Reminding myself that during nearly two decades of my life, racial segregation dominated some states, and that in 2020 we are still battling some of the same issues preventing people from voting. As if we didn’t need more reminders of systemic racism. People are going to need to be “carefully taught”, even as it appears that future generations are at least moving to a better understanding of tolerance.
…professional anti-cultistSteven Hassan, known for his support fordeprogrammingand career built around combatting groups he considers destructive cults, will shortly be releasing a new book, The Cult ofTrump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control.
But what of the 39 percent (or so) of Americans who continue to support Donald Trump? His popularity among Republican voters continues to be remarkably high and stable (87 percent per Gallup’s most recent poll) given his many failures of policy, including policy decisions that directly hurt his most enthusiastic “white working class” supporters. Indeed, Trump’s base of stable support remainsthe highest among American presidentsin the history of modern polling.
Despite — or because of — Trump’s apparent criminal behavior and obvious inclinations toward fascism he has a cement-like hold on his supporters. Trumpism can be understood as right-wing political extremism transformed into a cult. This is not just a metaphor. Trump’s lies, his assault on reality, his threats of violence, his cruelty, his demand of absolute loyalty, his manipulation of willing subjects who choose to escape empirical reality, and his shared state of collective narcissism with his followers all fit the definition of a cult. From that realization follows another: Trump’s removal from the White House, by electoral defeat or any other means, remains unlikely— unless his opponents can fully mobilize to overwhelm and defeat Trump’s zealots.
Is it possible to deprogram Trump’s political cult members and return them to normal society? Should good Americans isolate Trump supporters and refuse to interact with them? In what ways does Trump fit the profile of a cult leader? How is his apparent and lengthy history of sexually predatory behavior typical of a cult leader? If Trump is removed from office, will his supporters respond with violence?
When the Nazis were defeated the Western allies forced denazification on Germany. When the Bolsheviks were defeated Ukraine eventually underwent decommunization. When/if the Trump regime is defeated the U.S. will have to go through a radical process not unlike cult deprogramming.
In a way, I think we've understated the damage that Trump has done to the American government. All the little scandals and episode of abuse add up. Trump has transformed the state in his own image. It won't be so easy to fix. https://t.co/OBxVo61wYe
Regardless of outcome, educating or re-educating low-information voters should be a major objective, because patriotism has gotten a bad name.
President Trump is nowragingat the media for the sin of covering the pandemic andurgingpeople to change their votes to him, demonstrating fury over an unalterable reality: This election is all about his catastrophic botching of a public health crisis that is rampaging furiously at the very moment when people are already votingin record numbers.
But, now that the Senate hasconfirmedAmy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court — and now that the court justissued a controversial rulingin Wisconsin that could help Trump — is it possible the court might save Trump if he’s on track to lose, as he hasopenly declared he wants?
It’s unlikely. Alotof things would have to line up perfectly for that to happen.
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Trump is in a panic and a fury this morning. He's clearly hoping the Supreme Court will save him. But this is very unlikely to happen. I gamed out various scenarios with help from experts. Here's why this scheme is also likely to blow up in Trump's face:https://t.co/Aa3WHAbyY2
the court itself allowed this schedule to proceed.
….as election expert Rick Hasennotes,there isn’t any result to cast doubt uponuntil all votes are counted.
That’s because enormous numbers are voting by mail earlier than expected —more than 1.7 million peoplein Pennsylvania alone — meaning far fewer will vote by mail toward the end. That, combined with Joe Biden’smore than five-point leadthere, makes the window for this to swing the outcome very small.
And for this to work, it would all have to come down to Pennsylvania, when in fact Biden islikely to win other statesthat mean Pennsylvania alone isn’t decisive.
“You’d have to have enough late-arriving ballots to make a difference in a stateandhave that state make the difference in the election,”
[…]
None of this means anyone should relax vigilance. AsBrian Beutler notes, given that Trump has told us he’s expecting the court to save him, gaming out every scenario is necessary as a defense.
But this will likely prove another way that Trump’sefforts to corrupt the election are getting thwarted. Given that Trump’s telegraphing of his schemes is what’s driving millions to vote early and remain on high alert, it might also proveanother wayhis corruption blew up in his face.
(Excerpt) “One of the guys I was deprogramming—he had loved chanting “Build the Wall!” at Trump rallies. So I made him chant that, while he was sticking a hot pepper up his ass. I made him break it in there.”
