TheSecondPiewackit
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"YES BITCH YOU DID VOTE FOR THIS!" doesn't help. Choose something better, like "Hey look, common ground. Are you finally seeing what we saw?"
Nov 16, 2025 8:21 PM
TheSecondPiewackit
1010
42
20
"YES BITCH YOU DID VOTE FOR THIS!" doesn't help. Choose something better, like "Hey look, common ground. Are you finally seeing what we saw?"
AlienJeffries81
I'm always seeing headlines about pols that quit the republican party but the small print says they "changed their voter registration to independent." Fuck that noise.
messedabout
No
Barlort
If the GOP hadn't been absolute poo poo since 2010 and the tea party, maybe. But they have been, and calling them out daily, voting them out, and never letting them forget what they've done is the correct course of action.
bippityboppitybuttsex
I won't punish them for doing the right thing, but I am not going to forgive them for what they have done until they make amends.
TheSecondPiewackit
Fully agree.
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
Shitstain will no longer release the epstein file because now their 'under investigation', and the republicans will have no problem with that. Fuck the republicans like the trash that they are. They voted for this.
TheSecondPiewackit
At no point in this did I suggest forgiveness or letting them off. I said don't punish them for the singular thing they finally got right.
lightfoot2
Of course. If a person who has been defecting starts cooperating, you COOPERATE BACK! That's how people can escape the "always defect" world in a proper tit for tat world (and we ALL live in a tit for tat world). So remember to do this.
TheCowSaysMoooo
This mood from MTG: "Ya, I helped create the monster, but now the monster is trying to eat my face. Please feel sorry for me even though I still agree with most of what the monster stands for and would vote for it again over any democrat."
TheSecondPiewackit
The enemy of my enemy is an asset that can be leveraged.
TheCowSaysMoooo
That's the thing though, she's not the enemy of Trump. She still likes Trump and most of his policies, and thinks he is innocent wrt Epstein. She just doesn't like being the target of his attacks. Leverage requires actions, not words, and it's unlikely she'll do much in the way of that.
medimr
If they're still pretending that they didn't vote for this, telling them that they did isn't "punishment" it's fucking "reality."
funone77
We should have hung the confederate leaders.
Their capitulation is just fear of losing power.
RubberMonkeys
Then put their heads on trains and drove them around the country. Instead they got pardoned and years later schools, roads, etc. were named after them to terrorize Black people.
vanishing
This has been the refrain from Ds my whole life. It kinda worked in the 80s but the Rs basically said "no more cooperation" in the 90s. They know they're fucked right now, so they're retreating and trying to limit the damage. They are never going to "come around". They are just regrouping to try this all again with better tactics next time.
spaceghoti
Except the ones who voted for the Felon all three times in the last three Presidential elections aren't willing to learn from their mistakes. They are not and will never be allies. At most they'll stay home when it comes time to vote, and that's the best we can expect of them. If they were genuinely willing to learn from their mistakes, they would stop voting Republican, and there's no evidence to suggest they're willing to consider that.
innoxiosmors
Because an apology and "common ground" isn't enough to undo the damage.
TheSecondPiewackit
I didn't suggest it was. I suggested you encourage good behavior when you see it instead of compounding social tribalism. They still suck.
azimir
An apology and MY ground, fuck common ground. That just got us a captured Democratic Party who is just right wing-lite.
Oblok
The Dems need a campaign about what's lost: "You could have had 25K low-interest small business loans, but you chose a ballroom instead."
SquirrelWithATophat
The Republicans WANT to make things as bad as possible, because they're a literal Nazi death cult. They have made this OVERWHELMINGLY clear, both in action and in writing for a VERY long time now. Trying to shame them by telling them "what they lost" is like trying to shame someone by sincerely praising them for the bad things they've done. All you accomplish is telling them they are being successful in their endeavor and to keep going.
Oblok
"You could have had fully supported healthcare and low cost drugs, but you chose social upheaval instead."
RubberMonkeys
They have to actually show that they've changed. In this case I'm going to assume you're referring to mtg. She can say all she wants in public but if she just votes in line with what drumpf and maga want then her words mean nothing. Yes, I know she signed the epstein discharge petition. That's a good step. Let's see what she does if a floor vote happens. If she votes yes, another good step forward. Then we keep an eye on her to see what she does next. I'm willing to give people a second chance.
TheSecondPiewackit
That's what I'm talking about. If you punish her for getting it correct, why should she take any more steps?
IrrationalNumber
Should an abuser be rewarded for *not* being abusive? That's like paying a gangster protection money for them to not destroy your property.
TheSecondPiewackit
It wasn't specifically about her. Regular republicans pissed about any of his shit policies. "Yeah man. We literally told you so."
intaglioguy
No. Grown adults purposely chose evil and must be held accountable for their evil. WWII was fought for this reason. They don't get a pass.
TheSecondPiewackit
At no point in this did I suggest giving them a pass. I suggested not responding to the singular correct view they have with punishment.
SquirrelWithATophat
Pretending to see the light in order to escape consequences isn't "finally getting something right". This is such an unbelievably common tactic among abusive/toxic people that, as an abuse survivor, it fills me with seething rage that there are so many grown adults who cannot see thru a lie so insanely simple and common that most people master it before they're out of diapers.
TheSecondPiewackit
I didn't suggest that you let them escape consequences, particularly for the things they're still wrong about.
