# Would A Conservative and/or Trump Supporter Rationally Explain This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 30, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702 "2020-03-30T21:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/221 "2020-04-05T07:30:14Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I don’t know if self-quoting is bad form but I’d still like an answer from Wrenching Spanners or any other Trump supporter. I’m not a Trump supporter, although I seem to be taking their side. I probably would have voted for Jeb Bush over Hillary Clinton if you’d like a different descriptor of my perspective. I already gave my answer. Trump supporters viewed Trump the same way they viewed PT Barnum, or the same way the audience views professional wrestling. They didn’t care about the lies. They were interested in the circus and the outrageous performances. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/222 "2020-04-05T11:50:39Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I’m not a Trump supporter, although I seem to be taking their side. I probably would have voted for Jeb Bush over Hillary Clinton if you’d like a different descriptor of my perspective. > > I already gave my answer. Trump supporters viewed Trump the same way they viewed PT Barnum, or the same way the audience views professional wrestling. They didn’t care about the lies. They were interested in the circus and the outrageous performances. The problem is that that they aren’t picking someone to run the Greatest Show on Earth or a reality show. They are picking someone to be the head of the largest economy in the world with the most powerful nuclear-armed military on the planet. And the Trumps supporters I know don’t support him because they think he’s entertaining. They legitimately believe in what he’s doing and think he’s doing well at it. I wouldn’t call them “idiots”, because by any objective standard they are smart and educated (many of them are at least). But a lot of them have this weird way of looking at the world. I wouldn’t go so far as calling them “conspiracy nuts”, but it’s more like they think that everything the public sees and knows and hears on the news is total bullshit, but they have the inside scoop because they know a guy who knows a guy whose cousin does XYZ for whoever. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/223 "2020-04-05T12:14:11Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > About the Evergreen College, that was a wonder of a propaganda fear mongering from the right: > > [https://psmag.com/education/the-real-free-speech-story-at-evergreen-college](https://psmag.com/education/the-real-free-speech-story-at-evergreen-college) > > As for Jordan Peterson, yes, you need a better source of information. > [Jordan Peterson - RationalWiki](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson) Rational Wiki is not a reputable cite. Noah Berlatsky is dishonestly misrepresenting what happened to Bret Weinstein. I won’t be back to defend this point, because it’s not a matter for debate and I have better things to do, but if anyone wants to know why Berlatsky’s account of the Evergreen scandal is bullshit, I’d recommend these two videos: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FH2WeWgcSMk/maxresdefault.jpg "Part One: The Evergreen Equity Council") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2WeWgcSMk) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A0W9QbkX8Cs/maxresdefault.jpg "Part Two: Teaching to Transgress") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0W9QbkX8Cs&t=1221s) ---
**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:** [April 5, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/224 "2020-04-05T12:33:50Z")
> [@Shannon\_of](#): > > No, I get you. He’s rough hewn,. I lived in New York in the '80s, and he was The Trump and Mr Showbiz and all that… If you lived in NY in the '80s, you’d know he was The Donald, not The Trump. And, he was never known as Mr. Showbiz back then, since he wasn’t in show business at all, so I don’t know where the heck you got that from. The rest of your post seems equally out there, so I won’t bother to respond to the rest, except to say that he was never a wildly successful business man. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/225 "2020-04-05T13:38:03Z")
> [@Shannon\_of](#): > > No, I get you. He’s rough hewn,. I lived in New York in the '80s, and he was The Trump and Mr Showbiz and all that. He was handsome then. And he did amazing work in the hotel industry, in the building industry in general. The idea that he has an IQ of 80, or is stupid in any way, is preposterous. Someone in this thread even said that he is “unfit to run his own business.” What? That’s like saying Mrs See is unfit to make chocolates, (Californians will get the reference.) > > I mean, let’s be real. He went to the Wharton School of Business at UPenn. He was wildly successful in business and enterprise, worked deals and negotiated with hard-ass unions, international suppliers, mega-contractors, construction crews, primadonna architects, you name it. He made it work, with all kinds and sorts of people, which requires intelligence, understanding, perception, and