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165 points xqcgrek2 | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.206s | source
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iandanforth ◴[] No.45043708[source]
This is McCarthyism. You take a polarizing word, then you attack your enemies by claiming they are that thing, and couch the whole thing in an "investigation" whose outcome is predetermined.

There is no merit to discussing if the target is that thing, it doesn't matter. It's an ideological attack. If you take it on its face then the attackers win because you're treating them as if they were honest participants in a discussion, which they are not.

And remember even if the investigation (which is a farce) goes nowhere, allowing it to exist unchallenged means that some people are going to be harassed and intimidated. But, that too is the point, fear is what they want.

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1. deepfriedchokes ◴[] No.45047416[source]
Ideological suggests they have ideals, and values, but I think it’s simpler than that: This is about power and submission.

All of Trump’s seemingly irrational decisions are his emotionally rational pursuit of forcing people to submit, just like his dad did to him [0]. Like a lot of boomers scarred by untreated trauma, that’s what he understands respect to be: submission. It was wrong then, and wrong now, but attacking Trump, while intuitive, is the wrong way to engage him.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/07/donald-trump...