My response to a false equivalence spreader

[Jamaal510]

On the "Bill O'Reilly Snaps (New Longer Uncut Version)", there was a comment from someone named browbeater824. He/she said "What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?
A Democrat sucks. A Republican blows.
Theyre both terrible. Any group that has a laundry list of specific ideas, and tells you that you MUST agree with every single one of them in order to be a part of their group, is terrible. Stop picking either Left or Right, stop blindly agreeing with everything that that one side stands for. Develop your own opinions on various issues."

Here's my response:
"Neither party is perfect, but I'm sick of this bullshit false equivalence from politically uninformed people. Democrats & Republicans are NOT the same. One party wants to make it harder to vote, eliminate clean air & water standards, privatize education, cut health care, force Christianity on everyone, restrict what gays & women do in their private lives, & continue to give tax breaks to rich people who don't need them. You'd have to be crazy to believe that both sides are somehow equally bad."

What does everyone think?

[Lasher]

1. False equivalency is a product of intellectual laziness.

We see it from dishonest pundits who cherish access more than truth.

[Viva_Daddy]

2. All humans are flawed (by nature), but some are more flawed than others.

[patrice]

3. I think you did a very good job! & I agree with Lasher.

Most people who say that kind of stuff do it, not because they actually know anything that supports Democrat = Republican, but because they want to say stupid stuff that they think is clever, like "sucks" and "blows".

So it's a very good thing to politely and strongly call them out, to at least show others how empty and meaningless they are.

Good Work!

[BlueStreak]

4. If the goal is to persuade, I'd suggest just two words to change.

"Neither party is perfect, but I'm sick of this bullshit false equivalence from politically uninformed people. Democrats & Republicans are NOT the same. One party wants to make it harder to vote, eliminate clean air & water standards, privatize education, cut health care, force Christianity on everyone, restrict what gays & women do in their private lives, & continue to give tax breaks to rich people who don't need them. You'd have to be crazy to believe that both sides are THE SAME."

Make it a two-step process.

Step 1: Agree there is a significant difference

Step 2: Once it is agreed there is a difference, then look at the merits of both sides.

I think you are right to take on this false equivalence canard. And the good news is that

a) No honest, intelligent person can deny there is a difference

b) Most people who acknowledge a difference will choose our side.

But trying to get people to make that leap in one step is very difficult.

[Warpy]

5. I'll second the good job

People who say things like that are not only uninformed, they're too lazy to get informed. If anyone says anything like that to me, I quickly dismiss him as a fool.

You did a better job. You might actually have made him chew on it for a bit.

[freshwest]

6. You nailed it. Those were serious points. They should be answered by those who make those claims.

[JHB]

7. It's lazy cynicism.

It's certainly valid to be cynical about things, at least some of the time, but that's now what this person is doing.

They're being lazy, taking the most superficial caricatures and treating that as reality. It's easy to equate things when you don't bother with the facts and reasoning that goes into why people hold the views that they do.

[ErikJ]

8. They deny MODERN SCIENCE

They say the earth is 6000 years old. They say every climatologist and evolutionist/biologist is lying. How much more proff do you need which side is lying?

[calimary]

9. Like it, Jamaal510!

In one paragraph. Great work and covers pretty much everything!

"Neither party is perfect, but I'm sick of this bullshit false equivalence from politically uninformed people. Democrats & Republicans are NOT the same. One party wants to make it harder to vote, eliminate clean air & water standards, privatize education, cut health care, force Christianity on everyone, restrict what gays & women do in their private lives, & continue to give tax breaks to rich people who don't need them. You'd have to be crazy to believe that both sides are somehow equally bad."

I like to point out that it's like comparing a brick with a grain of aquarium gravel and pronouncing them equal to each other because they're both hard.

[Tigress DEM]

10. Yeah, DEMs suck it up and get the job done. Rethugs blow their wads on big toys and whine for more $

DEFINATELY not the same.

One represents the ADULT attitude toward life, problems and sacrifice. It isn't always pretty, but neither is life.

The OTHER represents themselves and will use anything and everything to justify getting their own way. The obnoxious CHILD attitude toward life.

[B Calm]

11. K&R

[CheapShotArtist]

12. Whoever wrote that was probably just another one of those LOL-bertarian types

who want to make themselves look so smart and neutral by blaming both sides. I hate them.

[stevenleser]

13. Excellent job! nt