Moonbat

{{significantly problematic}}{{hatnote|For the not-so-moonbatty [[webs(h)ite]], see [[Moonbattery]].}}
[[Image:Moonbat colorized.svg|thumb|165px|right|How could you hate anything so cute?]]{{politics}}{{Sources needed}}
'''Moonbat''' is a [[Loaded language|snarl word]] referring to anyone whom the speaker considers unreasonably far to the [[leftist|left]], analogous to "[[wingnut]]". Originally coined to refer to any sort of ideological nutjob,<ref name=samizdata>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070212031059/http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/001981.html Barking moonbat]: "noun. Someone on the extreme edge of whatever their -ism happens to be." ... "not originally a play on the last name of George Monbiot"</ref> the word has since undergone a confusing bifurcation: [[conservative]]s use it to describe pretty much any [[moderate]]s and [[liberal]]s, and liberals use it to refer to batshittery within their own camp &mdash; not just extreme left-wingers, but also [[Crank|cranks]] and [[conspiracy theorists]]. It has nothing to do with the famous 1835 hoax propagated by {{wpl|The Sun (New York City)|''The Sun''}} about bat people living on the Moon.

==According to conservative wingnuts==
The following groups of people are often called moonbats, and often accused of [[liberal bias]], and sometimes accused of being [[Socialism|"socialists"]], according to the [[wingnut]] logic, many times:

*[[George Monbiot]] – geddit?! It sounds like his surname, and he's a leftie!<ref name=samizdata/><ref>[http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2012/12/george-monbiot-joins-the-bourgeoisie/ George Monbiot joins the bourgeoisie], ''[[The Spectator]]'', 26 December 2012</ref>
*[[Atheism|Atheists]]
*[[Agnosticism|Agnostics]]
*[[Homosexuality|Homosexuals]]
*[[Bisexual|Bisexuals]]
*[[Feminism|Feminists]]
*[[Science|Scientifics]]
*[[Skepticism|Skeptics]]
*[[Humanism|Humanists]]
*[[Secular humanism|Secular Humanists]]
*[[Rationalism|Rationalists]]
*[[Social democrat]]s
*[[Liberal]]s/[[Progressive]]s
*People who are [[Progressive|Left-Wing]], [[Liberal|Center-Left]], [[Centrism|Centrists]], and [[Liberal conservatism|Center-Right]].
*People who don't believe in [[Young Earth Creationism]] or [[Intelligent Design]].
*People who are not [[Evangelical Christianity|evangelical Christians]].
*People who acknowledge the existence of [[Global warming|global warming]] and [[Climate change]].
*People who believe that applying [[Environment|environmental laws]] are good and necessary.
*People who do not (or do, [[Garbage in garbage out|depending on who's in power]]) support the [[Iraq War]].
*People who do not (or do, depending on who's in power) wish to invade [[Iran]].
*People who believe gays should have [[equal rights]], or at least that they shouldn't [[Actions which demand the death penalty in the Old Testament|be stoned to death]].
*People who do not want to live in a [[theocracy]].
*People who get [[Premarital sex|laid before marriage]].
*People who don’t trust [[Fox News]].
*People who acknowledge that there is no “[[War On Christmas]]”.
*People who criticize [[Ann Coulter]], [[Jerry Falwell]], [[Pat Robertson]], [[Ben Shapiro]], [[Donald Trump]], and other conservative sacred cows.
*People who want [[Universal health care|healthcare]] to be more widely accessible.
*People who are not unabashedly [[Racism|racist]] and [[Sexism|sexist]].
*People who are not [[free market|free-market]] [[Capitalism|capitalists]].
*Cindy 'Ultra MK' McKenzie
*People who are not ornery sanctimonious pricks.

==According to liberals==
The far-left-wing sort of moonbats are the closest analogies to wingnuts. In [[North America]], the former is much rarer than the latter, probably due to [[Essay:Gaming the language: the US political spectrum|shifts to the political right since the late 20th century]], but where they do exist, it's usually of a more [[hard green]] bent as opposed to an [[economics|economic]] one (e.g. a [[communist]]). The more extreme buffoons of the anti-[[imperialism]] movement, like [[Ward Churchill]], also contribute to America's moonbat population.

