Decoding Trumpism: a cult survivor explains how the GOP became a death cult

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Decoding Trumpism: a cult survivor explains how the GOP became a death cult

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Prester John posted:

Edit: tsa Here are some examples of actual material from the curriculum system the cult I was raised in used.

Firstly, this is an actual promotional video. This is what they think will convince people to put their children into one of their schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBUw4iWepk0

Here are some examples of my actual workbooks from the cult school. I think these demonstrate the overall thrust of the program as well as the "Church-Birch Nexus", or the intersection between Authoritarians, Wealthy Conspiracy minded Conservatives, and Christian Fundamentalists.

This reminds me, if any of the thread readers haven't read it already, all of that content is from the "Accelerated Christian Education" ~~school~~ cult Prester John was raised in, and Prester John gave a very thorough and depressing view of the curriculum and everyday life in an ACE ~~school~~ cult, which is better described as "literal hell on earth":
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3659026

As a warning, after reading though that thread you may come out feeling very depressed, very angry, or both. Like seriously, ACE is so loving bad that if I was given the choice of raising a child/being raised as a child in an ACE curriculum or in a minority Christian community in Iraq, I'd probably choose Iraq, even with all the anti-Christian discrimination, car bombs, and threats of ISIL beheadings I'd face. ACE is that loving bad.

One incidental question: Prester John, what pronoun would you like me and the rest of the thread to refer to you as? I don't want to be an rear end and accidentally call you something you don't want to be called.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Mar 24, 2015

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 22:51

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:30

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Mukip posted:

This was a very interesting read. The discussion of inner and grand narratives reminded me of a BBC article I read about Russian nationalists recently (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30518054), where I was surprised at the really out-there goals that the Russian fighters had in mind (more clearly described in this article: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/us-against-them-russias-frightening-new-cult/517830.html). That last article suggests that the Russian state has concocted a cult ideology, but PJ's description of the psychology of Authoritarians who seem to need this sort of "grand narrative" and construct it themslelves might be a better or complimentary explanation. I wonder who's really behind the steering wheel of Russian nationalism, since you have Putin saying that Crimea was a "holy war" which sounded really odd at the time, but makes much more sense if he's appealing to the grand narrative of Russian nationalists.

This was on the bottom of the last page, and it's a fascinating link into why this applies to more than just America/the American right. To tie it in with what we're talking about right now, Putin got a nice big knock-down, drag-out confrontation with (Eastern) Ukraine (and by proxy the "West") that the various Russian Authoritarians (and probably Putin himself) wanted, but he did it in such a way that he didn't start a complete full-on uncontrollable war that could end in a decisive loss for Russia.

It's kinda bogged down at this point, but at the end of it Crimea and who knows how much of Eastern Ukraine will not be returned to Ukrainian control in the foreseeable future, so you could chalk that up as a "victory" for Russia against Ukraine (and by proxy the "West").

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 23:57

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Prester John posted:

An example of Narrative Convergence. Rand Paul is suddenly going full bigot and spouting talking points from the hardcore religious right. In this video he literally declares that we have a "moral crises" and that we need a "new revival movement in this country" with "tents and everything". He also is declaring that Washington isn't really the answer to anything and should not be relied upon, perfectly in line with what one would expect from the Narrative of all these groups converging as a result of the terrified emotional outpouring of religious Authoritrains reacting to Gay Marriage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV_kt9PRNKE

In this video note the "Watchmenion the Wall" talking point on the slide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1NqGvFZHjw

Ted Cruz uses the exact same phrase here "Watchmen on the Wall".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT1umDKWTkE

"Watchmen on the Wall" is going to get the attention of any of the groups I am describing because it speaks to their Inner Narrative. It is a term they can all relate too through the way their Inner Narrative teaches them to think of themselves. Whether this talking point has emerged organically or is the result of Heritage Foundation focus group studies does not really matter much, because either way its effect is the same in the minds of its intended audience.

