"How to sound smart about politics on Thanksgiving."

[GURPS]

The Playbook has a paragraph on how "It is admittedly a confusing subject," and then goes on to suggest "But if you want to filter out a lot of the noise in the results and focus in on the signal, this morning’s Ron Brownstein piece at CNN is a good one to clip and save for Thursday."

Who is clipping and saving articles anymore, let alone on Thanksgiving? Would you take that person seriously? It's not likely.

To make it worse, Brownstein is already talking about 2024. Here's how the piece is explained:

He identifies a few key trends present in the 2022 results that tell us a lot about 2024:

• The red states are getting redder. (See the results for Gov. RON DeSANTIS in Florida or Gov. MIKE DeWINE in Ohio.)
• The blue states are getting bluer. (See Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM’s reelection in California, or what happened in Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state.)
• The next presidential election will likely be decided by fewer voters in fewer states.

The two presidential nominees could start out in 2024 with as many as 46 states and D.C. sorted between the two parties. Brownstein argues that given recent trends, Democrats could start with a safe 260 electoral votes and Republicans with a safe 235 electoral votes. Under this scenario, longtime battleground states have become reliably red or blue. With Michigan and Pennsylvania seemingly back in Democratic hands, Florida and Ohio dominated by the GOP, sometimes-blue North Carolina out of reach for Democrats, and perennial GOP target New Hampshire out of reach for Republicans, the list of true toss-ups could be down to just four states worth 43 electoral votes: Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin.
The electoral college map is so closely divided that you can narrow down the decisive swing votes to a few pockets spread across those four states: “a miniscule number of people living in the tiny patches of contested political ground — white-collar suburbs of Atlanta and Phoenix, working-class Latino neighborhoods in and around Las Vegas and the mid-sized communities of the so-called BOW counties in Wisconsin.”

POLITICO Playbook Gives Us What Nobody Asked for This Thanksgiving

townhall.com

 

[SamSpade]

It's been years of them pulling this crap, but imagine if they were advising people to discuss politics at, say, a funeral. Or during a wedding reception. Or at a retirement party. You know, politics may be YOUR life to YOU, but for the overwhelming number of Americans, it is less important than movies or sports or pop culture. It's a necessary evil we tolerate, but in the end, we don't gather at Thanksgiving to fight and argue or even -

To "enlighten" our more "ignorant" relations in characteristic condescension. I mean, isn't that what family and holidays are about?

And while I am at it - when was the last time, in the heat of a brutal argument - ONE of you suddenly had an epiphany and realized - wow - I am dead wrong about all this - I am SO GLAD you set me straight. THAT is just what I needed - for you to insult and ridicule me, so that I could finally see the truth.

Shall I answer that for you?

 

[Hijinx]

I raised my family right. Not a liberal in the bunch.
My sister-in-law is a liberal, but she sticks with her liberal friends and doesn't bring that garbage to my home.

 

[vraiblonde]

It's been years of them pulling this crap, but imagine if they were advising people to discuss politics at, say, a funeral. Or during a wedding reception. Or at a retirement party. You know, politics may be YOUR life to YOU, but for the overwhelming number of Americans, it is less important than movies or sports or pop culture. It's a necessary evil we tolerate, but in the end, we don't gather at Thanksgiving to fight and argue or even -

To "enlighten" our more "ignorant" relations in characteristic condescension. I mean, isn't that what family and holidays are about?

And while I am at it - when was the last time, in the heat of a brutal argument - ONE of you suddenly had an epiphany and realized - wow - I am dead wrong about all this - I am SO GLAD you set me straight. THAT is just what I needed - for you to insult and ridicule me, so that I could finally see the truth.

Shall I answer that for you?

They're not talking to you or me - they're talking to each other. What hilarious is that they have no idea how asinine they sound.

 

[SamSpade]

They're not talking to you or me - they're talking to each other. What hilarious is that they have no idea how asinine they sound.

Hmm. Can you imagine WHAT Thanksgiving dinner - or any dinner, for that matter - must be like, at THEIR house, where family sits around, talks politics and they while away the hours ridiculing MAGA and Trump? No catching up on each other's lives, discussing school and grades and how the kids did in sports or how the older or sicker relatives were unable to come? No arguments over sports and cars and the best way to cook this or that for dinner - just - politics.

BLAM - BLAM - (reload) BLAM BLAM - the sound of me blowing my own head off (if I had to be there). I can imagine they ONLY have people that concur with them politically at such a gathering. They wouldn't tolerate anyone else without dogpiling on them and insulting them - and the ones who KNOW that would politely decline to come.

To be FAIR - when we DID have huge Thanksgiving Days at my parents - politics sometimes came up and with my Mom, religion was SURE to at least be mentioned. But it wasn't the most important, and the discussions NEVER got mean, because even when they came close, FAMILY trumped everything. My Dad got to watch his beloved Lions play, as they do every Thanksgiving - and watch them lose, to the jeers of the rest of the family - but FAMILY was more important than winning any argument.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

It's been years of them pulling this crap, but imagine if they were advising people to discuss politics at, say, a funeral. Or during a wedding reception. Or at a retirement party. You know, politics may be YOUR life to YOU, but for the overwhelming number of Americans, it is less important than movies or sports or pop culture. It's a necessary evil we tolerate, but in the end, we don't gather at Thanksgiving to fight and argue or even -

To "enlighten" our more "ignorant" relations in characteristic condescension. I mean, isn't that what family and holidays are about?

And while I am at it - when was the last time, in the heat of a brutal argument - ONE of you suddenly had an epiphany and realized - wow - I am dead wrong about all this - I am SO GLAD you set me straight. THAT is just what I needed - for you to insult and ridicule me, so that I could finally see the truth.

Shall I answer that for you?

The problem is the majority of people are clueless. When presented with conversation regarding politics, they, lacking any critical thinking skills, lacking the requisite knowledge, in addition to having to fall back on the sound bites they hear throughout their lives, lack any comprehensive information on most subjects to be able to articulate any retort. Thereby relying on the sound bites they've heard, thinking it all is true, and complete. Once challenged, by simply trying to participate in such conversations, they take it personally as an affront to their supposed intellectual intelligence when challenged to further articulate their position. Of course, they lack the full picture of the knowledge requested, get flustered, name call, or stomp off.

It's like a first year history student trying to argue with a professor regarding the role Caesar played only being altruistic in his leadership role, rather than the dictator that he was. The student will always lose that conversation. Then get pissed at the professor for not accepting the student's position on the matter. Then, only much later, after graduating after four years of study, finally comes to the realization that the professor was correct.

 

[vraiblonde]

Hmm. Can you imagine WHAT Thanksgiving dinner - or any dinner, for that matter - must be like, at THEIR house, where family sits around, talks politics and they while away the hours ridiculing MAGA and Trump? No catching up on each other's lives, discussing school and grades and how the kids did in sports or how the older or sicker relatives were unable to come? No arguments over sports and cars and the best way to cook this or that for dinner - just - politics.

BLAM - BLAM - (reload) BLAM BLAM - the sound of me blowing my own head off (if I had to be there). I can imagine they ONLY have people that concur with them politically at such a gathering. They wouldn't tolerate anyone else without dogpiling on them and insulting them - and the ones who KNOW that would politely decline to come.

To be FAIR - when we DID have huge Thanksgiving Days at my parents - politics sometimes came up and with my Mom, religion was SURE to at least be mentioned. But it wasn't the most important, and the discussions NEVER got mean, because even when they came close, FAMILY trumped everything. My Dad got to watch his beloved Lions play, as they do every Thanksgiving - and watch them lose, to the jeers of the rest of the family - but FAMILY was more important than winning any argument.

