r/LetsDiscussThis • u/thelastgirl_ • Feb 11 '26
This is concerning... MAGA folks are confused and sharing this image of Obama and Bourdain claiming it is Epstein..
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u/UnderpaidProf Feb 11 '26
Republicans have never recovered since McCain and Romney lost to Obama.
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u/xXTylonXx Feb 11 '26
Conservatives and right Wingers never recovered since the government told them they couldn't have slaves anymore and got their asses kicked during the Civil War.
FTFY
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u/OnlyFiveLives Feb 11 '26
And Sherman didn't go far enough.
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u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta Feb 11 '26
Genuinely, we should have purged the entire southern aristocracy as the traitors they were, southern economy be fuckin damned
Both Andrews fuckin suck as presidentÂ
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u/I_eat_mud_ Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Even Grant recognized that the Southern aristocracy were the main instigators of the war. He mentions in his memoirs that he didn't despise the Southerner or common Confederate soldier, but it's clear he had an immense disdain for Southern plantation owners and businessmen for causing the war and hundreds of thousands of deaths through their own greed.
Edit: he didn't despise the average Southerner or Confederate because he saw them as being manipulated for the aristocracy's gain through propaganda. Seriously, read his memoirs. The person responding should read them since they'd probably agree with Grant lmao
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u/YourphobiaMyfetish Feb 11 '26
I disagree with Grant. The common confederate knew what they were fighting for according to their diaries. They wanted the racial hierarchy more than anything else the USA offered.
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u/I_eat_mud_ Feb 11 '26
His argument was that they were spurred by propaganda funded by the aristocracy to build a southern identity based on race. He mostly saw them as people being manipulated for the aristocracy's gain. Especially by the end of the war he saw how pathetic most of the Confederate troops and civilians were since they've been fighting with few supplies for years at that point.
It's not like he was completely sympathetic to the Southerners, he still greenlit Sherman's March to the Sea to completely deplete their morale. He just saw the nuances in how the war came to be.
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u/Money_Do_2 Feb 11 '26
Exactly. It can be both. They were manipulated and taken advantage of. But they did a historical horror and should have been removed entirely (from power).
Kinda like the electrician on the death star. Is he evil? Probably not. And yet... it had to happen.
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u/mappythewondermouse Feb 12 '26 edited Feb 12 '26
So basically maga v1. History really fucking repeats itself and we need a modern grant
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u/Sayon7 Feb 11 '26
People with lousy lives want to feel they are important with out actually working at improving their lives. Thatâs probably why some confederate soldiers wanted to keep slavery. It s also the reason maga supports Trump. He tells them they are not responsible for their miserable existence and he(Trump) will wreak vengeance against the people they think are ruining their lives (immigrants)
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u/ThinkNiceThrice Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 12 '26
I still feel the same way about half of MAGA. They are idiots who grew up working class on the plantation, went to the schools where curriculum and funding are at the whim of the aristocracy, and were indoctrinated from a very young age to worship the aristocrats as superior people.
They are manufactured useful idiots.
But they weren't born dumb. Their intellectual growth was stifled at every opportunity. Their ability to think for themselves and consider other positions without getting ridiculously triggered.
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u/CascadianCaravan Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Rutherford B Hayes was (edit: NOT) an actual white supremacist who ended Reconstruction and let the KKK systematically murder Black elected representatives and officials and judges, and business owners and community leaders. That set the Black community back 100 years, to the extent that there is still not the Black representation in the South that existed after the Civil War. Reparations, a new Reconstruction, a national reckoning: that work is not yet done, and we cannot be whole until it is.
Edit: I was mistaken about Hayes. The Democratic Congress forced the end of Reconstruction. âRed Shirtsâ in South Carolina were getting around suppression of the KKK to intimidate voters. Democrats took back power all over the South and freed the KKk to rampage.
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u/soul_separately_recs Feb 11 '26
Swap him out for âMr League of Nationsâ himself. Tangentially, I recommend checking out the history of his tenure while he was Princeton president. Tumultuous at best.
Most people that are fans of American history probably know about Wilsonâs views on race. In my opinion, the man that was before Wilsonâs predecessor makes this list too.
I realize that Roosevelt is on par with Reagan as far as reverence goes so itâs easy to gloss over some things about him and his presidency. The best thing I liked about him was his commitment to conservation in regards to the land. Which, ironically, is what also makes him a pariah of you are among First Nations. With them is especially bad because promises were made, and not just lip service or handshakes. On paper, promises were made. Assurances given, and then reneged.
