Want to really piss off a right winger? Laugh at them.

[Philosoraptor]

They really hate that, I do it all the time and they really, really hate it. Just let them say a few rush limpball lines and the laughter starts rolling out of my face, and then they get all pissy and indignant.

I suddenly act like I'm watching a really good parody or comedy routine, and burst out in bursts of belly laughs, and let's face it, the shit they talk about is NOT funny.

Ridicule them. Right to their faces. Laugh at their ridiculous rush talking points, giggle in their faces about their ridiculous leader and their scandalous senators and their corrupt congressmen and their hypocrisy and their blind faith and their lack of intelligence enough to see that they are being screwed.

"Man, you really crack me up with that bill o'reilley routine, thanks for the laugh".

[Dammit Ann]

1. i have found...

that recruiting their offspring is effective. my 13 year old nephew is great at shaming his middle of the road, non political yet voted for bush and go to church very sunday parents. i just end up sitting back and watch them stammer at his attacks. priceless.

[Heidi]

2. It's wiser, for the long-term best interests of our country,

to win their hearts and minds. Just my opinion. :hi:

[NMMNG]

4. You're suggesting they have hearts and minds?

;-)



:hi:

[Heidi]

5. Hi, Buffy!

:hug:

[pnorman]

13. I've already endorsed the "laughter approach" here.

And it's certainly far better than coming back at them with O'Reillyese arrogant bluster. But you're right; these people may be ass-holes. But they're OUR ass-holes --- they're our fellow Americans as well as our fellow humans. We all NEED each other! So show a little compassion in that laughter, and it might help eventually turn them around. The whole point of that laughter is to help them see just how ridiculous their positions are, rather than to humiliate them.

pnorman

[Heidi]

34. I just don't have it in me

to intentionally humiliate another human being . . . until after all votes are counted and recorded. ;) (Kidding, kidding.) I'd much rather expend my political currency being rational and possibly winning a vote for progressives, than intentionally humiliating someone and losing their vote forever. :hi:

[Ian David]

14. You mean the 19% of idiots who even now STILL don't get it?

Thanks for the laugh!

:P

[Heidi]

32. Glad I could oblige,

smarty-pants. :P

[KurtNYC]

30. Well maybe this is like "tough love" -- tough laughs

I like it. And I agree about reaching the reachable although I usually wind up trying to do it by throwing the bogus promises of the GOP leadership in their faces:

- smaller, less intrusive government?
- states' rights?
- no more sex scandals?

[Heidi]

31. I agree.

I have to tell you, I have a hard time intentionally humiliating _anyone_ . . . until after Nov. 7. :evilgrin:

[mondo joe]

37. You can't win all the hearts and minds, and IMO it's wasteful

to try to do so.

Win the moderates for sure. But the Freepers are resigned to their own hell.

[NMMNG]

3. I agree

Treating them like a joke not only pisses them off, it keeps you healthy and happy.

If you are somewhere you can't laugh aloud, simply look at them like they're strange. That's just as effective usually.

[gaspee]

6. It's the only way

It's also the only way to not cry over their stupidity. I've found pointing and laughing works well for almost all idiots.

And I have no desire to win their hearts and minds. One because I don't think it's possible. If they haven't figured out by now, they never will, and two, their deep seated fear and hatred will never change. It's who they are.

[NMMNG]

7. Indeed

I have a friend who claims she's a Democrat but spews nothing but Neocon talking points. I know her head is hard as stone so I don't bother trying to debate her. It's only because she's my friend that I refrain from giving her "the look" while she's spewing her whackjob notions.

