Microblog Memes

He lost me at "but to vent that anxiety in other people's spaces...".

It's not "your space", it's a public forum.

Don't want people commenting on your opinion? Don't air it in public, or just block and move on.

No need to write a book about how they're wrong to express their opinion in the same way you just did. It just comes off as sanctimonious.

Fell free to point out my own hypocrisy and we can go in circles.

What a fucking waste. You will all deny the reality of the situation until the last second and go, "who could have known?"

Dont be a pussy and block the people who are issuing you a warning. Realize this is the world you are living in right now and stand up.

Second, and probably most importantly, it’s tactically wrong. “No point discussing political opposition to fascism, there won’t be elections anyway” cedes victory to your enemies. It’s defeatism and nihilism.

That's not what people are saying when they say that. They're saying we need to start fighting harder NOW. If we wait until midterm elections do or don't happen we are fucked. There's no guarantee the outcome will be favorable anyway and Trump has already alluded to fucking with elections.

I've been saying that all along. These people who say we can't run on punishing Trump, we have to have something to vote FOR, need to understand that until we crush MAGA, and purge it from our government and society, we can NEVER move forward. MAGA is a SERIOUS National Security Threat, and if they aren't dealt with decisively, they'll keep destroying any good in this country, until they are.

I've got a list of improvements America can make, including Medicare 4 All and Campaign Finance Reform, but right now, crushing MAGA is absolute top priority. The time for diplomacy is far past. We need Warriors to be candidates, not appeasers. It's time for LEGAL retribution for their CRIMES, not their politics.

I do believe there will probably be elections (and that they'll do everything they can to make them unfair).

But to think there's a 0% chance Trump could move to cancel elections is naive at this point. Add it to the mile-long list of things "he'll never be able to do" that he has done. He's literally already threatened to do it.

It's not about "there's no point discussing opposition because there won't be an election anyway," it's about "don't wait until 2028 to act and hope on voting your way out of fascism."

"Ethical dilemma" of blocking or muting, what a weenie.

Try not caring enough about their opinion to do either, toughen up buttercup

I don't see how it's rude to comment on a public discussion, but yeah I guess if you want to feel like a martyr on social media go right ahead with that.

"Oh my word, another stranger commenting on my commenting about someone else commenting. I have the vapors!"

Take your own advice and say nothing at all. See? No comments about your no comment. Peace will descend upon you, gentle soul.

Wow that's a lot of projection from someone terrified that erudite and well reasoned civility politics might not actually be a good assumption to just carry forward.

But if the left side of the political spectrum is still the domain of scholarship and expertise, take note that you don't find scholars and experts you worrying about canceled US elections.

Oh, really Ken?

Its that simple huh?

https://theweek.com/politics/america-competitive-authoritarianism-trump

Yeah try maybe actually catching up with the experts on how fucked the situation actually is.

Yeah yeah there are likely to technically be elections, but they're likely to not really be legitimate or actually serve truly democratic (small d) purposes.

This is a cope turned into a scold about Ken's little fantasy hugbox reality not being respected by actual reality.

Grow the fuck up.

"Entering a total strangers discussion" - They posted it on a publicly accessible forum, my dude.

Also, you are probably right the US will have elections, but will they be fair? Will they be free of federal tampering? Will ICE be posted at polling booths and arrest anyone brown who tries to vote? A rigged election is not a legitimate election

If you wouldn’t interrupt a stranger at a party to announce that America is doomed, don’t do it here.

Apparently the microblogging format has made people so socially dysfunctional that they've forgotten what a conversation is.

I think we should at least be prepared for him to try to suspend elections this year and in 2028 (if he’s still alive). Now that the violence is ramping up and they’re threatening military action against the entire Western Hemisphere, the only way they stay out of prison is by staying in power through force.

Entering a total strangers discussion

Yeah, you lost me here. You posted it ON THE FUCKING INTERNET FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. Heaven forbid someone comment and interact. Oh no! Woe is you!

What a load of entitled bullshit.

Suck an egg.

This is gonna age like milk lol

But if the left side of the political spectrum is still the domain of scholarship and expertise, take note that you don’t find scholars and experts you worrying about canceled US elections.

