James Hodge

If Facebook's algorithms are supposed to be steering us one way or another, I have to say I like the way it has been steering me. So far, at least. I keep getting new writers in my feed that are not MAGA. This one below is from James Hodge, a comedian, who appeared on my feed recently. If Facebook is trying to turn me into a conservative, it sure as hell ain't working.

This one from Hodge gives you some tips on how to deal with MAGA dolts.

James Hodge

When MAGA responds to obviously terrible things you point out Trump is doing they:

1: hit you with a ridiculous strawman argument.

They take your argument and replace it with something you never said and then they argue against that. Don’t get dragged into their stupidity. Stick to your point and ignore their nonsense.

Criticizing Trump for his failures in Iran doesn’t mean you think Iran should have nuclear weapons. You never said it and a nuclear armed Iran can be avoided without a war, but they have to invent it because they can’t intelligently argue against your actual point. When they create strawman claims it’s because they can’t process and refute your actual argument. They aren’t trying to be right. They just want to convince themselves you’re wrong.

2: whataboutism

You point out Trump is causing hyper-inflation with his horrible tariff policies and foreign military interventions.

They go, what about Joe Biden’s inflation? Joe Biden screwed up the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

They can’t defend Trump on the merits of his actions so they just rant about something Biden or Obama or Hillary Clinton supposedly did. It’s not an argument against your point. It’s just a defense mechanism. Ignore it. Argue your point. Don’t let them change the subject. A whataboutism is a weak person admitting they can’t actually argue against the point you are making.

3: ad hominem attack

You point out the GOP controlled Senate is giving Trump a billion dollars of tax payer money to spend on a ballroom he said a few months ago wouldn’t use any tax payer dollars and they say you have Trump Derangement Syndrome and you hate America. This is another accidental confession on their part that they can’t actually argue against your point. Now it’s just them saying, you’re crazy so they can climb down their cognitive dissonance hole and protect their stupid faith in trump’s idiocy. If they can convince themselves you have no credibility they can ignore your point. You’re just a crazy lib who wants to let (insert nonsense social issue here) so you hate Trump and have gone crazy. Again this is just another way they are confessing they can’t actually refute your point.

4: slippery slope

You say ICE agents shouldn’t be murdering people.

They say if ICE isn’t given free reign to do whatever they want America will be overrun by illegal aliens. This is nonsense. They’re predicting a future easily avoidable without doing whatever horrible thing Trump and Stephen miller are letting happen this week. They’re just trying to creat fear because they can’t refute your actual argument. They need fear because fear is the fastest way to shut off reason and replace it with a fight or flight instinct.

In conclusion:

These people aren’t smart. They’re just repeating the same nonsense they see all day from Newsmax, Fox News and right wing social media influencers. They don’t even know what they are doing. It’s just the way their mind has been brainwashed to deal with irrefutable arguments the same way they’ve been trained to do by right wing media.

Original.