This is a brilliant piece of writing, @agmoore. I watched several of the videos, which was quite painful because I have spent 9 years trying to tune him out and feeling a little ill every time I hear that voice. Or see him do his little dance. All that history is there in living color. Great job.
I am trying not to live in fear and trepidation of what's coming. But between the cabinet he's putting together, his plans to tear apart the Department of Education, the Department of Justice and who knows what else, and the fact that all of his bigotry and misogyny have inspired people to come out of the woodwork to treat others with similar disrespect, I will admit that I have trouble sleeping at night.
Rachel Maddow is a voice of reason and does an amazing job of sharing the facts and bringing these things to light. This podcast about the cabinet he's putting together should make anyone shudder.
On a positive note, I think most people did not vote for Trump because of his misdeeds, but in spite of them. They have forgotten what happened during Covid, maybe didn't pay attention to all of the horrible scandals in his administration (see the Rachel Maddow podcast I mentioned above), and maybe even don't believe that he is all that bad based on his threats to use the military against his own citizens... etc.
I think there are two primary factors at play:
- Just as in the video you shared where Trump says again and again again "It will go away," he repeats everything else he wants to believe and wants his followers to believe too. And it works. He can rewrite history about January 6 just by repeating a different narrative. He can get people to believe that crime went through the roof during the Biden administration, and that it was at the hands of a massive number of criminals coming over the border... just by saying it over and over and over. And this same phenomenon normalizes his nastiness, his ugly rhetoric and his lies. So people become numb and buy what he's selling.
- Many people simply want more money in their pockets, and they think he can do that for them. They're tired of stretching their dollars and feeling like they can't make ends meet. And they blame the current administration for the inflation that got us here, seeing absolutely no connection to the Covid pandemic and how long it takes to shift an economy back toward "normal" after such an historic and devastating event. Yes, it has been hard, and yes it needs to get better. But the current administration got the economy back on track faster than any other country and was recently proclaimed "the envy of the world".
I get it. I really do. Inflation slowed, but not fast enough. A great GDPR and a soaring stock market simply don't put shoes on children and meat on the table. But it's unfortunately a situation where the guy who made the louder claims about what he's capable of bumped up against a candidate representing the current administration and the pain people feel in the pockets today.
And here are. Emotion speaks louder than facts. Because honestly, for as many times as Trump proclaimed how terrible the economy is, there are just as many fact-filled articles explaining that leading economists disagree with Trump that he can make inflation go away, that Trump's tariff plans will hurt consumers, that Trump's tax plans will increase taxes on 95% of Americans, and the economy does better under Democrats.
Well, my dear, thank you for letting me jump on your blog with my concerns. I agree with everything you've shared. You did a wonderful job collecting facts and stating what's true. I truly hope facts don't cease to matter entirely.
Hello my friend, @jayna,
Thank you for sharing all of that with me. I've been upset. Of course it's because I fear for the country. I think the worst part for me, though, is that people voted for him. They know him. He's not shy. He comes right out and says all those horrible things, and people accept it.
I didn't refer to autocrats in the past when I wrote this, because I wanted to keep this anchored in fact. How could his supporters respond? He didn't lie about COVID? He didn't laugh about Pelosi's husband? He didn't admit to sexual assault? He didn't say he wanted to tear up parts of the Constitution?
His supporters know these things, and it's OK with them. That is what is upsetting to me.
Years ago I worked in a warehouse from time to time. One of the delivery men was disabled. He limped and had an issue with speech. Danny. That was his name. The other drivers would stand around and mock him. Those are the people who elected Trump.
He gives them permission to be cruel. He allows them to say and feel things that they have to suppress ordinarily. He gives them a sense of freedom and power.
There are those who like his tax policies, and those who like his tariff policies, etc. But people at his rallies aren't thinking of that. They are cheering on the brute. The more brutish he acts, the more excited they get. It reminds me of Ann Jackson's The Lottery. There's a headiness in being part of an impassioned group (mob), a freedom, a primitiveness that ordinarily is forbidden.
I can't watch the news. Every now and then I read a headline so I can keep track of the broad outlines of what's coming. It's sickening. Don't know what to do about it. I think of people in the past, trapped by a government that's gone sideways.
We may need courage, but courage doesn't always help. Do I have that courage? I don't know.
It really helps to read the words of someone who is dismayed by what has happened. 50.2 percent of the electorate voted for him. That means 49.8 of the people did not. There is hope in that number.
I don't think I can listen to Maddow, or anyone else talking about what has happened. Writing my blog was one way of dealing with my emotions. As time passes these may be less raw and I may find other ways to help my country. People to support, organizations to support, someone, something that has potential to affect what is happening.
Yes, I’m in full agreement on all of the above, @agmoore. I’ve had to disconnect too. I put myself on a news diet for my mental health.
I have the same concerns and feelings of despair about the enabling of that mob brutality, and the brutishness of the MAGA movement. That said, one of my points which I really believe in (being a cockeyed optimist) is that it’s just not at all about that for most people. They do want change. They want a bold change agent. And they’re willing to avert their eyes on the negatives that come along with it.
That’s what I’ve had to tell myself, anyway, so I don’t go through life looking at everyone in my path as possibly one of the jerks that helped to unleash the destruction of democracy. I fear that’s where we may be heading, and yet I can’t lose my faith in humanity.
And meanwhile, the people I meet and cross paths with in daily life are kind and good natured. So I can’t even match my real life experience to some of the nasty rhetoric I’ve seen amongst Trump followers in the news. Literally one guy I can think of that I’ve spoken to in the past 9 years was in that camp and had bought into all idealism, bizarre patriotism and angry rhetoric that has emerged out of this movement.
Sigh. We must carry on. And yes, I too will be looking for things to do that are positive and can help counterbalance where things are heading.
⭐️🌈🍁