Political name calling—why is this a thing?

[TBAR_94]

Complete rant here, but why has it become acceptable to throw around silly school yard names when it comes to what should be serious conversations? I’m sure the left does it too, but I’ve always believed the whole point of being a conservative was to be rational and not make dumb, emotional decisions. Yet people throw around “Obummer/Sleepy Joe/Killary/Libtard” constantly. Best case it’s immature and cringeworthy, worst case it completely undermines any good point you make when you sound like you get your facts from internet trolls. I don’t need some low rent late night monologue punchline to criticize people I have philosophical disagreements with—even when I agree with people I can’t take them seriously when they do this. Perhaps I am just old fashioned, but it’s dumb and I think we’d all be better if we left the silly names to the kids and tried to treat our political discourse with the seriousness it deserves.

Am I alone here?

[markm]

Am I alone here?

YES!! The left will always drag any debate down to a grade school level.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Drumpt or what ever they claimed Trumps original name when he claimed.

All matter of ‘Bush’ references for either POTUS.

Granted, Trump did take it to a new level, but most of his were pretty funny

In some ways I agree, the dems have given up on silly names and just gone with racist nazi. So much more mature.

[chuckman]

People were too loved by their moms, or not loved enough; small penises; inferiority complex. Pick your cliche. If people can't argue their points or make conversation without resorting to that, they are beyond help.

[Averageman]

Complete rant here, but why has it become acceptable to throw around silly school yard names when it comes to what should be serious conversations? I’m sure the left does it too, but I’ve always believed the whole point of being a conservative was to be rational and not make dumb, emotional decisions. Yet people throw around “Obummer/Sleepy Joe/Killary/Libtard” constantly. Best case it’s immature and cringeworthy, worst case it completely undermines any good point you make when you sound like you get your facts from internet trolls. I don’t need some low rent late night monologue punchline to criticize people I have philosophical disagreements with—even when I agree with people I can’t take them seriously when they do this. Perhaps I am just old fashioned, but it’s dumb and I think we’d all be better if we left the silly names to the kids and tried to treat our political discourse with the seriousness it deserves.

Am I alone here?

I believe you think this is a problem Conservatives have, trust me it's not. The Left has made great strides with the simple term "Nazi". Nobody wants to be called a Nazi (No matter how much Nazi stuff they do.) and that was the normal term used by the Left to describe Cop's way back in to the 1960's.

Is calling names immature and does it take all of the intelligence out of your argument and reduce the whole mess to a school yard brawl? Yes it does, it is however sometimes a very effective weapon to use in the street. Imagine turning a street corner and you hear "This Nazi Facisit just grabbed my pussy." He of course didn't do that, but just as you turned the corner she ran out of an intellectual argument and slapped the guy and screamed that phrase.
Being a normal hetrosexual Male, you'll want to move forward to protect our Princess here and if not assault the guy, put your body between his and hers.
See how that works?

If we were having a debate, would I look for inflamatory phrases to make your argument? This can be a tricky one because you can become emotionally invested in making your enemy look bad, but too far (Ala Trump) makes you look bad.
Would you preffer a more dignified debate? I certainly would, however, I believe things have gone too far.
I was just looking at an old story about a guy who's daughter was raped at school, in the rest room by a trans gender student.
The School supported the Tranny Student in every way, no matter what his past record of assaultive behavior was. The Dad and Daughter very likely knew little or nothing at all about this Student. And the two were set on a collision course with destiny.
I would challange you as a Father to take this issue before the School Board. This guy did and he was assaulted, hand cuffed and removed from the building.

The Left now figures they hold so much ground from playing the long game, that they can do anything to you, so they do.
Debating them is useless because they run on emotion, just like the "He grabbed my Pussy" Girl, they will pull no punches when it comes to destroying you, and they will destroy you.
Find a bomb in an Olympic Village? Yeah, well immeadiatly, you're a Nazi and planted it there.
Did someone approach you with the President's Sons computer that was left to be past due in billing and is now your property? Well we must destroy your lives, hide the computer and lie about the entire matter to the point where Twitter, the DNC, the FBI all become involved.

If you want intellectual debate, find a Conservative. If you want a punch in the dick, debate a Liberal.

[WillBrink]

Nothing new to see, done as long as politics existed. No, people nor politicians were not more civil before:

“...a hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, not the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”

Journalist James Thomson Callender hired by Thomas Jefferson writing about John Adams.

Even today, calling a presidential opponent a hermaphrodite would raise some eyebrows.

Humans always assign a name to people, put them in that box, and marginalize/ignore them. Some times it's warranted, some times it's not. Humans are not good at nuance generally, made worse by the ADHD of the internet no doubt.

Personally, I try and look into the person and the context before I label them and ignore them.

[utahjeepr]

Guilty.

"Shitshispants", "Kumswalla", "AOChe", "Pootieboi". Yup, I use them regularly. I've never denied that I'm an asshole.

I generally TRY to hold such in reserve for the most deserving. Yeah, it's childish. On the other hand it saves time. In one simple act of petulance I can convey that I have zero respect for the person, their ideas and ideals, and even their existence as a human being deserving of such. It's a "nuclear option" whereas intelligent discourse can be viewed as " conventional warfare" political discussion. It also quickly and easily stakes out my position and my likelihood of being swayed.

Now, if I were in a serious discussion with you I would not call you a libtard, commie, Nazi, etc. It's kind of a deal breaker on continued conversation.

[glocktogo]

I cannot have a polite political discourse with anyone who calls me a racist Nazi, simply because I disagree with their political ideology. That’s really the crux of the matter.

[Diamondback]

Nothing new about this, you shoulda heard some of the things the Founders said about each other.

Kinda with Utahjeepr here... I know I have a really big asshole streak myself, but I try to keep it bottled up--admittedly being less successful than I'd like and more often than I'd like--until forced to unleash it by some even bigger asshole.

Road House Wisdom: There's a time to Not Be Nice, but until then Be Nice. Or the Top Gun version, "do not fire until fired upon."

[1168]

Complete rant here, but why has it become acceptable to throw around silly school yard names when it comes to what should be serious conversations? I’m sure the left does it too, but I’ve always believed the whole point of being a conservative was to be rational and not make dumb, emotional decisions. Yet people throw around “Obummer/Sleepy Joe/Killary/Libtard” constantly. Best case it’s immature and cringeworthy, worst case it completely undermines any good point you make when you sound like you get your facts from internet trolls. I don’t need some low rent late night monologue punchline to criticize people I have philosophical disagreements with—even when I agree with people I can’t take them seriously when they do this. Perhaps I am just old fashioned, but it’s dumb and I think we’d all be better if we left the silly names to the kids and tried to treat our political discourse with the seriousness it deserves.

Am I alone here?

Not alone. I also find it cringey, but of course I am not without sin. Doesn’t matter what the other side does, it still undermines our cause.