I'm guessing it's just young Hannah and Ethan back from college or Aunt Jo who never married and is covered in cat hair wanting to spread their cult teachings. I have a whole dissertation regarding the similarities between leftwing politics and religion, and how the devout are so immersed that they will forcibly "spread the good news" in as intrusive a manner as they think they can get away with. They aren't content having their beliefs - they want YOU to have their beliefs.

And typically their target wants to be polite and won't shut them down, which is why that person became the target.

 

[SamSpade]

The problem is the majority of people are clueless. When presented with conversation regarding politics, they, lacking any critical thinking skills, lacking the requisite knowledge, in addition to having to fall back on the sound bites they hear throughout their lives, lack any comprehensive information on most subjects to be able to articulate any retort.

Politics and religion stand mostly alone when it comes to discussion. On just about ANY other subject, people ill-informed on a subject will back off and admit - "well, I don't know a lot about - sports - cars - raising children - cooking" and so forth. (Except possibly my brother - because he's worked with cognitively disabled kids - he know more than I do after RAISING ONE for 16 years).

I think it's because that everyone believes since they are slightly insinuated into our culture, people believe they know as much as anyone else. Everyone knows that people believe in a God, and if they were brought up believing however marginally, they're an "expert" or they "have their own beliefs" (even though, from experience, they usually have someone else's, even if it's just something they read).

Politics is that way. They know a LITTLE, so they think they know a lot (there's actually a term for this, but I don't remember). And think that entitles them to an opinion on something they really don't know anything about.

Bring up just about ANY OTHER topic - and they'll wisely bow out because they know they're not informed (with the exception of my brother - and any other know it all). For some reason, politics and religion are always fair game.

 

[SamSpade]

They aren't content having their beliefs - they want YOU to have their beliefs.

Except that MOST evangelicals honestly believe they are HELPING you.
An illustration I once saw used in a kid's class is Susie pushing Johnny off his skateboard - which was mean.
Except a BIGGER picture shows he is headed straight off a cliff that he doesn't see. THAT is how they think.

When it's politics, I can't see a similar situation. It's just ego stroking.

 

[SamSpade]

around "lefties", ask just what IS an assault weapon.

Sit back, relax, sip your iced tea.

What do you do when they give you an swift, idiotic answer like "Duh, the AR-15? What do you think AR stands for?". Do you laugh hysterically, correct them, or make a quick exit knowing you're as the saying goes, wrestling with a pig?

 

[vraiblonde]

Except that MOST evangelicals honestly believe they are HELPING you.
An illustration I once saw used in a kid's class is Susie pushing Johnny off his skateboard - which was mean.
Except a BIGGER picture shows he is headed straight off a cliff that he doesn't see. THAT is how they think.

When it's politics, I can't see a similar situation. It's just ego stroking.

The Left thinks they're helping you too. Or mankind, at least. Think about their causes - climate change (which will kill us all unless YOU change your evil ways), racial equity (because black people aren't capable enough to achieve on their own), gender dysphoria (because YOU want to murder your child just because xe's different), abortion (because birthing people will go extinct without safe legal abortions), etc etc. They have a savior complex and think they're some superhero who is saving humanity.

Your skateboard/cliff analogy is exactly the way these people think. It's a documented mental disorder with a number of compulsions: Atlas complex, Superman complex, Hero syndrome, and a couple of others I forget.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration

An illustration I once saw used in a kid's class is Susie pushing Johnny off his skateboard - which was mean. Except a BIGGER picture shows he is headed straight off a cliff that he doesn't see. THAT is how they think.

Kinda like when I post opinion/thoughts regarding finance and the coming economic collapse. In my analogy, I'm just posting a [warning] sign on the road at the crest of a hill warning a cliff is up ahead and to stop, or use caution when approaching. Then some dufus comes along and tells people, there's no problem, there's only a gap of 2 feet to the cliff on the other side, just drive faster to clear the gap, and everything will be alright. Only the problem is the other cliff is compromised and will crumble when the car lands on the other side.

Anyway, something along those lines.