this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
174 points (95.3% liked)
Political Memes
5428 readers
2009 users here now
Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
Be civil
Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
No misinformation
Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.
Posts should be memes
Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.
No bots, spam or self-promotion
Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The implication here is that there's a Democrat former POTUS who should be prosecuted for federal crimes?
I'm all ears.
The implication here is that the threat of charging politicians with crimes that they've actually committed is no threat at all, regardless of party, and, in fact, sounds rather like an incentive going forward.
No, look at the bird faces and tie colors in each panel. The message is Democrats have some imminent criminal charges to fear here. Which is a very common right wing talking point.
I assure you, whatever else the artist of PinkWug can be accused of, being right-wing is not one of them.
Fully aware of that, doesn't mean they're incapable of repeating propaganda for the other side. It happens all the time. You know the phrase tax relief right? Of course you do. You've heard it used by people from across the gamut. Every time they do they reinforce what is a distinctively conservative political tenet: that taxes are inherently afflictions to be relieved. Not a debt to society for services rendered.
That's a Republican viewpoint. And it's deliberate. They drilled that phrase like they drilled the words freedom and terrorist down our throats. Coordinated fashion across literally hundreds of talking heads since the 80s. It's so strong that virtually everyone has the same knee jerk reaction to just the thought of taxes. Young Democrats vote against spending bills, vote against higher taxes, all the time. They're afflictions. We believe that now as a society, it only took 30 years or less. That's the effect of propaganda.
It's called framing, and when done correctly you can't even broach topics without reinforcing the opposition unless you're extremely careful.
This panel is a clear example of the power of framing. It's the result of the last three generations being told all politicians are equally scum bags, that the very job itself is dishonest. That's propaganda. It sets up the excuse "the other side does it too" when the damn well don't.
It's reinforcing the notion that the Democrats must be commiting crimes at an equal pace. That's not just false, it's absolutely absurd. There is no comparison to make between the two parties in the regard that this comic makes, and yet it makes it. That begs the question, doesn't it?
Sooo again, all ears on what crimes Democrats might be sweating over (as directly implied by the comic).
They probably don't have the same rate of crimes but Bill Clinton: War criminal responsible for bombings in Afghanistan, Sudan and especially Kosovo. Also a rapist. Obama: Drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Stretch farther, Armstrong.
I don't understand what this means. Are warcrimes not crimes to you? Or do you not believe that they happened? In 2021, shortly after taking office, Biden bombed Syria and stole $9B from Afghanistan. Do you remember that? Were those not crimes to you?
It means you're stretching far.
Before you stammer out more rhetorical bullshit that serves as a strawman, let's back up. My opinion on what crime means in the context here (and yours) don't matter. It's got a clear definition. In this case, we're talking about US federal laws and elected party members who break them.
The war crimes you're talking about apply to virtually every major leader in the world if you look to see who's on the other side of their money. That's largely just a function of political opinion.
Fact is the US isn't a party to the pertinent bits of the Geneva Convention, which is your best example of an authority capable of prosecuting "war crimes".
The hard historical reality is that "war crimes" are what the winning side says of the differing tactics of the losing side.
I'm not going to get sucked into a debate on the ethics and morals of geopolitics and the existence of warfare among the human species. That's a fools errand to try to achieve anonymously online.
I neither stretch nor do I stammer. Killing civilians is a war crime and so is bombing hospitals or trying to starve a population. I'm also not sure why Americans have such a hard time grasping the fact that their country is a globe-spanning military empire, far beyond what "virtually every other major leader" has to answer for. Your federal law is only one part of what is or isn't legitimate or worthy of prosecution. The world outside of your country's jurisdiction matters and deserves justice as well.
You're not wrong, you're just being very picky about where you interject your view here. The context here was (until you changed it) American politics. You're deliberately changing the context so you can trash one side of American politics as equivalent to the other. And you do that a lot. We can all see.
What you're doing isn't clever, it's transparent. You're just interjecting "both sides" arguments everytime you encounter folks in support of Democrats. Your history is public, fyi.
I can also assure you the nation you're residing in today has skeletons in their closet too. Wanna test that theory? It is admittedly irrelevant to the topic of US politics, yes, but you're the one making the comparison and you're the one trying to tell people not to support Democrats because they're just as bad as the Republicans. Nevermind being terrible shitty logic, let's back up: are you even American? You talk as if you're not. That's telling us something in and of itself isn't it?
I'm happy to drag this out with you, you'll only expose yourself more.
How is war not part of American politics? Obviously I interject that liberals are in many aspects equivalent to and supportive of conservative and fascist policies, if people claim that one side is better than the other. If people around here were claiming Republicans to be the better choice, I'd point to their crimes instead. I know full well about my countries past and present crimes and transgressions. The difference between us is that I don't run around advocating for the liberals or the conservatives of my country and also there is the fact that my country isn't a massive empire escalating violence all over the world and dominating the global economy for their own benefit.
Again, your history doesn't show you doing that, ever. Even if it did, this isn't defensible. You're just a troll. This right here is why I'm recommending everyone reading block you. And why I'm blocking you myself. You're just a contrarian and that serves exactly one side and one side only. We know that hand over fist.
Now you know that, you can't pretend you've never been told. If you honestly think you're being genuine and not just a disingenuous shit, then I implore you: Go look in the mirror and question yourself a bit about this interaction.
Bye.