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Shapiro talks quick and articulate, gives dubious statistics, often says "studies show" (without giving specifics on said studies), then demands precise details of people he's debating. Additionally he frames his opponents arguments in a wholly inaccurate manner, much like the ACO dancing tweet. He's quick witted and has made a living off "debating" ill prepared college students. His "Facts don't care about your feelings" trope rings rather hollow when the progressive policies he critiques as "insane" have been proven to work effectively in other first world countries. 

 

His affiliation with Breitbart, dissemination of racist cartoons ( https://thehill.com/homenews/media/354781-ben-shapiro-apologizes-for-racist-columbus-day-video ) and recent attempts to use charities as pawns to guilt/shame people into doing something, is enough for me to say "No thanks." 

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Kind of relate to the topic  - I don't think this will hijack the thread:

 

The article/poll by Gallup notes 35% identify as Conservative, 35% as Moderate and 26% as liberal.   You can see by the chart below that

the gap between the conservative # and the liberal # is shrinking.

 

https://news.gallup.com/poll/245813/leans-conservative-liberals-keep-recent-gains.aspx

 

Majority of Democrats Identify as Liberal for First Time

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The percentage of Democrats identifying as liberal averaged 51% in 2018, up from 50% in 2017, marking the first time a majority of Democrats have adopted this term, following gradual increases since the 1990s.

In 1994, nearly half of Democrats described their views as moderate while equal percentages, at 25%, identified themselves as liberal and conservative. That fundamental pattern held until about 2002, during the first half of President George W. Bush's first term in office. From 2002 through 2014 -- spanning the Iraq War under Bush and the Barack Obama presidency -- the liberal share increased approximately one percentage point a year, while the percentages moderate and conservative fell. Since 2014, the percentage of Democrats identifying as liberal has increased at an even faster rate of two points per year on average.

 

 

 

Line graph. Since 1992, the percentage in the U.S. identifying as liberal has grown, while moderates are down.
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1 hour ago, B.B. Hemingway said:

OMG, he would be absolutely fantastic!

If we're going to talk about Shapiro, then here's a couple critiques:

The Hollow Bravery of Ben Shapiro

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What Mr. Shapiro does on campus is shadow boxing meant to pander to his conservative fans whose values dominate mainstream American culture. If he wanted to be genuinely brave, he’d challenge some of the wrongheaded ideas held by his right-wing fans. Instead, he uses his megaphone — the website The Daily Wire — to reinforce what they already believe.

To take only the most recent example: On Monday, The Daily Wire published a video that depicted Native Americans as animated savages before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. In one slide, the video lists Native American achievements as consisting of dreamcatchers, tomahawks and cannibalism, while stating that Columbus’s arrival in 1492 assured the arrival of “math” and “the iPhone.”

 

 

These facts don’t care about Ben Shapiro’s feelings

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The “conservative intellectual” is young, loves to debate, and — unlike the professional trolls who embrace everything President Donald Trump does to own the libs — eager for you to think he adheres to a strict code of principles, only saying what he really believes. After all, Shapiro frequently repeats this simple mantra:

“Facts don’t care about your feelings.”

But despite presenting himself as a voice of reason who stands up to the “MAGA movement,” Shapiro has a habit of contradicting statements he made before (and even after) Trump took office, and a long history of failing to follow his own advice.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, RedDenver said:

If we're going to talk about Shapiro, then here's a couple critiques:

The Hollow Bravery of Ben Shapiro

 

These facts don’t care about Ben Shapiro’s feelings

 

 

It's moronic to suggest that Shapiro doesn't take the Republican party to task when he disagrees with something. It's just wrong. I listen to his podcast often enough to know that he is, and has been critical of the Republican base when he feels it's necessary. Good luck finding a right-wing media member who has been harder on Trump, but prior to his election, and after. You won't find one.

 

 

A dozen or so contradictions spanning more than a decade, all while being scrutinized in the public light? That's what you're coming with? It's game you could play with, quite literally, anyone.:lol:

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2 hours ago, B.B. Hemingway said:

 

It's moronic to suggest that Shapiro doesn't take the Republican party to task when he disagrees with something. It's just wrong. I listen to his podcast often enough to know that he is, and has been critical of the Republican base when he feels it's necessary. Good luck finding a right-wing media member who has been harder on Trump, but prior to his election, and after. You won't find one.

 

 

A dozen or so contradictions spanning more than a decade, all while being scrutinized in the public light? That's what you're coming with? It's game you could play with, quite literally, anyone.:lol:

Disagreeing with a political party doesn't make Shapiro's arguments stronger, but that's not what the articles are talking about anyway. Plus he's backpedaled on some of those criticisms (see below).

 

And having contradictions over a time isn't the main point of the contradictions article - it's that Shapiro conveniently contradicts himself in favor of his own ideology and in attacking other ideologies. He changes his arguments to fit whatever narrative he's currently pushing. From the second link:

  • Today he says don't call people Nazis. He used to call Obama supporters Nazis.
  • Today says don't call politics of the right fascism. Called Obama's 2012 State of the Union speech fascist. Called Rep. Chris Murphy's call for political activism fascism. (check link for more examples)
  • 2016 claimed conservatives were responsible for Trump. Now says media and the left are responsible for Trump.
  • More in that article where he says don't share fake news (except of course he's done that), don't make ridiculous discrimination claims (guess what he's done?), etc.

And if you listen to his podcast, actually check his claims of "studies claim" as he rarely cites the study (and fact-checkers often can't find any such study) or the study he cites doesn't support the conclusion he's drawn.

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3 hours ago, Fru said:

Shapiro talks quick and articulate, gives dubious statistics, often says "studies show" (without giving specifics on said studies), then demands precise details of people he's debating. Additionally he frames his opponents arguments in a wholly inaccurate manner, much like the ACO dancing tweet. He's quick witted and has made a living off "debating" ill prepared college students. His "Facts don't care about your feelings" trope rings rather hollow when the progressive policies he critiques as "insane" have been proven to work effectively in other first world countries. 

 

His affiliation with Breitbart, dissemination of racist cartoons ( https://thehill.com/homenews/media/354781-ben-shapiro-apologizes-for-racist-columbus-day-video ) and recent attempts to use charities as pawns to guilt/shame people into doing something, is enough for me to say "No thanks." 

 

I don't know much  about Shapiro, so feel free to make my $0.02 with a grain or two of salt...

 

But my impression of him is that he realize his conservative fan base absolutely adores combativeness and clashing with "the libs" as part of their id (or half the videos I see shared of him wouldn't involve some variations of "Ben Shapiro absolutely OWNS/DESTROYS ______!" or

 

But much like other conservative pundits, it's pretty easy to look cool and competent when your entire career depends on maintaining a relatively controlled environment and toss out any number of pre-formulated arguments to make your opponent look foolish ("debating"). 

 

He strikes me as a pretty typical conservative pundit with a veneer of intellectualism.

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