CU ain't the problem.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

FR ain't the problem. The problem is the lack of cold, hard facts in the public discourse. That said facts are drowned out by the lies of cretins.

Arm yourselves with the cold, hard facts and let fly with them at every opportunity that presents itself. Make those facts part of your DNA, so they cannot trip you up with their sad argument points.

Leave the cretins to their other cretins and the cretinous places they habituate.

We are not going to prevail in November by jerking around with idiots.We will win with facts and an army of people armed with them.

My mother told me: "If you play with s***, you get it on you"

My father told me: "Never match wits with a half-wit"

My parents, bless their souls, were wise.

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Well put! And I'd add one thing too

Laughter is an extremely potent weapon against these people. They are so needy for people to take them seriously, that laughing at them is almost a mortal wound. So, look for some way to make fun of them, and watch them boil over in frustration!

[xray s]

2. You are absolutely on target

Here is one small example. I have been in many debates about Clinton's response to the Cole bombing. The standard freeper line is Clinton did nothing. I always ask them if they know when the Cole was bombed. The response usually ranges from "sometime in '93" to "sometime in 98". You can almost always win a bet that they will be at least a year off on the date.

When I told them it happened a few weeks before the 2000 election, and that within a few weeks Clinton had a report on who did it and how to respond to it, which he gave the incoming Bush administration, I get a "deer in the headlights" look back from the freeper.

They only decision at that point is do you want to waste time debating a fool.

[Career Prole]

3. I learned a new trick last week. Wish I'd learned it sooner.

One of the department managers where I work always forwards me right-wing mass e-mailings he gets. I've always replied to him with a sound debunking. Last week I noticed all the people this crap was going to, and realized what a waste of time it was to debunk for just an audience of one, so I started using "Reply to all" instead of "reply". I liked the way that "To:" line overflowed. Now I get to debunk for a bunch of people I don't even know, and so far no rebuttals.

P.S. Thanks for the help, www.snopes.com/politics :D

[scarletwoman]

4. Right on!

C'mon folks, we're not in junior high!

sw

[sandnsea]

5. Don't let your brains fall out

You know, by having such an open mind and all. Don't listen to them or even try to understand them. Get behind the Democratic TP's of the week and spit 'em out like a nail gun. Tat, tat, tat. There's time to protest if you disagree with the policy after November. The Mall is still in D. C. and I've got extra sleeping bags, AFTER November.

[raysr]

6. Again...

this is the problem http://www.mediatransparency.org/stories/apparat.html

[ConsAreLiars]

7. Old Tactics - Divide and Conquer

Or Divert and Distort.

Don't play their game.

In every gathering of folks working for a better world there will be some who, whether deliberate operatives or innocent fools, put forth ideas and suggestions that foster dissension and undermine our work. When this happens remember that the main audience for your response is the honest reader/listener. Don't let the disruptor/naif set the agenda.

[Arianrhod]

8. I don't argue with "neo"Cons at work anymore.

Rather, I simply discuss the facts with my like-minded coworkers, and allow the conversation to drift into the others' ears. In this manner, two Republicans have been converted in the last year, and the Freeper in our midst has been reduced to a ranting, foaming lunatic that everyone just laughs at.

I agree that direct confrontation will not alter closed minds. But calm, quiet, rational discourse can sway the moderates.