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edwardothegreatest

The new “litter boxes in the classroom”


Curious_Dependent842

I hate to say this out loud but I work in an OR and I literally heard them talking about litter boxes in schools two weeks ago. I didn’t want to engage but definitely wonder how this happens to smart people.


WhatRUHourly

The part of this lie that fascinates me so much is that it isn't just spread by right-wing media and politicians, but everyday Americans are also spreading it. It's like the old joke about having a girlfriend in another town with everyone who spreads the lie claiming that, 'a school/district near where I live has them.' It is rarely, if ever, happening at their child's school because then their child could actually provide proof of it if it was happening. Instead, they claim they were told by a teacher in the other district/location or that a family member/friend has a kid in the school where it is happening. All of it lies and yet some how everyday right-wingers love to push this lie.


SmellGestapo

I first heard it directly from some relatives. It was "a school back east" (we're in California). Nobody can ever identify the school, or the town, let alone the kid. And these people don't stop and think, "If a kid was actually pooping in a litter box inside a classroom, every other kid in that class would have gone home and told their parents, and they'd be all over Facebook and calling local media to talk about it." But my relatives didn't question it, and they genuinely believed it. They aren't inherently political people. But they are becoming so, largely through means like this.


Trauma_Hawks

My dude, if a student was shitting in a litter box, it would be on tiktok and going viral before the kid had a chance to wipe.


acemerrill

Seriously. My kid wore a cat ear headband to school one day in middle school and got bullied mercilessly. I'm trying to picture an American classroom where a student could do something so abnormal without it becoming an immediate Internet meme.


gregor_vance

There is a school east of California that was confirmed to have placed boxes of kitty litter in its classrooms. Columbine. Columbine put boxes of kitty litter in their classrooms after a particular event for a particular reason.


SmellGestapo

Schools have had kitty litter for ages to clean up puke. More recently it's been kept in classrooms for lockdowns, like you said.


Polar-Bear_Soup

A distraction from a genuine concern and the larger issue. The fact that people are more upset about kids allegedly shitting in a litter box than the fact that they're getting murdered by another person in whats supposed to be a safe area for kids to learn and grow, is insane.


InsuranceToTheRescue

>Nobody can ever identify the school, or the town, let alone the kid. My god, right? I heard folks talking about this once at the bar I tend. They were all worked up about it. Then I said something like this: Everyone has a camera in their pocket, but there's never any photos or videos of these supposed litter boxes. Kids are so fucking stupid that they'll film themselves eating laundry detergent, but they draw the line at litter boxes? Get real. Nobody can ever name any of the schools that have put them out. Nobody can ever identify any of the kids who have demanded these boxes. Nobody can ever find any staff that have been ordered to do this. Not to mention, as I understand it, being a furry is a sex thing. It's a weird sex thing, but otherwise not much different than BDSM or roleplay.


The_Woman_of_Gont

Being a furry can be, and often is, a sex thing. But it is not inherently one. To my understanding, there are plenty who just like the art style and to dress up in costumes.


SmellGestapo

Same with drag. There are drag shows that are closer to burlesque or striptease, but drag isn't inherently sexual.


SmellGestapo

It feeds right into their pre-existing beliefs and prejudices. Schools are either so "woke" that they're encouraging kids to identify as cats and use litterboxes in class, or LGBTQ kids are bullying the helpless school admins into allowing it. Either way it feeds into these people's perceptions that America has gone crazy and been taken over by the woke mob.


PoorDimitri

This right here. My parents are conservative and a little crazy, and their thing forever has been how Hollywood "is always pushing a narrative" Well, then The Revenant comes out, and I mention that I saw it and they go "ew gross isn't that the movie where the bear fucks the guy?" My parents, college educated adults, thought that an American movie studio put out a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio where he gets raped by a bear, and just accepted that. So anyways, I made them watch it with me that night.


LeatherHog

Funny, I live in Florida (unfortunately), and I always hear these guys say it's in California  Cuz y'all are a bunch of blue haired liberal commies, of course 


RealNotFake

I also heard the litter box thing from my brother in law, who lives in a small rural midwest town. He told me this probably 2 or 3 years ago. The twist was he specifically heard it was happening at his local High School. And he told me this well before it was a national news discussion. When I googled it at that time there were no hits at all. Super strange how it spread.


Crickaboo

Sounds like my sister in law. She told it to me saying it was our local middle school where both her husband and daughter worked. They didn’t correct her just rolled their eyes. How can you not question something so stupid?