[Solomon]

8. You too! My "democrat" friend is so bad I don't even see her much

anymore. We sort of scurt around the bush (pun unintended but it fits) about getting together "soon" but we both know it's the politics that's killing the relationship. I wouldn't mind so much if she didn't call herself a democrat. I guess maybe she thinks she is since all of her family are republicans. But it started with Clinton I guess. He embarassed her so bad that Bush can do anything as long as he doesn't get his knob polished in the white house. She ignored all the articles that said Gore really won the 2000 election. To her he lost because he "sighed" during the debates. When she said impeachment was a word being overused with regard to Bush, that's when I started to really back away. "Bringing up that word just because you have a disagreement with the president is ridiculous" she said referring to Bush. I asked her if she was aware that he was violating our constitution, killing innocent citizens of other countries and stuffing his pockets as well as those of his friends with war profiteering... she scoffed. After all, what's all that compared to Clinton getting a b.j. in the oval office?

[NMMNG]

9. Me too

My friend thinks that wiretapping is grand ("It's only the bad guys after all"), the Iraq war is great ("Don't you understand they want us dead--they scream 'Death to America' all the time"), and that a wall along the Mexican border would be a wonderful idea, among other things. She also is a member of the SPEAK ENGLISH!!! club. :puke:

[Clark2008]

44. Next time she uses the "They always scream 'Death to America,"

line, be sure and tell her this:

They don't want Americans dead - they want America dead. And, thanks to Bush who is ignoring our Constitution and turning this country into something the Founding Father's wouldn't recognize, then a dead America is what the radicals have gotten.

[NMMNG]

51. She'd probably scoff

Then go into some round of, "Bush is only protecting us against those barbarians, blah blah blah". :eyes:

It's nearly impossible to get through to them.

[orleans]

52. OMG! I KNOW HER! and believe me, she drives me fucking crazy too! n/t

[Swamp Rat]

10. Man, I cannot help myself!

:D

[Kurovski]

39. That really captures the love

between two good HJ buddies. So breathlessly romantic.

I can almost hear Tchaikovsky in the background.

[Swamp Rat]

47. LOL! ... Yes! Tchaikovsky!

:D

Throw in a little Ravel ("Daphnis et Chloé" Suite No. 2 ;)), and some Rimsky-Korsakov ("Le Coq d'Or" :D) for good measure. :rofl:

[Kurovski]

49. You know how to capture the love.

I just hate when folks get all negative on Jeff and George's beautiful friendship. You treat it proper.

You celebrate, not denigrate. And just like a truck ride on a pig farm with a Russian dude, you know how to "look into the heart."

:hi:

[pnorman]

11. You're right, but I don't even have to fake the laughter!

And it IS devastating to most of them. But you'd be wise to be prepared for an occasional psychotic episode.

pnorman

[Chulanowa]

12. Drives 'em nuts!

Just nod and smile, give a little chortle when they're done, look 'em in the eye and say "No, but seriously, how are you?"

Some of them won't listen to reason. Logic and intelligence are character flaws to some of these people. The only way to deal with htem is embarass them - embarass them often and publicly. And laughing in their faces is at once the most embarassing and least harmful thing you can do to them.



;)

[vickitulsa]

38. You state my position pretty well.

What I've found is that laughing at them when they spew forth the talking points, even the worst and silliest of them, as if they're logical arguments seems actually to make a slight impression. For me the laughter is quite spontaneous and completely heartfelt because their thickneadedness and persistent ignorance really are laughable.

I don't see it as humiliating them at all -- because they're the ones who are humiliating themselves! I'm only reflecting the absurdity of their "points" back at them, refusing to hold in my smiling scorn any longer. We've done that for far too long already, and that's one reason they haven't seen the error of their ways sooner, IMO.

FIRST we have to wake them up! Let them see and hear just how hilariously idiotic their "logic" is. THEN we can "win" them over, maybe.

What the laughter says in my view is that it's long since become common knowledge that this administration and the clown that usurped and occupies OUR White House are scheming fascists and powergrabbers who rely on insane fundies for blind support as they shoot for world domination. Starting here in America!

It is only after the "dead-enders" see that they will NEVER get respect as long as they repeat lies and absurdities that we can hope to break through the propaganda mindset they've adopted.


Even the more stubborn ones I know have not seemed to find my laughter vicious or meanspirited. On the contrary, as long as my demeanor is civil, I've noticed some of these hardheads seem to be given pause by the responses they elicit these days....

