Owning the libs is not policy

It's not often these days that I get into social media debates with right wingers--whether they are actual people I know, or don't know.

For one, they might be a Russian troll working at the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia.  A dead giveaway is typically a handle like @alabamamom74937023, where they may have joined twitter in 2017 only to annoy all things liberal on social media.

Secondly, people I know that are Trump supporters, after two-plus years of what amounts to an extended crime spree and undermining of our democracy right under our noses, STILL stand behind him.  I'm not confident about turning someone like that into understanding my side, because for whatever reason they don't want to admit that liberals might be right.

Which brings me to my third point.  Much of the right wing wants to "own the libs" at all costs, but they often have no idea what they are arguing against.  Of course, Trump being a complete fucking moron in the true sense (don't take my word for that, ask Rex Tillerson) doesn't help.  Add to that the fact that his Fox News washed brain probably has him believing he really is above the law, and him calling legitimate outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN "fake news" is dangerously clouding the waters.

But more importantly, ask Trump or any of his mouthpieces or most congressional Republicans what their ideas for policy are.  The usual response is saying things like "strong borders, low taxes, and the return to being a 'law and order' country."  And much of what they say about Democrats is that they are "weak on borders and weak on crime."  That is absolute fucking bullshit, and they literally say that undocumented immigrants are streaming over the border and raping our women and killing our children.  It's all ginned up fear and it's really fucking dangerous.  Meanwhile, drugs are streaming over the border on cucumber trucks while border patrol is cut because of a manufactured government shutdown.

They also use hot button issues like abortion and guns in order to stoke fear.  No party that is reportedly tough on crime would ever allow people that are ON THE TERRORIST WATCH LIST to have easy access to guns, or allow mentally unstable people that same access.  And you're not "pro life" if you threaten, harm or kill doctors who provide safe and CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED abortions.  You're also not for religious freedom if it's only freedom for Christians.

Meanwhile, some of the best liberals in congress are promoting things as policy that most people want.  The right to affordable health care, addressing climate change, a living wage, election integrity, free college, fighting corruption in DC (i.e. ACTUALLY draining the swamp), a path to citizenship, marriage and gender equality, better background checks for purchasers of guns, increased marginal tax rates to the top 1% and especially top .1%.

I could go on and on, but ask a conservative you know what they like about what Trump is doing for our country, but especially for them personally.  They will either hit you back with right wing propaganda talking points, call you names (like socialist), or say "you lost the election and still haven't gotten over it."  But they often don't debate you on the merits, because they can't.  They just know they oppose anything liberals propose and don't have any actual policy in mind to improve the lives of most Americans.  It's all just wanting to take things away.

And yeah, I haven't gotten over the election, not because my "team" lost, but because norms are being destroyed and rights to most Americans--especially the poor, non-white and otherwise vulnerable--are being stripped away on a daily basis.  So go ahead and tell me you like to "own the libs" because what you are owning are the views that are systematically eroding democracy.  You just don't fucking see it yet, and most likely never will.