"I Won't Forget This; Ever!"

"I won't forget this; ever!" my co-worker stated recently.  He had been a life long Republican.  A fan of Reagan, "One of the greatest ever! Other than Lincoln of course", and "Nixon, as wrong as he was for what he did, was the only one who could open China to the West."  He was for going into Iraq, but now realizes it was a mistake.  He is not a Compassionate Conservative, though he does have compassion when pressed.  He is a good man, and one of the smartest people I know.  He can give you a historical perspective on anything from the economy, to the California water system, and the water rights battles in early statehood.  But now he comes into my office on a daily basis and shakes his head, and wags his finger in in disgust.  And he blames you.

Yes you, his fellow Republicans.  You rubes!!!  I tried to explain to him that with a field of 17 candidates, all the sensible, semi-intelligent voters spread their votes out among many, and the radicals, those that are vulnerable to cult like followings, went for the cult leader Trump.  He almost spits in my face when I try to tell him intelligent people voted for Trump.

But what makes him more angry, angrier than the rubes that voted for the moronic Cult Leader, is the Republican Congress and their lack of a spine to face reality, to stand up and speak to truth, and to call the idiot out. I tell him they may be worried about the cult following base that Trump has.  Or it could be a long term strategy. They know he will hang himself, and so are trying to walk the line of appeasing the cult followers, and when he finally slips the noose around his own neck; that moment when he will be so exposed as a traitor, a thief and a liar that even the cult followers abandon him, they will turn on him and kick the crate out from underneath him.  They will all get behind Pence, and claim America is saved.

We both agree that this is an absolutely idiotic strategy.  the GOP has made it's bed. Most have shown that they put party before country, and that their every action is only for their own benefit, not the country's and not their constituents.  They are catching their own house on fire, and then will claim to be the fire truck that comes to save the day. They are wrong.

There are millions of Republican and Independent constituents that won't buy it.  They will remain angry and the won't forget this..........EVER!

The Cult of Trumpism

Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities” .... Voltaire

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Order of the Solar Temple; The Branch Dividians; The Unification Church, (Moonies); Aum Shinrikyo; The People’s Temple (Jim Jones); Heaven’s Gate; Scientology; ISIS, Al Queda; Trumpism.  Yes, these are all cults.

By definition, “A system of veneration and devotion directed towards a particular person or object” or “A misplaced or excessive admiration of a particular person or thing” Trumpism fits that mold, and is just as dangerous as any of the afore mentioned cults.

Additionally, a cult has these characteristics: (From Adrian Furnam, Ph.D. in Psychology Today, 2/24/2014. note that this was long before the elections.)

• Powerful and exclusive dedication/devotion to an explicit person or creed.(he can admit to grabing a woman by the pussy, and yet his followers don’t care, the creeds: Make America Great Again, Drain The Swamp)
• Cults nearly always go in for milieu control signals: a different,unfamiliar setting with different rules, terms, behaviour patterns. (Drain The Swamp)
• Cults insist on reprogramming the way people see the world. (“Fake Media, NATO is obsolete, Liberal Democracy is defunct)
• The use of “thought-reform” programs to integrate, socialize, persuade and therefore control members. (Rapid increase in crime, Massive unemployment, Immigrants are dangerous, thousands of Muslims celebrated in the streets of New Jersey on 911)

Other signs to consider that you are actually acting as you were in a cult would be:

• All your friends believe just like you do.  Now when we talk politics, this is quite common.  Political thought tends to group with like minded political thought. But today we see a radicalization of this.
• Nobody Questions authority.  Don’t anybody dare question Trump.  To his supporters, he is doing no wrong, he is on the right track.  Perhaps he should quiet his Twitter activity, but no matter what he says, in the White House, or in public, it is gospel….even when they can’t agree on what he actually said.
• The source of authority is vested in one person.  Just ask him.  He will fire anybody who speaks out against him, and the Cabinet and his advisors stand by that.
• Secrecy and excommunication.  The media doesn’t need to know what we are doing. Many of the policy actions are done behind the media's back, and they have been excommunicated in many ways. Defiled, berated, and ostracized.

People who succumb to the cult, stop critical thinking altogether, and ignore danger signs as they slap them in the face.  But let’s not forget that very intelligent people join cults.  Very intelligent people voted, and still support Trump.  How can we explain this? Why would someone who is paying even the least bit of attention still think Trump will , “ “Make America Great Again” and is doing a good job? Any mention of his failings are met with vitriolic anger, sometimes violence.

Cults gain prominence by convincing individuals to eliminate critical thinking. According to Dr. Furnam, they introduce a “sacred creed” (See MAGA, and Drain The Swamp, America First). Cults “deliberately induce powerful emotions like fear…. but also pride”. America First! “Stop the Muslims coming in...they’re dangerous and will commit acts of terrorism.”

So what is Trumpism offering that is so appealing to masses of people? The same thing cults offer; Friendship, identity and security. Many people are more than happy to trade their liberty for the illusory security that is promised.

Dr. Furnam says that: “Extreme groups offer simple, clear messages in an increasingly complex world. Old certainties are crumbling; ethics even science is portrayed as having only relative truths. The world is corrupt, evil, unfair and very complex. So a group or leader who offers a "sensible, sane" explanation for the complex world…is very attractive”.

  We are witnessing a man, if looked at with reason, is diminishing our standing in the world by belittling other nations, their leaders, and the organizations that have kept countries from war, since the 1945. NATO is obsolete, old allies are now idiots.  The Liberal Democracy of Europe that has prevent additional world wars, is, according to Trumpism, only taking away freedoms of the common man. Everything that we have come to know, through science, political thought, and the social and economic sciences is too complex and needs to be dispelled.and yet people still believe he is doing good things for America. Big League!

Smart people have fallen for Trumpism and what he offers. But on behalf of the majority of United States Citizens, I quote this from an unnamed source on social media immediately after the election:

“I am not mad at you that Clinton lost. I am unconcerned that we have different politics. And I don’t think less of you because you vote one way and I vote another. No...I think less of you because you watched an adult mock a disabled person in front of a crowd and still supported him. I think less of you because you saw a man spouting clear racism and back him. I think less of you because you listened to him advocate for war crimes, and still thought he should run this country.  I think less of you because you watched him equate a woman’s worth to her appearance and got on board. It isn’t your politics that I find repulsive. It is your personal willingness to support racism, sexism, and cruelty. You sided with a bully when it mattered and that is something I will never forget. So, no….you and I won’t be “coming together” to move forward or whatever. Trump disgusts me, but it is the fact that he doesn’t disgust you that will stick with me long after this.”

In other words, you go on with your cult following. I can do nothing to save you. I can only hope that someday, you will decide to no longer be brainwashed. I chose to keep my sensibilities, and sense of reason and critical thinking, and not fall into the Cult of Trumpism.