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What’s normal when the political world is deluded?

20 0
29.04.2026

If there's one thing I've learned over the past few decades of observation of partisans, it's that people who describe themselves as "normies" usually aren't that normal.

While once used by alcoholics and people with disabilities to refer to those without, since about the early 2000s the word has been used in Internet-speak to mean people with standard, mainstream views, tastes and habits. So when Internet trolls and others who are most definitely outside the norm use it to describe themselves, well ...

I mean, really, an actual normie conservative would be someone with conventional center-right views (like my friend and colleague Rex Nelson) who decries extremism of any sort, but especially that which diverts from the concept of leaving well enough alone (no need to try to legislate morality, for instance). A normie liberal would probably be someone like David Pryor, center-left, no slave to extremism.

The first rule when assessing how normal someone is might have to be if they call themselves a "normie." Sorry, that's not really normal, especially when you call people like Chris Jones and Hallie Shoffner radical far-left cuckoos (I'm using a much nicer descriptor than I've seen), or deride Nelson as a RINO.

First, let's puncture the delusion that Arkansas Democrats bear much resemblance to those on the national level. Most of the Arkansas Democrats I've seen and........

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