According to MTG...

April 3, 2023 7:59 PM

... the Democrats are a 'party of paedophiles'...... so... let us gather some solid facts regarding political affiliation and what floats people's boats...

... here... here... and... so on... the list is rather long...

Meanwhile.... perhaps, in the interest of balance, someone can produce a list that is as long or longer

posted by IndelibleUnderpants (15 comments total)

Will never not read that acronym as Magic the Gathering.
posted by Reyturner at 8:23 PM on April 3, 2023 [18 favorites]

it is good practice, in situations like this, to frame spurious claims by leading with the world as it is, and then introduce the claim before you debunk it. This avoids leaving people remembering just the spurious claim, if they're not otherwise familiar with the circumstances

although I figure the average MetaFilter reader is probably pretty clear on Democrats not being pedophiles, so not a huge issue in this instance
posted by Merus at 8:29 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

It is eliminationist rhetoric.... they're prepping the stage for genocide and civil war. After all, if your opponents are sexual deviants, especially pedophiles, any and all violence against them is justifiable.

For historical reference, consider that both the Night of Long Knives and some of the Stalinist purges (the Red Army trials) involved accusations of homosexual conspiracies.

Now is not the time for complacency or civility. Consider whether the Pink Pistols, Socialist Rifles, John Brown Gun Club, Redneck Revolt, or other mutual aid associations are right for you. Understand that the fascists will be coming for you and your loved ones... it's time to prepared for their death squads. Law enforcement will not help or protect us; if anything, they'll be providing cover for the death squads of international fascism (if not being the squads themselves).
posted by LeRoienJaune at 8:35 PM on April 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

I'm 99.9% sure the "they" in that comment is talking about Republicans, not Democrats.
posted by schmod at 8:46 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

"They" are the right wing fellow travellers like MTG, as discussed in the lead, above the fold, link. It's absolutely a talking point among them.
posted by mark k at 8:46 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm watching the video right now. Lesley Stahl's subtle, "wow..." when MTG defended the use of word "paedophile" is inspiring. MTG is as hateful as ever.
posted by bendy at 8:56 PM on April 3, 2023

She does have a pretty rad elephant sculpture on her lawn though, not to mention somewhat phallic shrubbery.
posted by bendy at 9:03 PM on April 3, 2023

Greene and her ilk are 100% on board with srxualizing children, as long as it's cishet.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:04 PM on April 3, 2023

Let us not descend into 'name and blame', rather let's ensure that a counter position is shown so that a level of balance can be established as in a 'hold on... wait a minute'. MTG uses a common foil to deflect 'fact' when it drills directly back at her. Can someone better informed than I point out the matters that were brushed over by the 'since kindergarten' deflection please? Try and go past the "An exasperated Stahl whispered “wow,” rolled her eyes and made a popping sound." with solid information regarding the vagueness of the accusations from MTG. Someone should/needs to sue...
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 9:08 PM on April 3, 2023

Dennis Hastert is a Democrat?
posted by eustatic at 9:23 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Didn’t West Virginia Republicans just scuttle a bill to raise the age limit of marriage to 18? Without getting into which party contains more actual pedophiles, it might be clear that on a policy level, the GOP is more open to child brides.
posted by lemonshush at 9:33 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

If only there were remedies such as defamation or consequences like getting thrown off committees, kicked out of congress for telling all these lies
posted by interogative mood at 9:48 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I still can’t understand what the 60 Minutes people were thinking here. They get an hour a week to be on TV, less commercial time. That airtime is a very limited resource and so they should try to use what they have as effectively as possible. So i don’t understand why they would waste that time giving a platform to Marjorie Taylor Greene when they could have shown, for example, Lesley Stahl shitting in a bucket.
posted by Naberius at 9:59 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

so, do we really have to?

Yes, we do. When conservatives make all these absurd, totally unfounded accusations about leftists (and LGBTQ folks in particular) being groomers, it's perfectly fair to point out that they're actually the party with so many accused pedophiles in their ranks, going all the way up to the top. All that hollering about deviancy is coming from the party of Matt Gaetz, Roy Moore, Dennis Hastert and Trump. You make it sound like everybody knows the truth, but Fox News and other right wing propaganda outlets are blasting out this "drag queens are coming for your toddlers" bullshit every day and way too many people believe it. If conservatives are going to keep harming kids while accusing us of doing so, why the hell should we just shut up and take that?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:00 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

There is a long list of republican sex offenders. There is also a long list of democrat sex offenders. Here's a list, for example. Regardless of which list is longer, I don't see that it is a glowing endorsement of either party.

The vast majority of people who vote either democrat or republican are not sex offenders, and insinuating that they are by listing some bad eggs who abused their power is reductive, and not particularly better or more helpful than what Marjorie Taylor Greene is doing.

Greed — greed for money, greed for power — is the real pedophile, and the child is American democracy. With many systems in place to facilitate its grooming.
posted by tempestuoso at 10:04 PM on April 3, 2023