This right here is why I've started taking Prester John's statements much more seriously than I might otherwise. In a vacuum, the recent events like the rash of local anti-gay laws, the "Sodomite Suppression Act" by some rear end in a top hat in California, Rand Paul going (more) crazy by making a reference to "Tent Revivals" would seem to come out of nowhere, but now it's starting to connect together and make a (somewhat terrifying) amount of sense.

Oh yeah, and if the Tent Revival thing doesn't make you go :stare:

, then have some background:

quote:

Most tent revivals in the U.S. have been held by Pentecostal or Holiness Christians who not only adhered to evangelicalism but believed in speaking in tongues (glossolalia), healing the chronically ill, and in some cases resurrecting the dead. As radio and television began to play an increasingly important part in American culture, some preachers such as Oral Roberts, a very successful tent revivalist, made the transition to these media. Such pioneers were the early televangelists.

The tongue-speaking, snake-handing tent revival freaks became the early televangelists. Sounds about right, actually. :v:

The thing that really sticks out to me is the Authoritarians/fundies wanting a big knock-down, drag-out brawl. Gay marriage both pre and post DOMA has been slowly happening state by state rather than all at once, and this has meant that the fundies have been denied the big brawl they want. Instead it's been slowly simmering below the surface all the while, and everything is finally reaching the boiling point with the Supreme Court decision in June, since it's obvious to everyone what the result of the Gay Marriage decision is going to be.

What makes me just a little bit worried is that regardless of how she arrived at her conclusions, Prester John's predictions so far have been uncannily accurate w/r/t gay marriage. I'd normally just laugh at these people, but Phil Robertson (who basically fits in with this group) recently came out with this "story":

A psycho rear end in a top hat with a TV show posted:

�I�ll make a bet with you,� Robertson said. �Two guys break into an atheist�s home. He has a little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters. Two guys break into his home and tie him up in a chair and gag him. And then they take his two daughters in front of him and rape both of them and then shoot them and they take his wife and then decapitate her head off in front of him. And then they can look at him and say, �Isn�t it great that I don�t have to worry about being judged? Isn�t it great that there�s nothing wrong with this? There�s no right or wrong, now is it dude?��

Robertson kept going: �Then you take a sharp knife and take his manhood and hold it in front of him and say, �Wouldn�t it be something if this [sic] was something wrong with this? But you�re the one who says there is no God, there�s no right, there�s no wrong, so we�re just having fun. We�re sick in the head, have a nice day.��

�If it happened to them,� Robertson continued, �they probably would say, �something about this just ain�t right.�

These guy are starting to uncomfortably remind me of ISIL more and more with their rhetoric, which takes all of this from "funny" to "oh hell, this ain't gonna be good".

fade5 fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Mar 29, 2015

# ¿ Mar 29, 2015 01:02

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

You know, every time I start wondering if these guys really are going to completely lose it after the June gay marriage ruling, the purestrain crazy boils right back to the surface and answers "Yes, and it's going to be hilarious/awesome/terrifying":

Three Olives posted:

Kristallnacht, yes, a bigoted pizza place closing for the night because of some phone calls and mean Yelp comments after they said they wouldn't do business with gays is the same thing as homes businesses being destroyed, hundreds of Jews being murdered and tens of thousands drug to concentration camps.

Thanks for the warnings of what's to come Prester John, as a result I have now settled thoroughly in the camp of "Bring it on motherfuckers, it's about goddamn time you assholes get to experience what a complete and total loss feels like." :getin:

# ¿ Apr 2, 2015 02:24

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Woolie Wool posted:

Someone linked to a thread, I think started by PJ about ACE somewhere back in this thread but I can't find it anymore. Does anyone else know where this thread is? Or maybe I'm misremembering and no such thread exists?