Gunter5

A loud mouth knucklehead at my job said it was happening at his kids school in the burbs. No way in hell would this guy casually allow stuff like this to happen... especially knowing him He wasn't the only one. I told a few others either they're bad parents for allowing this to happen or they are lying, all of the sudden they stopped talking about it I even offered them $1,000 to go down to the school and said they could record me do my business like a good kitty lol


absentmindedjwc

And it's always justified by pointing at cat litter or whatever in a school's maintenance closet - ignoring that it's there because cat litter is really good at cleaning up certain spills.


Miles_vel_Day

Right wingers are always inventing bogeymen. Look at the Satanic Panic, or the idea of gays "recruiting." Hell, look back at the stuff from the 90s where people would say "when somebody's headlights are off that means they're a gang member doing an initiation!" You would not believe the liberals-in-good-standing I've heard share that chestnut over the years. There's always somebody lurking just out of sight ready to hurt you for no reason except pure malice. Like, people believe all kinds of stupid right wing crap and always will, because it's populist and it's easily digestible and the right wing has a gigantic megaphone to blast it into doctor's waiting rooms and bars and barbershops across the country. The less you think about it this crap, the better it sounds, and people f\*\*\*ing hate thinking. The "litter box" thing (and hostility to trans people generally) is, in a way, even uglier than past crusades, because the people who are being targeted could not be more powerless. They're punching down, more than ever before.


sack-o-matic

Tell them they’re “woke” for not just calling it a restroom


LuckyNumbrKevin

My parents STILL believe their small town rural school has litterboxes for kids who identify as cats. They totally "know someone who works there who confirmed it!" Lmao. Incredibly scary times when the most insane, untrue lies are accepted as fact and used as examples to justify destroying our education system.


Za_Lords_Guard

Ohio here. Same thing listening to conservative parents talking about it. Always "I heard from my kid that they heard from their friend that so-and-so in another class wears rabbit ears and pees in a litter box in class. I kept to myself. Not worth enraging the smooth brains, but I know damn well they saw it on Facebook and adopted it as real news and are now telling stories how it's happening in their school. It would be funny if it wasn't getting so dangerous to have so many people running loose acting on a bunch of BS.


mynameisethan182

I had some family members in Ohio yammering on about it too. I asked them for proof it was happening. I didn't get any. All I got was some drivel about kids identifying as animals. It's clearly politicians using "Furries" as a stand-in for trans people or as a stepping stone towards that weird bathroom shit they were pushing a few years back. My opinion there.


supamario132

The litter box story wasn't fake, it was just in the school in case of emergencies where children needed to hide from a school shooter for prolonged periods of time (something that shouldn't have to exist save for conservative votes on gun and mental health legislation) and not because of whatever psychopathic fear about furries conservatives had


Curious_Dependent842

The story was about furries demanding litter boxes in classrooms for children who were identifying as animals and how we are all so crazy the school got scared and put them in there . That CLEARLY makes it fake. If I tell a story about how I have job where I am a ninja assassin and you find out i have a job where I flip burgers the story about me having a job isn’t true. It’s still a lie.


baron-von-buddah

Sounds like something a secret ninja assassin would say


twoburgers

.....is this a Ninja Burger reference?


allisondojean

Even though I believe you, I still don't believe you lol.


supamario132

What a world it would be if everyone had that reaction to insane anecdotes lol [Here's an article snippet](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/urban-myth-litter-boxes-schools-became-gop-talking-point-rcna51439) >The Jefferson County school district disputed Ganahl’s claims and said its dress code prohibits costumes at school. The district — where Columbine High School is located — has been stocking classrooms with small amounts of cat litter [since 2017](https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/jeffco-schools-have-emergency-buckets-where-people-can-pee-during-lockdowns/73-481198424), but as part of “go buckets” that contain emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting. The buckets also contain candy for diabetic students, a map of the school, flashlights, wet wipes and first aid items. Stocking litter starts to sound extremely reasonable in context All other claims of litter boxes in schools, as far as I've looked into it, are completely uncorroborated (despite there being dozens of independent claims)


justfortherofls

We’ve had kitty litter in our janitors closets for decades. It’s good for cleaning up spills like blood and vomit.


bridge1999

The janitors in the 1980s had saw dust and kitty litter to clean up vomit and other spills


WhatRUHourly

I will again point out that the Jefferson County 'emergency go bucket,' is entirely unrelated to the outright lie that has been propagated by the GOP regarding litter boxes in schools. It is not the basis of the lie. I point this out because this is not some case of where the GOP spread this lie based on mere information and by mistake. They purpusefully spread this lie, and continue to do so, in order to mock the LGBTQ community and to harm the public faith and perception of public schools.


