Not only did Donald Trump show his followers they could be racist-like-their-grandpappy without a white-hooded hint of shame, Trump pushed cultural-change defiance beyond the point that any rational person thought possible: Trump supporters now compete for who can demonstrate the most shameful behavior. The Republican Party has become the final installment of Jackass The Movie, and they LOVE him for it.
Generally relayed, I’m a driven, stubborn goat who considers himself the smartest person in the room (with the isolation of COVID-19 –which therefore makes me often the only person in the room – that last bit is finally true at least 42% of the time). Being such is by most measures a uniquely American trait that, until the 45th president of the United Status flopped onto the stage, could be seen as having positive side effects: the rapid advancement of this country from a prude band of religious zealots to the largest economic and military power in the Solar System that figured out how to make money selling air, rocks, “freedom”, and pornographic dreams that would still allow you into Heaven (if you ask nicely). Once Donald Trump’s makeup’d face changed the hue of American politics, however… one hopes the orange color is more sunrise than sunset… American stubbornness has resulted in but one action: digging ourselves deeper into the hole. One side buys Trump’s lies hook, line, and stinker. The other side refuses to accept why.
Bulldog stubbornness makes it incredibly difficult to admit when we’re wrong. While that’s not the sole cause of the fanatical, kool aid-drinking loyalty so many republican voters have to the orange buffoon, accepting that as a part of the core id of Trumpism will help the rest of us manage the bile that rises in our throats every time we pass a house with giant Trump 2020 flags, red, white and blue bunting, and photoshopped images of Trump on Rambo’s torso; or Rocky’s… do they have a thing for Stallone, maybe?…. whatever the hidden desires of republican men might be, the resulting propaganda is the paradigm of Absurdity having a three-way with Irony and Contradiction.
The infinitely-illogical amount of defiance that republican Trump supporters show for their king is simple: defiance in the face of being made a fool. Even as their boats literally sink in the middle of their comical parades they remain defiant until the end. Trump voters have proven they will go down with the shit-ship that is the Donald J. Trump presidency… and not with the dignity of a captain, but rather the obstinacy – and rather keen foresight – of Plato’s Ship Of Fools. 1
We Must Give Credit To Media and Technology-Ignorance
While the reason Trump voters believe Trump’s lies in their psyche, we can’t ignore that social media and cable news have created multiple realties in which people exist. According to Fox News, not once has Trump ever said something negative about military service members (even though a Fox reporter confirmed parts of the story, which is, well… Trumpian in its denial of the sky being blue).
Of course, Fox News is considered responsible when compared to the even-more fringe outlets – the way-the-f*ck-out-there mental prison camps like “OAN” and “America’s News” that are down-right propaganda channels devoted exclusively to milking angry republicans of their last dime, their last drop of empathy, and their last connection to a reality-based existence. They make Alex Jones look sane. Einstein was right… just didn’t realize at the time he was talking about political discourse.
POLITUSIC has said it a thousand times: your brain is stupid. Yours, mine, theirs – we’re all idiots…. but at least about half of us now seem to understand the Internet is just one giant self-fulfilling bias machine that should be treated like a toddler trying to get money for cotton candy at a state fair more than an objective fact-finding machine. Bottom line: if the only information a brain takes in is in-praise of Donald Trump, then that’s all its person knows. A human body doesn’t magically intuit Truth outside the content of its own brain’s file system. AI is a farce. Hell, these days HI is a farce! 2 A brain is only as good as the information it takes in (why do you think republicans have been gutting public education and bastardizing college professors for decades?) Trump voters are prisoners of their own biases and inability to understand how the Internet works.
Trump Loyalists: Defiant Fools Who’ve Bet It All On One Man
Trump has tapped the bizarre – and uniquely American – combination of public shame, gambling, and faith.
Basically, modern evangelicalism.
But really, really pissed off.
It’s all been stewed and beaten to a pulp like a Trump-branded steak in hopes of fooling the customers into believing it’s high-grade beef. Hells Angels are cohorting with the Falwells (and the pool boy). Broad swaths of evangelicals have faith in a faithless man. And not only did Donald Trump show his followers they could be racist-like-their-grandpappy without a white-hooded hint of shame, Trump pushed cultural-change defiance beyond the point that any rational person thought possible: Trump supporters now compete for who can demonstrate the most shameful behavior. The Republican Party has become the final installment of Jackass The Movie and they LOVE him for it. In Trumpland the most repugnant wins. They get off on “triggering” and “owning” anyone who disagrees (all of whom they now call liberals). Trump has made the republican base anti-social drones who seek conflict, revel in cruelty, and disregard truth. How does one battle against that? Democrats have yet to solve that core problem.
When we combine snowballing lies, a disgust for “the other”, and a carnival king who encourages them daily to be defiantly obtuse, selfish, and hateful on a daily basis… it’s not difficult to see why we have some 40 million, conservative-minded people whose (masticated) faith makes it impossible for them to admit that Donald Trump is not only the worst president in American history, but a man who could very well permanently destroy our democratic institutions.
Trump supporters have already given up a lot. It’s difficult to find one that has not totally shut off communications with at least one family member as a result of their rabid support for Donald Trump (outside of certain, otherness-unfriendly corners of the country). When someone goes all in… it’s game over. They can’t admit the foolishness of that act (unless they wake up in rehab). Deep down… the rest of us hope they’re bluffing; that if Trump loses to Biden they’ll finally back off and not hit the streets. We shall see.
Republicans believe Trump’s lies because they have to believe them. They’re too invested in his ruse. If they come back to reality, they lose their sense of purpose and (ironically) self-respect because of how wholly-souly dedicated they were to the conman president. Conceptualize it however you find easiest: an addict in denial, a wife who ignores her husband’s affairs, an anti-vaxxer, a “wellness” believer who can’t admit he’s been had by endless lines of salesmen and promises. They cannot admit they’ve been duped by – and gave lots of money to – a carnival barker. No one likes to be made a fool. Trump voters’ desperate defiance is compounded by a horrendous public education system and an economy that, as of a result of which, has left most of them behind (that’s not elitist: it’s the truth, and if we accept that we can begin fixing it). Desperate people protest. Desperate people burn buildings. And desperate people vote for Donald Trump.
Since the dawn of humanity, scared humans, angry humans, and desperate humans have turned to The Con. It makes us feel better. It gives the pain of life meaning. It makes death hopeful. Donald J. Trump is not just another conman… he is The Con of the American experiment.
1 No, don’t go there. I rather like democracy, really… as long as education, not distraction, is the paramount value. (back)
2 If you get it, you get it. That’s sorta how it is on POLITUSIC…. use your H_m__ Intelligence and you’ll get there. (back)
Published: by | Updated: 09-06-2020 14:05:57
