Continuing this from the thread in !chapotraphouse@hexbear.net Have the Democrats finally hit on a good messaging strategy in calling Trump “weird?”

Original Post by @Philosoraptor@hexbear.net

Inspired by this post and the fact that I’m seeing a lot of regular libs start to coverage on “these guys are weird little freaks” as a messaging policy, which really seems to be bringing out the wojak-nooo in the far right. It’s working much better for them than all of Biden’s attempts to portray Trump as some kind of existential threat to amerikkka.

This is interesting, and only surprising in the sense that it is surprising to see the Democrats do something kind of effective for once. Fascists thrive on being seen as cool, powerful, and dangerous; those aesthetics are central to the brand. Every time Biden gave a big speech about how the future of democracy was on the line in the election, it played into that aesthetic. Every time CNN calls January 6 a “coup attempt,” it plays into that aesthetic.

Calling these people weird little freaks with weird dumb ideas and weird creepy fixations does not play into that aesthetic. It breaks the illusion that all the freaks at the RNC wearing bandages on their ears are actually normal and represent normal people. They aren’t, and they don’t. This is yet another thing that the left has known for some time now, but that libs seem to maybe be catching on to: taking these idiots seriously empowers them. Actually realizing that and using it is one of the smarter things that the Dems have done in a while.

  • TemutheeChallahmet [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    28·
    3 months ago

    It works because most Republican communication now relies on like 10 layers of preexisting outrage lore, and only really has power if you are way too plugged in to the internet.

    Think about how the conservative influencers always love to just post a picture of a random short haired/fat woman or skinny bespectacled man and go “THIS is the Biden Admin’s/Video Game Company’s appointee to so and so,” egging on their dog-brained mouth breathers to accuse said person of being trans/soy/ran through/alone with cats whatever. Does any normal mature and non-insecure person engage with the greater world in this way? Does real human interaction ever really unfold so in line with arbitrary preconceptions, or are these chuds just dredging up half-remembered tropes from movies, advertising, and TV shows pretending they can pregame real human interaction?

    No, you can only understand the right’s weird taxonomy of humankind if you do not interact with humankind healthily or regularly, and are a social maladapt who cannot have conversations with anyone without first sizing them up and seeing if you will have enough canned lines for bluffing your normalcy through a conversation with them.

    Do you remember at the middle school dance when there was that group of guys/girls who stood in the corner not dancing because they were scared to venture off and join the crowd, but were talking especially loudly at each other so that eavesdroppers might presume they were cool? Do you remember people like this talking shit about their peers who were self-affirmed enough to unironically have a good time being silly, or scoping for a more outcast group to pick on?

    That is what conservative culture is now, antisocial, resentful, sexually-anxious middle school brained losers who haven’t developed the social graces to improvise through life, people who bluff as the in-group by using self-serious/dehumanizing language to slander and bring down other people minding their own business. They are just finally being called out for being the sauceless pretenders who were being excluded all along for good reason, beneath this facade of normalcy and superiority they affected by doing their own excluding.

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      That is what conservative culture is now, antisocial, resentful, sexually-anxious middle school brained losers who haven’t developed the social graces to improvise through life, people who bluff as the in-group by using self-serious/dehumanizing language to slander and bring down other people minding their own business.

      What’s especially funny about this is that conservative women are also repulsed by this. Their online dating services fail, although this may be due to women in general being less present on dating apps and conservatives probably finding dates in churches and shit. But the fact remains, so many conservative men would never in a million years reveal to their wives or girlfriends their albums of wojak comics or incel beliefs because everyone knows it makes you a loser.

      If a conservative woman tries to participate in these online cultures, they will either be harassed by their own men, accused of being trans, or “accepted” as long as they allow themselves to be sexualized and used as a punching bag.