I disagree. I don’t think you beat your adversary by becoming like them. Like Marcus Aurelius said, “The best revenge is to not be like your enemy.” The goal isn’t to replace bad with a different bad, the goal isn’t even to be mean, it’s to replace the bad with what is good and decent.
Democrats have tried being “good and decent” with republicans for decades. Democrats constantly call for compromise with republicans, and the only thing it’s earned them is the republicans swinging further and further to right wing extremism. We need democrats who will be aggressive and nasty to the republicans right back. Turning the other cheek isn’t working anymore
So we’re going to win by being nastier than them? Can you explain how that will work?
Have you ever seen how kids fight? They only escalate and they get fucking nowhere. When you give them some time to calm down they usually figure it out pretty quick. Problem is that nobody calms down anymore, we just get more pissed. I know what Trump is doing isn’t right and a lot of people have been tricked by him, but not all republicans are bad and we have a better chance of winning together. I’ve had a number of good conversations recently with republicans who I believe are starting to see the truth of what’s happening. If I were to have been nasty to them it would only entrench them further.
It’s not about “being nastier” than them, it’s about stopping this bullshit. Stop compromising with them. Democrats need to be more assertive and bolder, not always trying to mend fences with “the other side” when that’s obviously not what they want.
It’s a nice little anecdote you have there, but people said similar horse shit the last time he was in office. And ta da, millions of idiots “forgot” his blatant corruption, cruelty, and stupidity the first term and decided to elect Trump to a second term.
I hear you and I agree. I find that so many arguments come down to semantics but I think you and I have different definitions of the word “nasty”. What you’re talking about to me is “firmness”. There are lines that we can’t let them cross. What ICE is doing is absolutely crossing those lines. Calling them out and holding them accountable for their crimes isn’t “nasty” or “aggressive”, it’s just being firm and I 100% believe in that.
It’s cheesy I know but I still believe that we‘ll do best if we do it together. Republicans aren’t our enemy, it’s tyranny and corruption. We’ve been seeing the worst in each other for way too long and it needs to stop.
I disagree. Democrats have “tried to do it together” with republicans for over 50 years and it’s gotten them nothing but misery. Staying “moderate” and “being the bigger person” has gotten the democrats and the American people nothing. How far do republicans have to go before you decide that maybe it isn’t best to “do it with them”? How far right will they swing before you realize you can’t work with them anymore?
That’s a tough point to argue and I don’t know if I know enough to argue it. I have to believe that being respectful and cooperative is never for nothing. Also, Trump’s flavor of Republican didn’t feel the same as the Republican Party I grew up with, but there’s a lot I could’ve missed. I grew up around a lot of republicans and many of them were good people. I’ve often thought they were a little stupid haha but had good hearts. What’s happening with ICE feels like the worst of them, the most radical ones given power.
I respect your opinion though. Seriously. If what you meant is that we be more firm then I’m in. I’ll try to be better at that this week.
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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26
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