Chapo Trap House and the rise of the dirtbag left

anecdotal but i went to some DSA meetings and first one after election in particular, most of the new people cited chapo. and most of those folk were pretty young, probably under 25

xpost I don't know--why aren't there a bunch of think pieces about TYT? They have a bigger audience than Chapo, probably rake in more money, share a love for Bernie and domination politics and do actual political organizing. But they're kind of dumb and not in Brooklyn so...

I've read plenty of shit on TYT, it's out there

yeah, basically imo chapo does not merit thinkpieces

― -_- (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, July 19, 2017 3:23 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

And so that puts a higher burden of scrutiny on them than video game bloggers

hi this guy just got bounced from millions in partnership money for making a bunch of holocaust jokes

The difference between this and Hipster Runoff is that Chapo are involved in politics whether they say they are or not.

"Virgil Texas" is his name not the state he represents in congress

His pen name at least, I don't know if it's his real name

weirdly i've never met nor even read anyone who gives a shit about TYT. it's like the phantom audience. only rightwing youtubers are watching afaict.

Chapo Cult Temple

Bernie Sanders is the world cup and Chapo is major league soccer

Re: Americans attn spans

His pen name at least, I don't know if it's his real name

I was flipped out when I saw David Byrne's True Stories earlier this year.

ou can’t escape the game by pretending it isn’t happening, you can only lose it. Republicans recognize that the aim of politics is to crush the other guy; Barack Obama spent eight years refusing to recognize this. There’s nothing noble about being too polite to fight for dominance; it just mean that the people you’re supposed to fight for will continue to be the ones dominated.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/07/politics-is-a-contest-of-domination

re Sanders and his "black women problem", I gather this may not be as much of a thing as it once was

man... pic.twitter.com/MmCCUh0vOd

— Isaiah Breen (@isikbreen) July 19, 2017

whether favorability translates into votes is another question I suppose

I think favorability transfers to votes when you consider that it's the result of a considerably raised profile compared to 2015-2016. So I imagine Bernie would have increased support from quarters he didn't previously. Also there's probably key things he'd do differently if he knew he was an actual contender from the outset. But then I remember there's probably going to be a million people running so it will be insane and divided in a totally different way.

I really liked dlh's long post above.

And I can't help but shrug when chapo is portrayed as some especially vulgar form of gutter politics. I mean, really??

1 thing about them i don't like (and it's really just felix iirc) is slinging the word "retard" around which loses a massive amount of respect from me

It shows how completely bland almost all liberal commentary has been for many, many years. Like I said upthread, it's a shock to the system.

xp

Also there's probably key things he'd do differently if he knew he was an actual contender from the outset.

Well, yeah, this is key. Iirc Terrell Star voted for Sanders last time, it's not as if he wants him to be defeated. I just think he wants Sanders, as well as everyone, to take black women seriously, as well as their specific concerns.

I think the fact that 80% of Democrats like Sanders, and African-Americans are overwhelmingly Democrats, has a lot to do with each other. Him having less popularity among black voters than among democratic voters is not a particularly good sign.

terrell star, jesus wept

Felix, still the worst chapo

not reading Jeet's article about how rude we are till he takes David Frum's dick out of his mouth

— RusticBaller (@ByYourLogic) July 19, 2017

I agree with jeet heer. Chapo is just going to piss people off who would otherwise be sympathetic to robust, leftist policies.

The centrists have been sleazy in their attempt to cast leftists as a bunch of bros who don't care about women and minorities but the die is cast. The left won't defeat this (albeit duplicitous) narrative by playing into it. In this climate calling people "retards" isn't going to win over a majority.

If their goal is actually to heighten the contradiction between their movement -- an explicitly anticapitalist left. --and the democrats, that seems pretty stupid given the recent success of Sanders and Corbyn in challenging the neoliberal consensus.

1 thing about them i don't like (and it's really just felix iirc) is slinging the word "retard" around which loses a massive amount of respect from me

https://i.imgur.com/oT41FYI.gif

Chapo Trap House is Felix, so that's like ... the whole thing.