Here you go:

fade5 posted:

This reminds me, if any of the thread readers haven't read it already, all of that content is from the "Accelerated Christian Education" ~~school~~ cult Prester John was raised in, and Prester John gave a very thorough and depressing view of the curriculum and everyday life in an ACE ~~school~~ cult, which is better described as "literal hell on earth":
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3659026

As a warning, after reading though that thread you may come out feeling very depressed, very angry, or both. Like seriously, ACE is so loving bad that if I was given the choice of raising a child/being raised as a child in an ACE curriculum or in a minority Christian community in Iraq, I'd probably choose Iraq, even with all the anti-Christian discrimination, car bombs, and threats of ISIL beheadings I'd face. ACE is that loving bad.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2015 02:34

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Rockopolis posted:

This is interesting, but getting off topic.

PJ, do you still predict a summer 2016 freakout, over LGBT issues? Do you have a feel for how bad it will be, and just ss importantly, how it'd be defused? Still just pick people off slowly and for unrelated reasons? Which tends to validate some conspiracy theories, but them's the breaks.
It's not the personality type that responds to threats, or if it does it starts another compaction cycle?

Just to clarify, the freakout is set for summer 2015, namely this June/July when the US Supreme Court is going to rule on the legality of gay marriage nationwide in the US. Since everybody (both supporters and opponents alike) can tell already that the ruling is going to be "gay marriage is legal nationwide by either a 5-4 or 6-3 ruling", the only question is "what happens next?"

Besides thousands of gay marriages/the apocalypse that is. :v:

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 21:02

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Xibanya posted:

Yep I say lose the title, keep the subtitle.

"How the GOP accidentally turned itself into a Doomsday Cult" is one of those titles that fits right in with all the other political books, and I could easily see it in a bookstore on the politics shelf.

HUGE PUBES A PLUS posted:

Remove accidentally from the title. It was no accident that they did this to themselves. They embraced the tea party whole-heartedly, then realized their mistake once they got in and tried to take everything over.

Another example to use in your book: Dave Agema.

While embracing the Tea Party was on purpose, the "Doomsday Cult" part was still accident though, albeit an accident that was only apparent after it had already happened. Eliminating "accidentally" also means the title has a more intrinsically negative spin that might turn otherwise-interested people off:

"How the GOP accidentally turned itself into a Doomsday Cult" reads as "They didn't know what they were getting into until it was too late."

VS

"How the GOP turned itself into a Doomsday Cult" reads as "They know exactly what they were getting into by doing this, and did it anyway."

# ¿ Apr 7, 2015 01:50

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Add me to the ones who prefer the "accidentally turned itself" phrasing.

fade5 posted:

"How the GOP accidentally turned itself into a Doomsday Cult" is one of those titles that fits right in with all the other political books, and I could easily see it in a bookstore on the politics shelf.

Also, given that this thread originally spun off from the gay marriage thread, I thought this was relevant. Hillary Clinton has staked out what her position on Gay Marriage is via her announcement video, oh man are the Authoritarians gonna poo poo a brick once this filters down:

quote:

In the video, Milrad says: �I'm getting married this summer to someone I really care about.�

Also featured in the video, a lesbian couple:

In a fun followup, the first couple has invited Hillary to their wedding:

So if Hillary attends the wedding, how apoplectic will Authoritarians go? Or will they already be at max apoplexy since the wedding is scheduled for July and the Supreme Court ruling will be in June?

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Apr 14, 2015

# ¿ Apr 14, 2015 23:06

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

So in more "gay marriage and the Apocalypse" news we have Michele Bachmann being loving crazy (again):

quote:

In an interview with End Times broadcaster Jan Markell that was aired this weekend, former Rep. Michele Bachmann said that people should �not despair but rejoice� that the world has reached the �midnight hour� and that �we in our lifetimes potentially could see Jesus Christ returning to earth and the Rapture of the church.�

The former Republican congresswoman from Minnesota said that President Obama�s policies, including support for marriage equality and nuclear negotiations with Iran, are to blame for the world�s imminent demise. �We need to realize how close this clock is to getting towards the midnight hour,� Bachmann said. �Barack Obama is intent, it is his number one goal, to ensure that Iran has a nuclear weapon.�

Bachmann made similar comments in the first half of her interview with Markell, which aired last week, insisting that Obama�s presidency will bring about natural and economic disasters along with the arrival of the Last Days.