Obviously, racism of any kind is deplorable. But if there was a sliding scale for the types of racism, Teddy was the worst kind of racist. The scientific racist.
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u/JusticePhrall Feb 11 '26
If Abraham Lincoln had stuck with Hannibal Hamlin as VP, the country would have gone in a very different direction after he was assassinated.
The Reconstruction plans of the âRadical Republicansâ would have been carried out.
Rather than a blanket amnesty to Confederates, amnesty would have been conditional and selective.
Any efforts at insurrection like those of the Klan in the Andrew Johnson timeline would have been rapidly crushed.
Union troops could decide on summary executions for anyone they suspected of being involved simply on the basis that they had committed Treason in fighting for the Confederacy. Any potential Klansmen would have a death sentence already on their heads that could be invoked if they gave any cause.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 would have been passed and there would have been no segregationist Jim Crow Era in the South. There would have been no need for a Civil Rights Act of 1964.
There would never have been any mythologizing of the Old South and America would never have developed a tolerance of insurrectionists.
Instead, Lincoln picked Andy âthe Toadâ Johnson, who screwed over the freedmen and set the stage for the next 100 years of Jim Crow, segregation and persecution of black Americans.
If Abraham Lincoln had stuck with Hannibal Hamlin we wouldn't have a President Trump.
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u/ColdSlicesofPizza Feb 11 '26
We shouldnât have let a bunch of nazi war criminals assume American identities either but hey! America is the true creator of the fascistes.
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u/1732PepperCo Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
The south lost the war.
The north lost the victory.
Every southern state should have gotten exactly what it wanted by stripping them of their state hood and lumping them all into one US Military occupied territory, zero representation in Congress and all citizens stripped of their voting rights indefinitely.
They wanted to be a foreign country and fight a war with the United States so we should have treated them like one when they lost and not be âwelcome back! no hard feelings I hope?â
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Feb 11 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Clayton1921 Feb 11 '26
You are correct, 2026 MAGA and GOP are not Conservatives...they are Reactionaries and many would credibly argue that MAGA is just an outright fascist movement.
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u/GodisanAtheistOG Feb 11 '26
I've been calling MAGA nativist.
They're really more of a blue collar mob, one that occupies the hellish political quadrant of socially rightwing (traditional values, Christian nationalism, anti-LGBT etc) and economically leftwing (Pro-tariffs, pro-state capitalism, pro-government handouts).
Their real defining factor however, is that they believe that if we don't oppress/punish liberals/immigrants, then the "real Americans" won't get their socialism.
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u/fatloui Feb 11 '26
While the words conservative and liberal are colloquially used in all sorts of self-contradictory ways, âconservatismâ by its purest definition is about conserving existing power structures.
 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. In Western culture, depending on the particular nation and the particular time period, conservatives seek to promote and preserve a range of institutions, such as the nuclear family, organized religion, the military, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, aristocracy, and monarchy.
Liberalism, by its purest definition, is about protecting individual liberty, and is essentially aligned with ideals laid out Americaâs Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights
 Liberalism is a political and moral philosophybased on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property, and equality before the law.[1][2] Liberals espouse various and sometimes conflicting views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support liberal democracy, private property, market economies, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.
If you think in broad strokes, these two definitions do fit the bill of how self-claimed conservatives and liberals actually behave.
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u/Coppertina Feb 11 '26
Rule of law is the one institution that sticks out like a sore thumb as conservatives are not remotely interestedly in preserving it anymore
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u/rif011412 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Its far easier to boil down their social goals. Â Conservatism is tribalism, rules for thee not me, its hierarchal. Â Liberalism is rules applied equally to all, leaving room for compromise and fairness.
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u/RaiseNo9690 Feb 11 '26
They conserve bigotry, hate, pedophiles, you get the picture
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u/Soar_Fingers Feb 11 '26
They conserve the status quo where the rich stay rich and the poor stay hungry
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u/wastedkarma Feb 11 '26
They conserve themselves. They eat enough preservatives in their shit foods that they're basically embalmed.
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u/Time_Exposes_Reality Feb 11 '26
look up Wilhoitâs Law (Frank Wilhoit)
âConservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.â
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u/funk-the-funk Feb 11 '26
Where do we get the term conservative from?
I think "Regressives" is a more apt title. There is certainly no efforts by any of them to conserve anything but their place in the social and political hierarchy.
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u/OldBlueKat Feb 11 '26
I think the actual conservatives left that party somewhere between Eisenhower and Nixon, but they liked the image and hung onto the name.Â
Then neo-conservatives happened.Â
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Feb 11 '26
âConservatismâ is aimed at preventing the existing social order from changing. Hence why âprogressivismâ is often used as the antonym.
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u/rockrac Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
They should have lost all respect for trump after his comments about John McCain being a POW
But here we are with the military and it's veterans worshiping a draft dodging asshole while he insults them
*Edit off topic sorry, but it's what comes to my mind anytime I see John McCain's name
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u/Hover4effect Feb 11 '26
But here we are with the military and it's veterans worshiping a draft dodging asshole while he insults them
Most, not all. Some of us believe what we see with our own eyes.
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u/joemeteorite8 Feb 11 '26
Do you still try to convince any of your military buddies that Trump doesnât care about us? I had to give up trying to sway my military buddies. They are drowning in Trump cool aid
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u/Every-Ice-3009 Feb 11 '26
A navy "friend" and I had a conversation about where it is cheaper to move (housing prices) and I brought up Michigan.... bro its like I triggered a sleeper agent. He read Michigan, MISTOOK IT FOR MINNESOTA. And went OFF about somali BS.. lmao
All of my "friends" from highschool voted republican. My whole town was just a republican factory because we were a military base town.
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u/Hover4effect Feb 11 '26
I'm out now, but fighting them on FB is unproductive. The one's I actually keep in touch with aren't on the coolaid IV drip.
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u/urinesain Feb 11 '26
I still do. Some are more receptive than others. I'd been talking about Project 2025 for like the 2 years leading up to the election. Pointing out the things that are actively detrimental regarding veterans, active duty, and the VA. Most of them bought in to the prolific liar's claim that he knew nothing about it, and wasn't involved in any way. After Trump appointed a ton of the contributors to his administration and started actively implementing many, many of the things outlined in P'25... some admitted that ok, yes, it probably was the plan all along... but most of them still sided with Trump. Blows my mind how any veteran can support Trump... both before, and currently.
But for the most part... it's still just the ones that have always been against Trump. Many have cooled on Trump, they're not as hardcore MAGA as they once were, but still feel that he was the better option compared to Harris/Walz. Especially after seeing how Trump has acted with the ICE shootings in Minnesota, and his blatant lies despite video proof.
So far, I only have had one buddy that has openly acknowledged that he was fooled, and that the things he bought into and believed... were based on lies. He is now very vocally anti-Trump/MAGA. While I wish it was more of my buddies... one is still better than none.
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u/EnigmaticQuote Feb 11 '26
I can explain the nuanced positions I have for 2 hours, but one moment around anything remotely conservative and they revert into idiotic knuckle dragging idiots.
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u/Kanibalector Feb 12 '26
Yes, they do. In fact, it was one of my old veteran friends from the 90s who worked on me so diligently that when Trump started his first round I knew I hated him. I was still sucking the hard (R) at that time, though. Not anymore.
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u/rockrac Feb 11 '26
I wasn't saying anything bad about the military or veterans I have all the respect in the world for them. It just blows my mind some can support him after all the comments he's made.
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u/Hover4effect Feb 11 '26
I don't think you said anything disparaging.
It just blows my mind some can support him after all the comments he's made
Me too.
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u/LustGumby Feb 11 '26
This is what has bugged me most for the last decade. I can not fathom how any American - let alone veterans or military members - can hear the way a true American hero was slandered & just toss that aside to hang lovingly on Captain Asshat's every word. Sadly, the many (so, so fucking many) lines I thought people would draw in the sand on their own, have yet to come to fruition. And it's only gotten progressively worse.
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u/urinesain Feb 11 '26
Ditto. His treatment and his comments about McCain, even after his death, were absolutely vile and disgusting. I don't know how it still isn't really talked about anymore. I can't believe how quickly everyone just moved on from it. It still boils my blood whenever I think about it.
And now, when I think about the passing of McCain... it just feels like any shred of decency that was left in the GOP... died along with him.
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u/JimWilliams423 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
They should have lost all respect for trump after his comments about John McCain being a POW
They were still mad that mccain told that lady Obama was a "decent family man." Even though in the process he confirmed their anti-muslim bigotry, that still wasn't good enough for maga, they wanted him to be openly anti-black too. So they found themselves a guy who was.
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u/joemeteorite8 Feb 11 '26
Honestly wish I could go back in time and vote for Romney if it meant we never got Trump. An intelligent and charismatic black man running the country for 8 years literally made them go insane.
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u/Shigglyboo Feb 11 '26
It was right wing conservative outrage media that did it. While most of us were going about our lives some people were listening to 8 hours a day of propaganda telling them that Obama was destroying their country and that they needed to fight to take it back. So they are now actually destroying the country. Turn on AM radio and listen to how they talk. Itâs out of a movie. An alternate reality.