[no_hypocrisy]

15. I dunno. They initially laughed at Hitler and he remembered who they were

[FuzzyDicePHL]

16. Works well in the car, too.

2 days ago I was behind a giant America-hater SUV with PA plates sporting a George Allen bumpersticker. I could see the woman looking at me in her side-view mirror as I was honestly guffawing.

[frustrated_lefty]

17. Naw, not at the base.

Half a year ago or maybe a bit more I had the joy of being envenomated by a brown recluse spider. Entire forearm swelled, people kept asking what happened to it. My answer: "I brushed up against a neo-con." Good for a laugh, but I think it genuinely offended one co-worker. She's a very nice lady, and we have good talks about our hopes for our children. Very weird. Use the words "republican" or "democrat" and her hackles raise. Talk with her about personal values, though, she talks like a liberal.

Could be wrong, but I think there are times it is of benefit to speak respectfully and honestly with a person whose views differ from your own?

[wildeyed]

18. Done it, and it was a genuine laugh.

The first time a white man told me how discriminated against he was, I laughed so hard soda came out of my nose. It was such a ridiculous idea, I was genuinely tickled. I asked, so what is it that pisses you off, the higher wages or the faster advancement at work? The guy was very young, I doubt he had actually thought much about the issue, just parroting what he heard others say. He was hurt that I laughed at him, but I couldn't help it.

I laugh now when I see a W sticker on a vehicle, too. Might as well tattoo "I am dumb as a box of rocks" on your forehead and be done with it.

[Hubert Flottz]

19. I have nothing good to say to the GOPers...nothing...

"Nothing To Say"

Everyday there's someone asking
what is there to do?
Should I love or should I fight
is it all the same to you?
No I say I have the answer
proven to be true,
But if I were to share it with you,
you would stand to gain
and I to lose.
Oh I couldn't bear it
so I've got nothing to say.
Nothing to say.

Every morning pressure forming
all around my eyes.
Ceilings crash, the walls collapse,
broken by the lies
that your misfortune brought upon us
and I won't disguise them.
So don't ask me will I explain
I won't even begin to tell you why.
No, just because I have a name
well I've got nothing to say.
Nothing to say.

Climb a tower of freedom,
paint your own deceiving sign.
It's not my power
to criticize or to ask you to be blind
To your own pressing problem
and the hate you must unwind.
So ask of me no answer
there is none that I could give
you wouldn't find.
I went your way ten years ago
and I've got nothing to say.
Nothing to say...JETHRO TULL

[mykpart]

20. It all depends.

If you are speaking with a hard-wired conservative whose mind has been closed for years and wouldn't change if Christ Himself told him that the right wing has it all wrong, then by all means, laugh. It will help keep you from exploding, and you will never win this person over anyway. And if you are speaking with some arrogant jerk who treats you like a moron, by all means, laugh. If however, you are having a sincere debate with an intelligent person who is just misinformed, take time to find some common ground and then present your case. Unfortunately, my experience is that there are fewer and fewer thoughtful, intelligent Republicans around these days.

[StellaBlue]

21. I just flash them a peace sign.

Especially when they are gesturing rudely at me on the road because of my plethora of liberal bumper stickers (More Bill - Less Kill, etc.). THEY HATE IT. Why do they hate peace?

[Mad_Dem_X]

25. Yes, the peace sign is better than

the finger. Helps you keep your cool and makes their tiny heads explode.

[Bosso 63]

50. I blow them kisses.

That really sets em off, it cracks me up.

"What a maroon!" -Bugs Bunny

[HughBeaumont]

28. War is good TV!

Seein' shit blowin' up arouses their war-on!

They want to see someone die or get their ass kicked.

Fear or hatred of someone or something.

That's what it's all about with them.

That and being proven wrong. OH they hate that as well.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. I Do The Same

My favorite line is "That's funny! I can't believe they've convinced you with such obvious nonsense!"
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

23. Ooops!

.

