At least, I wish it were so — Turning Point USA thinks it would be a great comeuppance for us to spend a few months in a country with a political system we like.
TPUSA must believe their propaganda that every other country is a hellhole compared to the US to even think this argument works. Kinda like this ignoramus:
Remember that period in American history when people were crushed by the government and marched off to camps? Neither do I.
That's because we have the Second Amendment.
— Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) February 24, 2018
Right-wingers seem to know nothing about history, or economics, or politics, or science, either.
It’s okay.
Non-white people don’t count as real citizens.
Jesus, I want to form am open dialog with these people, but how do you get that fucking stupid?!
At least the idiot is getting his ass handed to him by people with facts.
No idea, but I saw an amusing example two or three days ago. There is currently a #BoycottNRA push, “calling for corporations and companies […] to sever ties with the [NRA]”. Whilst checking on various details, I stumbled across a discussion of this campaign on a wingnut site(? forum?). There, “#BoycottNRA” was described as (paraphrasing from memory) . Which is not the purpose at all, albeit I suppose with the lost of membership discounts, financial incentives for joining / renewing are lessened. Other posters were conflating anger at the NRA’s policies and actions with the NRA itself being who commits a mass murder almost every day in the States (a statistic I didn’t see mentioned).
(I note that apparently the NRA itself has now taken a similar line: (NRA lashes out at boycott movement as United, Delta and other corporations cut ties).)
Remember that time a bunch of 2nd amendment enthusiasts rose up to overthrow the gov’t and were brutally put down, their cities and fields burned and their slaves freed?
Can we do this with libertarians and anarchists too? What about people who want theocracy? And what about Trump? Can he go…somewhere…else?
In Europe, we have something called the Erasmus Programme, to allow student to spend part of their studies in another european country. Works quite well to foster a pan-european culture.
I suppose Turning Point USA wants to fight nationalism too ?
And, if I rememeber correctly, there was internment camps for US citizens of japanese descent a mere 70 years ago no?
I suppose the Second Amendment didn’t help them. Or maybe just the fact they weren’t white ?
Speaking just for me, I think could adjust to one of those Scandinavian socialist hellholes just fine.
The problem with sending hair furor somewhere else is he’d be right at home on Skaro, the essentially uninhabitable (as a result of a thousand year nuclear war) home planet of the Daleks. Anyone who likes that place is too dangerous for everywhere. His being comfortable there is suggested by his administration actively trying to emulate Daleks ().
(Which is why I call his administration a delakocracy: Rule by daleks.)
me@10: delakocracy → dalekocracy
(Apologies to Delak, Afghanistan, and Delak, Iran, and others.)
I used to wonder why that lot kept confusing Canada with Siberia, Sweden with North Korea, and Britain with the poorest parts of rural China. And then I saw that they kept confusing Trump with that mythological hippie named Jesus Christ.
America must be doing something right. With 2% of the world’s population, it has 25% of the world’s prisoners, outdoing the gulags in Soviet Russia.
Well there was that time Japanese citizens were rounded up and locked away in camps but that doesn’t count because they weren’t Amerrikkkans were they?
The B Ark people demanding that the brightest and best inhabit the A and C Arks… We thought Hitchhikers was parody, not prediction.
Another reminder that citizens of the self-styled “greatest country in the world” know absolutely nothing about any other countries in the world.
Keep in mind that these ignorant shitwits think that “socialist college student’s” preferred political system is North Korea. These right wing assholes have to ignore countries like Norway, Japan, Germany, etc. to avoid admitting that American conservatism is toxic horseshit.
Also, does Jacob Wohl seriously believe that a pack of rednecks with assault rifles would be able to take on the US military and win?
Methinks that is somewhat of an overgeneralision. The ignorance level does seem, at least from a continental European perspective, exceptionally high, but it is neither universal nor unique.
Whats with the girl with the pill ?
I am forever grateful for American Twitter. Without them I would never have known that I cannot leave my house anymore because there are marauding bands of raping muslims in Germany.
There was a comment from a Haitian Prime minister that said America was the only country in the world that’s never had a coup because it didn’t have a US embassy.
Um…don’t college students study overseas all the time, including socialist countries in Europe? They seem to do ok.
Actually, I reckon a really interesting reality tv show would be getting teams of 20 people to survive/meet challenges using differing philosophical systems — a socialist democratic system, a capitalist oligarchical system, an anarcho-syndicalist system, and so on. Volunteers would choose the team they wanted to be on.
emergence @ #18
Well, they did once. Why not again? Plus, there are “rednecks” and similar types in the US military, and the police, so I’m sometimes a little uneasy about them coming to our rescue. As I’m sure you know, West Point graduates fought against the United States for 4+ years. Their punishment for treason was to go home.
Emergence @17:
They think that countries like Norway and Germany are just as bad as North Korea.
