How We Can Defeat Toxic Conservatives by Forcing Them to Offer Solutions

We live in a news cycle where dishonest people spend an astonishing amount of time and energy promoting narratives that are maliciously false. Republicans are the party of blame, and they’ve become masters at wriggling out of accountability. Unfortunately, the “representatives” of liberal ideas that are allowed to go on platforms are almost always ineffective at breaking through the dishonest tactics.Everybody knows that there are two sets of rules in the United States. There are different rules of justice for rich people than for poor people. There are different rules for white people than for members of any marginalized group. There are different rules for men than there are for women. It’s unfair and it’s disgusting but for some reason we’ve all made the mistake of believing we have to learn to live with this injustice.There’s a different set of rules for how Republicans are allowed to behave on television. It’s like Democrats are expected to be the absolutely perfect A+ student who never says or does anything wrong. Meanwhile, Republicans are ruffians who everybody pats on the back just because they put on a suit. They are allowed to scream a dozen contradictory and hostile comments in a raving tirade, and then they get away with it by finishing off with, “Don’t disrespect my faith.”Over and over again they speak absolute nonsense and poison the minds of the American people.One of the worst actors is Scott Jennings of CNN. He sits at the table with a perpetual smirk on his face as if he’s too cool to even be in the presence of liberal “losers.” That smirk all by itself is something I’d remark on, but naturally people like me are never allowed onto these programs.His face reminds me of the bullies I met on the playground when I was 9. His features are exactly like those odious boys who were four or five years older than me and who took delight in torturing the “easy prey” of innocent kids who had been told school would be a safe space.Eventually, though it was against my nature, I had to learn how to fight back against awful people like that. I learned that nobody was going to help me because appeals to friends and teachers and family all fell on deaf ears. I’m telling you that dishonest bullies push you to the point of desperation because they take every argument you’ve ever been told and they twist it to serve their cruel interests.It’s confusing because the language sounds correct, but they wield it like a weapon and their cuts are deliberately designed to inflict maximum damage. It was through bullies that I learned that there truly are evil people in the world, and you need to use different strategies to confront them.The Democratic party and most of the liberal representatives that make it onto television have failed to understand this. I think it’s because they’re a bunch of coddled rich kids who have never had to change the oil in their car. But enough is enough because I’m tired of losing.I recently watched a discussion where Scott Jennings smirked and acted like a bully sitting at the back of the classroom. He always wears this expression like he’s bewildered that the people around him can’t see the obvious, even though he spews nothing but nonsense.What always happens is that somebody will mention how violence against the innocent is a feature of the Republican party, and guys like Scott Jennings will dig up some bit of nonsense for a “what about” rebuttal.In the clip I watched, he was furious about something some supporters had said at a Zohran Mamdani rally, as if Mamdani is responsible for every word whispered by everyone who attends one of his rallies. This is in the context of Republicans standing at podiums, or getting caught on private chats spewing fascist hate rhetoric. For all we know, the folks at the Mamdani rally were paid Republican saboteurs.Everything Jennings says is absolutely nonsense. The problem is that even though his examples do not equal the arguments of his opponents, that’s not immediately apparent to the observer. Some people watch a program to see if their conservative representative has any argument at all. All their guy has to do is formulate a sentence, and the conservatives sitting at home lift their hand in the air.“You tell ‘em!”It’s exactly like the bully who screams some profanity at a teacher. The bully offers nothing to the conversation. He doesn’t have a valid viewpoint. Yet, there are people who are thrilled simply by the act of rebellion.So, what do we do about this?There’s a hard lesson I learned on the playground that I’ve never forgotten. I still remember standing out in the snow and recognizing I’d been targeted by some older jerk for humiliation. They’d stomp over and start berating everything you did. They’d call it “stupid” or “effeminate” or make any number of unfair and inappropriate comments.Every time they ridiculed you, the crowd would laugh and the bullies would feel better about themselves. Even then I recognized that the mob mentality was being programmed to hate me. That’s a scary place to be.But there’s a simple solution. You turn to the bully and say, “Okay, what do you suggest that we do?”It’s a simple turn of the phrase but it’s something I suggest you memorize. In fact, it’s so devastating that the bullies will instinctively try to wriggle away. The power of this