Althouse: "He has given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys..."

December 22, 2025

"He has given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys..."

Said Nicki Minaj (talking to Erika Kirk about President Trump):

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103 comments:

rehajm said...: She’ll get the usual treatment I’m sure but one more data point demonstrates if you’re still trying to extract value from the bad guys to promote the audience for that crap is dwindling…; 12/22/25, 6:06 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Nikki has been brave enough to stand up for Christians and bring attention to the ongoing purge of Christian communities in Africa and Asia. Where are all the so-called leaders on the left? More Christians were slaughtered this year than Gazans killed in their two year war with Israel. It’s been like this for years and yet the “Bring back our girls” crowd that aped Michelle Obama’s weak Twitter campaign is silent.

The Red-Green alliance is the most serious national security threat we face because one of the major parties has gone all-in with the globalize-the-intifada crowd. Look at Tampon Tim! He’s more upset that the news mentions the word Somali than he is they stole more than the annual GDP of Somalia.; 12/22/25, 6:14 AM
rehajm said...: they stole more than the annual GDP of Somalia

…you may be thinking this is hyperbole but Somali gdp is like 13 billion and earlier this year auditors took a quick look at the US budget and were quickly bounced out of town. I predicted St Patricks Day but they really only lasted until Valentine’s Day 💘; 12/22/25, 6:20 AM
Dave Begley said...: She’ll be mercilessly attacked by the Left.; 12/22/25, 6:24 AM
jim5301 said...: Its heartwarming that during this Christmas season even MAGA can love an illegal immigrant from a shithole country; 12/22/25, 6:50 AM
donald said...: Ape like and Michelle. Checks out and go fuck yourself if you got a problem with that.; 12/22/25, 6:57 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: “Beat the bad guys”? Sounds like someone could get hurt?

Are we promoting violence here? If not, why the “us v them”, why are their beliefs superior and those who disagree the ‘bad guys”? Why the need and promotion to hate?

It certainly seems to simplify a complex world. People don’t have to wrestle with nuance, data, or uncomfortable contradictions. The “bad guys” become a catch-all, any outsider you want.

When everything is framed as a battle against “bad guys,” the leader becomes the only shield. Loyalty becomes mandatory. Disagreement risks making you one of the ‘bad guys. Hate isn’t a side effect—it’s a binding agent.

When politics stops being about improving life and starts being about identifying “bad people,” history tells us where that road leads.; 12/22/25, 6:59 AM
Eva Marie said...: “When politics stops being about improving life and starts being about identifying “bad people,” history tells us where that road leads.”
People who compare our President to Hitler should stop lecturing others and fix their own rhetoric.; 12/22/25, 7:07 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: '"why are their beliefs superior and those who disagree the ‘bad guys”?'

Cause they are prosecuting and putting people in jail for political activity and expressions?

Cause they were flooding the country with unvetted and illegal migrants and thus promoting violent crime and suppressing wages?

Cause they are accusing anyone who disagrees with them as being Nazis and then selling "the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi" t-shirts?

Cause they are assassinating and trying to assassinate our leaders?

Cause they are violently assaulting peaceful gatherings and meetings to shutdown opposition?

Cause they are promoting sexual mutilation of children?; 12/22/25, 7:07 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: Cause they are lying about all that and trying to gaslight us?; 12/22/25, 7:08 AM
Wilbur said...: The associate sociology professor is lecturing us again. He doesn't realize it's purely projection on his part.; 12/22/25, 7:09 AM
rehajm said...: The people importing ten of millions of people illegally under the bribe of a free middle class lifestyle and immunity from crimes and bad people who should be identified and prosecuted. That’s a good thing not a bad thing…; 12/22/25, 7:12 AM
Krumhorn said...: why are their beliefs superior and those who disagree the ‘bad guys”? Why the need and promotion to hate?

I have mentioned before that my feeling about the ‘bad guys’…lefties….is not driven from any sense of superiority but rather from their unmistakable resemblance to the cockroach.

