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The concept of "both-sidesism" is a thought-terminating cliché that attempts to be a more reasonable sounding way of saying that one side is holy and the other

The concept of "both-sidesism" is a thought-terminating cliché that attempts to be a more reasonable sounding way of saying that one side is holy and the other is sinful that was invented on social media platforms for propaganda purposes. > What the republicans have been doing is nothing at all like what the democrats have done. All of the work of making Americans distrust their government from the executive in the last 60 years have come from Republicans Many examples have been given in this post's comments alone and are already well-known by the average HN user, such as: 1. The Snowden Leaks (Obama) 2. The Pentagon Papers (exposed under Nixon, describes actions under Kennedy and Johnson administration) 3. The IRS Targeting Controversy (Obama) 4. DOJ Surveillance of Journalists (Obama)

throwaway173738 8mo ago
No, it’s an attempt to weigh the actions of either side in aggregate. What you’re doing is trying to argue that everything is awful and so why bother. I’ve seen numerous examples of one group acting well-meaning and sincere, and numerous examples of the other group taking advantage and sewing chaos. If you think they’re both the same you’re either not paying attention to everything or you only care about a very few things. Either way it’s going to be impossible for me to find common ground with you as long as you refuse to try to work with what you’ve got.
- GaryBluto 8mo ago
  > What you’re doing is trying to argue that everything is awful and so why bother. I don't know how that could be construed from my comments. > Either way it’s going to be impossible for me to find common ground with you as long as you refuse to try to work with what you’ve got. If I don't agree with you you won't agree with me? This isn't a revelation.
malcolmgreaves 8mo ago
To the three points you list: Number 1 was Bush. The republicans crated the NSA surveillance machine. Number 2 — know your US history. The democratic and republican parties flipped philosophies in 68. Their dems went pro integration and the southern dems went to the Republican Party, which remained segregationist. Nixon was closer to Kennedy and LBJ than Humphrey. Number 3 is nothing - it wasn’t active targeting. They implemented rules to check all organizations. The republican affiliates ones were skirting the rules. They looked at orgs with certain things in their name, but it was an investigation. No government action came of it. It was not abuse. This is another lie by the republicans.
- GaryBluto 8mo ago
  1. If I give you a loaded gun you're still responsible for shooting somebody. 2. It is an oversimplified view to suggest that Democratic and Republican parties completely flipped during the late 60s but they certainly did reverse views on race. 3. They put extra scrutiny organizations with "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their names and admitted as much. Unless the Obama administration was secretly Republican and put out this "lie" to negatively impact themselves as part of some grand reptilian conspiracy.
  - throwawayq3423 8mo ago
    > On Friday, May 10, a top official with the Internal Revenue Service dropped a bombshell. IRS staffers had singled out conservative organizations with “tea party” or “patriots” in their name that were seeking tax-exempt nonprofit status, subjecting them to extra scrutiny to see if they were abusing the tax law as it relates to political activity. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/irs-tea-party-scandal-congress-nonprofit-obama/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/irs-tea-party-s... You're not allowed to seek tax exempt status if you are a partisan organization. Searching for political terminology to determine that is perfectly logical.

throwaway173738 8mo ago

No, it’s an attempt to weigh the actions of either side in aggregate. What you’re doing is trying to argue that everything is awful and so why bother. I’ve seen numerous examples of one group acting well-meaning and sincere, and numerous examples of the other group taking advantage and sewing chaos. If you think they’re both the same you’re either not paying attention to everything or you only care about a very few things. Either way it’s going to be impossible for me to find common ground with you as long as you refuse to try to work with what you’ve got.

GaryBluto 8mo ago
> What you’re doing is trying to argue that everything is awful and so why bother. I don't know how that could be construed from my comments. > Either way it’s going to be impossible for me to find common ground with you as long as you refuse to try to work with what you’ve got. If I don't agree with you you won't agree with me? This isn't a revelation.

malcolmgreaves 8mo ago

To the three points you list: Number 1 was Bush. The republicans crated the NSA surveillance machine. Number 2 — know your US history. The democratic and republican parties flipped philosophies in 68. Their dems went pro integration and the southern dems went to the Republican Party, which remained segregationist. Nixon was closer to Kennedy and LBJ than Humphrey. Number 3 is nothing - it wasn’t active targeting. They implemented rules to check all organizations. The republican affiliates ones were skirting the rules. They looked at orgs with certain things in their name, but it was an investigation. No government action came of it. It was not abuse. This is another lie by the republicans.

GaryBluto 8mo ago
1. If I give you a loaded gun you're still responsible for shooting somebody. 2. It is an oversimplified view to suggest that Democratic and Republican parties completely flipped during the late 60s but they certainly did reverse views on race. 3. They put extra scrutiny organizations with "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their names and admitted as much. Unless the Obama administration was secretly Republican and put out this "lie" to negatively impact themselves as part of some grand reptilian conspiracy.
- throwawayq3423 8mo ago
  > On Friday, May 10, a top official with the Internal Revenue Service dropped a bombshell. IRS staffers had singled out conservative organizations with “tea party” or “patriots” in their name that were seeking tax-exempt nonprofit status, subjecting them to extra scrutiny to see if they were abusing the tax law as it relates to political activity. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/irs-tea-party-scandal-congress-nonprofit-obama/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/irs-tea-party-s... You're not allowed to seek tax exempt status if you are a partisan organization. Searching for political terminology to determine that is perfectly logical.