Sure Ken, that's because all the scholars and experts on fascism have already fled the country.

If you actually think the current American regime is ever gonna get prosecuted then I have a bridge to sell you.
"Just vote out Hitler next election"
Good luck with that, we will see how that goes for you. I am preparing my thoughts and prayers.

If you wouldn’t interrupt a stranger at a party to announce that America is doomed, don’t do it here.

I would totally tell that to a stranger at a party, if he talks about the next election. You are technically correct though. There will be "elections" just not free, equal, democratic ones.

Let me ask one question: Do you expect there to be ICE officers at voting locations?
that answer alone constitutes the difference between free elections and a something you would expect in russia.

Gotta disagree with Ken on this one. First, as other have pointed out, there is a very real possibility that Trump may find a way to cancel the elections. Laws do not matter to him or his base, and to ignore this fact is leaning too far toward "optimism" that you land in "gullible" territory.

Second, Ken is not the Arbiter of Conversation. I mean, have you seen him make small talk on Jeopardy? For crying out loud, the guy is one of the worst conversationalists on TV today. He's a fucking genius, but not somebody I'd like to spend more than 2 minutes with at the bar. People can input whatever they want, especially when you are having an open conversation. As he mentioned, their thoughts and anxieties are valid, so fucking stop trying to invalidate them.

If you don't want to see doomerism in your feed, I totally get that. I'm tired of it, too (even though I regularly contribute to it). You can totally just block or mute people if you don't want to see that, but to suggest that they shouldn't be saying it to begin with is crossing a line, IMO.

If you are anxious and sad about the state of the world, that's fine, and there are plenty of strategies for dealing with that. But think you already know that drive-by online dooming isn't a strategy. It's selfish and adolescent. It's a contagion that only spreads the worst of you, not the best.

This is the juice for me. Worried about the next election? Me too! What are you going to do about it? Dooming in the comments isn't action, and if you're trying to get me to act, then insisting that there's no point in any of this is a weird way to do it.

If you believe that and don't think there are any action steps, fine. But don't slather that despair everywhere. We don't need it; we've already got enough despair. Some of us are trying to do something about it.

Have a plan, try to get people on board with it. But just insisting that everything is doomed is just as useless an online activity as insisting that everything is great.

I agree with Ken, but disagree with his reasons (in particular I think hiis first point is wrong) Here's mine:

• Doomerism like this is a self fulfilling prophecy, you are giving them permission to do the thing and discouraging the many people fighting to try and make the next election happen properly.
• Most autocratic nations have elections, they just aren't fair or free. American elections have never been completely fair, but have also been declining rapidly. The original statement thus promotes a dangerous false dichotomy ("see nothing to worry about, we had an election those gosh darn fear mongers don't know what they are talking about")
• It's not productive. Your belief that there will be an election in November or in 2028 should not change any of your behavior, it's simply a demoralizing statement with no call to action, that is the opposite of what american freedom fighters need. Ultimately all it accomplishes is to make a bunch of anti-facists dislike Ken for making anti-facist statements.

its hardly pointless dooming when trump has literally expressed vivid interest in getting rid of elections because he is terrified of losing and facing accountability.

The entire point of saying there won’t be (fair) elections is to plan what the fuck to do it that proves true.

God damn these people for blocking those on their side because they aren’t saying what they want to hear.

There are plans in place to split this country and to destroy 100 million Americans.

Doomerism is burying your damn head in the sand and pretending they aren’t legally starting to set up their split in LAW (which they are starting with Texas right now). Come on!

This is a pretty bad take.

You don't have a right to privacy or your "own space" in a public forum, and the fucking self importance to tell people what they may or may not say online because you personally feel morally superior to them is straight up juvenile. You can always leave.

Ken Jennings is not prepared for the possibility of no elections, emotionally, so he tries every trick in the book to shut down that topic. That or he's being paid off.

If you find the subject distasteful, translate that into action rather than whining about words.

They don't need to cancel the election. All they need to do is install a few armed ICE people outside every polling place in Democrat areas.