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If we're going to have the occasional political discussion on Hacker News, we're going to have to please refrain from calling names like "apocalyptic cult".

by sctb 10y ago

dredmorbius 10y ago
When that's what senior GOP officials are calling the party themselves, and have been for years, well before the recent election cycle, and how it's referred to in mainstream media, you might care to reconsider your position. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-apocalyptic-gop-is-dragging-us-into-a-civil-war-20110907 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-apocalypti... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the... http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2011/09/republican-party-congressional http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2011/09/republ... http://www.thehypertexts.com/Republican%20Insanity.htm http://www.thehypertexts.com/Republican%20Insanity.htm http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/the_republican_party_is_out_of_ideas_it_is_now_purely_a_cult_of_personality.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/201... There is such a thing as false balance.
- 3131s 10y ago
  A single former GOP staffer is what 4 out of 5 of those articles are referencing. The last one doesn't even contain the words "apocalyptic cult".
  - pcvarmint 10y ago
    Correct, Mike Lofgren. [0] [0] http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779 http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operati...
youdontknowtho 10y ago
I'm not the one that came up with that term. I think it was Norm Ornstein? What I don't understand is how you think you can have a discussion with one side willing to do anything to subvert your position. My point is that republicans have been playing to win and Democrats have been playing along. If you value science or secular society there isn't another choice. You have to oppose them.
- mythrwy 10y ago
  Someone else said it first isn't really a good excuse for that kind of rhetoric though. I understand you feel strongly about your beliefs but you really are out of line. Everyone else is not evil nor wrong for not supporting the Democratic party in all they do.
  - youdontknowtho 10y ago
    That's not even remotely what I'm saying. I'm not saying that people are Evil for not supporting the Democratic party in all they do. I'm saying that the Democrats are the only option for change. The Republicans are opposed to evidence based decision making. My point is that Rand Paul is not a moderate because he's got a good position on this one issue. On other issues he's extreme. Without some strategy to deal with the Democratic party's problems there's no way to get anything done, because the Republican's are completely captured. So far, people have been downvoting me and replying with pablum about party politics being the problem. Well, no one has told me how you roll back the surveillance state or draw down the military budget. In fact, the "discussion" is really just people saying how bad it is and how RMS was right. Without getting involved in politics there is no way to roll it back. If you have to get involved in politics how do you do it in a way that succeeds? I'm saying that there is a way to do that. Everyone who has responded has said...I don't like your attitude. My larger point is that defeating the surveillance state is no good if we have large numbers of people getting lead poison from their water. If we roll back militarism but lose coastal cities due to the rising water level...is that a victory? The Republicans are worse then the Dem's so we should concentrate on forcing the Dems to take the correct positions. If you don't want to talk politics, fine. Don't put words in my mouth, though. If I thought the Republicans could be useful I would say we should use them.

If we're going to have the occasional political discussion on Hacker News, we're going to have to please refrain from calling names like "apocalyptic cult".

by sctb 10y ago

If we're going to have the occasional political discussion on Hacker News, we're going to have to please refrain from calling names like "apocalyptic cult".

dredmorbius 10y ago

When that's what senior GOP officials are calling the party themselves, and have been for years, well before the recent election cycle, and how it's referred to in mainstream media, you might care to reconsider your position. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-apocalyptic-gop-is-dragging-us-into-a-civil-war-20110907 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-apocalypti... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the... http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2011/09/republican-party-congressional http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2011/09/republ... http://www.thehypertexts.com/Republican%20Insanity.htm http://www.thehypertexts.com/Republican%20Insanity.htm http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/the_republican_party_is_out_of_ideas_it_is_now_purely_a_cult_of_personality.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/201... There is such a thing as false balance.

3131s 10y ago
A single former GOP staffer is what 4 out of 5 of those articles are referencing. The last one doesn't even contain the words "apocalyptic cult".
- pcvarmint 10y ago
  Correct, Mike Lofgren. [0] [0] http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779 http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operati...

youdontknowtho 10y ago

I'm not the one that came up with that term. I think it was Norm Ornstein? What I don't understand is how you think you can have a discussion with one side willing to do anything to subvert your position. My point is that republicans have been playing to win and Democrats have been playing along. If you value science or secular society there isn't another choice. You have to oppose them.

mythrwy 10y ago
Someone else said it first isn't really a good excuse for that kind of rhetoric though. I understand you feel strongly about your beliefs but you really are out of line. Everyone else is not evil nor wrong for not supporting the Democratic party in all they do.
- youdontknowtho 10y ago
  That's not even remotely what I'm saying. I'm not saying that people are Evil for not supporting the Democratic party in all they do. I'm saying that the Democrats are the only option for change. The Republicans are opposed to evidence based decision making. My point is that Rand Paul is not a moderate because he's got a good position on this one issue. On other issues he's extreme. Without some strategy to deal with the Democratic party's problems there's no way to get anything done, because the Republican's are completely captured. So far, people have been downvoting me and replying with pablum about party politics being the problem. Well, no one has told me how you roll back the surveillance state or draw down the military budget. In fact, the "discussion" is really just people saying how bad it is and how RMS was right. Without getting involved in politics there is no way to roll it back. If you have to get involved in politics how do you do it in a way that succeeds? I'm saying that there is a way to do that. Everyone who has responded has said...I don't like your attitude. My larger point is that defeating the surveillance state is no good if we have large numbers of people getting lead poison from their water. If we roll back militarism but lose coastal cities due to the rising water level...is that a victory? The Republicans are worse then the Dem's so we should concentrate on forcing the Dems to take the correct positions. If you don't want to talk politics, fine. Don't put words in my mouth, though. If I thought the Republicans could be useful I would say we should use them.