SquirrelWithATophat
Except you did. By saying not to punish them for literally lying to your face to escape punishment, you are helping them to escape punishment for the evil they have perpetrated.
TheSecondPiewackit
Um... no, that's not what I said at all. I said encourage the correct behavior. That doesn't mean you endorse anything else. You're reading a lot more into this than what I actually put on screen.
quade
I fucking HATE her for all the shit she's said and done over the years, but OMG... is... is she actually doing (sort of) the right thing?
paynoattentiontousernames
I just hope she's got dirt and are willing to share
ThePostPenultStraw
For all that's been said and done, it appears raping children is MTG's red line. At least that's something. Not much but it's something.
Maybe she'll turn a leaf on some other things as well? We'll see.
quade
Well, AND supporting healthcare subsidies? I mean, sure, even a broken clock keeps the right time twice a day, but this timeline just keeps throwing curve balls...
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
We're not agreeing with her, she's finally agreeing with us'. Fuck her.
TheSecondPiewackit
I agree, fuck her for all her shitty views. But I encourage this singular correct one. If she develops more, I'll encourage them too.
SquirrelWithATophat
I've been dealing with toxic/abusive people for nearly 40 years. The people claiming to now reject trump haven't actually changed their views at all. They're just the ones smart enough to see the writing on the wall that they will have to face consequences before Trump is able to eliminate all the people they hate. So, like any other abusive person, they put on a show of how they've "seen the light" in hopes that their victims think they didn't know any better and show them leniency. 1/4
SquirrelWithATophat
I am all in favor of allowing people to redeem themselves and atone for what they have done wrong. But in this case it would require an astronomical amount of effort on their parts to earn forgiveness. Trump literally campaigned on promises to drive the country into the ground and commit as many atrocities (not just crimes, but full blown atrocities and crimes against humanity) as possible this term. 2/4
SquirrelWithATophat
He made it OVERWHELMINGLY clear during his first term that this is who he is and that he had zero intention ever ever doing anything good in this life. Those who voted for him were FULLY aware that they were voting in favor of unspeakable evil being committed against countless innocent people, and anyone willing to forgive this in exchange for an insincere apology is complicit in their crimes. 3/4
SquirrelWithATophat
Keep in mind that these are people who GLEEFULLY killed over a million people during the pandemic by doing everything they could to spread covid, even as they watched their own loved ones die slow, agonizing deaths right in front of them. They have spent their lives continuously voting in favor of causing as much suffering and death as possible, even when they're among the ones who suffer and die. 4/5
SquirrelWithATophat
They aren't sorry for what they voted for. They're sorry that they will have to face consequences before they can harm even more people. This is literally one of THE most common tactics of abusive/toxic people, and as someone who survived decades of abuse that ultimately culminated in catastrophic bodily harm to myself, it makes my blood almost literally boil with rage to see so many grown adults who cannot wrap their heads around such a mind-numbingly simple thing. 5/5
IrrationalNumber
Bullies and abusers change their tune when they see their comeuppance approaching. Letting them off scot free sows the seeds for the next fascist takeover.
ElbowDeepInUserSub
They're not being let off, they're being let in. And if they are ultimately found to be guilty of crimes against humanity, then at that point they will get exactly what they deserve. If it ends up they were just an asshole that learned to play nice... are we against redemption, now?
IrrationalNumber
Redemption usually comes after having been removed from the environment where they caused the harm, and often by a different kind of action than the one that caused the harm. Criminals don't earn redemption by continuing criminal activities byt switching targets. So a politician redeeming themselves by playing politics is not going to work. Go do community service in the affected areas, donate and raise funds for respectable charities that help those afflicted by your past actions, etc.
ElbowDeepInUserSub
I'm not saying "oh look, she's redeemed". I'm saying the door has to be open, to allow that to happen. If she is willing to help, let her help. If you slam the door now, you are not only making the problem worse by not allowing someone to help from within, but you are denying her the path towards realizing that kind of progress.
IrrationalNumber
If a criminal regrets their crime and gives themselves in. Should they be let off without any consequences just because they said sorry? Eg. in the case of burglary, should they not be made to return the stolen items? What if they already sold them and they're no longer retrievable? Like all the people that have died thanks to actions of the government she supported? Saying "sorry" usually comes with submitting oneself to the consequences of ones actions.
ElbowDeepInUserSub
How many times do I need to say I am not advocating "letting off without any consequences". To put it bluntly - if someone wants to help you take down a mob boss, the answer is not "well I don't want your help because I don't like you". That's fucking ridiculous.
IrrationalNumber
She can be sorry in a cell waiting for the investigation into if she knowingly made decisions that illegally condemned people to death and suffering.
TheSecondPiewackit
At no point did I suggest letting them off scot free. But encouraging correct behavior gets better results than punishing them for it.
IrrationalNumber
Feeding a mentality of "I will stop abusing you if you give me what I want" is not productive.
mycatwontletmeclosemybedroomdoor
We need to make sure we don't make the same mistake we made in 1865 this time around.
TheSecondPiewackit
Fair enough. But defectors are always useful.
AllDemApples
The defectors are seeing the writing on the wall, they haven't changed, they're just afraid of losing power. They will absolutely go back to doing the same shit when Trump is gone.
TheSecondPiewackit
Sure, but that doesn't mean you can't leverage them until they're no longer useful. Best case, they're so scared, they fake it. False motivation is real motivation.