The perils of "owning" the libs

Now, I’m no stranger to the rhetoric of lib ownership; my website, Daily Wire, offers “LEFTIST TEARS (hot or cold)” tumblers with an annual subscription. But I do fear that if the tumbler fills due solely to “triggering” behavior, actual aggregate ownership of libs will decline, not rise. Victory over the Left isn’t enhanced by nasty behavior meant to elicit tears; it’s enhanced only by defeating arguments while using the minimum necessary force. That doesn’t mean running away from arguments — it means making them. “Triggering” requires little skill or knowledge. Argumentative victory requires both.

That’s why triggering and memery are so popular these days. They’re fun and easy (and hell, I’d be a hypocrite not to note that I occasionally stray into this territory when I believe the extremism of the Left simply requires mockery). It’s a shortcut to watching the frustration of your enemies made manifest.

But there are two types of political frustration. The first earns ire and backlash; the second earns apathy and backtracking. Only the second is worth earning. Jon Stewart, for all the groans of annoyance he caused among right-wingers, brought frustration of the first kind: He helped drive angry Republicans to the polls, where they won sweeping victories over Democrats in Congress and in the states and, finally, in a presidential election. Ronald Reagan brought frustration of the second type to Democrats: a feeling of resigned futility that led to massive electoral defeats for Democrats.