I would venture to guess that goole isn't too keen on Trump either

Wtf the one who talks the most is will and the ideology is most clearly articulated by Amber

I don't like chapo much but you're such a bad poster

Why, because you're a worm who must always go with what everyone else says?

Ehhh, sorry about that, I hold my posting quality in too high regard

I'm sorry too, Mr. Kaiser. There are no bad posters just bad posts.

have now listened to two episodes of this, and am a bit surprised to say that i found it to be quite funny and entertaining most of the time, these guys have decent comic timing and come up with some good riffs. that said it kind of amazes me that this show is apparently taken THIS seriously by so many ppl, it seems so light on actual political insight. to some extent listening to these guys chat reminds me of the shit i used to say in my late teens/early 20s, when i spent more time ranting about politics than actually paying attention to it. but that's ok, there are other podcasts for that, and it's fun enough to listen to in the car.

ppl arguing that they are a comedy podcast not a political movement are OTM, but obviously they are pulled—and throw themselves—into politics (or more accurately, the horribly blinkered and inane political twitterverse) by criticizing centrist libs. This discussion makes me wonder above all about how influential online political discourse really is, or could or should be. The relationship between the alt-right and Trump's election raises the same question, I think, though of course that case is not completely analogous.

This is not an ageist diss, but carpet_kaiser must be a troll and/or 15 years old.

No, the opposite. After seeing murder, torture, death, exploitation, human trafficking, and all sorts of horrors of the world, it changes your mind about things; my own mind is about advancing the world, not staying in the same pile of shit we're in now, which is Chapo firmly stuck in. But keep on lollin, you inexperienced naif.

i don't think 15 year olds know what message boards are tbh xp

Who doesn't love contemplating the horrors and shit of the world?

xp oh yeah good point

real winning rhetorical strategy you got there CK, that's us schooled

Part of why I think Chapo thinkpieces are terrible is that they never seem to say anything that isn't better understood by just listening to the show. FWIW I do think the DSA surge is a potentially significant political phenomenon, and Chapo happens to be adjacent to it/contribute to it, although I think are less responsible for it than Bernie, magazines like Jacobin, Occupy and the general phenomenon of weird/left twitter that spawned Chapo.

I agree the episodes aren't always brimming with political insight, but Matt drops some real bombs from time to time and is a true master of the rant genre. They kind of have a few insights that they repeat a lot and they are almost victims of how right they were -- the "libs" and Nat Review conservatives that they lampoon really did become a lot less relevant in 2016 to the point that taking shots at them starts to lose its salience.

maybe carpet_kaiser is a Maoist and Chapo are insufficiently revolutionary?

Nah, I joined the Communist Party when I was 12 years old, and parted pretty quickly after. I've got my own political philosophy worked out, which isn't something you can guess at.

whatever it is it's remarkably persuasive

If this was Twitter that would start a 100-reply 'beautiful self-own' thread.

Nah, I joined the Communist Party when I was 12 years old, and parted pretty quickly after. I've got my own political philosophy worked out, which isn't something you can guess at.

― carpet_kaiser, Thursday, July 20, 2017 3:53 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://m.baklol.com/baks/Funny/Best--guess-----memes-_1709/A-smug-look-_21466

Carpet_kaiser, what was your previous login name on here?

B@ngbvsd00d69

Also, Scott Benson had a great point when he summarized it all as "the Mean Left," rather than the alt-left or whatever bullshit formulation.

Sooo many professional media/pundity types are freaking out because they're getting snarked on in their preferred social media networks. It's not just that (ex)Gawker types are mocking them, but people are actually @ing them and shit.

No, the opposite. After seeing murder, torture, death, exploitation, human trafficking, and all sorts of horrors of the world, it changes your mind about things; my own mind is about advancing the world, not staying in the same pile of shit we're in now, which is Chapo firmly stuck in. But keep on lollin, you inexperienced naif.

o hai larry appleton

Just a few slices of apple, Servant.

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion

not reading Jeet's article about how rude we are till he takes David Frum's dick out of his mouth

— RusticBaller (@ByYourLogic) July 19, 2017

Finally someone bold enough to say that giving a blow job is the ultimate in degradation. Revolution!