I write this as America remains in shock of disbelief at what has been described as first a protest, then a riot, but in reality was a domestic coup attempt by domestic terrorists.
The media is having a hard time using that word terrorists as the criminals were not brown or black but almost all white and waiving American flags. None the less, their aim was to stop democracy and install a dictator who after January 20th will no longer be a sitting President but remain the criminal.
What has occurred is the hate filled speech of the Republican party, which was greatly amplified by a sitting President, has finally come back to bite, and has gravely damaged the heart and soul of the country they so zealously claim to love and defend. Their idea of America has been incredibly warped and twisted by the ravings of a well known con-man and liar as well as outright lies such as QAnon. Those in this country that remain able to think rationally are all bewildered by the insanity that has taken over America.
What has made this possible is a failure of political leadership. Unfortunately the vast majority of people are unable to think critically and need to be told what to believe. This is true with religion and politics – two institutions that throughout history have kept populations in line. How many people do you know who have spontaneously been able to come to different conclusions than the communities in which they live, especially when it comes to politics and religion? Therefore, like religion, the population looks to their leaders for guidance on what to think about events which are primarily beyond the regular person’s purview.
As I’ve said for over a decade now, the Republicans have spewed nothing but hateful garbage in order to rile the population in order to win elections. With the rise of Trump, the mainstream Republicans finally lost control and decided to double down, to embrace the insanity with the idea of simply consolidating their ideology while ignoring the danger they were creating.
It all came back to bite them on January 6th. However, over the past four years the depths to which Trump supporters would lower themselves seemed to be endless. Remember Trump making fun of the handicapped reporter? Trumpers were just fine with that. Four years and endless examples later, people have died and the heartbeat of America, democracy, has seen an assassination attempt.
Who are these Trump supporters? The fact they comprise almost half of Americans has really caused me a lot of mental anguish as my mind would normally just like to dismiss them as idiots. That isn’t possible with so many falling in that camp and so I’ve had to give it a lot of thought.
To start, I understand the one-issue voters. For those that support one issue, and it is on the Republican side, I get it. Going further, there are those that simply hate liberals and what they primarily support. Even as a liberal I can understand since I was raised in a conservative environment. Sometimes science, progress, and new ideas just seem downright awful to what you’ve been taught your entire life. I can give those people a pass as well since I know where they are coming from. I also understand being fiscally conservative, being tough with criminals, and so on. I can agree with more than a few items on the “conservative” side because I know how to think critically. But this brings me to the third characteristic of the Trump supporter: the vast majority of Trump supporters are uneducated white men.
These uneducated white men see their status in American society slipping away. The ability to be a good provider without a college degree has been slipping away for decades. Those factory jobs where only a high school degree would suffice are gone. Isn’t it ironic that the Republican love of corporate profits is the main political party responsible for this? It is also ironic that these same people would benefit from a little government help but to them that would be worse then not having a job at all. There is nothing worse than a handout; handouts are for those brown and black people. There is nothing worse than losing their imagined station in society and being of equal or *gasp* lower status then those of color and so they are easy prey for the demagogues.
The demagogues such as Trump, Limbaugh etc. give them something to be part of, something powerful. It is a membership where all they have to do is wave a flag and say how much they love America. It isn’t any more complex than a fanatic for a sports team. The sports team wins, they win! Trump has money (*maybe not, see his tax returns) and beautiful women, and if they show support for him then maybe that scent of money and women will rub off on them as well!
Guess what? It doesn’t.
But let’s dissect this “Love of America” they so fanatically express. Their idea of loving America is: attaching a flag to their truck, 48 or so flags in the background if it is a political speech; their freedom gives them the right to infect as many Americans with COVID-19 as they want while simultaneously rejecting healthcare for all; never criticizing mistakes America has made because if you do you’re a traitor. Those that “hate America” are those that do not agree with their warped and twisted idea of America. They’ve had it beaten into their heads for over a decade that the Liberal side of America are bad communists running pedophile rings? Just bluster you say? Well, that bluster just overran the Capital, the Capital of the USA.
On the other hand, the Liberal idea of being patriotic is wanting to provide education and healthcare for all just for being a citizen! It is the realization that absolute individual liberty at the expense of the community can sometimes be a bad idea. It is the ability to criticize the country when she goes astray in the hopes of making it better. Liberals will acknowledge the disease, diagnose it and administer medicine (sometimes too much medicine – see San Francisco). Trumpers will deny there is a disease, ignore it and want to hang the Liberal doctor. Oh, and by the way I was speaking metaphorically but while typing realized this is a literal example as well thanks to COVID-19. Realizing this I am quite sure I’m in a coma in some hospital bed. Maybe I’ll wrap up this post go outside and see if I can fly.
The common refrain when this common sense is pointed out to Trumpers is that I should “go do my research.” What Trumpers mean by “research” is to go to a far-right blog and copy and paste that information to social media. The majority of these Trumpers couldn’t “research” their way to a passing grade in high school but now they are all tax, trade, infectious disease, healthcare specialists! I was reading one argument on social media where the Trumper was arguing about tax and wrote to the liberal “And I’m sure you’ve read page 189 of (such and such) tax proposal?” Yea, that Trumper most likely hadn’t read a book in the past decade but now was an expert in recently released tax proposals. “Research” is: read the far-right blog, copy and paste. Out of all the Trumpers I know there is only one, ONE, who posts his own ideas. 99% of the others just regurgitate whatever right wing nonsense got them agitated that week.
Well, I would like to write more but it is Sunday morning and the pancakes are almost ready so I must go. Perhaps I’ll add more later.
But for now let’s remember. Trumpers just overran the Capitol Building trying to stop democracy and install a dictator. They and President Trump are traitors to America and should be subject to the punishment specified for treason. The law is the law no matter how many flags you waive or how loudly you shout.