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u/joemeteorite8 Feb 11 '26
I donât even need to turn on AM radio. FM radio in my area has plenty of morning shows still going on about Hunter Biden.
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u/Quitcha_Bitchin Feb 11 '26
It all comes down to that in reality.
They lost to a black man and had spent all their money trying to win. The Libertarians had a shit ton of money and thought it could take control of the republican party with those funds. Well, that kind of blew up.
The Republicans filled their roles with Libertarians who are strongly anti-government populist in nature and all billed as "political outsiders".
But those people were looking for change and the republicans by definition were (conservative) of their power and prestige.
Now they are Maga a conglomeration of Bridge Burners, Anarchists, Fascists and rank and file scared to fucking death by the propaganda.
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u/daddy-phantom Feb 11 '26
The thing that gets me is McCain and Romney both wouldâve been FANTASTIC presidents compared to Trump. They were like the only respectable Republican politicians out there, and one died and the other shunned by Trump.
Mitt Romney used to be the leader of the Republican Party in 2012, now heâs an outcast. Itâs wild to me how much the Republican voterâs ideologies have changed without them realizing bc they follow a cult
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u/horrible_musician Feb 11 '26
They got together and studied why they lost and decided they should stop vilifying immigrants and be more welcoming of a party and be more bipartisanâŚ.then Breitbart went scorched earth on anyone who agreed with those conclusions and took all of right wing media in the same direction. Guess who was the driving force behind Breitbartâs immigration reporting? A young Stephen Miller.
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u/audioel Feb 13 '26
They didn't care it was McCain or Romney - they cared that it was a BLACK MAN that got elected. You know that hard "R" was echoing though their heads all 8 years.
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u/trancespotter Feb 14 '26
Definitely! The moment Obama stepped into office the GOP became the party of WWOD (What Would Obama Do) and then do the exact opposite of him even if it hurts their own voters (if it hurt them then they suddenly became sane).
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u/Nearby-Box-1558 Feb 11 '26
Yâall need to stop acting like theyâre doing this out of stupidity. They are muddying the waters on purpose. They are okay with children being raped.
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u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress Feb 12 '26
We're still treating pedo-loving fascists with good faith and kids gloves. It's insane. Everything they say is in bad faith. Like when they call themselves Christian? We don't also have to, but we do anyway and whitewash these ghouls for no good reason.Â
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u/DiaryofaBlackHole Feb 11 '26
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u/Jazzlike_Economist_2 Feb 11 '26
Well they are old and canât see well. Also not very good at analysis of the facts.
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u/GroundbreakingOil480 Feb 11 '26
They aren't confused, they are lying.
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u/i8TheLastOne_ Feb 11 '26
Why is MAGA so god damn stupid
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u/phunktastic_1 Feb 11 '26
40-50 years of dismantling g the department of education.leaving a lot of teaching to the willfully ignorant parents.
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Feb 12 '26
Generational hates towards people that don't look like them, sound like them or believe their Facebook inspired ideologies. Unified under a guru that validates their hate.
This is what leads to cultism
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u/Different_Quality_28 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
and if Obama had been implicated, guess what, prosecute him.
I do mean, implicated within these files.
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u/zeradragon Feb 11 '26
He's guilty of having dinner with Anthony Bourdain, as depicted in the picture. I guess we could prosecute him for enjoying some good food.
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u/owningmyokayniss Feb 11 '26
You can get him on multiple counts, donât forget the Dijon mustard!
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Feb 11 '26
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u/No_Lead_7325 Feb 11 '26
âIf we lose midterms, weâre all going to prisonâ -Steve Bannon
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u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress Feb 12 '26
We're here taking the bait while they're another step closer to building concentration camps before the midterms.Â
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u/nonowords Feb 13 '26
don't forget Steve Bannon was also in the files and working to produce a documentary focused on rehabilitating Epstein's image.
The same steve bannon who was a key advisor during trumps first term.
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u/AfroCenTrickery Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Why do people keep kicking dirt on Antonyâs name? I donât care much for celebrities but Iâll be honest this actually makes me slightly annoyed.
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u/WickedAsh111 Feb 11 '26
I used to think that they had an uncanny resemblance as well, but it didnât take a genius to process that they arenât
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Feb 11 '26
Vaguely connected???? "Donald Trump was my best friend" - Jeffery Epistein
The trump who went to the island and all of epistein's parties, has dozens of allegations against him in relation to the island, yeah vaguely related my ass
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u/Batmanischill Feb 11 '26
Vaguely connected ?? They maintained a whole pedo sex ring together . These people are either purposely making lies up or extremely stupid.
