Thread by @KrisAtLarge

let's talk about the "ideology" thing a bit more. the right-wing Christian crowd (@SarahPalinUSA, @AnnCoulter, @JoelOsteen, @DouthatNYT, whoever—they're all basically the same except in trifling details) has been *really* keen on pretending not to be ideological.

(1/x)

https://twitter.com/PnictogenHorses/status/1632524093525475329

I suspect it's for the simple reason that earlier waves of right-wing Christian ideologues (people like @Franklin_Graham's dad Billy or @JerryFalwellJr's dad Jerry Sr.) got *upset* from being called ideologues—so they decided to paste "ideology" on everyone else's head.

(2/x)

the @MattWalshBlog / @realchrisrufo crowd have done the same with *lots* of words that they don't want to stick to them. "racist", "bigot", "fascist", even "right wing" and "conservative"—any time anyone tries to describe or summarize their behavior, they say it's wrong.

(3/x)

this is the "contrarianism" that people like @mattyglesias and @NateSilver538 are accused of—the reflexive avoidance of any words or concepts that they don't like and think ought not to apply to them. they want to believe "racist" is equivalent to a mere meaningless slur.

(4/x)

"fascist? *I'm* not the fascist, YOU'RE the fascist!!" @MattWalshBlog and @realchrisrufo probably spend most of their waking hours coming up with new ways of saying words similar to those—different ways of being "contrarian" about being correctly labelled as "fascist".

(5/x)

and in a like manner they've all refused to be _ideological_, too. @MattWalshBlog doesn't have an *ideology*! only woke crybullies and Chinese Commies have ideologies. Matt Walsh believes only in facts and logic! he does think his Christian extremism is "objectively" true.

(6/x)

and they'll hear no challenges to their own political self-identifications because, to them, that's like questioning their faith in God and country...although I think it's safe to guess that @MattWalshBlog's faith in God and country are as untrustworthy as the rest of him.

(7/x)

they have faith in their own personal definitions of everything and that's that. how does one even begin to argue or communicate with someone like this? but that's rather the point. being *invincibly illogical*, like @MattWalshBlog or @realchrisrufo, is like a superpower.

(8/x)

you know who wrote about someone like @MattWalshBlog? #CSLewis! in Perelandra. there's a memorable scene towards the end where "The Un-Man", Weston's possessed form, pesters the hero Ransom in silly and childlike ways—making trouble for Ransom simply because he *can*.

(9/x)

like @MattWalshBlog and @realchrisrufo and @elonmusk (and ALL their fans) "The Un-Man" from Perelandra is a mere repetitive bully. he keeps Ransom from sleeping merely by asking him "Ransom?" over and over again, then saying "Nothing" if Ransom tries any sort of reply.

(10/x)

"Ransom." "What is it?" "Nothing."
"Ransom." "What do you want?" "Nothing."
"Ransom." "Yes, what now?" "Nothing."

it's like #CSLewis invented one of @jordanbpeterson's fans. the conversational style is much the same: repeatedly doing something irritating, just *because*.

(11/x)

and it *works*. Ransom ends up letting the Un-Man pester him, saying "Ransom? Ransom? Ransom?" over and over again, because the alternatives are worse. if someone wants to be dreary and repetitive, there's no way to *stop* them really—not in an Internet conversation.

(12/x)

and nothing makes someone "dreary and repetitive" quite like right-wing ideology—you know, the thing that @DouthatNYT and @MattWalshBlog and the rest of them pretend they don't have. they pretend not to be ideological; they don't even like to be called "right-wing".

(13/x)

it's part of the ideology, really—there's no *requirement* for an ideology to be accurate about describing itself.

this is something that Western discourse doesn't quite seem to have realized yet. merely because @Sargon_of_Akkad SAYS he's "centrist" doesn't mean he is.

(14/x)

@mtaibbi SAYS he's "independent" (and his declaration of "independence" is ideological, by the way) but that doesn't mean he's really independent. it's politics—everyone tells lies about themselves, and yet for some reason Western journalists don't like questioning that.

(15/x)

well, they don't like questioning 'whıte' men, anyway. other people get more questions, from Western journalists. wouldn't you agree, @DKThomp?

~Chara of Pnictogen