One reliable [[heuristic]] when separating moonbats from more [[rational]] lefties is their categorical opposition to ''everything'' the [[U.S.]] does overseas, to a degree unwarranted by [[skepticism]]. For example, [[Muammar Gaddafi]] kills protesters? The Viet Cong perpetrate mass killings of Montagnards and anti-Communists? Serb militias [[ethnic cleansing|ethnically cleanse]] [[Bosnia]] and [[Kosovo]]? All of this is protested vigorously... until the U.S. and its allies move to intervene against the offenders, at which point genuine moonbats will often perform an instantaneous 180 and [[Globalresearch.org|defend the repressive regime that they had previously loathed]]. It is rational to criticize a war by saying that it is killing more people than it was meant to save, causing major regional instability, or that it will generate unwanted [[blowback]] — but when one turns to sensationalism, platitudes, and [[ad hominem|name-calling]], one has crossed into moonbat territory. [[The Grayzone]] is an example of a website that has a major problem with this.

Groups often classified as moonbats include the [[animal rights]] movement, anti-globalization activists, anti-[[copyright]] crusaders (especially the apologetics for pre/post-Napster digital piracy), anti-consumerists and the culture jamming community, [[Anarchy|anarchists]], radical environmentalists, [[New Atheism|New Atheists]], [[tankie]]s, and [[Trans-exclusionary radical feminism|TERF]]s. [[Crank]]s in general &mdash; [[alternative medicine|alties]], conspiracy theorists, [[Anti-vaccination|anti-vaxxers]], anti-[[GMO]] crusaders, and especially the [[New Age]] crowd &mdash; are also often classified as moonbats, unless their ideas are intertwined with a right-wing and/or racist ideology, in which case the wingnut label is more appropriate. Examples of cranky moonbats are [[David Icke]] and [[FoodBabe|Vani Hari]], while [[Extinction Rebellion]] (and (semi-)related "climate justice" organizations) are also certainly moonbats owing to their exaggerations of the dangers of climate change and their (over)use of [[civil disobedience]]. [[Alex Jones]], contrariwise, is a wingnut due to his wacky theories fueling a Christian fundamentalist agenda.

A final subcategory of moonbats generally leans left while holding a few views more typical of wingnuts, ushering in [[horseshoe theory]] comparisons. [[Cathy Brennan]]'s extreme [[transphobia]], [[Sam Harris]]'s support for [[racial profiling]] or [[torture]] (and specifically of Khalid Sheik Mohammad) and attempts to normalize blatant [[Islamophobia]] as "criticism of religion", and the [[Bloc Québécois]]'s ban on wearing [[Sikh]] ceremonial daggers in Parliament (even when they were not useful as weapons) and (most of the time) dismissal of bilingualism fall in this category. [[PETA]] are certainly moonbats, but it is hard to discern anything resembling left-wing thought left in all their nuttery. It's hard to tell whether or not the [[Freedom from Religion Foundation]] are moonbats, as their wacky publicity stunts downright ''forcing'' people to deconvert, their stance on [[Islam]], and their occasional [[persecution complex]] (read: mistaking ''the mere acknowledgment'' of religion by a municipal government for a violation of the [[separation of church and state]]) would place them in moonbat territory, but their promotion of the separation of church and state (which, despite what conservatives and fundies think, was supported by Christians including Roger Williams (the Reformed Baptist theologian and founder of Providence, Rhode Island) from the start), ''does not'' make them moonbats in any way.

==Other usage==
In the last few years, the term "moonbat" has also come to refer to those individuals who subscribe to [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] ''regardless'' of political affiliation. Typically, such individuals have little regard for rational discourse, lack the ability to provide [[Evidence|credible sources]] to support their arguments, and [[Dunning-Kruger effect|fail to demonstrate an elementary understanding]] [[Not even wrong|of the fields they make claims about]].

Most likely, the term has come to such an understanding due to the "screeching" such people do about a given conspiracy theory while unable to intelligently convey a legitimate reason for accepting it as fact. 

==See also==
*[[Wingnut]]
*[[Moonbattery.com]] A very [[wingnut|nutty]] site calling everyone who is not a [[wingnut]]. Being called a moonbat here is a compliment.
*{{wpa|Loony left}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/magazine/03wwln_safire.html?_r=1 Discussion of the origin of the term] (conservative William Safire in ''The New York Times'')
*[http://blogs4brownback.wordpress.com/ Blogs 4 Brownback]
*[http://www.glasswings.com.au/comics/idrewthis.au/2006/moonbat.html "Myrtle the Moonbat"]. 6 September 2006.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Far-left politics]]
[[Category:Left-wing activists]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Political euphemisms]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Snarl words]]

Categories: Far-left politics, Left-wing activists, Neologisms, Political euphemisms, Political terms, Snarl words