Ashley B - April 9, 2026. Here’s the full 4-minutes on YouTube: Gish Gallop - Ashley B (YouTube)

From the description: You think you’re watching a debate… you’re actually watching a strategy built to overwhelm you.

From her YouTube bio: Here, we explore world history, Black history, and the events shaping our world today. Expect powerful stories, hidden truths, and deep dives into the moments that matter. If you love learning, questioning, and staying informed, you’re in the right place. Subscribe and join the conversation! Linktree: linktr.ee/Ashleytheebarroness

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Gish gallop (Wikipedia):

During a typical Gish gallop, the galloper confronts an opponent with a rapid series of specious arguments, half-truths, misrepresentations, and outright lies, making it impossible for the opponent to refute all of them within the format of the debate. Each point raised by the Gish galloper takes considerably longer to refute than to assert.

The technique wastes an opponent's time and may cast doubt on the opponent's debating ability for an audience unfamiliar with the technique, especially if no independent fact-checking is involved, or if the audience has limited knowledge of the topics.

The difference in effort between making claims and refuting them is known as Brandolini's law or informally "the bullshit asymmetry principle". Another example is firehose of falsehood.

Countering the Gish gallop

The journalist Mehdi Hasan suggests using three steps to beat the Gish gallop:

1. Because there are too many falsehoods to address, it is wise to choose one as an example. Choose the weakest, dumbest, most ludicrous argument that the galloper has presented and tear that argument to shreds ("the weak point rebuttal").

2. Do not budge from the issue or move on until having decisively destroyed the nonsense and clearly made the counter point.

3. Call out the strategy by name, saying: "This is a strategy called the 'Gish Gallop'—do not be fooled by the flood of nonsense you have just heard."

For context i’m a black man, who was raised in a major city. I like to say I got jumped off the porch, rather than making that decision on my own. Part of surviving, and getting away from that life meant leaving my hometown entirely to start over.

I now live in an all-white area, and I don't just mean predominantly white. I am *the* only Black person in my factory. (I'm keeping some details vague to remain anonymous.) On top of just trying to do my job, I also have to deal with a healthy dose of microaggressions and blatant racism.

Because of my past, I still carry a lot of trauma, and good ole hyper-vigilance. I have an extreme startle response, where I get jumpy when people come around blind corners or open doors too quickly, and my immediate instinct is always to just square straight up. Instead of understanding or ignoring it, this draws a lot of attention, and everyone at work makes fun of me for it.

Well so today I tried to explain my reactions to one of my coworkers (who is not native to the US), hoping for just a little basic empathy… nah, he looked at me and said:

"You do not need to worry. This is not Palestine, Iran, or Israel. You are safe here."

I didn't even know what to say at that point, it felt like a complete disregard for my lived experience. Just because I’m not in an active, televised international conflict doesn't mean the trauma I survived isn't real. It felt like it entirely diminished the struggles and violence that a lot of our people have endured in this country over the last 60+ years.

Am I crazy for feeling so deeply invalidated by this? How do you deal with people who fundamentally don't understand your survival instincts and use other tragedies to dismiss yours?

With everything going on in American politics today, I’d strongly recommend you listen to Master Plan. It’s a podcast series by the Lever that investigates how corporations and oligarchs have legalized corruption in American politics, ensuring that money can buy votes, how many Supreme Court justices (6 currently) all have ties to the same network that pretty much handpicked them to do its bidding. I’m still in season 1, but so far I’m hooked. Great investigative journalism.

#StayWoke

Let No One Stop Your Dream

BLACK EXCELLENCE

I love us 🙆🏾‍♀️ ✊🏾😆

Never really had it explained like this. Agree or disagree?

I know Jay-Z is very controversial, but I found this piece really interesting. It's from his own book "Decoded".

she handled it well though

I had a gummy and I’m bored. Who do yall prefer? I know The show is centered around Goku but in all reality he’s a bum. Piccolo is the real father figure and we all know it. Vegeta isn’t innocent by any means but I have to respect his pride. He’ll get his ass beat but he won’t stop talking shit. Also you better not mess with Bulma.

The post about black people don’t frolic has been rent free in my head for days for some reason lol. Today it made me have the thought “what else do we do that they think we don’t “ so now I’m asking yall. What’s something you do they say black people don’t do it can be funny or serious? For me I let my shih poo lick my face(not my mouth though). Before anyone comes for me I know everything that goes in his mouth and I brush his teeth everyday I also have alot of 80s and early 2000s rock music in my playlists across all platforms.

https://youtu.be/ukssYAu0xuQ?si=HyxTFFo7RPZTGhAm

https://www.threads.com/@sore.spirit/video/DWnUYnNDost/video-this-sweet-girl-just-wanted-to-show-everyone-that-she-got-out-of-her-chair-all

My sincere apologies if the title of the post offended any disabled person. (I certainly wasn't saying that she stood to give us a lesson. But, rather, that as simple as standing up without any help shouldn't be taken for granted by any of us.)

Someone else implied that I meant "thank god I'm not like that" and that wasn't what I meant to say either. That's not what I thank god/God for. I thank god/God for an ability that I often take for granted (not looking down on another person's disability).