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Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 05:57 AM Jul 2018

David Weissman: "I was a Trump Troll"

I Used To Be A Trump Troll — Until Sarah Silverman Engaged With Me
Read more: https://forward.com/scribe/402478/i-was-a-trump-troll/

I used to be That Guy. I always voted Republican. I watched Fox News. I read clickbait articles on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I echoed these slanted talking points when I was a Radio show guest prior to the 2016 Presidential General Election. In one sense, I was just your average, conservative, pro-Israel Jewish American. Yet, I was also a full-fledged, unapologetic, red-hat wearing Trumper.





I do admit, I always find it interesting seeing those who snap to reality and shift gears. Sometimes it's gradual, sometimes it's a whiplash.
40 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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David Weissman: "I was a Trump Troll" (Original Post) Blue_Adept Jul 2018 OP
The thrill is gone from your willingness to sell out America. oasis Jul 2018 #1
Those who convert from tRumpism to the light may become super activist for our cause TexasProgresive Jul 2018 #2
I'll always Welcome anyone who Cha Jul 2018 #4
Me too. We must put aside our anger and welcome people back. Pobeka Jul 2018 #16
Just like addicts tazkcmo Jul 2018 #28
There are different levels of engagement and forgiveness JHB Jul 2018 #37
Great post. Boomerproud Jul 2018 #38
I find it interesting, too, Blue_Adept.. Cha Jul 2018 #3
I was also interested in how there are these larger DM groups that orchestrate Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #6
When I was young, I was taught catrose Jul 2018 #32
good handmade34 Jul 2018 #5
"trying to heal the division is our only option" Martin Eden Jul 2018 #8
It's like a disease in some ways Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #13
+1 Martin Eden Jul 2018 #27
Well said! n/t Pobeka Jul 2018 #17
Interesting... paleotn Jul 2018 #11
he is jewish so probably heard the anti jewish hate from that crowd JI7 Jul 2018 #7
The Trump-Troll comments on the piece complement the writing teach1st Jul 2018 #9
It's a shame these people didn't pry themselves away from Faux News before the election. Vinca Jul 2018 #10
Decades of Hillary-hate wasn't going to be broken easily Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #14
I've been working on fact-based interventions. Snarkoleptic Jul 2018 #12
They may have regrets, as well they should. But they have NOT crossed to the good side. Honeycombe8 Jul 2018 #15
They may have regrets, but..... joshdawg Jul 2018 #22
Exactly. nt Honeycombe8 Jul 2018 #36
Hey David.... spanone Jul 2018 #18
Keep on keeping on Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #20
Boy does this have a familiar look to it. Snotcicles Jul 2018 #19
And yet somehow I still don't trust this guy. brush Jul 2018 #21
Trust is earned. joshdawg Jul 2018 #23
+1 dalton99a Jul 2018 #35
Yeah, I am a little suspicious as well. smirkymonkey Jul 2018 #24
I don't see him asking anyone for trust? Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #25
Ok, that's all well and good, I'll still keep the side eye on him and others... brush Jul 2018 #26
Yeah, that guy running for Al Franken's old seat? catrose Jul 2018 #29
Exactly. Put in some sweat equity first. brush Jul 2018 #31
Silverman has the patience of Job, it seems. Good on her. hlthe2b Jul 2018 #30
She's had several of these things happen, not just Trump per se but single-issue focus people Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #33
People can change. No matter how much others might try to dismiss that mythology Jul 2018 #34
They're grandfathered in at this point. Blue_Adept Jul 2018 #39
There are lessons here for DU. Jim Lane Jul 2018 #40

TexasProgresive

(12,148 posts)
2. Those who convert from tRumpism to the light may become super activist for our cause
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 06:30 AM
Jul 2018

I know that many of us don't want to forgive, but that makes the old adage, "bite your nose off to spite your face," come painfully true. What is to be gained by rubbing their faces in their former shit? It is a tactical error that will lead to a strategic loss.

Cha

(295,899 posts)
4. I'll always Welcome anyone who
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 06:40 AM
Jul 2018

steps away from the dark hell hole of MAGATs and into the Light

The full article at the link in the tweet is really interesting.. I consider that man lucky and from the sound of it.. he does, too!

Pobeka

(4,999 posts)
16. Me too. We must put aside our anger and welcome people back.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:15 AM
Jul 2018

I say it more often here, but there is a contingent of folks in america that just don't have time, or access to good information, and they know deep down they've made a horrible mistake by voting for Trump. We need every one of those people to know that for whatever reason they made that vote, if they realize it was a mistake, they are more than welcome to fix the mess by changing their voting decisions and get Dem's in congress.