After Bachmann said that Obama intends to �lift up the agenda of radical Islam,� Markell added that legal abortion and marriage equality for gays and lesbians are bringing about divine punishment on America. �You are right,� Bachmann responded, lamenting that God will soon lift His �hedge of protection� over �pagan� America �and we will suffer the consequences as a result.�

�That�s why so many Christians I think are sad and despairing because we know what the word of God says,� she said. �But it is also a chastening as individual believers for our good and that, to me, is extremely exciting.�

So Bachmann's excited about the Apocalypse. Alright then. :stare:

Relatedly, potential Republican nominee for president Mike Huckabee is also on the crazy train:

quote:

As Peter noted in his write-up of the American Pastors Network conference in Pennsylvania last week, Mike Huckabee was unable to attend the event and instead sent a video greeting featuring him standing on Mt. Carmel in Israel, overlooking the valley in which the End Times battle of Armageddon is supposed to occur.

In his message, Huckabee focused on another story involving Mt. Carmel as he highlighted the Old Testament showdown in which the Prophet Elijah called down the fire of God and then destroyed several hundred prophets of Baal, which Huckabee used to urge his audience to be willing to take a stand for God just as Elijah did.

"God wants us to stand in the gap," Huckabee said. "And sometimes my heart's broken because, in our own country, a lot of pastors will stand in the pulpit but they won't stand in the gap ... We wonder why our culture has turned godless. We wonder why people don't grow up understanding the fundamentals of natural law, the moral basis of our Judeo-Christian founding as a nation. Might it be that the problem is not the history classes in our high schools but the pulpits of America who have not taken what they even believe and applied it to the pulpit and to the people?"

"I stand here on Mt. Carmel today," he concluded, "and I hope that, if called upon, I would be willing to stand all by myself [and] to call fire from Heaven and believe that God will answer even if there are hundreds and hundreds of false prophets on the other side."

"You may stand here someday," he said, pointing back to the Valley of Armageddon below, "and be called upon to call the fire from Heaven. I hope you're ready to believe that God will answer that prayer."

So Huckabee is willing to stand alone and "call fire from Heaven" in the battle of the Apocalypse.

I've already joked that if Huckabee actually tries to do this then I want to see him call down real fire from Heaven; no cheating by using JDAMs dropped by US Air Force. That doesn't count as divine intervention since ISIL's already very familiar with that kind of "fire from Heaven". :v:

# ¿ Apr 20, 2015 21:49

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Nintendo Kid posted:

Wasn't there a miscarriage back when it was around kid #10?

quote:

The Duggars chose to wait before having children and used birth control pills in the early years of their marriage. Their eldest child, Joshua, was born in 1988. They resumed using oral contraceptives after Josh's birth but conceived again despite this precaution. Michelle miscarried that pregnancy. The Duggars believed the miscarriage was due to their use of contraceptives, and decided to stop using birth control.

So what would have been the second one, I guess. gently caress if I can keep track of all their crotch-spawn. I normally don't use that term but goddammit if there's one place where that term is appropriate it's the Duggars/Quiverfull families like them.

Oh yeah, I also learned this:

quote:

The [Duggar] children are homeschooled using a mix of materials, including "Switched On Schoolhouse", Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). Several of the older children use the CollegePlus! program for post-secondary studies.

I think I've mentioned before that I would literally pick growing up in Iraq vs growing up in an ACE school, so my opinion of the Duggars has somehow sunk even lower. I'm not sure how that's possible, but it has.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2015 02:31

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Dr. Arbitrary posted:

So now we get to test PJ's predictions.

