Friday, August 30, 2019

A pernicious meme narrative

From Oregon Muse's Morning Rant in Ace of Spades:
"As the various anti-Trump narratives ran into the ground by the media (Trump is in bed with Putin, Trump is insane, Trump is a failure at business, Trump is a tax cheat, Trump is pedo-pals with Jeffrey Epstein) collapse one by one like James Comey's credibility, get ready for the 'people are tired of the drama' meme, which is already starting to appear, even among some conservatives. I think it's an especially pernicious meme, because it can't really by refuted by facts or logic. It's not an argument, it's a tantrum. It's sort of like wanting to stop the war because the the sound of gunfire is just too dang loud. So what's the alternative? The only way to quieten things down, really, is to surrender: give Trump the boot, abolish the Electoral College, declare the GOP a terrorist organization, outlaw Christianity, immediately implement all of the Green New Deal, and pack SCOTUS with youthful RBG clones.

"The problem is, we can point out the error of feeling this way, tell them how stupid it is for feeling this way, explain to them how dangerous it is to allow their actions to be governed by feeling this way, but it won't stop them from feeling this way. Another reason why this meme is so pernicious is because it isn't a direct attack on Trump. All previous narratives can be dismissed as such (with good evidence, mind you), but this one focuses attention elsewhere, not on Trump, but on the unpleasant 'drama' that has accompanied him ever since the election. And it's relatively easy to shift attention away from the fact that it isn't really Trump who is causing all of the 'drama', but a whole series of malicious actors on the other side.

"Yes, it's dumb. Yes, it's ridiculous. But there it is. Collectively, Americans can do some pretty dumb things. Like elect Bill Clinton. And, as I said, if this catches on, the media will be pounding on it 24/7, and I'm not sure how a counter-narrative can be established. I only hope that the number of voters who fall for it will be small."

>

No comments: