Frankly, this is largely hypothetical to you, and your insistence that there are
gaps to be bridged exposes that since it's predicated on people in your imagination. (I'm not making this any more personal than that though, I promise, this isn't flaming you). There's no bridge to be built to people who think NYT and WaPo -- as flawed as some of their editorial decision can be -- are "fake news" and Breitbart and Alex Jones -- or better yet, Trump himself (as actual Chair of the House Science Committee argues:
http://www.vox.com/s...ump-lamar-smith) -- are the only reliable sources of truth.
On the other hand, I don't have to invent anything. It is
inherently humiliating to esteem Trump as a leader or a hero. I'm not talking about sweeping into flyover country on a Let's-Mock-Strangers Tour. I'm talking about glibly unreasonable people you can hold accountable to some appropriate degree in your public and private life. It's not "dehumanizing" to point out to a lickspittle that you're not falling for their dimwit arguments for whatever monstrous EO Trump signed that day, or to point out that they're siding with the silverback because it's simple and easy, not because it's right.
Actual dehumanization includes calling Mexicans criminals and rapists, or destroying actual human beings' actual access to life-saving health care, or telling Muslims they're not welcome here because they are more prone to violence, or raiding neighborhoods and breaking families apart because they make an easy scapegoat. It's dehumanizing to send tanks into tipis, and it's dehumanizing to poison a city's drinking and bathing water with lead. The hurt feelings of deliberately vile people just doesn't cut it, Apt.
Look at this Jason Chaffetz town hall from a couple days ago:
http://www.motherjon...trump-conflicts
See the genuine anger and disappointment of his constituents.
Now look at his response:
http://talkingpoints...-paid-protestos
"Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said that the thousands of protestors who swarmed his town hall on Thursday night were not actually from his state and were "paid" to protest, the Deseret News reported Friday."
Do you really think he believes that? Do you think any argument with him will succeed on merit? Cuz that's looney tunes. He's not interested in your point of view. Period. There's no bridge to be built there. There's letting
him know that
you know what kind of man he is. There's letting Trump know -- and anyone you know who supports him fawningly -- that you know he's a fraud, he's an incompetent, he's surrounded by toadies and one or two Rasputin-types (read: Bannon) who are making a fool of him and them daily.
If you want a more palatable way to say it, "pick your battles". If you feel there's some common ground, make your arguments, obviously. Even agree to disagree, fine. Except you draw the line at those salivating at erosion of human rights. If someone's already sold their soul, no argument you make is going to be good enough, so (aside from ignoring them, which you might be able to do w/ strangers on the net, but much less possible w/ acquaintances, family, and those in power) your recourse is exposure. Vivisect their easy, facile anti-human cheerleading. Guilt free.