[Mad_Dem_X]

24. I've learned to do that

At work, we have a couple of die-hard Freeps. When I hear them start quoting their little GOP talking points, I just smile and shake my head and sometimes just start laughing. If you don't take them seriously and, as the OP said, act like you're watching a comedy routine, it won't bother you as much. And it pisses *them* off to no end. :D

[niallmac]

26. I try not to be rude but last week

someone was explaining the reason the world is in the shape
it is by re tellling Bible stories. I thought they were joking
and my laugh just came up from my gut.
The person stopped short, looked at me and didn't
know what to do. The sermon was ended.

[Philosoraptor]

27. I love those big unexpected guffaws the best.

and then you're all embarassed and surprised that you let it slip. that's the richest kind.

[Jed Dilligan]

29. Reminds me of a dream I had

My girlfriend and I were having lunch with some idiot who kept insisting that Sacramento was run by a Mexican Conspiracy. I kept laughing and saying, "That's not what YOU think, you just listen to those assholes who come on the radio in the afternoon!"

[mwb970]

33. I frequently laugh at them when they're on TV.

But I guess they can't actually hear me, right?

[BurtWorm]

35. I laugh at them even when I don't want to piss them off.

It's not nice, I know, but there's not enough charity in the world to cure the fuckers, so might as well laugh.

[Ian David]

36. If you're out in public with a friend, here's a fun game to play

If you're out in public, and a freeper says something freeperish, don't just laugh at them.

After you laugh at them, pretend your friend is someone you don't know and say, "Hey, you. Come here. You've gotta hear this. This guy's hysterical!"

And then ask the freeper to repeat what he just said.

And then, your friend (who the freeper thinks is a stranger to you) also laughs at him.

I suppose you could also do this with an actual stranger, if you're pretty sure they'll laugh.

For extra points, ask if he's willing to repeat what he said, in front of your cell-phone video camera, so you can upload it to YouTube.

[Quixote1818]

40. Every once in a while I listen to Sean Hannity and some of the absurd

things he says literally cause me to bust out laughing so hard people in the next car can hear me. It's usually something he says about how the Republican party has done all this wonderful stuff for our country or something of that nature. It's so absurd I literally just can't stop laughing! I only wish his callers could hear me.

[librechik]

41. Did anyone hear the guy on Sam Seder who had taped laughter

from recent debates? People scoffing loudly at Conrad Burns and DeWhine and so on?

That was a great bit.

[Efilroft Sul]

42. And when we win in November, tell them to "get over it."

Oh, heads will explode. I've been waiting to use that one since Ari Fleischer mocked us in 2001.

[Imagevision]

43. Laughing at them does really piss them off, (my brother-in-law!!)

[Raine]

45. Laughing at them is much better

than giving them a self-righteous lecture because they will only end up making fun of you if you try logic on them.

[SeattleGirl]

46. I do that sometimes. They really DO get pissed off!

You know that a lot of them aren't going to listen to why what they're saying is wrong, so might as well laugh.

[CarbonDate]

48. It's better for the soul than getting angry at them.

And they take themselves so seriously that it pisses them off, but eventually they just feel stupid and won't bother you with it anymore.

[Withywindle]

53. It's the authoritarian mindset at work...

The need for strong square-jawed serious-faced daddy figures to protect you from the barbarians and worship the heroism of a militaristic culture...is fundamentally, diametrically unable to deal with satire.

Satire is a form of play, which is to them associated with children and women and sexual deviants and less advanced races and other inferiors who can never truly understand the Deadly Serious work of just Being Ubermensch.

The idea that someone might find the Ubermensch's ideology as laughable as his inadequate penis is something that strikes so hard to the core that people have been killed for it. Because it WORKS, and they can't allow that. There are millions of two-bit Rambo-watching wannabe macho men who would rather be shot than laughed at. And I say, don't give 'em what they want, give 'em what they don't want! Show 'em their rightful place in this world, which is down here with the rest of us humans who cherish laughter (even at ourselves) as the high points of our days.

[Philosoraptor]

54. most of them do seem 'humor challenged'