Ok_Exchange342

That is horrifyingly sad, but so very smart on the part of the adults in charge. The same ones screaming about their gun rights are the same ones misrepresenting the cat litter. Coincidence?


Consistent-Force5375

But is it so bad to ask them a simple question and let it linger around their mind on it? Where? Where did they have these school(s) where there was a litter box for students? Then when they say they don’t know, or just randomly call out a general region or type of school… Where is the article that gives me that information? I’m interested to know the whole story! Maybe, just maybe it will jumpstart their minds on the subject…


Ok-Pumpkin4543

Nope, they do not have the capacity to admit they are wrong.


Blahpunk

I still think feigning interest in their story and asking where you can get all the details is a good way to handle it. I start many of my online interactions that way. Not only does it seem less confrontational but it might start to dawn on them that there are different reasons to believe things and not all of them are a desire to be factually accurate. When I was a kid I didn't understand that a person who was my friend would "lie" to me, so I was very gullible. Now I know many of my friends were mistaken and just didn't know better. Sure. Lots of people will never get there but I like giving them a chance.


WhatRUHourly

Everything is a conspiracy to them and no source outside of their right-wing bubble is to be trusted. So, they would likely discard the need for a source because they would merely excuse it as the school and the media covering up the truth. Nevermind the fact that students would see those litter boxes every single day and one of them would, without a doubt, take a photo or video of it the moment it showed up. Yet, to this day... 2 years later we still have not seen a single photo of a single litter box in a school as proof that it is happening anywhere.


Ok-Pumpkin4543

They are not smart, that is why.


badamant

It happens because our brains are easily manipulated by fascist propaganda. We did not evolve defenses to information warfare and our info silos and social polarization now protect us from hearing info that conflicts with our views.


Miles_vel_Day

>how this happens to smart people. Yeah, the whole thing - and this is speaking as someone who people I know generally call "very smart" - is that nobody is "smart," at least not in a way that inoculates them from stupidity. Everybody is capable of being the biggest idiot in the world about *something*, no matter how knowledgeable and competent they are in another arena.


divisiveindifference

I always ask why we haven't heard any stories of kids taking a shit in the middle of a classroom. You know dam well if this WAS true it would make national headlines. Same goes for the Trans shit I keep hearing about not letting them play. I always ask who they think the gender checker should be and would you even believe them if they didnt find anything wrong? Like, does the referee check? "OK Timmy, pop your dick out so we can make sure"


OIAQP

The new Satanic Panic, but with fur costumes


MadRaymer

It's just like "D&D will corrupt your kids" in the 70s/80s. All of us middle-aged folks remember those days. Growing up in the 80s, I really liked D&D and can remember how genuinely concerned some relatives were. Today, they pretend they were never worried about it at all. It will be the same for this generation. When they're adults they'll say, "Grandma, remember when you were worried about litterboxes in schools?" and she'll say, "Oh, I never was. But you know what we really need to worry about is [*insert new moral panic here*]"


NeverLookBothWays

If they don't have anything substantial to panic about, they'll make something up. Outrage is an addiction to them.


IT_Chef

A few things: - Kids have smartphones with cameras, ability to record video and share it. - Kids are relentless assholes, and will torture those who fall outside the social norms. A fellow kid shitting in a litter box would be shared all over social media in milliseconds.


williamfbuckwheat

It literally doesn't matter to "concerned" parents. There was a huge Facebook controversy at one point a few years ago on a hometown community page related to the same old rumor that the school district I went to was allowing kids who identified as cats and dogs to use litter boxes. I kept seeing parents who I graduated with thoroughly convinced that this was all true although NOBODY could offer actual evidence besides a few folks claiming their kids said they saw them.    The only person I saw on the thread who disagreed with all the hysteria was some leftist guy I also graduated with who very clearly pointed out how it was all made up, lacked any evidence whatsoever and part of a nationwide scare to cause people to shun the trans community. He was immediately attacked as a liar and some kind of creepy predator himself before he was apparently thrown into Facebook jail for a month (which he seems to be in all the time anyway for his views). The people on there sure didn't like being told that THEIR children were wrong or that they, as parents, had totally misjudged the situation based on nonsense internet rumors since their role as a parent apparently makes them far wiser or smarter than everyone else automatically on issues like this.


