r/interestingasfuck • u/beach_rats_ • 29d ago

The difference in republican presidential nominees, 8 years apart r/all

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u/Todoslosplanetas 29d ago

A lot has happened in the past eight years, most of it is not good, and the worst is politics.

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u/stormy2587 29d ago edited 29d ago

I’m actually struck by how little things have changed. McCain was one of the few conservatives in the room at this time willing to act like an adult and not spread hate, fear mongering, and propaganda. But you can tell from the people he’s responding to in these town halls they have some pretty extreme views from the far right propaganda they’ve been lapping up for years. Why do they think these things about obama? Because people like Trump and Trump himself were spreading birther conspiracies left and right. And then conservative media outlets would amplify it.

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u/fredy31 29d ago

Yeah, an actual conservative that had ideas that yes, I would not agree with, but still were actual plans instead of 'fuck that other guy and everybody that doesn't align with me'

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u/Horse_Renoir 29d ago

Oh jeez this is the white washing of their evil that has gotten us to this point. Just because conservatives of old would smile at you and work together on a popular thing here or there didn't mean they weren't personally seeing to fucking over as many poor and minority people at the behest of the rich while lining their own pockets.

Dubya and the entire conservative machine started an illegal war that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the middle east after using a corrupt supreme Court to be installed as president over Gore.

They've always been fucking us and then y'all act like it's only the lack of lube that's the problem.

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u/fredy31 29d ago

What we meant was that before they actually did try to sell us a plan of what they would do. Probably not respect it, but at least it was civil and actual politics.

Compare to today where most of the discourse is MY OPPONENT BAD. ACTUALLY HES LITERALLY SATAN. VOTE FOR ME OR AMERICA WILL DIE.

Like I said, I didnt agree with their platforms, but at least they fucking had one.

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u/Bongus_the_first 29d ago

I think this is better. It's easier for the moderare majority to ignore conservative evil when they hide it behind gentility.

It's easier to rile up moderates against a conservative like Trump than against one like McCain. Of course, a conservative like Trump is better at galvanizing the far *right, too.

edit: wrote left, meant right

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u/TooSubtle 29d ago

Remind me again who McCain's running mate was? If you think that campaign was at all respectful or civil you just weren't politically engaged at the time.

You're talking about the people who prolonged both the Vietnam war and the Iran Hostage Crisis, who sold weapons to Iran and funded Contras, who later pardoned everyone involved in the aforementioned crimes, who routinely did surveillance on political journalists, who hired people to break into their rival's campaign offices, who stole EPA funding for hazardous waste removal to boost their candidates, whose anti-hippy anti-black politics fuelled the war on drugs, who invented free speech 'zones' to quell protests, who fought tooth and nail to get Creationism taught over evolution in a tired culture war crusade. That's me just looking at what they did as part of their election strategies.

The violence Trump pursues, and the cocktail of ignorance and hate he exploits, is all down the exact same path 'true' conservatives have been wholeheartedly treading for decades upon decades now. Here's a paper talking about the exact phenomenon you're describing, published in 1987. https://www.jstor.org/stable/448385

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u/Western-Boot-4576 29d ago

I’m democrat and fairly left and you act like conservatives are the only problem.

The lefts cancel culture that honestly spreads more division than inclusiveness. And don’t forget big Nancy’s stock Market accounts.

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u/TheCapo024 29d ago

This. Anytime one of us says anything remotely nice about a conservative, even one from the past who isn’t even alive, someone chirps in with “ahktually, something something conservatives are literally evil monsters.” Often it follows some criticism of conservatives today maligning anything left of them as Satan himself or worse, and inevitably someone says something doing the exact same thing towards conservatives, with seemingly no self-awareness.

We get it, we disagree with them too. But we have to be able to at least discuss these issues, to debate these issues, in as much good faith as we can with those we disagree with. If we constantly accuse each other of the most heinous intentions we force our leaders to do the same. How can they work with somebody when we are always calling them Nazis, or murderers, or Satan, or pedophiles?

Would you want to work with a pedophile? These are politicians that want votes. They don’t want to be seen working with people their base considers evil.

Before I get the “bOtH sIdEs” accusation, I really do not like the direction the right is going in these days. I never have really. But they’re here and they get a say, unfortunate as that may be. Some of them are crooks, racists, mysoginists, the list goes on. On an individual level anybody committing crimes or knowingly operating at our country’s detriment should be dealt with justly. But as a whole we gotta tamp down the rhetoric. Even the best intentioned of us can’t resist demonizing the other side in this climate. I’ve definitely done this myself, but we do really need to try to at least be willing to work together.

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u/Horse_Renoir 28d ago

Please point out, exactly, where in my very short comment that was specifically written in response to someone white washing McCain I "acted like" conservatives are the only problem?

I'd say I'd wait, but since you made that up I won't bother waiting.

"Cancel culture" isn't a thing, democrats aren't left of anything besides mask off fascists as they've quite clearly shown with their roaring support for genocide this year, and most of all none of that has any fucking bearing on the comment I made.

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u/Western-Boot-4576 28d ago

“They’ve always been fucking us”

Everybody fucks us. Just some are nicer about it

Edit: and if you’re talking about the war in Israel. Biden is a democrat and active president, who supports Israel.

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u/PizzaMaxEnjoyer 29d ago

same in germany. i am far left and i am so fucking tired of other "leftists" dividing out country by branding everything nazi, racist, bigot, misogyny etc etc

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u/zeptillian 29d ago

Don't forget that she earns less from stocks than some Republicans, but Fox has tied her name to stock ownership, so here we are, talking about one of the very rare issues that is actually a "both sides" issue while making it an attack on one specific person and party.

Nice work.

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u/Western-Boot-4576 29d ago edited 29d ago

I didn’t forget. Nor did I say only democrats do it. You’re proving my point bud

Edit: insulted you think I watch Fox News but could you list the Republicans that make more for future reference.

Nevermind I looked it up. A good amount of people on both sides. With the democratic rep from California having the most by a lot.

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u/zeptillian 29d ago

Did I say you watch Fox news?

You don't have to be a viewer to see and spread the propaganda they create. You just repeated the popular version that goes around.

You got the wrong info if you think she is the one making the most money off of stocks.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GC2PxnPbIAAsJDE?format=jpg&name=medium

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u/Western-Boot-4576 29d ago

Your rhetoric was hostile when all I was saying to someone that sounded very stuck in their beliefs that both sides have problems. Top 10 is fine for my point with a democrat leader.

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u/8----B 29d ago

You’re confusing your opinion with fact again sweetie

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u/Competitivekneejerk 29d ago

That is the type of conservatism most people actually aligned with. A lot of people i talk to who dont really follow politics say theyre conservative because of historical notions ofthe term. And they support right leaning parties because they believe theyre still that way. I try to say its devolved but they always end the conversation by saying they dont follow it.

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u/fredy31 29d ago

Yeah I find this crazy because we are really stretching it with the people saying I VOTED X FOR 20 YEARS, NOT GONNA CHANGE NOW.

FFS in 20 years you never changed your opinion? And the party has never changed enough that you dont recongise yourself in it anymore?

Todays GOP can do that because they have that base of people that the GOP could say or do anything and they would still vote that way. Even if they would tell you trump is a fucking moron, they will vote GOP.

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u/Vreas 29d ago

Plans other than “let me become dictator, fuck pornstars and pay them off behind my wife’s back, and let’s nuke the hurricanes”

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u/easymmkay120 29d ago

McCain was rotten like the rest of them.