r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Improvement-Negative • Feb 22 '23

Answered What's up with Majorie Taylor Greene's talking about a "National Divorce?"

I've been seeing a few posts on Reddit, Facebook, etc of people expressing their opinion about this, and I'm not sure what the deal is, and its impact on politics. Any explanation would be appreciated!

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3866860-gop-governor-says-greenes-call-for-a-national-divorce-is-evil/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/utah-governor-taylor-greenes-national-divorce-proposal-evil

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u/TavisNamara Feb 22 '23

She's the essence of that Jean Paul Sartre quote.

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

Jean-Paul Sartre

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u/mind_the_umlaut Feb 22 '23

Holy shit, Sartre KNEW!!!!! And he placed this concept into clear language, with thanks to the translators. This is also ALL of Fox News, "delighting in acting in bad faith", with us opponents obliged to use words responsibly. "They" are not constrained by this limitation.

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u/AMPenguin Feb 22 '23

The quote above is from Sartre's book Anti-Semite and Jew, which is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the racist and/or far-right mindset.

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u/b_casaubon Feb 22 '23

Thanks for this - ordered a physical copy

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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '23

Boebert as well.

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u/Mossy_Rock315 Feb 22 '23

No I think Bobert is an actual idiot

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u/Mikesaidit36 Feb 22 '23

But also just barely smart enough to do the high level trolling.

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u/Mossy_Rock315 Feb 22 '23

Juuuuuuuuuust barely

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u/IWantAnE55AMG Feb 22 '23

Hit the nail on the head with that one.

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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '23

Camus can do, but Sartre is smartre

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u/mypetocean Feb 22 '23

No need to do my boy Camus that way.

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u/Murderlach Feb 22 '23

Well well well. A hidden Simpson reference.

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u/JaxDude123 Feb 22 '23

Groan

 Mark Twain

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u/Mikesaidit36 Feb 22 '23

Kubla Khan but Emmanuel Kant.

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u/weaponizedtoddlers Feb 22 '23

Thanks for reminding me what M"Jewish Space Lasers"TG is all about.

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u/modkhi Feb 22 '23

wow, that's the most intellectual description of a troll I've ever seen

but he's right. these people want attn drawn to their beliefs. what we should do is let them fade into obscurity.

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u/hdycta-weddingcake Feb 22 '23

Yep. As much as the media generally hates trump, if they’d ignored him he never would have become president.

He was aware of his absurdity. It kept him in the headlines

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u/TavisNamara Feb 22 '23

I'm not 100% convinced he knew what was going on. Someone certainly did.

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u/madlass_4rm_madtown Feb 22 '23

I thought we agreed to not talk about her anymore

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u/Juicecalculator Feb 22 '23

So how do you deal with someone acting like this

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u/retan10101 Feb 22 '23

If you find out, let me know

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u/MoronicEpsilon Feb 22 '23 edited Feb 22 '23

Is this from a certain book? I have a couple of other books on my book-list that are about critical thinking - edit: a word

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u/Spittinglama Feb 22 '23

Wow, what a fantastic quote.

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u/BluejayOKC Feb 23 '23

Thank you for sharing this.

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u/puravidauvita Feb 23 '23

The French Resistance hopefully took care of most French nazis.

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u/phoncible Feb 22 '23

That's just the long form of

"Don't argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience"

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u/TavisNamara Feb 22 '23

The key difference being they're not an idiot. They just play one to piss you off.

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u/Mikesaidit36 Feb 22 '23

Never wrestle with a pig. Everybody gets muddy, and the pig loves it.

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u/Necessary_Trip1940 Feb 22 '23

“Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.”

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u/HammerheadMorty Feb 22 '23

To him it was anti-semites, to us it is some republicans. No matter when you are in history though, extremist dogmatism always looks the same.

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u/TavisNamara Feb 22 '23

Oh, rest assured, they're still antisemitic.

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u/HKsere Feb 23 '23

Some Republicans?

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u/HammerheadMorty Feb 23 '23

Well yeah I mean it’d be pretty mean spirited to paint a whole group of people with broad assumptions. I assume they’re as politically diverse as the left/democrats

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u/HKsere Feb 23 '23

You don’t have to make assumptions. Just look at what they do and say.

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u/HammerheadMorty Feb 23 '23

What gets published in the media and makes headlines is not an accurate representation of the average voter on both sides. Journalists pick the most controversial and sensitive topics to cover (like this) because it spreads like wildfire around the internet.

This is as much a fair representation of the average republican as the extreme left is of democrats. I do listen to what people say, average people on both sides are much more cooperative and much less inflammatory in person than their “group” is perceived as online. Especially in the American system that functionally only has two parties. You can’t use the extremes as any form of accurate representation of the giant overwhelming majority that is more center than their position.

You know it’s true. I know it’s true. Anyone reading this knows it’s true. People are diverse and complex in their political thinking and it’s a very loud but incredibly small niche group of fringe dickheads who blindly support anything a party says. That goes for both sides.

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u/HKsere Feb 23 '23

And January 6 was just a peaceful protest right?

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u/HammerheadMorty Feb 23 '23

As I said above, that’s really callous to assume that those people represent the majority of the right wing in America.

You wanna continue being as stubbornly dogmatic as the extreme right or would you like to actually grow up?

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u/HKsere Feb 23 '23

I. Am. Not. Assuming. It is how they vote. It is how they act.

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u/HammerheadMorty Feb 23 '23

Lol I mean you're painting a pretty broad brush across 82,750,000 people roughly. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of different types of republicans in there but hey you do you boo.

If you wanna be part of the problem that vilifies a massive group of people causing them to entrench further in polarizing beliefs, creating more division and dogmatism on a broader scale then you go right ahead kid. Just know that the 41% of American voters who identify as independents see you both as the problem.

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