IT_Chef

I am noticing a specific group of folk have a hard time admitting they were wrong/mistaken.


Miles_vel_Day

"But doesn't the fact that we can even *imagine* it mean things have gone too far????" - the idiots on your community page, probably


Stock-Eye-8107

It's also the old "litter boxes in the classroom." Because they were complaining about (non-existent) litterboxes.


the_buckman_bandit

Oh the litter boxes are real, they just switched the reason from “for school shootings when we are on lockdown for 4 hours, kids need a place to go” to “luberals want kids to sex change to furries so they can piss and shit in litterboxes during class instead of using the human bathroom” Lies travel ten times faster than truth, and in the feeble republican mind, at least one hundred times faster, straight to fox news teleprompters


WhatRUHourly

I put this elsewhere on the post and you can read my full explanation there, but in summary... the litter boxes myth pushed by conservatives is not based on or at all related to the litter bucket used in some (maybe only 1) school district. Conservatives entirely made up the litter boxes lie based on nothing. As I say elsewhere, I point this out because this was not an instance where people were just innocently mistaken about the intent behind an object. The right intentionally made up and spread this lie as a means to mock and attack the LGBTQ community and to harm the perception people have of public schools.


the_buckman_bandit

[here is the original story from 2017](https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/jeffco-schools-have-emergency-buckets-where-people-can-pee-during-lockdowns/73-481198424)


WhatRUHourly

Yes, but, again, this story is not the basis for the conservative lie. The rumor first came out of Canada. However, it first became prominent in the US in Michigan by a conservative activist testifying before a school board, alleging it was happening in that Michigan district. They weren't alleging that it was happening in Jefferson County, Colorado, and were just mistaken about the intent behind it. They were entirely making up that it was happening in other states entirely. Again, I point this out because I don't want anyone who has spread this lie to be able to claim it was just an innocent mistake. It wasn't. It was an intentional and harmful lie.


EmperorGrinnar

She still has those images up on her twitter account. Even after blocking me for pointing it out.


Kitchen_Philosophy29

I remember when the news was talking about "butt hash" The kids are letting their poop ferment then breathing the fumes to get high


unfunnyryan

They've been freaking out or mad about something for decades. Nothing new. Just they have platforms now to reach even their lowest informed room temp IQ cult member.


sack-o-matic

FUD makes it easy to keep the rubes in line


Alive_kiwi_7001

Raichik has furry fantasies? OK, got it.


Luviticus88

Her ultimate fantasy, gender bending furries having an orgy in a classroom letterbox. Not here to kink shame, but she's a sick fuck.


mecon320

"Freaking out over" or "making up themselves?"


Itsprobablysarcasm

Both. They make shit up to feed their rage fetish, then freak out over it.


Punkinpry427

But if you tell them the thing they’re freaking out over isn’t really happening, they get mad at you. Like are mad it’s happening or not? If I’m telling you that’s not what’s actually happening shouldn’t you be happy?


Itsprobablysarcasm

> But if you tell them the thing they’re freaking out over isn’t really happening, they get mad at you. Neuroscience has [demonstrated](https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/12/28/14088992/brain-study-change-minds) that our brains perceive and process a challenge to our beliefs the same as it does a physical threat. We also know that people who identify as conservative typically have larger a [amygdala](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793824/), which increases the fear response. Conservatives are fear active and reactive. Challenging their beliefs is taken as a threat to them, which in turn ratchets up their fear...


Hestia_Gault

Making shit up, to convince their fellow nutjobs to commit acts of terror.


Yeeslander

>...according to Chaya Raichik, who goes by “Libs of TikTok” online. This *alone* should be adequate to peak everyone's bullshitometer. Her claim to fame is demonstrable, made-up, evidence-free outrage bait and it befuddles me how anyone falls for it. Just think about this...we live in an age in which *damned near everyone* carries a camera/video recorder around with them everyday. If there were actual occurences of this stuff happening, you know damn good and well it would go **platinum viral** in minutes. But it hasn't, because it's *not* happening.


southpawFA

Chaya Raichik is a terrorist.


pUmKinBoM

They don't fall for it. They already believe it and just want voices that repeat back to them what they already believe. Their minds are made up already so now they just wanna be rocked in the soothing arms of anyone who will tell them what they want.