imagination, and would leave no room for bigotry and racism, not if you want to get things done. You just can’t say he’s stupid or racist or a bad businessman. The fruits of his life prove the opposite. I will be charitable and assume you had no idea that the Trump organization was investigated by the FBI and found guilty of discrimination against blacks seeking to rent apartments on their properties. I will extend my charity further to the fact that you were unaware that Trump has declared multiple bankruptcies across multiple businesses, including casinos, hotels, airlines, product lines, etc. The list is long and does not speak well of his business abilities. Being in a charitable mood, I will again assume that you did not know that Trump has a long history of screwing over contractors by not paying them, to the point where he had trouble finding companies who would be willing to work with him. He was black listed by banks who would not lend money to him because he screwed them over as well. Trump’s charitable foundations were shut down because they were found to be fraudulent. As was Trump University. I’m sure that you had no idea about any of this. But you are welcome to do your own research and come back to share with us whether this changes your mind in any way about Trump’s abilities to run his own business. > [@Shannon of](#): > > “We guys” disagree. Which brings me to my next point–you guys have NPR, SNL, Oprah, The Tonight Show, the NYT, the Washington Post, the LA Times, MSNBC, CBS, and all the other broadcast news outlets; you took the helm of public education (which was my reference to kindergarten–it was not a personal reference); you own Hollywood, Broadway, TV entertainment in all its array. Seriously, you really can’t stand that we have…Fox News? How is it even possible that such a powerful cadre of opponents wouldn’t try to bring Trump down? You’re free to disagree. You’re not entitled to your own set of facts. That you cling to a single news source that informs your ‘alternative facts’ in the face of evidence to the contrary says more about you than the MSM you call “a hoax”. > [@Shannon of](#): > > I truly believe any of his excesses, lies, and mistakes are in keeping with the office he holds. The reason he’s so thoroughly hated is primarily because of what he looks like (weird) and how he acts (crazy), and secondarily because he’s distastefully old-fashioned: he loves America and wants to protect our interests and make us prosperous, yes, in a money and revenue way, right down to the flyover guy. He was a known liar and failure before he took office. He revealed himself to be a pathological liar and bigot while running for office. He continues to show himself to be a pathological liar, bigot and intellectually/mentally unfit for the office. Furthermore, he has put the country in far deeper debt while serving to profit himself at the cost to all tax payers. The flyover guys have not benefited in any way, despite what they want to believe. > [@Shannon of](#): > > You know I’m telling the truth–if Obama told the same lies, made the same mistakes as Trump (and did, in his own ways), do you think the MSM would have vilified him the way they do Trump? It’s because Obama played ball and his social programming ideals pleasantly aligned with theirs. Trump doesn’t scratch their backs and make nice, he yells at them because of their outlandish bias and contempt for him, his programs, and his ideals. Probably the POTUS shouldn’t do that, but I’m kind of glad he does. It’s been so long since anyone looked out for us as Americans, as a sovereign people. This is a profoundly false narrative that you are fed by your steady diet of Fox & other right wing news sources. Trump has done more damage to this country than any single president in our lifetime. When all is said and done, he may well be the worst president in the history of this nation. The greatest reveal by far is how willingly ~63M joined the MAGACult because Trump has appealed to their most base instincts of ignorance, fear and bigotry. And they willingly continue to consume a steady diet of delusional lies. That Trump has the slightest interest in looking out for anybody but his own narcissistic self interests is more self-delusion on your part. If you think I’m wrong, prove me wrong. Provide evidence that shows how Trump has made American lives demonstrably better. Not how he’s made you feel by appealing to your common moral values or self-esteem. How are American lives materially better because of specific policies implemented by the Trump administration to date? ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/226 "2020-04-05T13:38:28Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > Rational Wiki is not a reputable cite. Noah Berlatsky is dishonestly misrepresenting what happened to Bret Weinstein. > > I won’t be back to defend this point, because it’s not a matter for debate and I have better things to do, but if anyone wants to know why Berlatsky’s account of the Evergreen scandal is bullshit, I’d recommend these two videos: > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2WeWgcSMk](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2WeWgcSMk) > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A0W9QbkX8Cs&t=1221s](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A0W9QbkX8Cs&t=1221s) Thanks for sharing, that is the version of events that i have believed and is the bat shit crazy/scary ultra progressive wing that works to push any moderates out of the party. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/227 "2020-04-05T13:47:41Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Again, that was not why I pointed that out. You were wrong by nutpicking, and calling it “low hanging fruit” is just again a fallacious attempt at making the nutty statements as if all the left and liberals are like that. I don’t know why you’re going down this tangent, but Asahi’s statement deserved to be called out and ridiculed. Here it is again: > [@](#): > > This is why I’ve said that it’s time for rural white America to experience the worst of COVID. You’re effectively saying I should just ignore it because it’s eccentric, or doesn’t represent mainstream left thinking. Why should I? More to the point, while Asahi’s statement might be, ahem, unique, I do believe that liberal animosity towards Trump supporters frequently crosses the line into hostility. Here’s a thread full of people ending friendships because of the level of their animosity. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872570](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872570) That animosity is less straightforward when it comes to the subject of rural voters, although not by much. Here’s a thread with several anti-rural comments. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872638](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872638) The prize-winner: “This is the harsh reality, the abortion thing is to make themselves feel important because they really don’t contribute much to this country. These people aren’t farmers, America’s bread basket is owned by a few millionaires and billionaires now. Everybody else is just getting by and spreading ignorance while the rest of us pay to support their mismanaged states.” I’ve cherry-picked the worst, but it’s one of at least a half-dozen that are dismissive of rural voters. So no, it’s not just one individual, and yes, there genuinely is rancour from the left, as represented by the SDMB, directed at both Trump supporters and rural voters. Asahi’s message may be a harsh outlier, but it represents actual sentiments of the left. Does everyone on the left have those sentiments? No. But I believe there’s enough of that sentiment present that it’s visible to the general public and fosters partisanship. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/228 "2020-04-05T13:55:26Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I don’t know why you’re going down this tangent, but Asahi’s statement deserved to be called out and ridiculed. Here it is again: > You’re effectively saying I should just ignore it because it’s eccentric, or doesn’t represent mainstream left thinking. Why should I? > > More to the point, while Asahi’s statement might be, ahem, unique, I do believe that liberal animosity towards Trump supporters frequently crosses the line into hostility. Here’s a thread full of people ending friendships because of the level of their animosity. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872570](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872570) That animosity is less straightforward when it comes to the subject of rural voters, although not by much. Here’s a thread with several anti-rural comments. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872638](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872638) The prize-winner: “This is the harsh reality, the abortion thing is to make themselves feel important because they really don’t contribute much to this country. These people aren’t farmers, America’s bread basket is owned by a few millionaires and billionaires now. Everybody else is just getting by and spreading ignorance while the rest of us pay to support their mismanaged states.” I’ve cherry-picked the worst, but it’s one of at least a half-dozen that are dismissive of rural voters. So no, it’s not just one individual, and yes, there genuinely is rancour from the left, as represented by the SDMB, directed at both Trump supporters and rural voters. Asahi’s message may be a harsh outlier, but it represents actual sentiments of the left. Does everyone on the left have those sentiments? No. But I believe there’s enough of that sentiment present that it’s visible to the general public and fosters partisanship. Feel free to hang on to whatever slight helps you justify your dislike of democrats, progressives or liberals of whichever stripe. Unlike many right wing policies, these wrong sentiments expressed by angry left-wing nuts are not part of any progressive policy, nor is there any reason to think they will be. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/229 "2020-04-05T14:17:08Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > If you want a direct equivalent of Betsy Devos, go have a look at Obama Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. As for Perry, he was governor of Texas for 15 years and had a political career dating back to 1984. I get the irony that he was selected as Secretary of Energy after calling for the Department of Energy to be abolished Wait a second here… Perry is most known not for calling for DoE to be abolished, but for _[forgetting in a debate that it was an agency he wanted abolished](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/10/rick-perry-forgets-agency-scrap)_. This was the moment of stupidity that effectively ended his primary bid. It’s hard to imagine a more glaring disqualification. > [@](#): > > Carson was light on political experience, You misspelled “zero political experience”. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Not “light”. Unless you’re thinking of his joke of a presidential bid where he got curbstomped for snoozing through debates. > [@](#): > > “In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of ‘America’s Best Leaders’”. [Ben Carson - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson#Awards_and_honors) An award for doctoring from a media outlet. Wow. No wonder he’s done absolutely nothing in his tenure in Trump’s cabinet. > [@](#): > > I’m not going to participate in a hijack about Trump cabinet appointments, but this is the kind of irrationality from the left that I’m highlighting. You don’t like somebody because they’re associated with Trump and you don’t like their politics, and therefore they’re unqualified. You literally started a highjack about Trump’s 2 least qualified cabinet appointments, you deceptively fluffed their credentials, and then you pretend we’re the irrational ones. You should cringe in shame and hide under a rock somewhere, this is a pathetic performance. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/230 "2020-04-05T16:06:11Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > … You literally started a highjack about Trump’s 2 least qualified cabinet appointments, you deceptively fluffed their credentials, and then you pretend we’re the irrational ones. You should cringe in shame and hide under a rock somewhere, this is a pathetic performance. Blame me for the DeVos-Perry hijack. I was trying to list some of the most egregious or criminal conduct by Trump and see if right-wingers had a worthy opinion, or were even aware of his crimes and incompetence. But I’m afraid they’ll have a glib answer for everything. And at the end of the day they’ll accept a lot of buffoonery from Trump if they get their anti-voter judges, their tax cuts for the rich, their Wall, and so on. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/231 "2020-04-05T16:47:04Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I don’t know why you’re going down this tangent, but Asahi’s statement deserved to be called out and ridiculed. . Full stop, besides showing all that you miss the point spectacularly, of course it was a statement that deserved to be ridiculed; read it again. You missed that I did agree with that by talking about a nitpick, you then are going on by blissfully ignoring that your tangent was a fallacy, the rancour you see is just bias confirmation as you pointed at one nutty statement of one that is criticized strongly (even by me in more that one occasion). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/232 "2020-04-05T19:02:50Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Would they though? > > That shit that went down at Evergreen College a few years ago? Those “woke” students and their “micro aggressions”… that is POTENTIAALY the future core of the democratic party. > > …t. Those arent the Political leaders, just some students. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/233 "2020-04-05T19:06:44Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > Rational Wiki is not a reputable cite. Noah Berlatsky is dishonestly misrepresenting what happened to Bret Weinstein. > > I won’t be back to defend this point, because it’s not a matter for debate and I have better things to do, but if anyone wants to know why Berlatsky’s account of the Evergreen scandal is bullshit, I’d recommend these two videos: > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2WeWgcSMk](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2WeWgcSMk) > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A0W9QbkX8Cs&t=1221s](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A0W9QbkX8Cs&t=1221s) Youtube is even a worse cite to use. BTW what you claim as not being a reputable source is like reporting that Wikepedia is not also, it is not Rational wiki or Wikipedia what one has to look for, but the cites and sources they link to. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/234 "2020-04-05T19:09:46Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Thanks for sharing, that is the version of events that i have believed and is the bat shit crazy/scary ultra progressive wing that works to push any moderates out of the party. Problem is that is using the very same unreliable narrator the right wing has been using. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/235 "2020-04-05T19:24:50Z")