Our anger can be a tool that Russia uses to keep us divided and conquer the vote...

tazkcmo

(7,286 posts)
28. Just like addicts
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 09:10 AM
Jul 2018

While using, they are not to be true but once committed to recovery are deserving of support and human compassion.

JHB

(37,128 posts)
37. There are different levels of engagement and forgiveness
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 11:08 AM
Jul 2018

What engagement needs, first and foremost, is someone on the other side who is willing to engage, as Weissman was. It can take effort to find them -- it's definitely missionary work or selling to a very reluctant customer -- you have to accept the success rate will be low. Not everyone has the temperament for that sort of work, but it does need to be done, if only to plant seeds in the cracks of the brick wall that might eventually sprout later on.

And once you find the ones who are willing to admit they were wrong about Trump, you can move into talking with them about "why did they think that?", "was that really true?", and "what other things are you just as sure about as you were about Trump, and are you willing to consider you may be wrong about those too?"

However, there's a difference between people who might be reachable if they can be weaned off their daily dose of foam from FOX and other RW bubble suppliers, and with high-profile people who may be saying terrific anti-Trump stuff now but who entirely sidestep their own careers as workers and managers in that foam-factory.

Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, Charlie Sykes, and other "NeverTrumpers", and Joe Scarborough get a lot of time and attention these days, but they are not our friends. We're not in an "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation with these guys.

It's more of a "the enemy of my enemy is the guy who will shiv me in the kidneys the moment I've done his dirty work for him" kind of situation.

These people spent their careers as Republican political consultants and conservative media people playing upon the same themes Trump does in order to deliver votes for conservative Republican candidates so that they would have the numbers to pass their own favored agenda.

But backfiring is inevitable for a long-term strategy of "vote for us and we'll take care of the bullshit things you hat and fear." It creates an expectation that they're never able to really deliver on ... and your target audience will still believe those things, but will turn on you for being weak and ineffectual.

That's where most of the high-profile anti-Trump conservatives are, and they don't get forgiveness until there's some sign they won't go straight back to their old comfortable spots and habits the moment they see an opportunity.

There are a rare few of those who do qualify, ones who have publicly said they were wrong and OMG, vote for Democrats so we can stop this madness. But they are still much too rare.


Boomerproud

(7,887 posts)
38. Great post.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 11:19 AM
Jul 2018

I see too many people on this site way too gleeful when a pundit turns on 45. They never say Hillary would have been the better president.

Cha

(295,899 posts)
3. I find it interesting, too, Blue_Adept..
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 06:36 AM
Jul 2018

hell I've done some of that myself so I know how it is to get Woke in certain areas of like.

snip from your link//

During this process, a few high-profile Twitter Trump supporters saw me communicating with (as opposed to bashing) Silverman and other liberals like Andy Lassner and Chelsea Clinton. The Trump train mob turned their vileness toward me, just for talking respectfully to those they thought of as the enemy. I, a U.S. Army war Veteran of 13 years, was being called a traitor to the country. I never realized how hateful this group was until I became the subject of their abuse (which doesn’t make me feel very good). From then on, my eyes were open to the kind of person Trump was — an amoral bully like his base that supported and elected him.

There was the MAGA way or the wrong way, and Trump and his followers would use Twitter to bully those who thought differently. Trump’s tweets were both divisive and dishonest, and everything had to be about him personally. I decided to no longer be part of the Trump Train or MAGA team and ended my blind loyal support.

end snip//

So there's one.. It's been speculated that there aren't many MAGATs who get Buyers Remorse.

Thank You!

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
6. I was also interested in how there are these larger DM groups that orchestrate
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 07:09 AM
Jul 2018

things. With what they say publicly, can you imagine what they're saying in private?

catrose

(5,047 posts)
32. When I was young, I was taught
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 10:07 AM
Jul 2018

"You want to know how your boyfriend will treat you? Look at how he treats his sisters, his mother, and especially his exes. He'll treat you the same way."

And a common refrain was, "How would you feel if someone treated you like that?"

Not that everything I was taught came from the fount of wisdom, but I really don't understand "I never realized how hateful this group was until I became the subject of their abuse."

I'm glad he woke up, but I'm not encouraged that many others will.

handmade34

(22,755 posts)
5. good
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 06:42 AM
Jul 2018
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201712/trump-divided-america-psychology-heres-how-we-heal


makes sense... if the primary goal of Trump supporters is to rile up the Liberals... then it makes sense to not get riled up... and persevere...