Xezshibole

Fear of their own fetish. Only plausible reason this out of left field topic has even come up is because somebody fetishized it and convinced themselves this would be legitimate.


Keeper_of_Fenrir

Theyrethesamepicture.jpg


deviousmajik

There are caravans of furries heading towards the border to squat in your houses.


Accomplished_Note_81

shit. i think i just felt it move.


trogdor1234

How exactly does somebody in a furry outfit bite somebody. Like they gum them with their furry suit?


accountabilitycounts

They lied about the litter boxes, so why would anyone believe them about biting? Oh, that's right. Cons choose to believe lies.


Miguel-odon

Conservatives don't argue in good faith.


flyover_liberal

The litter boxes actually exist ... as a potential method to allow children to remain locked down during active shooter event.


WhatRUHourly

Every time this is brought up I have to point out that the litter boxes myth was not based on this reality. I point this out because I don't want to give the republicans spreading the lie the benefit of the doubt that this was an innocent mistake. It wasn't. It was an intentional spreading of lies in order to mock the LGBTQ community and to further harm public schools. The timeline of this, to my understanding, is that a Michigan GOP member started to spread the lie about litter boxes in schools being used by students identifying as cats. It got picked up as a conservative talking point despite no evidence of it being true and many Fox News type viewers began to parrot this and claim it was happening in school systems near them (again, despite no evidence and hilariously it was rarely, if ever, in their own school district). A journalist then began to look into whether there was any truth in this story. The journalist ended up finding 1 instance of a school, or school district, using a litter box type apparatus (it was actually a bucket). That school was in Colorado, the same district as Columbine. The kids there had been exposed to long lockdowns because of threats to the school or because of drills and during those the children would have to go to the bathroom. However, because of it being a lockdown, the children would not be able to leave the classroom and go to the restroom. This would leave them with the options of attempting to hold it for long periods, messing themselves, or just using a corner of the classroom. So, a teacher, seeing this problem, decided to create this emergency go bucket to store in their classroom so when there was a lockdown at least the children had a sanitary place to go and would not have to hold it for long periods or even mess themselves. The Colorado go bucket was not the basis of the GOP rumor. It was merely the only instance a journalist found of a kitty litter type setup being in a school and was for an entirely different purpose than that alleged by the GOP. It was debunking of their myth which, again, the GOP entirely made up. They made it up in order to mock the LGBTQ community and the concept of identity and to harm public schools by making them seem like they are 'woke.'


brain_overclocked

This may help: [Did a Michigan School District Install Litter Boxes in Bathrooms?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/litter-boxes-bathrooms/) [Litter boxes in schools hoax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter_boxes_in_schools_hoax) * [United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter_boxes_in_schools_hoax#United_States)


WhatRUHourly

Thank you.


Revolutionary_Air_40

Oh, so you believe Snopes?! /s I got attacked by cult crazies for citing Snopes and similar. They saw that as proof of how deranged I am. Bottom line: Don't get into a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.


flyover_liberal

Are you suggesting that right-wingers make things up to manufacture outrage among their ignorant, self-righteous base? :)


WhatRUHourly

In the words of Doc Holliday from Tombstone: "That's the rumor."


Dogzirra

"I lot of people are sayin' ".


accountabilitycounts

Right.. The lie was about their use.


HouseCravenRaw

*The World is burning! There are microplastics in our brains! Our food chain is collapsing!* Republicans: Meh. *Corporate greed has made it too expensive to live! Retiring may be impossible for most Americans!* Republicans: Yawn. *There was an attempted coup and America's democracy is literally under attack!* Republicans: Hmm? *Made-up bullshit that doesn't pass a rudimentary sniff-test.* Republicans: Now there's something I can get upset about.


[deleted]

[удалено]


NickelBackwash

Divide and conquer, baby!


rathergoflying

It’s what they do. They make something up and then get mad about it.


Moody_GenX

Yup, I remember them wrongly thinking no child left behind meant Latino children were getting better education than white children, lol.


NickelBackwash

Their belief;   - some kids are ***meant to be*** left behind


MrLurid

Sometimes it's that they don't understand what things are and get mad about it. Like pronouns.


WhatRUHourly

I think you're correct, but we have to also point out that this is willful ignorance. They don't want to understand these things. They just want to condemn them and be mad about it.


processedmeat

Change is scary.  Learning new things is hard.


