and that’s the only way it’s ever used.

Kind of an extreme claim which is definitely not true.

It’s the best example of what it’s trying to describe. It’s a hypocrite of a phrase, engaging in what it condemns.

So phrases are by themselves guilty of word crimes? A cliche isn’t just an often repeated series of words, it’s a tired idea. “Thought terminating cliche” is itself a thought terminating cliche if it’s being used that way (such as to shut down someone who was engaging in good faith and happened to use a common expression as part of that), but that doesn’t mean this category of expression doesn’t exist. Of course it exists, the modern internet is plagued with it because it’s full of propagandists with an interest in pulling people’s levers with minimal effort and no interest in argument.

This is for sure an unpopular opinion lol

Wouldn’t this lead to snowblindness? It gets way brighter in the winter

both sides have consented to spend their time with each other and that the topic is what they consented to spend their time on

No argument there, but it’s not like this can never happen.

Online debates about politics tend to be bad, but that’s mostly just because of people who are more interested in propagandizing than honestly hashing out ideas. If they aren’t doing that, and you aren’t doing that, it can be worthwhile. IMO the easiest way to tell the difference and know to stop replying is if you get a response that clearly was written after loosely skimming your comment, and using those few words as a jumping off point to launch into a mostly unrelated rant, rather than directly addressing your central point. Or, a common one with conservatives, an argument framed as unsolicited personal advice, that’s never going anywhere constructive.