# Which Party Has the Mobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828 "2018-11-01T10:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/41 "2018-11-01T17:34:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I suppose the Dems could ‘lower the temperature’ by ceasing to be an opposition party, and letting Trump do whatever the fuck he wants, but that’s about the only way, and that would be pretty goddamn stupid. I wish Dick Guindon’s cartoons were available on the Web - he had one where a man was telling his wife “I’d be much easier to get along with if you just always did what I want” (or words to that effect). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/42 "2018-11-01T17:38:56Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Can we discount Trump for these calculations? > … I’m honestly not sure what you’re asking. Are you saying that we shouldn’t include the head of the Republican party from the count of people who embrace conspiracy theories about Democrats and minorities? And, what the president and head of the Republican party says shouldn’t count towards riling up mobs? **octopus** , I thought your mention of the loony left in this particular thread was extremely knee-jerk and pretty disingenuous. Do you agree with the premise of the OP or not? If you include Trump, do you agree with that premise? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/43 "2018-11-01T17:40:32Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Trying to be Stranger-lite? Assuming I correctly understand your intent, you should probably be aware that this board has many people who who are independently clever and good at wordplay. It’s part of the attraction of this place that it generally selects for wit rather than conformity. It may seem that to you that you are being ganged up on but that’s simply because you are out of your league here. The sad part is that you seem to have no interest in trying to up your game intellectually or verbally, and you have a president saying that the fault is ours and not yours. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/44 "2018-11-01T17:41:28Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yeah. All that dehumanizing language equating all Republicans with Nazis, even when it’s prevalent among the nuts on this board, doesn’t actually exist.:rolleyes: I thought that modern anti-Semitism was, for the most part, non-existent, or at least only existed in small, residual ways that could be considered “institutional” and not “active”. Since Trump has been elected, I have seen local synagogues vandalized, seen direct references to Nazi practices used as insults against Jews on local forums, and now seen Jews targeted and gunned down in Pittsburgh. We may not be living the Holocaust, but Republicans seem to neither give two shits about any of this nor be willing to admit that their rhetoric is in even the slightest way connected to these sorts of events. You might not be a Nazi, but if they came for me, you would not stand up in my defense. It takes both kinds to wield power. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/45 "2018-11-01T17:41:33Z")
Well shoot, I thought the OP said “Which Party is the Mob?” Nevermind. Same answer. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/46 "2018-11-01T17:43:06Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > It’s like you are all monkeys howling and beating your fists at the other tribe of monkeys, in order to build up your sense of superiority enough to attack. And, of course the other tribe of monkeys is doing the exact same thing. The only one mentioning tribalism here is you. Why is that? Let’s see: > [@](#): > > Why on earth would you care which is side is currently in the lead for having the biggest nuts? Because… and this might be hard for you to understand… some of us are interested in having a functional democracy, and democracy doesn’t work if one side mails bombs every time it gets a hair up its collective ass. Bombs aren’t ballots. Bombs aren’t even close to being ballots. They tend to offend in more direct ways, although the Republicans seem to get hugely, massively offended by ballots and then equate real bombs with imagined outrages. > [@](#): > > What will you do if next week somebody on the left commits a bigger and more atrocious act? Will you concede that the right has the moral high ground because they are less violent? Yes, I’m sure the imagined outrages perpetrated by Democrats are so much worse than the real ones perpetrated by Republicans. I’m certain the survivors of the synagogue shooting would fully agree. > [@](#): > > This kind of thinking is so fucking incredibly stupid it literally makes me ill. I can imagine your inner ear must be fairly swimming from all the gymnastics, yes. > [@](#): > > Why is it that somebody has to be better? Why do there have to be these tribal lines where one side are the good guys and one side are the bad guys? Ask the people shooting at Jews and mailing bombs. > [@](#): > > We literally live in the best times there have ever been in perhaps the most free society that has ever existed and we all basically agree on 90-95% of everything. When the 5-10% disagreement is over things like “who qualifies as human” and “who deserves to live” and “is it morally justified to mail bombs to people” and “are the people I disagree with Satanic pedophiles”, well, that _does_ tend to overshadow most other things. > [@](#): > > The violence is a function of the heightened political rhetoric raising the temperature. The higher the temperature the more violent nut jobs feel justified. I’ll concede this when you