Mary, I don't know even where to start. How do you possibly parse this insanity. And why in god's name has NO ONE stopped him. No ONE. The man is ill. Physically and mentally and it's just going to get worse. It scares the living hell out of me.
Credible estimates* indicate that at any given time, any given population comprises a roughly 30% cohort of “authoritarian followers.” People with this trait possess it innately, it drives their behavior thoroughly, and it’s rare for them to change. Logic, you acutely observe, doesn’t apply (other than their own illogical “logic”), and never will for them. This is, then, for us who engage in the battle, about as good as it gets.
Our task is to maximize whatever advantages we hold, and they are many, while that 30% does what it does.
The world stepping back from the US is not just a reaction to Trump. That this guy is still getting 30% approval for anything he is doing, in spite of what we can all see of his dishonesty, corruption, & incompetence, tells us that the US has deep problems in its education and communications infrastructure, & that its political institutions are dependent on good people acting in good faith. One of the parties has apparently left that building, and yet the political system is not only biased toward that political party, but the party is actively gerrymandering to make it worse. On top of everything else, we see states like Texas just ramming through redistricting against all norms, while Virginia goes to the people and wins a redistricted map from the voters only to be overturned by a (politically biased?) court. Maybe there's a valid point of law there, I don't know, but the optics have nothing good to say about American democracy. This is going to take a long time to turn around.
The Bulwark newsletter quotes a CBS News poll, conducted by YouGov. "Separating those who approve or disapprove of Trump strongly from those who do so only tepidly, here’s what you get:
It seems eminently thinkable Trump will use a nuclear bomb of some kind in Iran - bunker buster? - because that’s who he is. Dominance at any cost - to others. Look at me, says he.
Evil enablers and architects come in many personas. Invoking ignorance and/or God, Mike Johnson is one of them. He won’t allow the House to act to constrain Trump or hold Trump accountable. Trump’s cabinet of freaks and billionaires with bunkers won’t either.
Legacy media is too complicit to convey the truth about Trump’s paranoid, deluded mental state and the clear and present danger he poses. The New York Times might report each inch of water that floods the Titanic’s lower compartments but good luck finding a headline that states the core reality: the ship is sinking.
Truth is often hard, but it’s basic to good decisions. Mary’s essays heroically connect the dots to convey what’s real and true. Again, a world of thanks for keeping us tethered to reality and can pass it on. It’s time to call our representatives in Congress!
No doubt the fundamentalist MAGAts will find a good reason to explain why Trump couldn't attend the (gag) faith rally: "He needs a break to unwind from all the recent events. Golfing relaxes him. We understand." Meanwhile, the codes travel with a lunatic.
Nobody stops him because nobody ever has. He's never been disciplined, sanctioned, punished. No one ever seriously tried to rein him in. I don't know what his siblings were like growing up, but my guess is he was a vicious bully, to them and to his parents, and to everyone thereafter.
To retain their (the Grove denizens) control of the country, they let Trump do what he wants so they contrinue to get what they want. If he actually stood up and said "I've had enough. No more free rides. The taxes are going up on anyone making over a half-million annually, regardless of source, and corporations are going back up to 35%," they'd have him out of office so fast all our heads would spin.
And my most troubling takeaway from this essay - "Jim Crow 2.0." How can this be? How can this happen? It's as if the KKK removed their hoods and is showing off, daring anyone to stop them. Sort of as with bully-boy Trump, no one will.
That's the proof America is truly fractured. I am beyond heartsick.
Mary, I don't know even where to start. How do you possibly parse this insanity. And why in god's name has NO ONE stopped him. No ONE. The man is ill. Physically and mentally and it's just going to get worse. It scares the living hell out of me.
The people elected leaders whose idea of leadership is domination theater. A extractive system is harvesting the energy generated by the domination.
We all have to worry about the 30+% who still think he's doing a swell job. I just don't understand their logic (or lack thereof).
Credible estimates* indicate that at any given time, any given population comprises a roughly 30% cohort of “authoritarian followers.” People with this trait possess it innately, it drives their behavior thoroughly, and it’s rare for them to change. Logic, you acutely observe, doesn’t apply (other than their own illogical “logic”), and never will for them. This is, then, for us who engage in the battle, about as good as it gets.
Our task is to maximize whatever advantages we hold, and they are many, while that 30% does what it does.
* https://theauthoritarians.org/
The world stepping back from the US is not just a reaction to Trump. That this guy is still getting 30% approval for anything he is doing, in spite of what we can all see of his dishonesty, corruption, & incompetence, tells us that the US has deep problems in its education and communications infrastructure, & that its political institutions are dependent on good people acting in good faith. One of the parties has apparently left that building, and yet the political system is not only biased toward that political party, but the party is actively gerrymandering to make it worse. On top of everything else, we see states like Texas just ramming through redistricting against all norms, while Virginia goes to the people and wins a redistricted map from the voters only to be overturned by a (politically biased?) court. Maybe there's a valid point of law there, I don't know, but the optics have nothing good to say about American democracy. This is going to take a long time to turn around.
The Bulwark newsletter quotes a CBS News poll, conducted by YouGov. "Separating those who approve or disapprove of Trump strongly from those who do so only tepidly, here’s what you get:
Strongly approve: 20 percent.
Somewhat approve: 17 percent.
Somewhat disapprove: 11 percent.
Strongly disapprove: 52 percent."
That 52% is where I get my hope for the future.
It seems eminently thinkable Trump will use a nuclear bomb of some kind in Iran - bunker buster? - because that’s who he is. Dominance at any cost - to others. Look at me, says he.
Evil enablers and architects come in many personas. Invoking ignorance and/or God, Mike Johnson is one of them. He won’t allow the House to act to constrain Trump or hold Trump accountable. Trump’s cabinet of freaks and billionaires with bunkers won’t either.
Legacy media is too complicit to convey the truth about Trump’s paranoid, deluded mental state and the clear and present danger he poses. The New York Times might report each inch of water that floods the Titanic’s lower compartments but good luck finding a headline that states the core reality: the ship is sinking.
Truth is often hard, but it’s basic to good decisions. Mary’s essays heroically connect the dots to convey what’s real and true. Again, a world of thanks for keeping us tethered to reality and can pass it on. It’s time to call our representatives in Congress!
Your Titanic analogy is brilliant.
No doubt the fundamentalist MAGAts will find a good reason to explain why Trump couldn't attend the (gag) faith rally: "He needs a break to unwind from all the recent events. Golfing relaxes him. We understand." Meanwhile, the codes travel with a lunatic.
Nobody stops him because nobody ever has. He's never been disciplined, sanctioned, punished. No one ever seriously tried to rein him in. I don't know what his siblings were like growing up, but my guess is he was a vicious bully, to them and to his parents, and to everyone thereafter.
To retain their (the Grove denizens) control of the country, they let Trump do what he wants so they contrinue to get what they want. If he actually stood up and said "I've had enough. No more free rides. The taxes are going up on anyone making over a half-million annually, regardless of source, and corporations are going back up to 35%," they'd have him out of office so fast all our heads would spin.
And my most troubling takeaway from this essay - "Jim Crow 2.0." How can this be? How can this happen? It's as if the KKK removed their hoods and is showing off, daring anyone to stop them. Sort of as with bully-boy Trump, no one will.
That's the proof America is truly fractured. I am beyond heartsick.