I hope she's wrong.

Same, but I don't like some of the rhetoric I'm already hearing.

Mr Ice Cream Glove posted:

American Family Association

On the plus side, Hells yeah gay marriage! :getin:

Hope you're okay Prester John.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 16:39

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Glad to see you're back Prester John, seriously. :glomp:

Feel free to post at your own pace, we'll be here whenever you're ready. :hfive:

fade5 fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Jun 30, 2015

# ¿ Jun 30, 2015 01:44

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

SnakePlissken posted:

So it is with end-times conspiracies. It would be great to come up with a thorough listing of apocalyptic cults through history. There have been bazillions of them. Not to minimize our current situation, but I'd call the notion of an apocalypse one of the "deep structures" common to most cultures on the planet, and leveraged for personal gain by shamans or crooked preachers throughout history.

And so is fear and loathing for homosexuality, primarily among men. So the combination of two of these two makes for one bad combo. It is really dangerous and we haven't really seen all the results of it yet.

Wikipedia's got you covered, in a hilarious fashion. Here's a list of dates predicted for apocalyptic events, none of which have come to pass, obviously.

I should note that there are two on there that probably will come to pass:

The year 500,000,000 posted:

According to [scientist James Kasting] the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will drop dramatically, making the Earth uninhabitable.

The year 5,000,000,000 posted:

The end of our Sun's current phase of development, after which it will swell into a red giant, either swallowing the Earth or at least completely scorching it. It is widely accepted by the scientific community that the earth will be destroyed around this time. However, as the Sun grows gradually hotter (over millions of years), the Earth may become too hot for life in only a billion years from now.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Jul 21, 2015

# ¿ Jul 21, 2015 20:18

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Nintendo Kid posted:

Answer: move to somewhere actually nice to live and with resources if you ever end up broke again. Seriously.

Prester John already moved to San Antonio, which is a great place to live and already has those resources. :colbert:

Seriously, Haven for Hope is amazing, and I'm so happy it was able to help out Prester John while she was homeless.

Fuschia tude posted:

Read the OP of this thread and post in it. Please please do not make any quick irreversible decisions yet, or without weeks of deliberation.

This is true, and a good idea. Don't do impulse spending, figure out exactly what you want to do with your new money.

And congratulations, if anyone's earned it it's you Prester John.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2015 04:26

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

This is what terrifies me the most:

quote:

I expect that the GOP won't have the moral courage to tell these dogs to shut the gently caress up, so they will try and get them barking at a more socially acceptable target. If you can't shut the dogs up, at least focus them on a target that does not deter the public quite like open bigotry does.**This is what the PP attack videos are about. The GOP-e is trying to get everyone riled up about the only social issue they still have 50% of the people on their side, Abortion.**

Attacking Planned Parenthood is nothing new, but the level of screaming from all the usual conservatives was kinda shocking to me. It makes more sense now; they're still loving pissed about losing hard on gay marriage, so they're going after abortion even harder.

I hadn't actually linked it in my head before but holy poo poo it makes sense, albeit in a super depressing way.

Cactus posted:

Well yeah this is why it's probably too early but let's go with the extreme and unlikely scenario that a narritivist wins the presidency. It's very unlikely but let's treat it like a thought experiment.

Well there's a short simple answer: the same thing that happened last time. You know, Iraq.
We've even got another Bush with the same foreign policy advisers as last time! :suicide:

Oh, and more Christian-based Homeschooling (you may want to avoid reading this Prester John):
http://heresyintheheartland.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-political-reach-of-gothard.html

quote:

With support from followers Rep. Steven Wise (R-Jacksonville) and now-Congressman Dan Webster (R-Orlando), Gothard considered opening a similar youth training center in Jacksonville, Florida in 1997. Though that never materialized, Jacksonville children were sent by the court system to the correctional residential program at ITC.

