As I try to wrap my brain around the horrible choices on offer this November, it's worth considering why conservative pundits are so easy to parody. Most of the Trump trolls I've encountered on the internet are just obnoxious, but this guy is telling us something we need to understand:
Think about it. If you fancy yourself a Serious Conservative Intellectual™ who writes for a Serious Conservative Periodical™ like National Review or The Federalist, your online conduct ought to be consistent with that. When your audience sees you slapfighting with @MAGA_Dude_1985 for an hour straight, it doesn’t matter how cleverly you think you roasted him, it still looks silly. It looks petty.
This is one of the reasons why the more established conservative thinkers have been so bad at controlling the conversation this election cycle. The main reason, no doubt, is Trump, who is a virtuoso at getting his opponents to chase their own tails. But down in the trenches of social media a lot of pundits are also taking heat from their right for the first time, and they’re reacting by getting down and dirty with their detractors, which makes them seem like anything but the principled, high-minded voices of reason they want to be perceived as. Trump supporters, by comparison, have no such pretensions to erudite sophistication, so we’re at an advantage in these exchanges.
And out on the trail, it plays out like this:
You have to understand the world you live in. At this point, I don't.
The last presidential election really reframed my thinking. Or rather, it started an ongoing process. I suspect this election will do that for many people.
I think before, our political system was predicated on loyalty to one of two center-ish parties. There was a certain pragmatism involved.
It seems different. More people seem willing to lose an election in order to make a statement. More people want to say Fuque U. I think this speaks to a certain despair, "It doesn't actually make a difference anyways. I may as well vote cathartically."
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The last presidential election really reframed my thinking. Or rather, it started an ongoing process. I suspect this election will do that for many people.
I think before, our political system was predicated on loyalty to one of two center-ish parties. There was a certain pragmatism involved.
It seems different. More people seem willing to lose an election in order to make a statement. More people want to say Fuque U. I think this speaks to a certain despair, "It doesn't actually make a difference anyways. I may as well vote cathartically."
Voting the Cathartic Party, straight ticket.
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