...it is likely that President Donald Trump has significantly increased your anxiety levels, distorting your perception of the world and negatively affecting your behavior in ways you are unaware of. But the good news is that these cognitive biases and behavioral changes can be reversed if one becomes cognizant of their existence and makes a conscious effort.
The human brain is a statistical machine that must constantly be making judgments and predictions based on beliefs, feelings, and past experiences. Trump’s fear mongering and fiery rhetoric is designed to heighten emotions and alter beliefs, offsetting this fine-tuned and calibrated system. If there’s one thing that Trump understands, it’s how to benefit politically from manufacturing fear and division. He may only be following his gut instincts, but it’s strategic psychological manipulation nonetheless.


this happens because cultural worldviews — like religions, political ideologies, and national identities — help curb existential anxiety by instilling life with some form of meaning and value. Essentially, intense anxiety over a perceived threat to one’s well-being promotes tribalism, and no one is immune to it...

By constantly emphasizing existential threat, Trump fuels the fears of Americans who will bolster their support for him in an attempt to feel safer. While this strategy keeps his supporters energized and loyal, the whole country suffers from the prejudice, aggression, and division it creates.

How do we reverse the division and aggression and begin to come together?

First, we must become acutely aware of the polarizing effect of Donald Trump’s presidency on both sides of the political aisle. We must openly acknowledge that the anxiety and fear created by Trump is pushing us all to our extremes, leading to tribal behavior and biases that can cloud our rational judgment.

Second, we must act in ways that alleviate these effects, and that means making a conscious effort to de-escalate confrontations and curb aggressive attitudes toward those who don’t share our worldviews or national identities. Don’t just delete those friends on social media who have opposing political opinions, no matter how much you may despise some of those beliefs. We must engage each other in rational discourse, and we must strive to see the legitimate points made by all sides, regardless of the abundance of illogical ones. And throughout this engagement process, we must stay calm and collected, as aggression only makes the division worse by increasing mortality salience. While this idea might seem futile to many liberals who have long given up on trying to talk sense into Trump supporters, we must remember that trying to heal the division is our only option. Simply letting it get worse will only lead to further chaos in America, and could contribute to another four years of this administration.

Lastly, we must not only try to build bridges when possible, we should monitor ourselves from becoming too extreme, especially when behavior towards ideologically dissimilar others becomes aggressive and violent. When that happens, the moral high ground is lost.

...in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence,” a concept that is supported by the results of Terror Management Theory and mortality salience studies.
If we all truly strive to make these efforts and resist getting discouraged by the inevitable challenges, then the nation will slowly begin to come together, and a new, stronger form of order will emerge from the current sea of chaos.

Martin Eden

(12,801 posts)
8. "trying to heal the division is our only option"
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 07:40 AM
Jul 2018

That's a pretty tall order when it comes to rabid trumpers. The truly deplorable white supremacists can"t be reached, and must be defeated.

But millions of others are just ordinsry people who've been misled and conned by propaganda and demagoguery.

A liberal value is to understand that we're all human beings, each with their own story and experiences. Treating others with human kindness is the key to advancing human and progressive values.

Sarah Silverman understands this. We should be inspired by and follow her example.

It's a lot easier to simply indulge the legitimate rage we all feel and unleash it against those who voted for and continue to support the monstrosity in the White House.

But that's what Trump and Putin are counting on -- a house divided that cannot stand and work together on our common interests.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
13. It's like a disease in some ways
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:03 AM
Jul 2018

You gotta treat what you can, eat away at it, cure it bit by bit. Working the non-die-hard types and making inroads.

JI7

(89,172 posts)
7. he is jewish so probably heard the anti jewish hate from that crowd
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 07:18 AM
Jul 2018

wasn't there some black or other minority trump supporter who was attacked by the maga crowd because they assumed the POC was a trump hater.

teach1st

(5,928 posts)
9. The Trump-Troll comments on the piece complement the writing
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 07:46 AM
Jul 2018

Props to the author for finally understanding. Some of the comments show how rare such a conversion might be.

Vinca

(50,168 posts)
10. It's a shame these people didn't pry themselves away from Faux News before the election.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 07:51 AM
Jul 2018

They needed to read and hear many sources of information about their lord and savior Don the Con. Better late than never I guess. Just hope it's not too late.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
14. Decades of Hillary-hate wasn't going to be broken easily
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:04 AM
Jul 2018

And even many of those who break from Trump and go against him would still view her the same.

Snarkoleptic

(5,995 posts)
12. I've been working on fact-based interventions.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:03 AM
Jul 2018

It doesn't always work, especially with Faux Newz zombies.
The key is to identify those who are reachable.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
15. They may have regrets, as well they should. But they have NOT crossed to the good side.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:11 AM
Jul 2018

I don't believe that someone who is halfway intelligent can, or would, go from being an all-out Trumper to being anti-Trump and on the side of good. It's not possible.

I believe that SOMETHING that Trump did hurt them where it hurts, so they have turned away. But the belief in Trump's message is still there.

Trump is not much different than he showed himself to be during the campaign. If someone could listen to the repeated lies, the attacks on the press, the going low against Democrats, the Access Hollywood tape, the racist statements...if someone could actually vote YES on that, and enthusiastically so...that person is incapable of suddenly recognizing that all that is bad. No...something has hit the voter where it hurts, and it is only that something that has caused the voter to turn away. That voter STILL likes what he saw during the Trump campaign.

joshdawg

(2,637 posts)
22. They may have regrets, but.....
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:38 AM
Jul 2018

they knew what they were voting for. They knew the type of person drumpf is and was, but they voted for him anyway. I have no respect for anyone who voted for the orange shitgibbon. They knew full well about drumpf and his misogyny, his lies, his ties to white supremacists, all the things he disliked about America. Make America great again, my ass!
He was very clear to let folks know what kind of vermin he was BEFORE the election and yet people like David voted for him anyway. So, I'm glad that David says that he regrets what he did, but I never will have any respect for him and the rest of the people who voted for this pool of pond scum that is infesting the White House.

Oh, and BTW, Fuck Trump and the rest of his misbegotten administration. Most corrupt administration ever! Worst president ever!

 

Snotcicles

(9,089 posts)
19. Boy does this have a familiar look to it.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:28 AM
Jul 2018

" A top MAGA Twitter account would quote someone they didn’t like, Trump supporters would then swarm in and malign that individual for dissenting thought"

Just sayin.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
25. I don't see him asking anyone for trust?
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:52 AM
Jul 2018

Just someone documenting their own change and why.

We keep going on here about when these kinds of people will see the light but when they apparently do they get nothing but distrust and scorn for being idiots in the first place. Surely there are other options.

brush

(53,467 posts)
26. Ok, that's all well and good, I'll still keep the side eye on him and others...
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 08:57 AM
Jul 2018

though who were so enthusiastic for trump and suddenly see the light.

I may have been born at night, but not last night.

They have a ways to go to prove themselves.

catrose

(5,047 posts)
29. Yeah, that guy running for Al Franken's old seat?
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 10:01 AM
Jul 2018

Um, why don't you come stuff envelopes/write postcards/block walk/clean up after potlucks for awhile? Let us get to know you before asking for a major office.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
33. She's had several of these things happen, not just Trump per se but single-issue focus people
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 10:10 AM
Jul 2018

It's definitely been interesting since she's able to get under their skin in a way that others can't.

 

mythology

(9,527 posts)
34. People can change. No matter how much others might try to dismiss that
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 10:42 AM
Jul 2018

Look at David Brock who started out pumping up Paula Jones, but now runs Media Matters. Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton, once Republicans now two powerful Democratic voices.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
39. They're grandfathered in at this point.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 01:07 PM
Jul 2018

I really get the sense for a lot of people "around these parts" that a line has been crossed and no trust or eventual acceptance will come. They're simply done, for better or worse.

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
40. There are lessons here for DU.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 11:30 PM
Jul 2018

I note this excerpt (emphasis added):

During this process, a few high-profile Twitter Trump supporters saw me communicating with (as opposed to bashing) Silverman and other liberals like Andy Lassner and Chelsea Clinton. The Trump train mob turned their vileness toward me, just for talking respectfully to those they thought of as the enemy. I, a U.S. Army war Veteran of 13 years, was being called a traitor to the country. I never realized how hateful this group was until I became the subject of their abuse (which doesn’t make me feel very good). From then on, my eyes were open to the kind of person Trump was — an amoral bully like his base that supported and elected him.


In other words, abusing people doesn't help you win them over. It alienates them.

This point is amplified in the Psychology Today article presented by handmade34 in #5, noting that "we must act in ways that alleviate these effects, and that means making a conscious effort to de-escalate confrontations and curb aggressive attitudes toward those who don’t share our worldviews or national identities."

That's good advice for our dealing with people who voted for Trump, people who didn't bother to vote -- and I'll even go way out on a limb and apply the same principle to that arch-fiend from Hell, Susan Sarandon.
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