Delinquent youths were designated "Leaders-In-Training" and spent their days studying the Bible, watching Bill Gothard lecture videos, doing the chores necessary to run a hotel, filling in homeschooling workbooks from Accelerated Christian Education, memorizing character qualities, and dressing up for dinner. Denim, television, and rock music were strictly forbidden. Discipline reportedly included solitary confinement in "prayer rooms" and spanking without parental notification.

According to The Cult Education Institute, former Florida governor Jeb Bush "implemented Gothard's controversial character education program, Character First!, at his charter school in Liberty City. The governor also publicly encouraged the Palm Beach County School Board to approve Character First!, which is also listed as a model program in state law." (Watch for more on the Character Training Institute in a future post.)

Oh hey it's ACE! And all the hell that comes with it.

One thing I have indisputably gleaned from Prester John's posting is that ACE is literally child abuse, and anyone who uses it is almost certainly guilty of child abuse.

fade5 fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Aug 6, 2015

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 02:12

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

On the general topic of the "Compaction Cycle" and becoming more extreme each go around, holy poo poo Scott Walker went full insanity on abortion:

"Would you really let a mother die rather than let her have an abortion?"
Scott Walker gave a non-answer that basically amounted to "yes".
:stare:

I'd ask where this insanity came from, but this thread has provided a very terrifying answer.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2015 00:15

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Prester John posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhr-Et2shQI

E-Tank posted:

'Apostate'. Nothing but 'Apostate this' and 'Apostate that'. Wasn't the sin of Sodom that they had an over abundance of good fortune and refused to share it with their neighbors?
--
I've been scared of this for a long time. The transformation into the christian version of terrorists. They'll say if you're not with us, you're against us, and start killing people. Anyone killed accidentally, well it didn't matter because he's in heaven/hell now because god puts you where you deserve. I'm still not sure how anyone can look at what they're espousing and not see the mirror image of ISIS. Not see how they're literally the same people, just using different words.

loving hell, at this point they're not even using different words; ISIL absolutely loves calling the people it executes "apostates":

quote:

A new video purportedly released by the Islamic State shows six men charged with being members of �Apostate Rejectionist Committees� being executed by gunshot.

quote:

In a new video purportedly released by the Islamic State, ten �apostates� are mass executed by detonating a bomb in Khorasan, an ISIS region of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

quote:

ISIS terrorists have publicly executed a human rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after she criticised the group on Facebook for destroying religious monuments. Samira Salih al-Nuaimi was seized from her home on September 17 shortly after she allegedly posted messages on Facebook that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in the city.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, al-Nuaimi was tried in a Sharia law court for apostasy, before being tortured for five days and eventually being sentenced to public execution.

Oh, and ISIL's list of "Apostates" includes goddamn Hamas:

quote:

Abu Qatadah Al-Filistini (Palestinian Abu Qatadah), who is one of the people who came from the Gaza Strip and joined ISIS in Aleppo, expressed profound delight that he is one of the caliphate's soldiers. He called on all "monotheists in Gaza to join the convoy of the Muhajidin and to join the State of the Caliphate."

Abu Qatadah accused Hamas of "sliding gradually into apostasy, a slide that started with the demolition of the Ibn Taymiyah Mosque. It is a movement that does not seek to govern according to Shariah but seeks to appease Iran and America, the heads of apostasy."

So, when do we start airstrikes on Christian Terrorists? Before or after they go back to bombing abortion clinics?

But seriously this is kinda terrifying hearing just how close this rhetoric is, and that's without even mentioning the "we should make slaves of illegal immigrants". (Hey, ISIL does that too! :suicide:

)

fade5 fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Aug 21, 2015

# ¿ Aug 21, 2015 23:36

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Dr. Arbitrary posted:

I'm gonna spoil this for people without archives, and because it's

Rick_Hunter posted:

Break their will and spirit and you can mold them into whatever you want.