concede which side mentioned “Second Amendment solutions” in the last Presidential election. > [@](#): > > If you want to be a good guy, if you want to be a good citizen, than you need to lower the temperature. You need to think and say nice things about people you disagree with and force yourself to see them as worthy equals, especially when the disagreement is severe fundamental and felt deeply. I make comments on message boards and vote. So do the people I’m aligned with, more or less; maybe throw in some nonviolent protests. The people I’m against are, or are aligned with, the ones who shoot up places of worship. Someone who shoots a nonagenarian Holocaust survivor is my equal, now? > [@](#): > > As a whole we are acting like those two monkey tribes, howling and jeering within our respective groups to build ourselves up and make our opponents look small. Back to this. Why is it? Why do you keep making this comparison? > [@](#): > > It’s important. These things get out of hand really fast. A lot of people could get killed. Too late. I think I figured it out: You can’t come up with a good argument, so you shout about monkeys and try to shame us into shutting up about how the side you’ve chosen is a breeding ground for right-wing death squads, as if being polite and pretending everything is going well will stem the tide of cut-rate Klans emerging from the fever swamps your party has carefully cultivated since before I was even born. Being polite won’t raise the dead. Pretending this is normal won’t undo the damage done. And acting like the Republicans aren’t the Party of Pizzagate, Legitimate Rape, Voter Disenfranchisement, and Russia won’t allow us to fix the problems a minority has caused. Yes, a minority. I know that. I also know that minority is comprised of hardcore Republicans, a substantial number of the worst ones being the ones in office or appendant to offices, and your whining about civility won’t cause me to stop knowing that. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/47 "2018-11-01T17:51:52Z")
[The Two Minutes Hate](https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/heres-original-two-minutes-hate) I think this explains what the Republicans are doing quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/48 "2018-11-01T17:55:04Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > One side is doing bad shit, and the other side is pointing out the bad shit that the other side’s doing. Yeah, both sides are equivalently raising the temperature. > > I suppose the Dems could ‘lower the temperature’ by ceasing to be an opposition party, and letting Trump do whatever the fuck he wants, but that’s about the only way, and that would be pretty goddamn stupid. > > So fuck that stupid shit. Only one party can lower the temperature, and it’s not going to.Please note the death toll from my previous post. You are literally going to place the death toll from white against black hate crimes at the feet of Republicans, and put that up against the guy shot by the Sanders supporter and claim the score is now 49 to 1 against Republicans. I had hoped to appeal to reason, but you seem pretty deeply committed to your tribal monkey jabberings. I am actually sorry to hear that. I hope cooler heads prevail and things get better. Anyway, good luck to you and to everybody else. I may check back in in a few years, but I think this it for me. -Adios ---
**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:** [November 1, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/49 "2018-11-01T17:56:47Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > You are literally going to place the death toll from white against black hate crimes at the feet of Republicans, and put that up against the guy shot by the Sanders supporter and claim the score is now 49 to 1 against Republicans. > > I had hoped to appeal to reason, but you seem pretty deeply committed to your tribal monkey jabberings. I am actually sorry to hear that. > > I hope cooler heads prevail and things get better. > > Anyway, good luck to you and to everybody else. I may check back in in a few years, but I think this it for me. > > -Adios Damn. Should have brought the topic up sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/50 "2018-11-01T17:58:04Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I had hoped to appeal to reason, but you seem pretty deeply committed to your tribal monkey jabberings. I am actually sorry to hear that. Skwwaaaaaak! Skwaaaaaak! What happened to civility!?!?!? If you only treated us nicer the country would be better! ooh-ohh-ahh-ahh! You suck because you keep insulting us, you worthless piece of garbage! [eats a banana] ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/51 "2018-11-01T18:20:54Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is the first Tribal Monkey Council in which a troop member voted himself off the island. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/52 "2018-11-01T18:34:35Z")
_snif_ He’s throwing his feces at angels, now… ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/53 "2018-11-01T19:26:59Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > You are literally going to place the death toll from white against black hate crimes at the feet of Republicans, and put that up against the guy shot by the Sanders supporter and claim the score is now 49 to 1 against Republicans. > > I had hoped to appeal to reason, but you seem pretty deeply committed to your tribal monkey jabberings. I am actually sorry to hear that. > > I hope cooler heads prevail and things get better. > > Anyway, good luck to you and to everybody else. I may check back in in a few years, but I think this it for me. > > -Adios Holy fucking shit. Best thread ever! ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/54 "2018-11-01T20:08:47Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yeah. All that dehumanizing language equating all Republicans with Nazis, even when it’s prevalent among the nuts on this board, doesn’t actually exist.:rolleyes: Republicans are equating themselves with Nazis. The accusations as such are based on factual parallels. 11 Jews were murdered in cold blood by a guy who was convinced that George Soros and other Jews were funding an invasion of foreign criminals and terrorists. I don’t accuse Republicans of killing Jews with their rhetoric; I accuse Republicans of using the same kinds of false and tribal rhetoric and campaign tactics that were used in Nazi Germany (and also in places like Eastern Europe) to inspire others to commit murder - and the evidence is pretty clear that they have succeeded. When leaders of a majority party retweet anti-Jewish and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, referring them as the “dangerous other,” they are providing the rationalization for people to commit murder. People are right to use Nazi comparisons when discussing today’s Republican party. But they don’t have to - they can use other labels that are just as appropriate, like Neo-Confederates. The modern Republican party represents America at its worst, appealing to our nation’s and our species’ worst impulses. Maybe instead of complaining about progressives and Democrats calling you Nazis, a better idea might be to start taking your party away from them in the first place. You could at least try to do that, you know. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/55 "2018-11-01T20:12:42Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > You are literally going to place the death toll from white against black hate crimes at the feet of Republicans, and put that up against the guy shot by the Sanders supporter and claim the score is now 49 to 1 against Republicans. > > I had hoped to appeal to reason, but you seem pretty deeply committed to your tribal monkey jabberings. I am actually sorry to hear that. > > I hope cooler heads prevail and things get better. > > Anyway, good luck to you and to everybody else. I may check back in in a few years, but I think this it for me. > > -Adios Who will mentor us in self-congratulation now? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/56 "2018-11-01T20:28:21Z")
This mother fucker posted a pack of anti-Soros lies days _after_ someone tried to murder George Soros, and he’s scolding us? Fuck you and don’t come back. > [@Is Soros actually actively trying to change U.S. policy? Or what is the basis of the hatred?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/44): > > I find this pretty odious: > > [https://www.dailywire.com/news/37703/media-tout-jewish-leaders-pittsburgh-telling-trump-ben-shapiro](https://www.dailywire.com/news/37703/media-tout-jewish-leaders-pittsburgh-telling-trump-ben-shapiro) > > One of Soros’ organizations basically impersonated the Pittsburgh Jewish community to blame Trump for for the shooting, and suggest he wasn’t welcome in Pittsburgh. The narrative got picked up by several news sources. > > But they don’t speak for anybody and in fact the head of the Synagogue that got shot up said he would welcome Trump. > > So, this kind of shit. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/57 "2018-11-01T20:45:23Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Holy fucking shit. Best thread ever! Madmonk…or mad **monkey**??! Shit, this is all your fault! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/58 "2018-11-01T20:49:09Z")
The blimp has reclaimed its own. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/59 "2018-11-01T20:51:30Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Why on earth would you care which is side is currently in the lead for having the biggest nuts? Why would you stand on this? What will you do if next week somebody on the left commits a bigger and more atrocious act? > [@Scylla](#): > > Why is it that somebody has to be better? Wait. What? Didn’t you, just a week or so ago, try to push the narrative that you were voting Republican because Democrats have become too violent and threatening against Republicans? And defending that position by cherry picking actions done by the left and ignoring ones done by the right and weighing them against each other? Here it is: “I’m voting against Democrats because of the widespread racism, hate speech, violence, and intolerance which they have adopted, largely in the last 18 months.” Jesus fuck, it’s a good thing you’re running away (again), because the sheer amount of hypocritical bullshit you’ve tried to peddle this election cycle is staggering. It’s heartening that you appear to somewhat realize that you’re so full of shit you can’t defend yourself anymore, so you run away, but Jesus, that’s really pathetic. Go punch the ticket for anyone with an (R) after their name, but please save us from yourr holier than thou bullshit rationalizations and self-contradicting ramblings. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828/60 "2018-11-01T20:55:54Z")
Fat guys on a couch screaming at televisions and angrily commenting on political internet sites do not constitute a mob. There is virtually no political violence and even participation is lagging. That is the bright side of our political circumstances. The dark side is that they are trending upwards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-has-the-mobs/823828.md?page=4)