<p>Somebody just explained to me what other people mean when they say Obama-supporters are “drinking the Kool-Aid”. lol</p>
<p>And all this time i thought it was some kind of racial slur! like how black people stereotypically drink Kool-Aid all the time. Hahaha i feel so dumb!</p>
<p>I remember seeing people write that on CC and I was like, wow…what racist jerks lol! </p>
<p>Nonetheless, that saying is really condescending and takes away from your debate terms. </p>
<p>I guess I should give this thread a point, Do you feel Obama supporters are “drinking the kool-aid?”</p>
<p>Ironically, I just posted my dislike of the phrase on another thread, so I’ll repeat here since it’s more apropos:</p>
<p>“I’m glad someone asked about the “drink the Koolaid” phrase. It gives me a chance to voice my dislike of it. I never use it, and really abhor the use of it–I find it’s an easy way to dismiss someone else’s point of view. It signals immediately that the user thinks the one so addressed has no powers of independent thought or discernment. It actually, ironically, signals that the user doesn’t have to give a thought to the ideas of those being called that, because after all, they “drank the Koolaid”, i.e., stopped using their brain.”</p>
<p>Simba–it’s a reference to Jim Jones whose followers drank poisoned Koolaid at his behest leading to the deaths of ~800 people in 1978.</p>
<p>From a website that now I can’t find to source–</p>
<p>"In November of 1978, the world was shocked by the suicide deaths of 913 members of the People’s Temple cult. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown, Guyana, a remote community that Jones carved out of the South American jungle and named after himself. Jones constantly feared losing control of his followers. His paranoia was the main reason he moved the cult to Guyana.</p>
<p>The mass suicide occurred after U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California and a team of reporters visited the compound to investigate reports of abuse. After some members tried to leave with the congressman’s group, Jim Jones had Ryan and his entourage ambushed at the nearby airstrip. He then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide."</p>
<p>The Electric Kool-Aide Acid Text is probably the reference, used to mean Obama’s people are tripping (LSD), i.e. on a drug induced fantasy on what ever issue the speaker is referring to.</p>
<p>I like the phrase, but it’s best used sparingly. I’ll sometimes use it about myself, in a non-disparaging manner, more like “I’ve swung to that position…”</p>
<p>It is used often in business to mean you are fully on board with the program or if you have not drunk the Kool-Aid it menas you are some kind of doubter and potential trouble-maker. In other cases it is used to diparage some blind support or obedience. I do think it goes back to Jones Town.</p>
<p>Yes and no. It applies to all candidates not just to Obama. When your candidate messes up, makes a mistake, or outright lies about something…yet you still try to explain their way out of it (no, Clinton really did mispeak about bosnia) then you are drinking the koolaid. </p>
<p>I think you’re also drinking the koolaid when you go along with a “popular phrase” without any evidence to support such a phrase. This is why I think a lot of Obama supporters walk the edge of the koolaid.</p>
<p>Yep, the term did not exist prior to the Jonestown mass suicide. If you buy wholesale into the promises and hype engendered by a particular candidate, whatever his or her party affiliation, if you haven’t the ability (or willingness) to step back and at least attempt to objectively discern both, his/her strengths and weaknesses, if your critical skills are limited to seizing every opportunity to lambast and vilify his or her opponent, then you might just be a rednec—I mean, a KoolAid drinker for that candidate.</p>
<p>From what I’ve observed, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have legions of KoolAid drinkers.:rolleyes:</p>
<p>While you reason eloquently and your point is well taken, it seems out of context in the current political climate. It seems to ignore how strongly some feel about electing a Democratic candidate - not just because he or she is a Democrat but as a result of the last eight years under Bush. Attitudes are hardened as a result of distrust, not unwillingness.</p>
<p>Don’t know about dressing the salad in designer or off the rack. </p>
<p>Anyhow, the sweet drinks are off limits for me because of DII. The only thing that this I want to see out of this election is the total destruction of the far left and far right wings of the political parties.</p>