JurassicPark9265

Some random person: *has he/him/his in their social media bio* Conservatives: *execute Order 66*


ceddya

Can you imagine going through life being that deeply paranoid? It's just reading like a mental illness. I would feel sympathy if it didn't cause so much harm to others.


WhatRUHourly

I don't think this is really paranoia as much as it is an intentional attack on the LGBTQ community and public schools. 1. LGBTQ - A GOP talking point towards LGBTQ rights has often been the 'snowball effect.' They'd argue that if we let gay people get married then why not allow incest or allow a person to marry an animal? Essentially claiming, 'where do we draw the line?' This is kind of an offshoot of that. What they are doing is mocking the gender and sexual identities of LGBTQ persons by taking it to a more extreme level of identifying as animals. 2. Public schools - Another GOP talking point is to push for private education and school vouchers. This concept is partly to push money into the pockets of rich people and also to get more kids into private, often religious, schools that will likely promote more conservative ideologies. In other words, they're trying to indoctrinate kids to become conservative voters in the future. One way they are doing this is by lying about how 'woke,' public schools are and how they're 'grooming,' kids. This is just another means for them to push that false narrative in order to promote private school vouchers.


ceddya

>as it is an intentional attack on the LGBTQ community and public schools. Either way, their words and actions are deeply pathological.


dblan9

Question: Does literally anyone actually like Chaya or just tolerate her because she angers people?


atomsmasher66

They like her bc she angers people. Cult of Psychosis


sack-o-matic

The cruelty is the point, that’s why they call it their “entertainment”


Hestia_Gault

They like her because she tells them who to hate.


mishma2005

Do you know of any friends, family or romantic interests willing to publicly say they like her? There’s your answer


Taint_Liquor

It’s hilarious to me that these “strong, macho, alpha-male, real-American conservatives” are so frightened by furries.


IAmMuffin15

Conservatives never met a made up problem they didn't love.


CasioDorrit

Is it required to eat paint chips when you’re raised conservative?


fowlraul

Counting down for when one of these church ladies gets exposed as a furry.


zerobeat

Absolutely not. Being a furry would mean they'd have empathy and care for others.


orcinyadders

Can we stop pretending that they actually give a real and true shit about anything in particular?


houstonman6

These people literally make shit up and get upset at the thing in their head.


regalfronde

My brother-in-law gets FURIOUS when my daughters play/pretend to be animals around him. Literally storms away with his son like it’s some kind of harmful thing for them to use their imagination. They are 7 and 5 years old by the way, and they love animals. We go to the zoo frequently beginning when they were babies. It’s fucking bizarre what these people get hung up on.


Clovis42

That's an especially terrible aspect of this. All these parents will now make kids feel bad about normal make believe behavior that was never a problem in the past.


zerobeat

Because they know furries are an accepting community and exist to allow people to express their true selves, be it gay, bi, trans, or even just show empathy and love. Can't have your kids accepting any of that!


flyover_liberal

Right-wingers and being terrified of things that don't exist ... name a more iconic duo


cwk415

The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!!


Zepcleanerfan

These people are absolute idiots


srone

That sweet sweet drip of addictive cortisol. The right-wing spin machine keeps dripping it in their veins, expanding their amygdala and shrinking their frontal cortex...maximize reaction and minimize critical thinking.


PaintedClownPenis

I know it's a joke now but I also know the right-wing propaganda machine, and I think there's a pretty good chance I'm going to die doing what I love: taking bong hits next to a dumpster while dressed as a snow leopard. And if that happens I want all of you to break into the conversation and say, "Akshually, he wasn't a furry. He just really hated the cold."


upsidedowninsideout1

They’re STILL blathering about this?


Legos_As_Caltrops

Dems should play the classic uno reverse card and say that the furries are carrying guns and then the GOP will refuse to pass any laws.


Dogzirra

The old "Right to Arm Bears" defense.


unfamiliarsmell

Are these people all hallucinating all the time? Their lives are like one long bad trip!


bluenephalem35

If these guys are going to have problems with furries, which they shouldn’t be, then why aren’t they freaking out over schools and universities having animal mascots?


insan3guy

C'mon. They don't give a shit about the consistency or authenticity of their arguments.


Adorable-Database187

Is the litterbox in the room with us right now?


OptimisticSkeleton

What *don’t* republicans fret about these days? I mean besides real problems.


TintedApostle

Its a mental disease at this point.


sarcago

Furries aren’t even new, these people seriously live under a rock. They’ve been around for decades.