- Krumhorn; 12/22/25, 7:12 AM
rehajm said...: It is not driven by hate but rather to help the left validate that no one is above the law…; 12/22/25, 7:15 AM
Disparity of Cult said...: A celebrity expressing an opinion, but she's not wrong.; 12/22/25, 7:16 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Notice that no one explained why dehumanizing language is necessary for good policy. Instead, the argument became a list of enemies and accusations — many mutually contradictory — and even comparisons to vermin. That’s exactly the shift I was pointing to. When disagreement becomes proof of evil, persuasion ends and force becomes thinkable. That’s not strength. It’s a warning sign.; 12/22/25, 7:24 AM
Bob Boyd said...: ‘Donny Imma only tell you this once, you’re the illest
And for your love Imma die hard like Bruce Willis’; 12/22/25, 7:26 AM
rehajm said...: iow stop making persuasive arguments…; 12/22/25, 7:28 AM
Disparity of Cult said...: Embrace the Chuck; 12/22/25, 7:30 AM
Eva Marie said...: Notice RJW doesn’t take ownership of his own rhetoric.; 12/22/25, 7:32 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Are we promoting violence here?

No. Obama did but we don't. Maybe you have conveniently forgot his "the Chicago way" speech telling his people to get in our faces and fight us with guns.; 12/22/25, 7:32 AM
Old and slow said...: I've got hand it to "Ronald", he's got some brass neck on him making these comments after the absolute demonization of Trump and MAGA.; 12/22/25, 7:33 AM
Rocco said...: “When politics stops being about improving life and starts being about identifying “bad people,” history tells us where that road leads.”

A very succinct warning to people who suffer from TDS.; 12/22/25, 7:34 AM
Bob Boyd said...: ‘He cold, he dope, he blowin' up coke
He always in the air but he never fly coach’; 12/22/25, 7:35 AM
Peachy said...: Careful. Niki - the rage fueled left might shoot you in the neck.
No free speech for you.; 12/22/25, 7:37 AM
Achilles said...: Ronald J. Ward said...

“Beat the bad guys”? Sounds like someone could get hurt?

Are we promoting violence here? If not, why the “us v them”, why are their beliefs superior and those who disagree the ‘bad guys”? Why the need and promotion to hate?

Yes Chuck. You are traitors.

You brought in foreign soldiers. You paid them money you took from us. You let them vote in our elections. You burned American flags with them. You told them to shoot our ICE agents and National Guard soldiers.; 12/22/25, 7:37 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Ron are you so fucking stupid that you don't realize the "bad guys" Nikki refers to are the ones slaughtering Christians right now while you ramble on about politics. You see, we like to identify the real enemy and mobilize against that. In keeping with my prior comment I'll point out that Barack Obama was just like you and only used the word "enemy" to describe Republicans [i.e. Ron hears "enemy" and assumes the speaker meant democrats]. In 8 years as president Obama never identified another group that was awful enough to be called "enemy" than Republicans.

So take your Monday edition of civility bullshit and stick up your ass.; 12/22/25, 7:38 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Mike @ 7:32, I didn’t accuse anyone of promoting violence. I asked why violent framing — “beat the bad guys” — is necessary in politics at all.

Pointing to Obama doesn’t answer that. If the language is harmless, it should be defensible on its own.

My point isn’t who said something first — it’s what happens when political disagreement is cast as a battle against “bad people.” History shows where that kind of thinking leads, regardless of party.; 12/22/25, 7:39 AM
Achilles said...: For us "violence" means a proper arrest, a fair trial, and if you traitors get what you deserve a swift execution. Maybe we will give you the option to go join your allies in a different country.; 12/22/25, 7:39 AM
Achilles said...: Ronald J. Ward said...

My point isn’t who said something first — it’s what happens when political disagreement is cast as a battle against “bad people.” History shows where that kind of thinking leads, regardless of party.

We think you are bad just like you think we are bad.

I told you shitheads you would not like it when we started treating you like you treated us.