Yep, I still remember reading that, and it's still just as horrifying now as it was back then. ACE is deeply, deeply disturbing to me, and those stories are bad enough that I now have an intrinsic revulsion whenever it's brought up. It's the same kind of revulsion I feel reading the horror stories from Yazidis rescued from ISIL captivity, or the stories of ISIL brainwashing kids in their "schools" to follow ISIL's hosed up ideology. I don't make that comparison lightly, either.

My first post in this thread still holds true:

fade5 posted:

As a warning, after reading though that thread you may come out feeling very depressed, very angry, or both. Like seriously, ACE is so loving bad that if I was given the choice of raising a child/being raised as a child in an ACE curriculum or in a minority Christian community in Iraq, I'd probably choose Iraq, even with all the anti-Christian discrimination, car bombs, and threats of ISIL beheadings I'd face. ACE is that loving bad.

My opinion hasn't changed, I'd still pick growing up in a literal loving warzone over growing up in ACE. At least in the warzone the threat comes from the outside, rather than being hurt from within by the people ostensibly supposed to "protect" you.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2016 04:03

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Night10194 posted:

What the everloving hell was with that 'apology' video? He absolutely doesn't understand this attack on him, does he? He's confused and mad and needed to end it by lashing out like Jane said.

fishmech posted:

It reportedly took hours to get that take. He must been going even more off script in the others.

Mantis42 posted:

I thought your previous post about the elections outcome was too optimistic given the short time span we have left, but honestly Pussygate convinced me. Prester Jane you're like the Nate Silver of crazy people.

The explanation about how Trump is an attention addict has been incredibly useful for understanding so much of what's happened. The debate tomorrow is going to be so utterly amazing: Trump's still livid from the first debate, he's been unable to get the positive attention he craves since said debate, Pence upstaged him at the VP debate, and with people now starting to desert him we're literally watching that "failure cascade" you mentioned happen in real time.

Hillary is gonna goad him into lashing out within the first 10 minutes, and it's only gonna go downhill for Trump from there.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 18:23

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Night10194 posted:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/784840992734064641

Here come the calls for rebellion, I think.

It's seriously a trip being able to checkmark everything as it happens. "Yep, huge compaction cycle is happening. Yep, now Trump is rallying his supporters and getting ready to call for rebellion (against what enemy remains to be seen)."

# ¿ Oct 8, 2016 20:59

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

Prester Jane posted:

Also tonight marks the point where all this stops being funny real loving quick. Bannon and Stone's tactics of unrepentant viciousness were on display tonight, and they worked well enough that they bought Trump some breathing room and will bring a few of the fence sitters back into Trump's sphere for a while longer. Trump is going to look for any way to ratchet up the overall viciousness of the campaign. He will also being an escalating series of threats building off his threat to have Hillary investigated and jailed if he is President. Trump's supporters are going to begin to cross some very terrifying lines in reaction to these developements.

I actually kinda noticed this as I was watching the debate. The first third or so of the the debate was super entertaining, but after that it just slowly stopped being funny, and by the end of the debate I ended up despising Trump every time he said anything.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2016 05:34

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:30

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

OxySnake posted:

How about something that isn't stupid slap fighting?

Some people my need to correct me if I'm wrong, but would this person fall into any of the narrative clusters or just outright bigotry?

Article Link

Just as a heads-up, there's an extra quotation mark in the url in your post that makes it not link correctly, I fixed it here.

To answer your question, she falls squarely into the religious cluster. She talks about "morality and values" (when talking about noted multiple sexual assaulter Donald Trump no less :pwn:

), she's anti-gay, anti-abortion, and of course the kicker:

quote:

Confronted with the possibility that Clinton could win the election, Barbara replied with two words: �Oh no.�

�She needs prayer,� the Trump supporter said. �The country always needs prayer.�

It's the religious cluster to a T.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2016 21:37

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