It is interesting to me that in controversial items like this that it usually gets the ones that were misled by conservative or corporate media to shoot the messenger. Instead of them demanding better from the ones that gave them the info who were not as sincere, accurate or maintained a reasonable perspective about an issue. > **[Another Side Of The Evergreen State College Story](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/evergreen-state-college-another-side_b_598cd293e4b090964295e8fc)** > > 10 realities about the campus tumult that are being ignored. > **[Brit Hume laments Portland murders are getting more press coverage than a...](https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/brit-hume-laments-portland-murders-are-getting-more-press-coverage-protest-evergreen)** > > From the May 30 edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight: ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/236 "2020-04-06T13:57:03Z")
> [@Shannon\_of](#): > > It should have read “…much-maligned, lifelong…” Smiley, smiley, smiley! I want to keep hammering home the fact that Republicans, just like Democrats, have both smart AND stupid constituents. That \*that \*is something I have to emphasize is a sad statement about the prejudice that exists among many Democrats, some in my own family (who get self-conscious when we’re in her car together, listening to NPR–she can’t really call her own sister a conservative moron…_or can she?_). > > You know, in my original post, I was being purposely gentle and sensitive, to amuse myself, and to get my points across, but also to try to steer the conversation toward a more polite course. As a thread it was game at first but, like a party that’s fallen off the fun curve, it was starting to get ugly. Redirecting the course was none of my business, really, and certainly no one asked me to do it. Honestly, in my contrarian heart, I was hoping someone would wheel on me and reply with a vituperative smear of my intelligence and character, in keeping with the tone the thread was taking (which MikeF, was it?, started politely enough, if somewhat provocatively in the last bit of his gambit). > > I’m kind of sorry that no one took the bait to crush me, what fun it would have been!, but it does shed new light on an old prejudice _I_ confess to: that, as a group, Democrats are incorrigibly mean-spirited and spiteful. Everyone has been really nice to me here, considering I’m a Republican. Maybe it would be possible to have dinner together without one of us leaping across the table with a knife, or even getting agita. What’s wrong? Are you no longer amused? ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/237 "2020-04-06T14:18:45Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Problem is that is using the very same unreliable narrator the right wing has been using. Bret Weinstein is about as far left is I find comfortable and in no way would he be considered conservative (unless you interview some of the Evergreen snowflake trans protesters i guess). The youtube videos listed are interviews with Bret and his own words so I find your comment confusing. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/238 "2020-04-06T14:43:30Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Bret Weinstein is about as far left is I find comfortable and in no way would he be considered conservative (unless you interview some of the Evergreen snowflake trans protesters i guess). > > The youtube videos listed are interviews with Bret and his own words so I find your comment confusing. That one can be an unreliable narrator has nothing to do with his or her ideology. The cites I made come from the other academics and students involved in the issue, point being that just following one testimony and the spin the right wing put on it is not a good way to then follow with just “belief” as a way of finding the truth. ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/239 "2020-04-06T15:54:45Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > That one can be an unreliable narrator has nothing to do with his or her ideology. > > The cites I made come from the other academics and students involved in the issue, point being that just following one testimony and the spin the right wing put on it is not a good way to then follow with just “belief” as a way of finding the truth. I do understand and consider your point valid, however I would posit that Bret is one of the most credible testimonies (along with his wife who was a teacher there as well) and his recalling of the particulars and opinions on the event itself are - IMO - in no way right of center. At the end of the day, the videos make pretty clear what happened there and it was about as ultra left, Antifa-esque and militant as it gets. That is the arm that - IMO - makes the democratic party look unappealing to moderates like me. Just because Bret Weinstein’s view is critical of the way those delusional snowflakes (and the University President) acted does not make him anywhere near right of center. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702/240 "2020-04-06T17:53:13Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Youtube is even a worse cite to use. > > … Yeah, linking to a youtube as a cite, except for something like a speech or news conference is worthless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-conservative-and-or-trump-supporter-rationally-explain-this/850702.md?page=13)