CUCK. SJW. DUMPSTER FIRE
A GUIDE TO POLITICAL INSULTS
Not long ago, when Americans wanted to insult their political opponents they had to go outside to find some hippies to yell at. With social media making it so much easier and amid one of the most contentious U. S. elections in a generation, the inevitable result has been a cornucopia of political insults. The 2000 presidential election was noted for faulty ballots. In 2004, it was Swiftboating. But 2016 might well be remembered for its overflowing slams, slurs and putdowns.
SJW
Short for “social justice warrior,” SJW has become a shorthand way of accusing someone of being a fanatical leftist. “SJW Goes Nuts When Trump Supporters Shout ‘USA! USA!’ ” is the title of a video making the rounds on conservative blogs, for instance. When Twitter banned conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos for purportedly inciting racist tweets against Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, the microblogging platform was repeatedly accused of being an “SJW apologist.”
LIBTARD
Only mildly less offensive than the r- word it replaces, “libtard” implies both liberal sentiment and diminished mental capacity. It’s one of several new words to use the suffix “- tard” in an apparent attempt to find palatable alternatives to a term that disparages the disabled.
CUCK OR CUCKSERVATIVE
Derived from “cuckold,” the Shakespearean-era label attached to the husband of an unfaithful wife. It refers to a genre of Internet pornography in which a woman has loud, satisfying sex while an actor playing her humiliated husband sits at the edge of the bed looking sad. Porn producers say they are baffled by the popularity of the genre. But the word “cuckservative” is levelled at Republicans accused of being wussy panderers to the left. The implication is they are meekly standing aside as Democrats take carnal liberties with their party. Like most terms on this list, it has taken on racial implications in the darker recesses of the web. As in, black people specifically are taking carnal liberties with their party.
MRA
Men’s Rights Activist is essentially the right- wing counterweight to SJW. The term was once used unironically by the group it targets, but years of derision have associated the term with fedora- wearing video gamers complaining about feminism. In response, activists legitimately trying to address men- centric issues such as child custody now prefer the term “men’s issues,” instead of “men’s rights.”
DUMPSTER FIRE
Intended to evoke a messy, uncontrollable conflagration of garbage. Also, have you ever tried to control a flaming Dumpster? It’s next to impossible and therefore perfect to describe any opponent’s actions, be it a speech, a convention or an overall cam- paign. However, Dumpster fire been used so liberally to refer to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and the 2016 presidential election, it’s become a victim of its own popularity, with sites such as Gawker banning its use.
HILLBOT AND BERNIE BRO
The two terms by which the Democratic party’s competing factions ridicule each other. Hillbot, which dates back to 2008, is meant to lambaste Clinton supporters as corrupt, backroom schemers bent on power at all costs. “The only demographics you care about are white women over 50, and uneducated whites east of the Mississippi,” reads a How to be a Hillbot guide from when Clinton was challenging Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. Bernie Bro refers to a subset of fanatical Bernie Sanders supporters. Some Sanders supporters say it’s merely an invention of the Clinton campaign.
Easily one of the most poetic insults from the 2016 election cycle, this one refers exclusively to Ted Cruz, failed candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner used it in a speech at Stanford University in April. “I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life,” he said.
CLOWN
This was once an insult reserved for 1960s protest songs. In 2016 it’s gone mainstream. A Google search of the terms “Clinton clown” or “Trump clown” reveals dozens of Photoshopped images of the candidates in clown makeup — including numerous appearances of a clownified Trump on the cover of the New York Daily News. Trump, in turn, liberally refers to op- ponents as “clowns,” from Republican strategist Karl Rove to New York Times columnist David Brooks.
TRAITOR
This was a common American political insult in the 19th century — partly because it was often true. More recently, the likes of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton never truly questioned the other’s devotion to the Constitution. But it’s again in vogue to accuse an opponent of being an enemy of the Republic. The Republican convention featured chants of “lock her up!” at the mention of Clinton and a Trump adviser called for her to be “shot for treason,” another old-fashioned concept. As for Trump, he most recently became the target of the T- word when he seemed to express support for a Russian cyber- attack on the Democratic National Committee.
THERE’S NO ROOM IN CANADA FOR DISCONTENTED AMERICANS. CANADA IS FULL, AND DOING RESPONSIBLE THINGS LIKE TAKING IN REFUGEES. STAY WHERE YOU ARE. LIVE IN YOUR MESS. — SAMANTHA BEE, COMEDIAN, TORONTO NATIVE AND U. S. CITIZEN