Dialogue, or the pretense of dialogue?

[Post by Dan T]

Are Trump supporters capable of (or interested in) genuine dialogue with those who oppose Trump? The evidence to date is grim.

Germaine has been exploring the possibility of dialogue with folks from the right. As part of this experiment, he invited MC to post here on Dispol. I welcomed MC, but noted that “I've become skeptical of even the possibility of meaningful right-left dialogue in our current climate, except in cases where the people on the right have broken cleanly from Trumpism.” I promised I would be respectful but blunt. 

After a little back and forth, I noted that when I’ve tried to engage respectfully with Trump supporters who aren’t outright trolls, the person “disappears when I start presenting uncomfortable facts. So I'm wary of proceeding further, but conditionally willing to give it a try.”

MC asked me, “How is the rule of law threatened by Trump?” I provided an answer backed by facts. I tried to make it long enough to have some meat on the bones, and not so long as to be overwhelming. After two days without a response, I asked him for his view. Another day has passed. 

Crickets.  

Yesterday, MC posted a provocative post about supposed “black and brown supremacy,” but the only fact it contained is that Joy Reid was fired.The rest was vague accusations of ill-defined racism. I asked, “Please (a) define what you mean by "black and brown progressive supremacists" and (b) show evidence that Hakeem Jeffries is one.”

Crickets.

MC has not explicitly said what his goal is in coming to Dispol. At this point, it doesn’t appear genuine dialogue is among his goals. MC, prove me wrong. I would love to hear what you think about my argument that Trump threatens the rule of law, and what facts and reasoning underlie your view. I would love to have you engage in reasoned dialogue with us. I would welcome that--but I'm not going to hold my breath.