Here’s the thing (and bear with me, please, as it might be kind of rambly…)

One of the things that disturbed me most about the 2016 election results was the overwhelming feeling that I should have seen it coming but didn’t. Granted, hindsight 20/20 and all that, but nonetheless, there were plenty of signs that perhaps we all either played down or denied altogether (by “we” I mean most of those hoping for a Clinton win and thinking no way would enough Americans be dumb/racist/awful enough to vote trump)

Many people say (and some of them, especially both-siderists, add a hefty dose of condescending smugness to the argument) that you have to listen to people you disagree with to avoid getting caught in your own echo-chamber (hence the ad nauseam parade of trump-supporter puff pieces).

That’s true to a point - I have no need to “listen” to reactionary wingnuts, GOPers, and the hardcore deplorables because I’m already familiar with the lies, gaslighting, and outright denial of reality. There’s nothing new to learn and no hope whatsoever of changing their minds.

However, the Bernie-or-Bust crowd is a different story. I started reading a lot of material from them post November, mainly as a result…

So what’s my point? Again, there’s no hope of changing the deplorable/GOP base, so don’t even try. But the BoBers are in a much better position to:

a) depress morale among those likely to vote Dem
b) perpetuate “they’re all bad so why bother” voter apathy
c) come up with some arguments that, unlike those of GOPers, actually are based in reality

This is why I feel it’s important to be aware of what they’re saying and figure out how to address the concerns that are legitimate and refute the ones that aren’t.

That said, here’s a piece I read today that I know you’re all going to hate, but like I said above, it’s important to be aware of this mindset because failure to properly address it could jeopardize any chance of a Democratic comeback (you know how Charles always pushes back against extremists in the face of “you should ignore them and not give them attention” protests? It’s like that.)