Barrack Obama lied to a FISA court to spy on Trump. He did this while Trump was president. Everyone involved in lying to that FISA court should be executed after a fair trial. That is the definition of sedition.; 12/22/25, 7:42 AM
Peachy said...: JD Vance perfectly sums up Democratic politicians:

"They are puppets. They are cogs in a machine that wants to make you poorer, less powerful, and less safe in the country your ancestors built."

"They get rich when you get poorer. They hire the illegals that they bring in to take your jobs. They drink fine wine in the countries they ship your jobs to."

"They bring in millions of voters because they know they can't win the argument with the people already here."; 12/22/25, 7:44 AM
rehajm said...: Yah relevant here is someone was asking how a GOAT might be seen flying commercial- the economics has many moving parts, where and why are you going means a great deal. then there’s stuff like this that after you get some general aviation swat time seems to matter a little more. I can vouch for the JH approach, the left seat guy reaching for both shoulder harnesses while out the front window looked not like a Bob Ross but more like Max Headroom’s backdrop…; 12/22/25, 7:45 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Mike @ 7:38, notice how quickly this moved from “we’re not promoting violence” to “we identify the enemy and mobilize against them,” followed by personal abuse for questioning the framing.

That’s exactly the concern I raised. When politics becomes about defining enemies rather than improving life, disagreement stops being something to answer and starts being something to crush.

You can change who you think the “bad guys” are, but the structure stays the same — and history is very clear about where that structure leads.; 12/22/25, 7:46 AM
rehajm said...: GoT had the go sit on the wall option but that requires commitment and effort. most of the guilty here would rather have a blindfold…; 12/22/25, 7:48 AM
rehajm said...: The ladies on The View will be summoned to answer I’m sure…; 12/22/25, 7:49 AM
rehajm said...: So wait- Trinidad AND Tobago?; 12/22/25, 7:49 AM
Dunham said...: Nicki is married to a registered sex offender.; 12/22/25, 7:52 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "Ron are you so fucking stupid that you don't realize the "bad guys" Nikki refers to are the ones slaughtering Christians right now while you ramble on about politics."

I don't know where the hell this came from. I was clearly replying to RJW and his use of Minaj's comment to spread civility bullshit. Try to keep up.; 12/22/25, 7:55 AM
Eva Marie said...: “ . . . and history is very clear about where that structure leads.”
Tell us please, where does this structure lead?; 12/22/25, 8:00 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: JD’s speech was fantastic.; 12/22/25, 8:00 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I don't relate to Nicki Minaj's music or lyrics, but she's eloquent and concise here.
"He has given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys..."
That's the Trump/MAGA phenomenon in a nutshell.; 12/22/25, 8:00 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "That’s exactly the concern I raised. When politics becomes about defining enemies rather than improving life, disagreement stops being something to answer and starts being something to crush."

Crush? You mean like with assassinations and attempted assassinations? And then people celebrating the assassinations? Noticing that people want to kill you because they think you are evil is a responsible behavior. Noticing that they are gaslighting you is responsible behavior.; 12/22/25, 8:03 AM
FormerLawClerk said...: I'm sorry. He was assassinated. The bad guys won. They will always win because they are willing to do things that the "good guys" are simply not willing to do.; 12/22/25, 8:10 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Wasn’t “Turning Point USA” about college indoctrination?; 12/22/25, 8:16 AM
narciso said...: Cleaver removes all doubt, axelrods othet client buhari paid the jizda to boko hsram; 12/22/25, 8:18 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Ron @ 8:03, I’m not denying that political violence exists or that fear can be real. What I’m pointing out is something different: when fear itself becomes the justification for labeling whole groups as enemies, politics stops being about solutions and becomes about permanent mobilization.

Every side can list violent incidents. That’s exactly why turning disagreement into enemy identification is so dangerous — it feeds a loop where everyone feels justified and no one feels responsible. Noticing threats is prudent. Defining entire groups as “the enemy” is how societies lose control of that fear.

We’ve seen these movements before. It’s never ended well.; 12/22/25, 8:19 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "The bad guys won. They will always win"

Bullshit. The good guys don't have to resort to evil to win.; 12/22/25, 8:19 AM
Krumhorn said...: crush?

You mean like a cockroach?

- Krumhorn; 12/22/25, 8:21 AM
john mosby said...: Nikki may have turned righty over guilt from an abortion. That, and making lots of money from her own effforts. CC, JSM; 12/22/25, 8:21 AM
planetgeo said...: Bob Boyd: "That's the Trump/MAGA phenomenon in a nutshell."

Indeed. Ordinary people, whose kids get murdered by the bad guys being imported by the bad guys who believe they are the good guys, know who the real bad guys are. And that's why you can save your pontificating mumbo-jumbo, RJW.; 12/22/25, 8:23 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "That’s exactly why turning disagreement into enemy identification is so dangerous — it feeds a loop where everyone feels justified and no one feels responsible. Noticing threats is prudent. Defining entire groups as “the enemy” is how societies lose control of that fear."

True enough, but who started this cycle and how do you suggest we end it? It's pretty clear that the leadership on the left has no interest in doing so. And any attempt to by the right to open dialogue is met with contempt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHfbuwBifbU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54hZP_rWiU; 12/22/25, 8:26 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Every day, I look at the DOW average and I laugh my ass off.

Just bought Tesla.; 12/22/25, 8:33 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Who “started it” matters less than how the cycle keeps feeding itself. Polarization didn’t begin with one speech or one president — it’s been accelerating for decades as media, politics, and identity merged into tribal loyalty. Once fear and outrage become the currency, everyone can justify themselves by pointing backward.

As for ending it: it doesn’t stop by deciding which side is more at fault. It stops when people — leaders and citizens — refuse to define whole groups as enemies and return to criticizing ideas, policies, and actions instead of people. Noticing threats is prudent. Treating disagreement itself as proof of evil guarantees the loop never ends.

If every attempt at dialogue begins with “they started it” and ends with “they can’t be reasoned with,” then no one is actually trying to end the cycle — only to win it.; 12/22/25, 8:41 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: To paraphrase RJW, "let us all reason together."

We tried that. It was answered with violence. The left has adopted violence as a tactic. It isn't just some outliers. Not to mention the stolen elections and lawfare. And attempts at censorship. Your "both sides have sinned rhetoric" is bullshit.; 12/22/25, 8:48 AM
Achilles said...: Ronald J. Ward said...

Every side can list violent incidents. That’s exactly why turning disagreement into enemy identification is so dangerous — it feeds a loop where everyone feels justified and no one feels responsible. Noticing threats is prudent. Defining entire groups as “the enemy” is how societies lose control of that fear.

The shitweasel tries to pretend the left and the right are the same.

They weren't the same.

Soon we are going to start treating you like you treated us. You people refuse to play be the rules and then you retreat behind the rules when the pitchforks come out.

The only thing Trump is doing wrong right now is he is being too nice to you people.; 12/22/25, 9:03 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Ron, I think this has crossed from disagreement into something else. Saying “we tried dialogue and it was answered with violence” — without dates, actors, or scope — isn’t an argument, it’s a verdict. Once dialogue is declared impossible, force becomes the only remaining logic.

You also say “the left has adopted violence as a tactic.” That’s the collective guilt I’m pushing back on — millions of people reduced to a single moral actor. And it directly contradicts your earlier warning about the danger of defining groups as enemies.

I’m not denying political violence exists or excusing it from anyone. I’m saying that labeling entire groups as violent or irredeemable doesn’t end the cycle — it hardens it.

History is pretty clear: you don’t stop violence by deciding one side is uniquely evil. You stop it by refusing to become what you claim to oppose.; 12/22/25, 9:10 AM
Rusty said...: Achilles said...
Ronald J. Ward said...

