He certainly has a hold on a lot of people, and that spooked others into cowering or obeying in advance. Just hard to understand if you’re outside the cult.
We all have our theories—from “racism” to “he speaks to wants and fears that no one else addressed” to “his unconventional style appeals to those who despise the conventional sorts” to “he’s very skilled at media manipulation”—and it could be a mixture of some of those. At some point we will be rid of him, and his movement will fall apart and we will all stand around looking at each other, never seeing one another the same again, after how we witnessed them act when the chips were down. He may go, but he’ll have left behind a country forever stained by what we all saw him get away with.
"All fascism is rooted in lies that people want to hear. They’ll willingly embrace lies about a group they already fear and distrust." Roger that. Yup.
Yesterday on the New Yorker Radio hour they interviewed a gentleman about his eventual break from MAGA and there is zero doubt that it’s a cult. People who leave walk away from what they felt were strong relationships only to be considered enemies of the state. See how Large Marge got the death threats and could not handle it even though she once fomented those threats in the past.
I hardly believe that she lad a come to Jesus moment however. She leaves 4 days after her pension kicks in, gets healthcare to the tune of around $9k per month and has enriched her net worth to around $24M. Her one redeeming act to help splinter MAGA does not forgive her for agreeing to get rid of the ACA or all the other heinous things she’s done during HER reign of terror.
Madge is a MAGA hardcore. In addition to all her personal self enrichment, she is a MAGA fundraising machine. Her personal political war chest is massive. She also makes no secret of her personal arsenal, and willingness to use lethal force against threats. So, it's weird that all of a sudden she's scared of MAGA (especially as she claims to be the only true MAGA), and she's leaving politics. She hasn't raised all those political donations for nothing.
On the other hand, she posted back in December 2020 about plotting with Trump, at the White House, to overthrow the certification of the election, even before she was sworn into Congress. She was also one of the MAGAs who asked for a preemptive, blanket pardon after 1/6/2021. Maybe Trump threatened to expose her criminal involvement in the conspiracy to overthrow the election unless she resigned. I guess time will tell, but I don't think Madge will stay gone.
I’ve never understood the idea that 47 has charisma. And he got nearly 3 million less votes than HRC the first time, and lost to Biden during his second run. He has byproduct of a rotting political system. Millions of people never bought into his antics all along, and yet we’re still here.
Well when you add anti-Blackness to the list of attributes found in the subset of people who voted for him it makes a lot of sense. If one believes he'll destroy the minorities they hate, they're willing to overlook a lot of things. Heck I see videos by TabithaSpeaksPolitics for example that have people going, "He was going to get rid of the criminals" and then crying that "But he's only focusing on the Hispanics!"
Just like in Western Europe, there's people willing to destroy their own country just to make sure that people with more melanin don't have a modicum of comfort.
And again we've got polls here. I want to see what people DO, not what they SAY. You had for example people telling Ann Selzer one thing, but their fingers doing something else.
"It is easier to fool someone, than to convince them that they have been fooled." This is where we are now in the sad, sordid Trump saga. People fell for an amoral huckster because he appealed to their own grievances, and gave them convenient enemies.
Now they are in the "Whut, did I make a mistake?" phase, and are slowly coming to realize they've been had. Individually, people can be smart, but collectively they are often led as a herd in the wrong direction. And we seem to keep making the same mistakes over and over, somehow forgetting what we have learned.
I really need to see the movies. One of my students is learning "Popular," and her mom surprised her with tickets to the show a couple of weekends ago. I learn about modern music from my students, they learn about old music from me. It's a sweet deal
In re: the 𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗢𝗨𝗧 this week - from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, we’re saying “We Ain’t Buying It” and asking Americans to hit pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda. If you must shop, buy from small businesses only. 𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩.
Please do buy from small businesses that are not chains. They are feeling the pain as well and are adversely impacted. These smaller businesses are the backbone of our economy. There will be no bail outs for them this time.
Trump is who he is-pathologically insecure and personality disordered. Other people don't exist on their own, only in relation to how he can exploit them. Which is fine, actually, when he was living in Trump Tower bankrupting himself time and again. But I will *never* in my lifetime understand how 1/6 was not disqualifying to 75 million of my fellow Americans. Yes, prices were way up and Biden was failing (I believe when voters saw Harris they really saw Biden) but honestly, up against a man who had proven just a few short years ago there was no bottom, it still should have been a no brainer. Americans are the biggest problem here, really. There seems no way to save ourselves from ourselves. Trump going away (and he will, eventually) won't change that. A huge cultural shift from the nation-crushing 40 year bearhug of Reagan is the only thing that might turn the tide and that won't happen in my lifetime.
Learning that about 50% of the population reads at a 6th grade or below level can also possibly explain why. We really need to focus on education but here they are, gutting it because they KNOW they can control people better when they do not have the critical thinking skills to make more educated decisions.
I'll never understand people voting for a Convicted Criminal to take care of criminals. And by "take care," I mean arresting them, giving them due process (as he was given), and getting convictions based upon the facts. He was, and still is, a Convicted Criminal! What made them think that innocent people wouldn't be targeted? Or that his political enemies wouldn't be targeted?
He certainly has a hold on a lot of people, and that spooked others into cowering or obeying in advance. Just hard to understand if you’re outside the cult.
