For a political party whose membership skews older, it might be surprising that the spirit that most animates Republican politics today is best described with a phrase from the world of video games: “‘Owning the libs,’” Politico reports.

“Gamers borrowed the term from the nascent world of 1990s computer hacking, using it to describe their conquered opponents: ‘owned.’ To ‘own the libs’ does not require victory so much as a commitment to infuriating, flummoxing or otherwise distressing liberals with one’s awesomely uncompromising conservatism. And its pop-cultural roots and clipped snarkiness are perfectly aligned with a party that sees pouring fuel on the culture wars’ fire as its best shot at surviving an era of Democratic control.”

Best rando (Irish93) response

“The article misses an important point, though: the GQP isn’t actually “owning the libs”; it’s claiming to own the libs. Because as far as I can tell, no one—not liberals, or centrists, or nonideological casual observers, or anyone outside of the tinfoil-hat bubble—gives a crap about their ugly babbling. They’re just a bunch of vicious, unaccomplished, frustrated people screaming to each other in an echo chamber.”