phrase comes down to one simple concept: it’s always easier to criticize than it is to create.The bully knows that the second he makes a suggestion, he becomes a target. Mike Johnson recently fell into this trap. He’d been repeating the conservative line of trashing Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl entertainment. Conservatives love it when anyone gets trashed. But then Mike Johnson made the classic mistake of offering an alternative. “They should have picked Lee Greenwood.”Instantly all the air was sucked out of the room because even conservatives were left going, “Wait a minute. Are you kidding me? Lee Greenwood? Nobody wants to hear Lee Greenwood!”That’s an important example because it shows just how quickly you can dismantle these dishonest tactics. You can’t allow conservatives to sit there and trash everything you say. Don’t look to them as some sort of patriarchal figure who has to approve of your idea. They are never going to approve anything because the open secret is that they don’t want anything to change!Are you hearing me Democrats? Every bad or unfair feature of the United States is celebrated by Republicans daily. All they have to do to “win” is halt progress. So if you allow them to draw you into these back and forth arguments about which politician did the worse thing, you’re never going to get anywhere.Conservatives win when progress is halted. That’s all they have to do. That’s what we have to expose, and it starts with not viewing them as having a legitimate position. They’re saboteurs. That’s it. That’s all they offer.Every time I watch debates, they always fall into the same pattern. Somebody tries to hold a republican politician responsible for spewing violence or breaking the law, and the republican pundit always finds some false equivalency among the democrats. But if you watch carefully, there is always a moment of agreement that comes so fast you might miss it, but it represents the crack in the armor.The republican will say, “Well, everyone knows that antisemitism is wrong…” then they’ll pivot to their fabricated example.The trick in dealing with them is to not listen to the example. Instead, you have to focus on the agreement. The follow up question needs to be, “If you think antisemitism is wrong, what is your party doing about it?”The same thing is true about white supremacy, cost of living, the healthcare crisis, or any other issue facing the country today.What are republicans doing to fix it? They control every branch of our government. Why can’t they make things better?Don’t let them spend precious media time complaining that somebody might have whispered something inappropriate at the back of a rally for a Democratic politician. Don’t let them off the hook. In fact, train yourself not to listen to anything but solutions. Don’t even allow their toxic lies to penetrate your mind.“I’m not hearing solutions out of you, all I’m hearing is blame.”“I’m not hearing solutions out of you, all I’m hearing is blame.”“I’m not hearing solutions out of you, all I’m hearing is blame.”This is a lot easier to do once you flip the switch in your mind and recognize that you’re dealing with a hostile adversary. You’re not out having coffee with your grandma. Think of it as if you’re talking to the person who has been accused of attacking your daughter. That’s the mindset you need, and if you don’t have that mindset against a bully, you have conceded in advance.If republicans are actually against white supremacy the way they say they are, what are they doing to stop it? Naturally they’re going to try to wriggle out of this too. They’ll say, “Well, now you’re calling me a white supremacist!” or “Now you’re calling me a racist.”Don’t back down. Say, “No, this is not about you. I’m saying that white supremacy and racism are clear and present threats to the American public and I want to know how you intend to protect people from them. Would you support designating the KKK as a terrorist group? I mean, you’ve gone after Antifa, and that doesn’t even exist.”The problem in the United States is that people have been conditioned not to even talk about the threat of white supremacy. We all know it’s there, but we’re like the children of an abusive father. We know we’re not allowed to talk about his alcoholism or his womanizing or his violent tempter. We just hide in our corners hoping he’ll finally get arrested and sent to prison and we can all go on with our lives. But we’re forgetting that together we’re stronger than he is.We’re always stronger than bullies because bullies are pathetic, they’re weak, they’re destructive, and they offer absolutely nothing. All they’re good at is ridicule and delay. Both of those characteristics serve no purpose other than to halt progress, but they’re easily stopped if we recognize what we’re up against.These are dishonest actors. They are not even trying to find a solution. They are only obstacles. You are never going to convince them to help you. That’s not your job. Like with any obstacle, your job is to figure out a way to overcome.I’ll say it one last time for clarity. The position of republicans is illegitimate. They only want to hurt you. Stop presuming they have a valid viewpoint. All that does is waste your time, and you end up failing the innocent people the republicans continually exploit.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe