[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

Choosing not to randomly insult people is not appeasement.

No, but your suggested approach is. Again, you don't have a clue what you are talking about. You have no idea just how divided things are down here and how quickly the right will hurl insults. They do it as a test. If you don't respond, they don't respect you.

You don't let bad behaviour slide,

And how do you do that exactly? Point out how bad their behavior is? That just feeds their bad behavior. That just gives them exactly what they want. Milo Yiannopolis fed off being told he was a jackass. His followers lived vicariously through him and the attacks he took. The end for him started when he was allowed to sit at the big boys table and two well respected experts in their fileds had had enough and told him to #### off. You can only reason with an idiot for so long before you have to drop the mitts and get ugly.

And if you think Yiannopolis is too extreme an example, how about one of the icons of the conservative media, "Papa Bear" Bill O'Reilly. There is no bigger bully, no one quicker to through an insult, no one more willing to ignore facts and spin his own line of BS. How well did people reasoning with O'Reilly go? How well did it go with John Stewart inviting him on the Daily Show and crushing him with facts and rational discourse? Didn't do a damn thing and actually got O'Reilly more fans, because O'Reilly looked strong and was able to insult Stewart at will. O'Reilly wouldn't do Colbert anymore, because Colbert used very smart insults to embarrass Papa Bear. Colbert made the big man look like the little man that he really is, and most importantly, weak. Stark contrast with very different results.

When you don't stand up and do what is needed with these jerks you just feed them and their followers.

you don't allow buffoons to compromise the integrity of the US constitution,

And how do you do that? The vast majority of people in the US don't even know what the Constitution is. Most think it is the Bill of Rights. You can't have a rational argument about something that people know nothing about.

you don't endorse ignorance and you certainly don't overlook potential treason.

And how do you do that when a certain ideology creates its own shared reality? You've seen it in this thread with Texas Flames Fan and Illuminaughty. To a lesser extent you see it with Corsi and Peter12. They ignore facts, they ignore real happenings, and they rely on fallacies and fantasies to frame their reality, or worse, make arguments based on ridiculous philosophical beliefs that live in a vacuum and detached from reality. You do not reach these people with facts. They are not going to move off their position with facts.

You fight for all of these things without carelessly insulting your fellow citizens.

How??? I'll be waiting for this wonderful plan on how to move the needle with people who won't listen to facts and live in their own insular fantasy world.

That's not appeasement.

If you won't do what needs to be done, that's appeasement. If your child is acting up and they won't respond to "time outs" and you refuse to yank their pants down and paddle their little ass, that's appeasement. You're encouraging their bad behavior. If diplomacy fails, you need to take things to the next level. That's where America is right now. Diplomacy with the RW has failed in most quarters. Ask Senator Elizabeth Warren how hitting these creeps with facts works? All she got was censured. She appeased them and got crushed.