Emergence @18:
Yes, they literally believe that disorganized groups of good old boys with shotguns, deer rifles, and a few military grade firearms will be able to take on the entire US military with its tanks, helicopters, and unmanned attack aircraft.
When Reagan was elected, I moved to Stockholm. I stayed for three years. It was one of the best experiences of my life – including learning to speak Swedish. I’d be there still if it weren’t for the climate.
@10-blf
I am reminded of an episode of Lil Bush on Comedy Central where Lil Cheney dies and goes to hell and finds himself perfectly at home. He jumps gleefully into the lake of fire and shows Satan how to torment souls with a pitchfork. It’s all in the wrist. Satan sends him packing back to the world of the living.
Interestingly in one of those shows recounting the 2000s Cheney in brief snippet mentioned his disagreement with Dubya on gay marriage. I guess Darth had that redeeming feature.
But things are a bit strained in the Cheney household:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/11/18/cheney-parents-defend-liz-cheney-in-gay-marriage-feud-with-sister/
robro @24:
Yeah, with help from the French, including (I think) most of their naval assets. Doubt that’s on this time around.
Oops, never mind. I was thinking Revolutionary War, not Civil. Brain fart.
If I recall, about a year or two back, PZ posted an article about a horrible blogger, with a vaguely sub-continental name (don’t mean that to sound racist, but it wasn’t Wadsworth Worthington The Third, it was more like Roosh Ramesh), who had a series of books and blogs about how to rape women in other countries, and both he and his books had been banned across Scandinavia and northwestern continental Europe (e.g. Holland and Belgium and Luxembourg), because, well, decent countries don’;t want rapists coming in and then publishing articles about how to rape their girls and women.
In any case, I surfed to a couple of PZ’s links to the guy’s horrible posts, and one thing he continually said about the social democracies of northern Europe was (paraphrasing), “it’s hard to get tall blonde economically stable gainfully employed women to sleep with you, even with my best pick-up lines and techniques, this country sucks for a short unpleasant asshole to ply women with alcohol and then rape them, but one thing I must admit is that their standard of living is WAY higher than America’s.”
I’m sure some of you regulars and PZ remember whom I’ referring to, a horrible creature, but even that most libertarian MRA asspig was happy to admit that they kick our ass on almost every standard social metric, while complaining that it was just the problem, having a good life meant you weren’t as willing to hook up with an American asspig.
If I recall, about a year or two back, PZ posted an article about a horrible blogger, with a vaguely sub-continental name (don’t mean that to sound racist, but it wasn’t Wadsworth Worthington The Third, it was more like Roosh Ramesh), who had a series of books and blogs about how to rape women in other countries, and both he and his books had been banned across Scandinavia and northwestern continental Europe (e.g. Holland and Belgium and Luxembourg), because, well, decent countries don’;t want rapists coming in and then publishing articles about how to rape their girls and women.
In any case, I surfed to a couple of PZ’s links to the guy’s horrible posts, and one thing he continually said about the social democracies of northern Europe was (paraphrasing), “it’s hard to get tall blonde economically stable gainfully employed women to sleep with you, even with my best pick-up lines and techniques, this country sucks for a short unpleasant asshole to ply women with alcohol and then rape them, but one thing I must admit is that their standard of living is WAY higher than America’s.”
I’m sure some of you regulars and PZ remember whom I’ referring to, a horrible creature, but even that most libertarian MRA asspig was happy to admit that they kick our ass on almost every standard social metric, while complaining that it was just the problem, having a good life meant you weren’t as willing to hook up with an American asspig.
phht @26
You were obviously suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
Based on her t-shirt, I am wondering if these people think California is a socialist country
@29- Rob Grigjanis
You insult American* pride and stand against our exceptionalism by insinuating the French had anything to do with our glorious and noble War for Independence. The Spanish helped us too? How are we to become great again with acknowledgement of such awkward truths compelled by a reading of history.
Next you will tell me we plucked Texas and much of the US Southwest away from Mexico. Oh wait:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/will-mexico-get-half-of-its-territory-back.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/04/11/mexicans-didnt-immigrate-to-america-weve-always-been-here/
Can we give Texas back?
*-USians arrogantly stole this term. A Chilean is as American as a Texan.
I wasn’t speaking of the American Revolution. I was speaking of the Civil War.
#18 Emergence:
but… WOLVERINES!
@ graham2, #20
In the US, at least, people are trained to have negative reactions to an image like the one TPUSA used by the media. It’s bog-standard conservative propaganda, and it’s telling that the imagery they use hasn’t changed appreciably since the late 1960’s. She’s supposed to evoke “hippies” and “Real Americans” hate hippies.
If you’ve watched much US TV or film in the past 50 years, or read literature with a right-wing slant, the caricature of “the hippie” will be familiar.
