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‘Owning the libs’ in the defense of liberty is no vice

‘Owning the libs’ in the defense of liberty is no vice

To ‘own a lib’ at its core is to expose the truth about illiberal liberals, and we should never stop doing that.

Nikki Haley, in a speech to the Turning Point USA high school summit, questioned the wisdom of “owning the libs”:

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever posted anything online to quote-unquote ‘own the libs,’ ” Haley asked at the High School Leadership Summit at George Washington University.

The vast majority raised their hands in response, and then erupted into spontaneous applause.

I know that it’s fun and that it can feel good, but step back and think about what you’re accomplishing when you do this — are you persuading anyone? Who are you persuading?” Haley asked. “We’ve all been guilty of it at some point or another, but this kind of speech isn’t leadership — it’s the exact opposite.”

“Real leadership is about persuasion, it’s about movement, it’s bringing people around to your point of view,” she added. “Not by shouting them down, but by showing them how it is in their best interest to see things the way you do.”

That comment by Haley got a lot of people talking about ‘owning the libs,’ including many libs:

https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/1021567783862235136

Twitchy has a good round-up of reaction.

There is no single meaning of what it is to ‘own a lib.’ The liberals writing about Haley’s comments use these descriptions:

Business Insider:

The expression to “own the libs” is a often used as a tongue-in-cheek criticism of obscure but increasingly common right-wing tactics ranging from upending GOP orthodoxy on policy , to throwing your own expensive coffee machine out the window in protest of an ad boycott, to wearing diapers during a campus demonstration.

It simply means that Republicans enjoy to a great degree, sometimes even more than actual policy achievements, opportunities to make Democrats and liberals feel bad or face plant. The conservatives who like to own the libs do it because it feels good and it’s funny.

Rolling Stone:

To “own” someone on the internet is to dominate and humiliate them, and the “libs” can loosely be defined as anyone to the left of Sean Hannity. If you hate yourself enough to read political commentary all day on Twitter dot com, you already know that “owning the libs” is an often-sung refrain.

To own the libs is to partake in the pettiest of culture wars. But moreover, to own the libs is to own yourself, no matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on. As comedian Patrick Monahan, an early adopter of the meme, tells Rolling Stone, owning the libs is “laughing as you post ‘Trump is still your President’ memes in Facebook threads while the bank forecloses on your farm. It comes down to a need for community and some kind of cultural ‘win’ [for the right] since they perceive culture to be against them at all times.”

Ben Shapiro, writing at National Review, cautioning about the tactic possibly motivating Democrats to vote, used this explanation:

First, you say something that “triggers the libs”; then, when they make clear that they’re triggered, you mock them; then, by virtue of your mockery, you own them. What you choose to do with the libs you own is irrelevant; mere pride of ownership is the important thing.

To me, to ‘own a lib’ is to expose the illiberal, hypocritical and irrational nature of so much of what constitutes modern liberalism.

The tactics vary. It could be videotaped street interviews (particularly with liberal college students), defiant displays of non-liberal ideas in liberal environments (particularly college campuses), quoting and videotaping what liberals actually advocate, or simply laughing out loud (literally and figuratively).

I would not deprive conservative high school and college students the pleasure of occasionally ‘owning a lib.’ It’s a morale booster for kids who live in politically hostile environments. They are patronized and insulted daily, so if they give it back a little, good for them.

The means used is not the point. To ‘own a lib’ is not a policy or end result, it’s a tactic. The point is to accurately expose what liberals think, and to shine light on it.

To ‘own a lib’ thus is different in goal than the mocking of conservatives (and other deplorables) that takes place throughout the mainstream media, particularly on the late-night shows. The tactics used by liberals (and some #NeverTrump establishment Republicans) against conservatives and deplorables is to create a false caricature. This was used against the Tea Party movement relentlessly, with liberty-loving smaller-government patriots falsely portrayed as snaggletoothed totalitarian monsters.

We don’t need to caricature liberals to ‘own a lib.’ We simply need to expose the reality of modern liberalism. We should never stop doing that.

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Comments

DieJustAsHappy | July 28, 2018 at 8:24 pm

I owned some libs, but I just found them too, too taxing. So, not any more.
With apologies to ya’ all.

Fight fire with fire. Long ago the left utterly rejected the idea of debate to persuade. For the left it’s their way or no way. They intend to cram down our throats whatever the end game. In the effort they share common cause with Islam and Muslims.

Love Haley

What is best in life?

To own the libs, see them triggered before you, and to hear the lamentations of the soyboys.

Alinsky Rule #6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”

Us own them?

That’s backwards: those fascists want to own us: we don’t care what they do with their lives, so long as they don’t steal from us or enslave us.

They’re looking to steal from us an enslave us.

Their greedy hands belong in ‘vice.’

It’s a pretty sterile activity; as pointless as a modern off-Broadway play, larded with references and jokes only you and a few of your terribly clever friends “get”.

Once you own a Lib, what do you have?

Nothing worth having, really.

Communication 101:

What are you communicating?
Who are you communicating to and who are you NOT communicating to?
What do you expect to have happen as a result of that communication?