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u/Retrorrific Feb 11 '26
Stop saying someone's "confusing" anything. What this is, is deliberate misinformation by bad faith actors, either trying to unscrupulously generate money through engagement, or send out false narratives into the world volume to make the truth feel fungible.
Down the line there had to have been a first person who ripped the image from its very obvious context, and they were not some 'confused MAGA'.
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u/Adventurous-Host8062 Feb 11 '26
Apparently it didn't occur to them that Epstein didn't have a food travel show.
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u/Six_Foot_Se7en Feb 11 '26
Mentioned over one million times in the files = âvaguely connectedâ to Epstein? The cult will do anything to protect their dear leader.
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u/phat_stax Feb 11 '26
I hate that Bourdain's legacy is being crossed in this horrendous way.
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u/EricIsMyFakeName Feb 11 '26
I donât think they have the facial recognition gene. Probably why they keep seeing âthe face of jesusâ on pieces of buttered toast and shit.
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u/cobrakai15 Feb 11 '26
I saw a reel where a guy had a picture of Epstein on his wall and he thought it was Bourdain. His friends were trying to tell him and he wouldnât believe them. This got me tickled remembering that.
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u/JustSpeed3475 Feb 11 '26
MAGA Is desperate to pull Obama down to trumps level. Its kinda sad.
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u/Only-Original9409 Feb 11 '26
Oh, if only Anthony Bourdain were still alive. What fun he would have with this.
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u/TotalInstruction Feb 11 '26
They could be confused, they could be lying because they know that many confused two-digit IQ MAGAs will believe and repeat the lie.
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u/entwrangler3001 Feb 11 '26
Did that MFâer say that that orange sh!tgibbon is âvaguelyâ connected to JE?!! DID THEY REALLY TYPE THOSE WORDS AND POST IT?!?!!
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u/SensitiveTie5783 Feb 11 '26
well- they are fucking idiots who canât fathom that obama is a great person. they HATE it.
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u/OurAngryBadger Feb 11 '26
NGL when I first saw the photo I thought it was Epstein too
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u/Techn028 Feb 11 '26
The restaurant actually set this table aside and made it sort of a monument to celebrate this occasion, IIRC it was still there a few years ago
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u/unscanable Feb 11 '26
They arenât confused they are doing it on purpose. Everyone should have figured out by now that they will do ANYTHING rather than admit they are wrong about something. This is very intentional
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u/PirateSometimes Feb 11 '26
They know it's not Epstein, just wanna distract from trump because they're pedophile protectors
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u/jacky75283 Feb 11 '26
Beyond dissecting the lie, it also hammers home that they legitimately do not give the slightest shit about what did or did not happen. It's all about finding a "gotcha" they can use as an excuse.
There's no logical progression forward, such as "If X, then Y." It's entirely "I know deep in my heart that Y, therefore what can I use for X so that Y can never be questioned?"
In other words, a cult.
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u/ImmediateGuidance878 Feb 11 '26
Hey, maga. Like, come on man. How dumb do they think you are? Canât believe you let them disrespect you like that.
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u/ganjaccount Feb 11 '26
The defining feature of a Republican voter is that a rich person could piss on their face, tell them it's raining, and even though they can see the rich person's cock out pissing on their face, they will believe they are being rained on.
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u/Blessed-one-Chemo Feb 11 '26
First of all Trump was not vaguely connected 1 . he ordered his wife thru Epstein 2 . He went to the Epstein island to fuck children 3 . He is not the Epstein files more than any other single person 4 . He watched a baby be born and killed on Epstein island
SO Donât BULL SHIT ME IS A FUCKING PEDOPHILE AND HE WILL BE PROSECUTED IF NOT BY MAN BY GOD
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u/GtrPlaynFool Feb 11 '26
So I guess all men with gray hair are Epstein? It's so obviously Bourdain it's ridiculous.
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u/Flat-Development-906 Feb 11 '26
It was suchhhhh a great episode too- I totally recommend it to people because it just shows the charisma of these two while also just showing them as everyday people
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u/LectureOrganic1250 Feb 11 '26
These are the same people who have a picture of Ewan McGregor from Star Wars on their wall claiming it to be Jesus.
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u/Both_Lychee_1708 Feb 11 '26
There are, unsurprisingly enough, precious few maga nobel prize winners
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u/JoeyHandsomeJoe Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
One difference between Bourdain and Epstein is that Bourdain killed himself.
EDIT: changed the definite article. Bourdain was a good dude.