Anything that follows is going to be nonsense.
Billionaires! Trump! Maga!
It's Like we have our own George Will in the form of a flying monkey.; 12/22/25, 9:13 AM
Rusty said...: Her's a tip, flying monkey.
You're one of the bad guys.; 12/22/25, 9:15 AM
Iman said...: Ward the Cleaver sports Raisinets for plums.; 12/22/25, 9:15 AM
Wilbur said...: It became evident to me at least 15 years ago that the Left was hellbent on obtaining power in this country by any means necessary: riots, terrorism, stealing elections, lawfare, illegally importing millions of aliens, Antifa, are just a few examples of the Left's approach to their fellow Americans.

The only logical conclusion was and is that the Left has no interest in the normal political process beyond what it can afford them to this end. It was evident as well that the only way the Left (dare I say "you people") can be defeated is through violence.

Obama promised to fundamentally transform America. We sat back and swallowed the Left's agenda for too long. That time is over.

Spare us your Grade D sociology lectures, Associate Professor Ward.; 12/22/25, 9:15 AM
Wince said...: jim5301 said...
Its heartwarming that during this Christmas season even MAGA can love an illegal immigrant from a shithole country

Minaj is an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, not a refugee. It's those claiming refugee status who identify their home country is too horrible a place to return to, not Trump.; 12/22/25, 9:23 AM
Christopher B said...: @Ron Winkleheimer ... I suspect Mike (MJB Wolf) mistakenly shortened 'Ronald' to 'Ron' instead of using the full fake name or initials without realizing that you were also posting in the thread.; 12/22/25, 9:29 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "Minaj is an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, not a refugee."

And Trinidad and Tobago are not shitholes. They are actually pretty nice and are considered high-income countries.

Also, what Wilbur said above.; 12/22/25, 9:30 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: "@Ron Winkleheimer ... I suspect Mike (MJB Wolf) mistakenly shortened 'Ronald' to 'Ron' instead of using the full fake name or initials without realizing that you were also posting in the thread."

OK, that makes sense. I apologize to MJB Wolf.; 12/22/25, 9:31 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: “Notice RJW doesn’t take ownership of his own rhetoric”

Eva, It’s just Ron’s personal brand of performance art. He’ll be back later today or tomorrow labeling anyone who disagrees with him as a “groomer”, “cultist” and/or gullible”. Then it’s back to a rerun of his Edie Haskell routine. It’s all to gain attention.; 12/22/25, 9:35 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Wilbur @9:15, open justification for political violence was once beyond acceptable discourse. Seeing it normalized now is exactly the trend I’ve been warning about.; 12/22/25, 9:37 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Ron Winkleheimer said...
"Ron are you so fucking stupid that you don't realize the "bad guys" Nikki refers to are the ones slaughtering Christians right now while you ramble on about politics."

I don't know where the hell this came from. I was clearly replying to RJW and his use of Minaj's comment to spread civility bullshit. Try to keep up.

12/22/25, 7:55 AM

My regrets, other Ron. I too was responding to that guy and should have been clearer. Let me know if he says anything interesting in response, since I generally skip over him, like I do Kak etc.; 12/22/25, 9:42 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Well, now I feel slow*. Thank you, Chrisfor the assist and Ron W (who is not RJW) for the undeserved apology. We Mikes have that problem all the time too.

*Was sorting out a problem with a Legal Seafoods delivery to my BIL in Milton-Freewater, which took more effort than it should have. But now I have live lobster showing up for NYE too.; 12/22/25, 9:47 AM
buwaya said...: Open justification for political violence was a perpetual theme of fashionable political attitudes, going back to the 1960s. Heck, go read Tom Wolfe. Nobody suppressed that, ever. Its been the bread and butter of intellectually dominant thought on the left side of politics. And its not unique to the US at all.
It is more openly popular in the US these days of course.

There is a definite mass-based tribal hatred in the US that cannot be mitigated or reconciled. It seems that between the two entrenched American sides there is only a no-mans land where one can only find death and destruction.

