at least semi-rational people who might pay even the slightest bit of attention to anything we have to say. Sorry. I solved the communication issues simply by not interacting with these petty little destructo machines. Fortunately, I rarely encounter them.

Why bother?

They might be psychopaths.

Neither of them are scintillating conversationalists. Why would I want to waste my time trying is beyond me.

genetically based or environmentally based.

Psychopathy is thought to have stronger genetic links and is associated with a lack of empathy, whereas sociopathy is more often connected to environmental factors such as trauma or abuse.

These are the primary distinctions. The effects on society are not very different.

i don't have much patience with "them" and haven't for quite awhile.
i don't deal/interact with "them"
i'll let the nice, tolerant, patient dems give it a try
i would totally suck at it

- argument, these are all time honored suggestions to achieve productive communication. I believe these suggestions would work in written communications - such as social media, chat-rooms - as well. Thank you , applegrove, for this post.

that one can't keep up. Gish Gallop is their biggest one, following by argument from ignorance, hasty generalization, red herring, strawman, sophistry, moral relativism, appeal to authority, the divine fallacy, begging the question, slippery slope, loaded question, confirmation bias, equivocation, Texas sharpening, and the No True Scotsman fallacy.

It’s the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy

One of my faves
It’s almost like something from a Twain story

A RATIONAL PERSON.

BUT MAGAts POST PICTURES OF TRUMP AS CHRIST, FGS! AS A HE-MAN! AS WALKING WITH ALIENS! AS A TOUGH GUY!

THEY ARE RACISTS, MISOGYNISTS, GREEDHEADS, FOOLS, GULLS, AND KNAVES---

AND THEY WOULD LITERALLY KILL US ALL IF THEY KNEW THEY'D BE PARDONED BY TRUMP!

THIS ESSAY NO DOUBT MADE THE WRITER FEEL GOOD AND DECENT AND RATIONAL AND LOGICAL AND EMOTIONALLY STABLE AND MAYBE EVEN BRILLIANT IF HE WERE HONEST, BUT IN POINT OF FACT THE AUTHOR IS.....

NAIVE.

Point taken.

You're never going to get back anything intelligent and it just pisses off the dog.

I could care less if they're sway-able.
I want them to feel like an idiot.

Useful if you have family members or others you can't avoid who have surrendered their wits.

I'd be interested in a similar take on "How to talk to a liberal." Just to see what would be said about me.

Admonished, advised, attacked, accused....

FT&T🐎TRIO!

He wants questions? Here's my question:

"WHY DO YOU THINK A CONVICTED FELON, JUDGED RAPIST, AND ACCUSED PEDOPHILE IS FIT TO BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

No BS changing the topic. No Biden this or Obama that. JUST ANSWER THE GD QUESTION."

Now, of course all MAGAts will answer: "I don't believe any of that Democrat crap. It's all Fake News. Trump is the greatest President we've ever had."

So, Genius Author, tell me your next rational approach.

Because I'm looking at your board and I'm calling Checkmate.

Is that they will not change their minds. They will only become more emboldened and believe that they have a chance to convert you to the cult.

This presumes that they are rational or logical. That's naive at best.

Also, they have been groomed by years of right-wing media. They need cult de-programing.

I’m blunt and to the point. If they shut down or become defensive so be it. I have no more patience or fucks to give in regards to having a rational discussion with MAGA.

generally along the lines of "who exactly has their hands in your pocket".

Most magats have been propagandized from the cradle on by the vast media octopi which flood the zone with fear and rage. The Reich Wing understands very well that very little human behavior is rational. There's much more return on investment by stroking the subconscious, the emotional part of the brain that responds to fight-or-flight stimuli.

The people are suffering from exploitation by the rich. Several generations now are less secure than the previous one. There are good reasons to feel fear and rage. So the media empires give people lots of shiny object targets and validates their fear and rage - but not for the real perps of oppression.

Very little political behavior is rational. By anyone. We get nowhere by expecting rationality, which is rare and precious.

they WANT to believe the worst about their opponents, to feel better about themselves. So they will swallow any lie or half-truth, and implicitly trust any source that provides it, in order TO FEEL GOOD.

So as much as these hypocrites decry liberal policies as “feel good,” try taking away their sources of dopamine and serotonin for a couple of days. They would lose their damn minds.

Until they break out of their addiction to hate-fueled highs, they are unreachable. The OP has good suggestions about how to proceed with moderate Rs; it's just that they are a dying breed, and we're left with mostly pedo enablers and tyrant enthusiasts.

they will discount a respectful reply for this reason

Never.