We all have our theories—from “racism” to “he speaks to wants and fears that no one else addressed” to “his unconventional style appeals to those who despise the conventional sorts” to “he’s very skilled at media manipulation”—and it could be a mixture of some of those. At some point we will be rid of him, and his movement will fall apart and we will all stand around looking at each other, never seeing one another the same again, after how we witnessed them act when the chips were down. He may go, but he’ll have left behind a country forever stained by what we all saw him get away with.
"All fascism is rooted in lies that people want to hear. They’ll willingly embrace lies about a group they already fear and distrust." Roger that. Yup.
Yesterday on the New Yorker Radio hour they interviewed a gentleman about his eventual break from MAGA and there is zero doubt that it’s a cult. People who leave walk away from what they felt were strong relationships only to be considered enemies of the state. See how Large Marge got the death threats and could not handle it even though she once fomented those threats in the past.
I hardly believe that she lad a come to Jesus moment however. She leaves 4 days after her pension kicks in, gets healthcare to the tune of around $9k per month and has enriched her net worth to around $24M. Her one redeeming act to help splinter MAGA does not forgive her for agreeing to get rid of the ACA or all the other heinous things she’s done during HER reign of terror.
Madge is a MAGA hardcore. In addition to all her personal self enrichment, she is a MAGA fundraising machine. Her personal political war chest is massive. She also makes no secret of her personal arsenal, and willingness to use lethal force against threats. So, it's weird that all of a sudden she's scared of MAGA (especially as she claims to be the only true MAGA), and she's leaving politics. She hasn't raised all those political donations for nothing.
On the other hand, she posted back in December 2020 about plotting with Trump, at the White House, to overthrow the certification of the election, even before she was sworn into Congress. She was also one of the MAGAs who asked for a preemptive, blanket pardon after 1/6/2021. Maybe Trump threatened to expose her criminal involvement in the conspiracy to overthrow the election unless she resigned. I guess time will tell, but I don't think Madge will stay gone.
I’ve never understood the idea that 47 has charisma. And he got nearly 3 million less votes than HRC the first time, and lost to Biden during his second run. He has byproduct of a rotting political system. Millions of people never bought into his antics all along, and yet we’re still here.
Well when you add anti-Blackness to the list of attributes found in the subset of people who voted for him it makes a lot of sense. If one believes he'll destroy the minorities they hate, they're willing to overlook a lot of things. Heck I see videos by TabithaSpeaksPolitics for example that have people going, "He was going to get rid of the criminals" and then crying that "But he's only focusing on the Hispanics!"
Just like in Western Europe, there's people willing to destroy their own country just to make sure that people with more melanin don't have a modicum of comfort.
And again we've got polls here. I want to see what people DO, not what they SAY. You had for example people telling Ann Selzer one thing, but their fingers doing something else.
"It is easier to fool someone, than to convince them that they have been fooled." This is where we are now in the sad, sordid Trump saga. People fell for an amoral huckster because he appealed to their own grievances, and gave them convenient enemies.
Now they are in the "Whut, did I make a mistake?" phase, and are slowly coming to realize they've been had. Individually, people can be smart, but collectively they are often led as a herd in the wrong direction. And we seem to keep making the same mistakes over and over, somehow forgetting what we have learned.
I really need to see the movies. One of my students is learning "Popular," and her mom surprised her with tickets to the show a couple of weekends ago. I learn about modern music from my students, they learn about old music from me. It's a sweet deal
I need to see the movies too. Many at my church have seen both, or the first one, and are planning on seeing the second one. Elphaba is very popular!
OT: HIT 'EM IN THE WALLET!
In re: the 𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗢𝗨𝗧 this week - from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, we’re saying “We Ain’t Buying It” and asking Americans to hit pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda. If you must shop, buy from small businesses only. 𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩.
https://weaintbuyingit.com/?utm_source=ind_wabi
https://www.themassblackout.com/
Please do buy from small businesses that are not chains. They are feeling the pain as well and are adversely impacted. These smaller businesses are the backbone of our economy. There will be no bail outs for them this time.
AMENAMENAMEN!
Thanksfor the reminder!
Spread it around!!!
Trump is who he is-pathologically insecure and personality disordered. Other people don't exist on their own, only in relation to how he can exploit them. Which is fine, actually, when he was living in Trump Tower bankrupting himself time and again. But I will *never* in my lifetime understand how 1/6 was not disqualifying to 75 million of my fellow Americans. Yes, prices were way up and Biden was failing (I believe when voters saw Harris they really saw Biden) but honestly, up against a man who had proven just a few short years ago there was no bottom, it still should have been a no brainer. Americans are the biggest problem here, really. There seems no way to save ourselves from ourselves. Trump going away (and he will, eventually) won't change that. A huge cultural shift from the nation-crushing 40 year bearhug of Reagan is the only thing that might turn the tide and that won't happen in my lifetime.
Learning that about 50% of the population reads at a 6th grade or below level can also possibly explain why. We really need to focus on education but here they are, gutting it because they KNOW they can control people better when they do not have the critical thinking skills to make more educated decisions.
I'll never understand people voting for a Convicted Criminal to take care of criminals. And by "take care," I mean arresting them, giving them due process (as he was given), and getting convictions based upon the facts. He was, and still is, a Convicted Criminal! What made them think that innocent people wouldn't be targeted? Or that his political enemies wouldn't be targeted?
From your computer to G-d's ear.