The US is therefore a crippled state, and a crippled society, where nothing can be done on any scale, as any effort will be assigned a "side" and bitterly opposed merely for existing.

Elon Musk is a case in point. He tried to do great things, but in attempting it he somehow (ask me about where engineering inherently lies on the American "sides") he attracted political and media hostility and endless government harassment. This was all pre Twitter. So he took a "side", as he pretty much had to.

It does mean that when US politics shift its going to be illegal to even think about launching rockets, probably. Such things will be haram.

It is what it is, and whats done is done. Someday this will be resolved, but probably only through a period of extreme adversity.; 12/22/25, 10:02 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: A lot in this thread shows the dangers of performative escalation: propaganda, extreme claims, dehumanization, and labeling entire groups as enemies. As Buwaya points out, this isn’t new — political violence and tribal loyalty have long been part of US and global political life. The systemic problem is that once every action is assigned a side, neutral or constructive efforts are punished or misinterpreted, and dialogue becomes nearly impossible. Recognizing these patterns — the normalization of violence, the enforcement of collective guilt, and the forced “sides” — is essential if there is ever to be a way out of the cycle.; 12/22/25, 10:34 AM
PM said...: "Now performing at the opening of the East Wing...."; 12/22/25, 10:39 AM
Vance said...: Note how Ron/Chuck is here pleading "don't judge everyone as violent hatemongers!" only when someone on the right accurately identifies the left. He is NEVER there calling out violent leftist rhetoric, is he?

Yes, Chuck/Ron: in the abstract it is not good to identify every single person as our enemy. Tell us, please, how your approach works when applied to WWII and the Germans/Japanese. If we are supposed to ask each person shooting at us whether they are in the SS or not, and even if they are, whether they really mean it.

Right? Unfortunately for you, Chuck, only God knows everyone's heart, and for the rest of us, we cannot afford to say that "well, only 80% of the left are vicious evil thugs who want us all dead so we must treat everyone as part of the 20% who don't want to literally kill us".

It's sure as heck true that Democrats treat every Republican as worse than Hitler.... a man whom Democrats really like nowadays.; 12/22/25, 10:43 AM
Achilles said...: Ronald J. Ward said...

History is pretty clear: you don’t stop violence by deciding one side is uniquely evil. You stop it by refusing to become what you claim to oppose.

This is obviously wrong.

History proves that one side wins and one side loses.

The left made this an existential conflict. You are a threat to our freedom and a threat to the American people.

We are just responding to the threat you pose.; 12/22/25, 10:47 AM
buwaya said...: There is no way out of this cycle, other than after an ultimate crisis.; 12/22/25, 10:52 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: This is exactly the shift I’ve been pointing to. WWII analogies, claims of existential threat, and “we’re just responding” logic are how political opponents get recast as wartime enemies.

Once that happens, collective guilt replaces individual responsibility, and violence becomes not just imaginable but “necessary.” That’s not history’s lesson — it’s history’s warning.

Democracies collapse not when disagreements exist, but when citizens decide fellow citizens are no longer entitled to be argued with.; 12/22/25, 10:54 AM
Vance said...: Ronald J Ward's position is that "Yes, there are 5 of us standing in front of you, all of us friends! 4 of us want to kill you. One of us, me, does not want to kill you. I won't lift a finger to stop my friends, nor will I help you or defend you from my friends. But you should treat all five of us as potential friends because it's not fair that you treat me as an enemy since I don't want to kill you! It's mean and rude for you to treat all five of us as bad people! But I won't stop or defend you from my friends!"

Yeah.... no thanks. You stand allied with those who want to kill me and mine, so how can we do anything other than treat you as an enemy?; 12/22/25, 10:55 AM
Vance said...: Political opponents? The same people who daily attack and murder various people for political reasons in this country, Chuck?

If you just want to keep this "Friendly" instead of violence, then get your side to stop being violent. Stop defending all the violent leftists. And it has to be a collective decision on the part of the left to stop being violent, or else yes, you ARE "wartime enemies."

