You know, we’ve tried ignoring the trolls, we’ve tried debating the trolls, we’ve tried insulting the trolls, and yet they keep coming.
The trolls control half of our government and a third of our people. We need to figure out how to deal with these trolls, because none of what we are doing seems to be working.
This. I don’t see why anyone would care who has what junk when they’re crapping in a stall next to yours. Just do it without trying to be chatty.
A helluva lot of absolutely horrible regimes rose to power in part because other people weren’t taking the threat they posed seriously enough until it was too late.
These aren’t the kinds of monsters who hide under your bed but go away when you decide stop believing in them.
One of the biggest reason that Trump became president was because the mainstream media gave him billions of dollars of free air time from the moment he came down that stupid escalator surrounded by a crowd of paid actors.
The reason Greene was put on a congressional committee was so that she could make daily soundbites for Fox and Parler. That power was taken away from her.
But now with that stupid sign she got more exposure because she “owned the libs”. Practically all Republicans voted against the bill, she should have been just another drop of water in the ocean.
The only reason she was removed from those congressional committees was because so many people called her out on her bigotry and bullshit.
If progressives had “stopped feeding the trollies” by ignoring her words and actions then she’d be in an even greater position of power than she is right now.
I don’t think ignoring her is useful, but it helps to be thoughtful in how it’s covered. Like this article, I think it’s an opportunity to hear more about Rep Marie Newman, her daughter, and other people affected by what MTG says and does.
I’m genuinely surprised when there are consequences; like her (and previously Steve King) being stripped of committee assignments or when Ted Cruz flew home early from Cancun. But I also think things like McConnell just sending the Senate home or flip flopping on how he speaks about Trump are easy because they’re expected and nobody challenges him.
There’s a massive difference between voluntarily and passively carrying water for fascists by airing their events without pushback because you know people will tune in, and actively informing people that fascists are saying shitty, stupid lies while elucidating why they are shitty, stupid lies.
She’s in congress and actively promoting bigotry that gets people killed. You ignore that, you get white supremacist storming the state capital. This is what years of ignoring white supremacy and GOP dog whistling in politics has gotten us. It nearly lost us any vestige of democracy we have.
This does NOT go away by ignoring it. YOU may be able to ignore it, because you’re not one of the targeted groups who will lose all rights if they gain control of the country. Many people here aren’t so lucky.
She is putting people in actual danger. It matters.
If anyone is to blame for Trump, it’s the GOP for taking him seriously and then riding his hate-train to victory.
I agree.
When Trump came down the elevator he was just a troll. When he started amassing real crowds and winning state primaries he ceased being a troll.
When Greene was removed from that committee she became a just a troll. The number of independent and Democratic voters in Greene’s district are statistically insignificant. There is no benefit for anyone on the left or center to engage with her in the media at this point in time.
She is not just a trolley. She is a member of the United States legislature and part of a dangerous movement that threatens to create untold harm to our nation and the people who live in it. She doesn’t deserve our respect, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take her antics seriously.
Her views are dangerous so leave them in her echo chamber and bubble no need to give her a bigger platform on mainstream media.
I am happy this was achieved and I agree that a public campaign against her and her views had to be waged, but right now there is nothing else than can be done. She is not going to be primaried in her district. She is not going to resign.
But ignoring her doesn’t mean don’t be vigilant. For example if she tries to support or get support from a purple district Republican then you can attack her and you could actually achieve something in such a scenario.
But crying wolf at all her provocations will allow her to win in the long run by moving the Overton window further to the radical right through sheer exposure of her views. She will never stop with what she is doing.
I need to repeat myself, don’t I?
The sign wasn’t just about owning the libs, it was a direct attack on Marie Newman and her daughter.
Do I also need to remind people what happens when we don’t give this behaviour exposure?
On 6 May 1933, while Hirschfeld was in Ascona, Switzerland, the Deutsche Studentenschaft made an organised attack on the Institute of Sex Research. Dora “Dörchen” Richter, the first known person to undergo complete male-to-female gender reassignment surgery, may have been killed in this or subsequent attacks on the Institute. A few days later, the Institute’s library and archives were publicly hauled out and burned in the streets of the Opernplatz. Between 12,000 to 20,000 books and journals, and even larger number of images and sex subjects, were destroyed. Also seized were the Institute’s extensive lists of names and addresses. In the midst of the burning, Joseph Goebbels gave a political speech to a crowd of around 40,000 people. The leaders of the Deutsche Studentenschaft also proclaimed their own Feuersprüche (fire decrees). Also books by Jewish writers, and pacifists such as Erich Maria Remarque, were removed from local public libraries and the Humboldt University, and were burned.
MTGreene is not a joke that can safely be ignored, she is a symptom of a bigger danger.
I have noticed that there are people telling us not to feed MTGreene on these topic, and they aren’t telling us not to feed Qanon on the also currently open topic. I can’t help noticing that the difference between the two topics is that this one is discussing transphobia and transgender rights and the other isn’t.
I don’t know if it is unconscious and they haven’t thought about the consequences, or if it is conscious and malicious, but I suggest that they stop for ten minutes and think about if they want to be that person who dismisses cases of transphobic abuse as not being a real problem.
Again:
Please do not conflate mental illness with systems of belief… especially immediately after being reminded of the relevant Guideline.
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And just ignoring her WON’T work.
Thanks for all your concern, though.
This has proven out so many times it’s frustrating people still don’t get it.
In general ignoring harassment or abuse never works for the victims.
It only solves the problem of people who resent hearing about it and allows them the pretense of prioritizing their comfort while seeming “wise” but it’s just… a lie.
Of course maybe people do get it and just pretend not to loudly rather than follow their own advice and just ignore the behaviors they don’t like in the world.
Yup. Muting people doesn’t stop them spouting shit. It just means you don’t hear it.
Bigotry needs calling out, every time.