The script for “real men” goes something like this:
“Dyed hair! Disrespect for the cross! Possession of sexuality by someone who’d never give me the time of day (even though I’m not interested, I’m supposed to be put out that the woman
mightcan say no)! CALIFORNIA!! GARARGH MAN ANGRY!!!!!”The preceding diatribe is supposed to be peppered with misogynistic slurs, but I have no inclination to provide them. It can also be preceded, followed, or swapped out entirely for a stream of misogynistic slurs. Misogyny being the primary motivation for the hate we’re supposed to feel. Certainly the conservative viewers of this image won’t have any trouble recognizing how they’re supposed to feel about the young woman.
Also, the pill/candy is deliberately ambiguous; read as a pill she’s a drug-abusing [insert slur for woman who has sex]/read as candy she’s a childish [insert slur for woman who has sex, but not with you]. Obviously, the way she’s holding it is meant to be sexually suggestive.
I was raised by a conservative family on a diet of cop shows, and I still feel a ghost of the old anger and hate that it’s meant to evoke. It didn’t take very well with me to start with, because I couldn’t stop asking (for example) why, if I like sex, I’m supposed to hate other people who like sex.
A lot of questioning and a lot learning later, I now understand the reaction I’m supposed to feel, and you what? I still feel anger and hate when I see an image like this. It’s just that it’s directed at the propagandists. I really don’t like liars, and one of these days those propagandists just might regret teaching me to hate so well.
Gosh, I live in one of those countries and I’ve survived for 74 years now. Needed open heart surgery this year and I had it free including the stay in hospital. The horror!
Hint: look North…
Here’s an idea
get a time machine
and send Donald to do his PatrioticDuty
rather than draft-dodging
Um, the Southern armed terroristas got their asses beat, crushed and burned in the civil war.
Likewise, any idiots who try to go up against the modern military will find themselves blown to bits (warning: graphic)
Do they think they could actually win in a war with all the U.S.A armed forces? Bizarre. Also, they must secretly hate the men and women that serve in the military as they’d be potential threats?
vucodlak @35
I just assumed she’s “taking the red pill”.
microraptor @25
If TPU shitheads think that Germany and Norway are just as bad as North Korea, that just proves that they have no fucking clue what those countries are like.
Another issue with the whole idea of an armed militia taking down a fascist regime; fascism and other forms of authoritarianism or totalitarianism don’t usually come into power through abrupt violent takeover. They slowly normalize their views and delegitimize the other societal institutions that challenge their power. In all likelihood, if the US government ever does degenerate into an autocratic regime, the gunhumpers will buy into the nationalistic propaganda the government puts out and start acting as Dear Leader’s unofficial goon squad.
Hey, turning Point USA, how about you move to a mass school shooting and survive for a few minutes?
Am I allowed to hope for this to happen, and the show’s producers carefully choosing the college Libertarians and/or Objectivists, and packing them all off to Somalia?
The image reminds me of two common right-wing memes.
One is that hippies spat at returning Vietnam soldiers. While this might theoretically have happened, I know of no such recorded incident.
The other is that women’s liberation activists burned their bras. This might also theoretically have happened, but I know of no confirmed incident. I assume the meme started by association with men burning their draft cards.
phhht at 26: Climate change has made Stockholm winters noticeably warmer. This is not all good, because now ticks can survive the Winters, so you have to check the fur of your pets.
— — — — — — — — — —
Re. Texas and other parts of the South: Bantustan solution! Buy up parts of the land, let the Ark B people migrate there.
When their country collapses, the refugees will provide cheap labor for our commie sex toy factories and sell their kidneys to our government-financed hospitals.
Crushed by the government and marched off to camps?
Whiskey Rebellion
Trail of Tears
Jim Crow
Japanese Internment
Native American schools
New Jim Crow
I’m probably forgetting some.
emergence @41:
They’d probably be just fine with that as long as they were allowed to beat up and possibly lynch people. They’re only worried bout a liberal government that wants to take away their guns and give them cheap healthcare and a better education system.
Ed Seedhouse #36:
Yeah, I was thinking along similar lines – how do we break it to them (TPUSA, I mean) that their fake “reality show” is actually real thing, and it’s running right now?
Why just in my own province alone, we’ve got “American College Student: Socialist System Survivor!” franchises running in Toronto, Waterloo, Guelph, Kingston, Windsor…
Ironically, you (and they) missed a few smaller ones that have become celebrated causes among the far right:
Waco
Ruby Ridge
Montana Freemen
@tacitus: Yeeeaaah, I’m not really feeling the comparison between the FBI trying to investigate and arrest small groups of white supremacists for actual legit crimes with the government making skin color or ethnicity a criminal act. Might as well add all the organized crime investigations in which people died or had shootouts if you’re going to include those three.