It is the left that has, in your words, decided "Fellow citizens are no longer entitled to be argued with." The rest of us are responding to that.; 12/22/25, 10:58 AM
buwaya said...: Way too far into this mutual hatred at this point.
This is Muslims vs Jews territory now.; 12/22/25, 10:58 AM
Earnest Prole said...: A lot in this thread shows the dangers of performative escalation: propaganda, extreme claims, dehumanization, and labeling entire groups as enemies.

As I’ve mentioned here from time to time, I divide my time between deepest blue lunatic lefties and deepest red deplorable proles, and in neither place have ever I heard an actual human being fantasize about committing violence against a fellow American over politics. The only time I ever experience it is reading dopey online comments in places like this.; 12/22/25, 10:59 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: What’s striking in this thread is how a sense of existential threat is constructed. A slow drip of propaganda primes followers to see the left as hostile, reinforced by selective media and social echo chambers. High-profile incidents — threats to public figures, real or rumored — are seized as “proof” that the threat is immediate and personal. Meanwhile, right-wing political violence is minimized, ignored, or reframed as self-defense.

The result is a feedback loop where opponents are no longer political rivals but existential enemies, and every action they take is interpreted as confirmation. Facts, nuance, or counterexamples become irrelevant. This is why extreme rhetoric and calls for preemptive force can feel justified — not because of evidence, but because the narrative itself defines reality.

As said, we’ve seen this movie before. It’s never had a happy ending.; 12/22/25, 11:00 AM
john mosby said...: RJW: “ What’s striking in this thread is how a sense of existential threat is constructed” &c.

Okay, but globally switch left and right in your paragraph and doesn’t it still hold true? Slow drip of agitprop, echo chambers, incidents seized on as proof? That describes the left rather well. CC, JSM; 12/22/25, 11:05 AM
john mosby said...: PM: “ Now performing at the opening of the East Wing....”

That’s why it had to be enlarged so much, ifyouknowwhatimeanandithinkyoudo….CC, JSM; 12/22/25, 11:07 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Vance, I’m not defending violence from anyone, and I don’t assign collective guilt to millions of people. The point I’ve made repeatedly is that you don’t stop cycles of violence by deciding one side is uniquely evil — that just escalates conflict.

Observing, calling out, and refusing to mirror harmful behavior is not naïve; it’s the only way to prevent ordinary political disagreement from becoming existential war.; 12/22/25, 11:08 AM
Vance said...: Chuck, you personally bear a ton of responsibility for all of this "feedback loop." You have been here for years attacking, viciously, people on the right. You have been calling for violence, and demanding and celebrating violent attacks on Trump, on other Republicans, and more.

Guess what, Chuck? Some of us understand history. We've read about the Spanish Civil war. We KNOW what leftists are like. We know what you want, what you are trying to do.

If you don't like what is happening, go call out the left and get them to stop pushing the violence. It didn't start with Trump. BushHitler! Remember that? Darth Cheney? Assassination porn performed by leftists of GWB? Oh yes, your side, Chuck, has attacked Americans for a very, very long time.

Just how many dead Americans, dead Republicans, do you demand we accept before we defend ourselves, Chuck? Is this like your leftist worries about "Oh no, Muslims just killed 6,000 Americans! We must worry about the backlash, not about the dead Americans!"; 12/22/25, 11:08 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: The problem with Ron is that he could avoid all this bullshit by just agreeing with us that when Nikki Minaj says genocide is being done by evil people she means killing people is evil. But no he just wants to his patented TLDR civility bullshit tapdance pretending Nikki said something else because even if he is NOT chuck he has adopted the sabotage the thread mantle from our long lost LLR.; 12/22/25, 11:14 AM
buwaya said...: "Its never had a happy ending"
And neither will this.
Miguel Unamuno's phrase, and title, "A tragic sense of life" applies, though its a lot of different sort of tragedy in that book "Del sentimiento trágico de la vida"
Yes it is a "transcendental pessimism".; 12/22/25, 11:14 AM
Vance said...: And yes, the left is, in fact, "uniquely evil." It has been for centuries. The very first iteration of the "modern left" was the Terror of the French Revolution. It's only been downhill since. Marx, Lenin, Pol Pot, Stalin, Idi Amin, Castro.... the misery and human suffering caused by leftists everywhere they get into power. See: the poor souls under the iron curtain.

