"Republicunt": why use terms like this?

[Edwardo Piet]

I could never be someone who believed in bad words. Words don't have magical powers. It's entirely the meaning behind them that matters... and if when you say "retard" you don't mean "mentally disabled person", then you're not insulting the mentally disabled. It's very much like the South Park episode where annoyingly obnoxious motorcyclists are refereed to as "fags" but absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality is intended:

Exactly.  When a southerner displays the confederate flag, black people feeling offended are just being irrational.  The only relevant thing is what the white guy with it painted on his pickup truck intends for it to mean.

Worst analogy ever.

I could never be someone who believed in bad words. Words don't have magical powers. It's entirely the meaning behind them that matters... and if when you say "retard" you don't mean "mentally disabled person", then you're not insulting the mentally disabled. It's very much like the South Park episode where annoyingly obnoxious motorcyclists are refereed to as "fags" but absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality is intended:

Words do have connotations attached to them, though. Why choose a word that is commonly used to offend people if you don't want to offend people? There are enough words in the world that you can surely come up with a better one.

And a word like 'republicunt' or 'libtard'... yeah, no, that's not a word without meaning attached. The word is altered to infuse a meaning, and designed to offend.

In my experience when people use words like that their primary intention is to speak their mind brutally, not to be manipulative and provocative for the sake of being manipulative and provocative. The point is that the truth is more important than being effective or inoffensive. I agree it's unhelpful because it's possible to speak truthfully at the same time as being effective and inoffensive. But the idea is to call a spade a spade instead of sugarcoating things. It's about brutal honesty regardless of offense. It's not about lying offensively. I do think people are usually speaking their mind when they say offensive words. Some people are cunts. The word 'republicunt' is intended to refer to the fact that republicans are, generally speaking, cunts. That's intended to be a true statement regardless of how offensive it is.

It's usually the people who sugarcoat things that are being manipulative or disingenuous. The sort of people who are sanctimonious. Those sorts. People who speak brutally are usually being honest. The only people who are brutal or offensive intentionally to cause trouble are usually either internet trolls, outright bullies, or SJWs/alt-right. The point of lies and manipulation is generally to sugarcoat or avoid reality for oneself and/or one's allies. That's very different to brutal honesty.