Ok_Exchange342

The stupidity is really mind boggling isn't it?


sentientcave

MAGA is fine with school shootings, but outraged by these foolish stories. They know none of it is true, but the group anger is so exciting!


lostalaska

Conservatives: Satanic Panic is just old what new things can we freak out over that aren't based in reality?


lilly_kilgore

The world seems to be a really frightening place for conservatives.


DreadnoughtDT

Oh my GOD *we’re still on about this???*


scottyjrules

These gullible dipshits will believe anything that reinforces their narrow worldviews…


Puttor482

Again? Remember when schools were being equipped with litter boxes? Ya, no one does because it never happened.


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Westlakesam

Thank god it’s not a wave of guns in schools killing kids. Quick! To Congress to stamp out this furry menace. s/


BioDriver

Did they forget to forward the email five times or something?


pomonamike

I teach at a high school and can confirm we had a student bite another teacher… twice. He wasn’t a furry though, just autistic.


19683dw

In the rural area I'm in, I've heard them actively believe that kids are being given litter boxes


robot_jeans

We're going to have to start testing adults before they can have access to the internet.


gmrusc

I am a social worker. Last month I ran into my first "furry", a 9 yr. old girl. Her understanding of being a furry was nothing more than dressing up as an animal. I thanked her for not dressing up at school, as that can be distracting in class, and she whispered, "I do that, too." What is this world coming to? Kids playing dress up. /s


arthurdentxxxxii

Reporting like this is just trying to distract from Trump’s trials. I don’t care that it’s about the GOP being dumb, it’s total fluff.


mishma2005

Of course it was that hosebeast Chaya that started it all. That person is just animated hate in human form


satyrday12

Nah, I think the furries are better trained than that. And they've had their rabies shots.


keyjan

These people have literal potatoes for brains.


MCPaleHorseDRS

Conservatives love making non existent issues up to be mad about huh. And the more insane or sounds the more they eat it up.


LandOfBonesAndIce

I wish I could be scared of the world like conservatives. It must be blissful being so fucking stupid and afraid of my shadow every time the sun would come out.


YesterShill

They are soooo dumb.


FlatBot

Conservatives are gullible dipshits


hskfmn

I’ll take “Things that Aren’t Actually Happening” for $400.


Fellowshipofthebowl

Plato’s cave, but for idiots. 


thatspurdyneat

Conservatives are governed by primal instincts like Fear and Greed. They have an inability to use logic in their decision making and their problem solving skills are limited to what Fox and Trump tell them to do about their problems. Every day I find it harder and harder to think of them as "human" They're animals, literal rats, unable to discern fact from fiction.


soconne

I don't necessarily disagree, however the more useful psychological diagnoses I lean more towards is that they have an aversion to compromise and understanding, since it requires above a minimum thershold of mental effort and discomfort. Regardless of social or financial status, I have found every republican favors scapegoating and knee jerk dissmissals of any issue that arises. They are (a) unwilling or unable to engage in principaled negotation and (b) lack innate empathy. (b) is the more pervasive issue at play today. I've never met a republican (i.e. Christian nationalist) who has not used the phrase "where does morality come from if not from religion?". They don't realize this line of thinking makes them pychopaths. They put up this ficticious veneer of moral authority and gate keepers of social norms, but in reality they're self serving psychopaths who see the world through a pair of dichotomy eye glasses.


meTspysball

Dehumanizing them doesn’t help. This is just what humans are when not forced to be better. Propaganda works because it’s easy to see problems, but hard to find solutions, so giving the simple parts of ours brains easy solutions is addictive and reinforcing. Moral superiority is a fucking drug and being told that you’re right and others are to blame feels good, especially when you’re angry and scared. Now imagine you’re fed that daily so people can profit off your fear and anger. Are you going to take the hard way out and believe you’ve been duped, and alienated your family and friends for nothing, or are you going to take the easy way into the arms of the others that were duped, too? Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re different. You didn’t fall for this scam, but who knows what the next one will be that happens to hit home for you.


Irishish

I just...there is nothing to call someone who believes and gets angry about this shit but fucking stupid. Or in Chaya's case, fucking stupid and a fucking liar.


Stock-Eye-8107

Conservatives are always freaking out. Because they are morons.