I'm sorry, but begging us to not see the left as evil is wrong.; 12/22/25, 11:14 AM
Howard said...: Yeah, you idiots that think the country is divided or just unduly influenced by your custom-made algorithm designed to keep you paranoid and anxious. No doubt you seek comfort in buying cheap shit from China delivered directly to your door within hours by Jeff Bezos.

In any event, your pathetic weak faith in your own opinions is buoyed my Nikki Myminge. That's a low IQ influencer you guys can truly respect and admire. More comedy gold.

I can't wait to hear her views on Greenland; 12/22/25, 11:18 AM
rehajm said...: I don’t think Bezos actually makes too many of the deliveries himself…; 12/22/25, 11:21 AM
Vance said...: Howard: If even a certified slut and whore like Nicki Minaj is saying your side is immoral and wrong.... maybe, just maybe, you should take a look in the mirror.; 12/22/25, 11:27 AM
buwaya said...: "your custom-made algorithm designed to keep you paranoid and anxious."
Decades of dealing with Fed and State regulators and lawyers advising on endless legal risks. Reality exists beyond internet chatter. I'm an old man, worn out by endless BS. I, at least, am not paranoid. Just sad.; 12/22/25, 11:36 AM
john mosby said...: Howard: “ No doubt you seek comfort in buying cheap shit from China”

Yeah, we make it impossible for you deplorables to afford anything but shit. But then you eat it up! Fucking shit eaters! That’s all you deserve! What do you feed a MAGA shit eater? Shit! That’s what!

Incroyable. CC, JSM; 12/22/25, 11:38 AM
Hassayamper said...: This is an unexpected development on par with Russell Brand becoming, if not part of the Trump/MAGA orbit sensu stricto, at least friendly and sympathetic to it.; 12/22/25, 12:05 PM
narciso said...: Of course it was the clinton foundation notably mark richs gang including chaghoury who helped loot nigeria and enabled bojo harams rise (judge chutkin went to bat for him); 12/22/25, 12:11 PM
bagoh20 said...: Are there really no bad guys we can all agree on?; 12/22/25, 12:34 PM
bagoh20 said...: "That's a low IQ influencer you guys can truly respect and admire. "
I was never a fan of her work, except that one song she did about me, but she's 100% more eloquent, clear and intelligent that the last 2 Democratic candidates for President, neither of whom could express a coherent thought.; 12/22/25, 12:40 PM
narciso said...: Not even thanos whose all for population control; 12/22/25, 12:41 PM
n.n said...: Black, brown, peach, and albino lives matter. That said, baby lives matter (BLM). #HateWallowsInDiversity; 12/22/25, 12:58 PM
Sweetie said...: If we dug up Charlie Kirk the Left would only shoot him again. Is there anyone in America that doesn't know this?; 12/22/25, 2:42 PM
Howard said...: The Mormons shot Charlie Kirk.; 12/22/25, 4:26 PM
Vance said...: Howard: you of course are a lying liar who knowingly lies and defames. The "Mormons" did not shoot Charlie Kirk. The guy who did may have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ at one point, but then he got a case of the lefties. He went furry, trans-curious, and all out full on leftist mode. In short, he decided to become your brother.

At that point, he was no longer a member of the Church. He was a member of your faith!; 12/22/25, 4:59 PM
Jim at said...: Nicki is married to a registered sex offender.

Jealous?; 12/22/25, 5:22 PM
boatbuilder said...: "Bad guys"="dehumanizing language."

Oh, my.

Grow a pair, Chuck.; 12/22/25, 10:16 PM