I recall Obama criticizing Palin on nuclear policy after he was president. The game of the period was to portray Palin as a dummy. So I sent Michelle Malkin a link to Obama campaigning in Portland and not knowing what the Hanford Nuclear reservation was, let alone the concept of a “superfund”/// which Malkin promptly posted… So I guess I “owned them” on that one.

    alaskabob in reply to Andy. | July 29, 2018 at 12:52 am

    Now… in which of the 57 states is Hanford? Without “The One” I am perpetually lost. Replace FDR with BHO as prez in 1941 and we wouldn’t need a superfund to clean up the mess. The money could be used to teach English as a second language with Japanese favored on the West Coast and German on the East.

I didn’t even realize “owning the libs” had become a thing and now we’re arguing the ethics of it.

More relevant to my life is that the hex wrench set is missing a couple of tools. Anyone know where I can find replacements?

Close The Fed | July 28, 2018 at 10:56 pm

Arminus, are you talking Allen wrenches?

Some of the GOP seem to have forgotten their Bible: “Spare the rod, spoil the child.”

“…since they perceive culture to be against them at all times.”

Yeah, if only there were some evidence of leftist domination in cultural institutions…

By the way… her picture screams “high maintenance” .. the type that only government can afford.

Crazy Eyes.

Another Soros contrivance. Not even a good one!

OnTheLeftCoast | July 29, 2018 at 3:13 am

But she graduated #4 in her class at BU with an econ(!) major. She must be right about the economy.

DouglasJBender | July 29, 2018 at 3:30 am

There were 5 in her class.

DouglasJBender | July 29, 2018 at 3:41 am

Just a side (but actual and sincere) reaction and comment:

Sometimes, the ignorance, lies, corruption, and just plain evil in the world — combined with my own ineffectualness in the face of it all, and with my awareness of my weakness and imperfection — lead me to the point of emotional and spiritual exhaustion. Then, I find comfort and strength in verses such as the following:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

I love Nikki Haley, but she is as wrong as those conservatives who thought we need not engage in the Culture War.

    Fen in reply to Fen. | July 29, 2018 at 7:32 am

    To be fair, I think she means to make a point similar to this skit on why the Left is responsible for the Trump Revolution

    “Hurling insults doesn’t work anymore”
    https://youtu.be/GLG9g7BcjKs

    I think the mistake she makes is the assumption that the Left is just like her – open to a civil discussion based on logic and reason.

    It’s the same mistake the actor makes in the video above – he doesn’t understand why the Left has abandoned converting their political opponents with discourse.

    The reason they abandoned it, the reason t

      snopercod in reply to Fen. | July 29, 2018 at 9:19 am

      It’s impossible to have a logical discussion with people who don’t believe in logic.

(damnit Verizon, can you provide a stable connection for FIVE minutes please? You have one job and you suck at it)

ahem..

The reason they abandoned it, the reason they shout us down and shut down our speakers on college campuses is because their ideas no longer sell. Leftist ideology cannot survive in a venue that allows for direct feedback.

That we are having this conversation implies that the libs ARE owned and that their ideas are so ridiculous that they merit restraint on our enjoyment of mocking them.

I’m just a bit suspicious about the source of all this “concern.” Ambassador Haley’s comments were the first to get press, but others on the GOPe plantation have been parroting the line (and, although I very much like Ambassador Haley’s performance at the UN, I am a bit suspicious about the depth of her conservatism.) Is this some sort of coordinated plan promoting “civility” on the right, as a prelude to 2020?

    Fen in reply to Anonamom. | July 29, 2018 at 9:32 am

    Good point. Her remarks took on a different tenor once I saw Cucks like Bill Kristol endorse them. They want to play the groveling Wormtongue to Saruman and resent Gandalf’s interference.

    https://youtu.be/iQExgALv9wI

    Look on Theoden as the Republican Party we once knew.

      Fen in reply to Fen. | July 29, 2018 at 9:39 am

      The party of Ronald Reagan.

      The party that destroyed the Soviet Empire.

      Too long have we slept.

notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital | July 29, 2018 at 2:30 pm

The Professor nails it!

RE:to ‘own a lib’ is to expose the illiberal, hypocritical and irrational nature of so much of what constitutes modern liberalism

I agree. Owning them here is simply exposing the truth of their positions which then takes away any power they try to project through those positions. Owning a lib is simply shooting down their arguments with truth and/or logic. Most libs exist is a world w/o any challenges to their positions, thus they view ALL disagreement as an attack. We aren’t mocking them when we say “snowflake,” we are seriously pointing out the fragile and ephemeral state of their viewpoints. Any heat, poof, gone.

I agree. Owning them here is simply exposing the truth of their positions which then takes away any power they try to project through those positions. Owning a lib is simply shooting down their arguments with truth and/or logic. Most libs exist is a world w/o any challenges to their positions, thus they view ALL disagreement as an attack. We aren’t mocking them when we say “snowflake,” we are seriously pointing out the fragile and ephemeral state of their viewpoints. Any heat, poof, gone.

I limit my arguments with liberals to the point where a seed has been planted. With enough factual fertilizer, it will grown on its own. And I don’t think we can take too much credit here for the shift in the country. The Left is chasing them away with the cray cray. I mean seriously, they still haven’t acknowledged that much of the last election was about “against Hillary.” Sanders would have killed Trump and the country. We dodged a big one, and for once, I do believe that the best candidate did win. Whodathunk!

My bible says don’t throw pearls before swine. Having a conversation with libs is pointless

Whaat’s pown versus own mean?