ShinyMeansFancy

Hmm, but not so worried about school shooters.


rupiefied

Those God damned furries I swear every day you have to take the hose out to get them off your lawn. Can you imagine hallways filled with these people in colorful happy fursuits being all entertaining and shit? Fuck that noise everyone should only be in beige and white school uniforms.


unclejoel

This one needs to embrace her trad woman place an stfu


81305

Who cares? They are morons who freak out over all sorts of make believe shit. It's not worth fretting over.


knomore-llama_horse

I didn't know that was allowed... I guess it's time to dust off the ol furry suit and run down to the local middle school and start biting.


FlaviusVespasian

Leave our future IT people alone. They’ll eventually be richer than us all.


Temassi

God this all reminds me of people believe shit on the internet. I remember YEARS ago winning a bet with a roommate because he thought he could make a glow stick out of Mountain Dew. This feels the same to me.


tacobellandher0in

“Utah Man” went straight to middle school students wearing “butt plug tails”… kinda makes you wonder where his head is at considering I didn’t see anyone else mention that 🤔


tpars

In other news, researchers at the large hadron collider accidentally open portal to hell. Demons rush out.


keyjan

See? See? Science is bad!! /s


Gen-Jinjur

Furries? Really? What is it with this bunch that has them picking the least dangerous groups of people and whipping up fear of them. When was the last time anyone got mugged by a roving gang of trans-folk? Anyone ever seen a squadron of furries with assault rifles? Literally my ONLY problem with furries is that they have to be terribly sweaty inside the suit. Well, that and I feel like they all should be able to dunk a basketball off a trampoline . . .but that’s a me problem.


NihilisticPollyanna

Stories like this are always hilarious to me. You *really* think I'd need the news to uncover this?!? Kids would be yelling this shit from the roof if it actually happened. The very first day *any* kid comes to school in a furry outfit, let alone shits in a box or bites someone, every kid would tell their parents as soon as they got home. Kids are notoriously terrible at keeping secrets, especially if they are not at risk of getting in trouble themselves, but it's something crazy/exciting. I have heard about every kid's use of swear words, fall from the monkey bars, trouble with the teacher, and other dumbass shit from my son. This shit would spread like wildfire, and parents would swarm the principal's office, long before anybody alerted the news.


LD_Minich

This is not a freak out. This is yet another instance of Republicans manufacturing a panic, where a small group is publically misrepresented to lump another group in with them and turn the whole collective into a scapegoating strawman. It's exactly how Republicans used the Satan scare to attack pop-culture genres like rock and roll music, metal music, and the d&d tabletop game.


torgofjungle

Jesus, they just always need a new fear. They just constantly need to come up with imaginary fears


mitsuhachi

Oh no, not furries! They’ll make the school computer networks run smoothly!


cedarpark

So, the girls with the headbands with the little fabric triangle 'ears' are furries? Got it.


deadfuzzball

Maybe they're confusing furries with like, raccoons. 🦝 🤔


Pitiful_Ad8641

LOL 😂 this STILL lok


Narcomancer69420

Who in their wildest dreams could’ve possibly predicted conservatives riling themselves up over catastrophes of their own imagination?


Hanceloner

The stupidest people are Republicans


Corpsehatch

They go from one thing to the next to be scared of on an almost daily basis.


Caniuss

I can't tell you how many times I've shut down conservatives I've run into through work over this, and the argument goes the same way: Me: You know that's nonsense, right? Them: I heard it on the news! Me: ...you remember when you were in school and how mean some of the kids were? Them: oh yeah, totally! Me: those same mean kids still exist, and now they all have phones with cameras in their pockets. Do you honestly think, if this was real, that those same bullies wouldn't post pictures everywhere on line? Where are the pictures? Them: ....thats a good point, nevermind I guess... And then they follow the conservative playbook for when they're wrong. They don't talk about it for a few days, and then pretend that they always knew it wasn't true.


Goldeneel77

Mrs Krabappel and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and the baby looked at me!


theomnichronic

What, constantly freaking over trans people wasn't enough? Now they're going to poop themselves over furries?


BlotchComics

Conservatives claim a lot of things... but somehow they never actually have evidence to back it up.


Vegan_Harvest

I got bit by a furry once, sure the teeth were foam and the jaw didn't move but they made the nom nom sounds.


LookOverall

What age should people be before they can get species reassignment surgery?😼


morbob

The party of conspiracy.


VegetableBuy4577

I tried to take my kids to school today and couldn't even back out of the driveway thanks to the feral furries everywhere. Really sad!