an attack. And if you really can’t see the difference between that and what I suggested, I don’t think you should be giving communications advice to anybody. ETA: And you started the thread in the Pit. Why do that, if you didn’t think it was an attack? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2438 "2026-07-21T23:02:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are you saying this was an attack? The post that started with you calling people who disagree with you “hysterical,” and ended with you calling them liars? Yeah, I’m saying that was an attack. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2439 "2026-07-21T23:15:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The post that started with you calling people who disagree with you “hysterical,” and ended with you calling them liars? > > Yeah, I’m saying that was an attack. No, what I said was that saying Trump is planning on committing genocide, restoring slavery, or starting a nuclear war is hysteria and lies. I was then repeatedly told that nobody has ever said these things. Which means I was accusing nobody of being hysterical or a liar. Was this post an attack on you? Sorry, let me try again. You are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2440 "2026-07-21T23:26:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, what I said was that saying Trump is planning on committing genocide, restoring slavery, or starting a nuclear war is hysteria and lies. When you say, “Saying Trump wants to commit genocide is a lie,” you are calling everyone making that claim a liar. When you call it hysteria, you’re calling everyone making that claim mentally unstable. Those are insults, dude. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Was this post an attack on you? Sorry, let me try again. > > You are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect. And this is you just being a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2441 "2026-07-21T23:36:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > You are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect. > > And this is you just being a dick. Sorry if I was too harsh. You are better than perfect and everything you’re doing is more than perfect. You are the perfectest. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2442 "2026-07-21T23:38:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sorry if I was too harsh. No you aren’t, and you’re still being a dick. Which is fine - you’re really _bad_ at it, as you are at every other area of rhetoric, so I’m not actually insulted or anything. It’s just useful to highlight this stuff so when you next pull your, “But I’ve been perfectly polite,” bullshit, everyone can see it for the transparent lie it is. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2443 "2026-07-21T23:59:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Which is fine - you’re really _bad_ at it No, I’m really good at it. But I’m just having fun here. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2444 "2026-07-22T00:28:00Z")
Right, as evidenced by all the people who’ve been reading this thread and were totally convinced you were right, but didn’t bother to post anything about it. Probably because they were too busy calling their girlfriends who live in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Frilly\_Heck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90ced4/32.png) [@Frilly\_Heck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frilly_Heck)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2445 "2026-07-22T00:39:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You are perfect and everything you’re doing is perfect. Actually, let me take a moment to thank everyone in this thread who is doing real work in their communities. We all know none of us are doing it perfectly, but a lot of you have written stuff that shows you’ve been out there, talking to people, organizing, and trying get out the vote. You are all amazing, and I appreciate it. I hope you can keep it up for awhile. Don’t let shitty people (on this board or elsewhere) get you down. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2446 "2026-07-22T09:58:27Z")
Your example is selective. When someone uses “fire” or “bad” it’s usually easy to tell they must mean “good” from context. But a more subtle erosion of meaning does not always permit this. “Troll” in this context could easily mean either “someone who maintains their position even though it annoys everyone” or “someone who maintains their position _to_ annoy everyone”. And even Sylvanz seems to me somewhat ambiguous about which of these they believe to apply. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735/2447 "2026-07-22T11:26:22Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Your example is selective. Easily resolved, then. Ignore the example that you don’t like and stick, instead, to the clearly-espoused principle involved: > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Misuse of a term, word, or phrase by _some_ speakers/users doesn’t erase the original meaning for everyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735.md?page=112) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-over-the-top-anti-trump-hysteria/1021735.md?page=114)