WTF Just Happened? (Day 17)

 

Very few people will likely read this. If you did, thank you. The world is very distracted right now.

However, if you unilaterally support President Trump, this is probably going to piss you off. Be aware.

This past week the US Capitol was stormed by a mob of right-wing nutcases goaded on by the President of the United States in an attempt to overthrow our democracy. He did this with malice, direct intent, and committed treason against the USA in so doing. 

(No, I don't care if you disagree with any of those statements. My blog. I say what I want. Unfriend me if you wish; six people have already done so this week.)

In the days following, the world polarized itself even further. Most republicans made excuses for Trump's act or claimed it wasn't actually right wingnuts who did it but Antifa in disguise. Democrats demonized the right in all levels and forms. One thing was certain, to me anyway, and that was the President of the United States was having a field day. He had made people hate one another even more, a small consolation for his LEGALLY lost election. Just like the king in this cartoon:

So the pitchfork people marched to the capitol and laid siege to it. Shattering windows, carrying pipe bombs and guns and confederate/TRUMP flags, all the while claiming that the torch people were trying to confirm an election that was full of corruption.

Yesterday, on one of of my Facebook friends' pages, they had made a post calling all democrats "vile, evil people." Being a democrat myself, I asked them if I was a vile, evil person also. They informed me that I support and vote for vile, evil people, regardless of that question.

So there we are. (No, I will not say who this person is. Don't ask.)

I tried to think of words to say today, but none of them seemed to fit what my heart was feeling. What I do know, is that a lot of "torch" people are claiming Donald Trump is stupid. No, he is not. Perhaps about how a government works, yes, but not about how to work a crowd. He's brilliant at that. The past 4 years, he has been skillfully crafting a defense against an outcome that he knew was imminent.

He told his base that he was their only friend, and that he was the only one who was listening to them. When you feel small, let me tell you, having someone say they care about you and they are listening to you is a very powerful thing.

He told his base that he would tell them the news sources to listen to, and to be skeptical of all others. By doing so, he directed their preferred news sources to ones he could control.

He told his base that if they heard any news that painted him in a bad light, to immediately dismiss it as "fake news" meant to discredit him. In so doing, he made sure that all news sources other than him personally could potentially be wrong, no matter how damning the evidence.

He told his base that the world was controlled by liberals; especially the media. In doing so, he made ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, all major newspapers, and all international news sources appear dishonest, so that nothing they reported would be taken seriously by them.

He told his base that the world was jealous of America, and that any country that criticized us was an enemy. This made sure any show of scorn from anyone outside our borders would be ignored.

He told his base that his was the party of Christianity, and anyone who criticized his party was not on the side of God. By doing this, he made them feel as though they were the ones doing God's work, and the other side was the side of apostasy.

(This also ensured that any time anyone questioned their actions as being contrary to what the Bible said Christians should be, it meant that they were being persecuted. The Bible clearly states that Christians will be persecuted, and to be thankful when you are (James 1:2), because it means you are not a part of this world (John 15:19), and those who criticize you are. This often creates a false sense of pride in being a Christian, making you think "Thank goodness I am not a sinner like them!" (Luke 18:9-14)

He told his base that any republican who was critical of him was a RINO, and that made them worse than democrats. Doing this, he made sure that all inside voices of reason were silenced.

He told his base that if he lost the election, it would be due to voter fraud, and that the left would try to convince them it was an honest election to cover up their agenda. In doing so, he ensured that if he lost, he could throw the country into chaos, pitting the citizens against themselves for his own amusement.

And now, here we are. Right where he wanted us.

The war cry of "Stop the steal!" was emblazoned on the lips of his supporters. Psychology is at work, here. If you are playing cards with someone, and they cheat, you know they are dishonest, and you simply throw your cards down and the game is done. You don't play with them anymore. If they steal from you, however like grabbing your chips when you weren't looking, you will jump up and demand they return them, wrestling them from their hand if need be. Trump knew that if he portrayed this as a stolen election rather than just a fraudulent one, he could create a sense of entitlement in his supporters, so that if he lost, they would see it as them having been ripped off.

I asked my nephew (who works in DC) that if Trump lost, how long would it take the nation to heal? He said "We will be fighting them (his base) for a least a generation." (A generation is 20-30 years, for reference.)

Trump's base HATES Joe Biden. You will NOT convince them to respect him, much less agree with him. Don't even try. Trump's base is LOST and we will never get them back. The only way we will get them back is if they are willing to abandon Trump, and they NEVER will.

So what we must do as Americans is unite together in the groups that still are willing to listen to one another. We have to have EMPATHY. Empathy is not sympathy. Empathy is being willing to understand why another person feels how they do.

You can have EMPATHY for Adolf Hitler, for example, even though he deserves no SYMPATHY.

Americans have to learn empathy. We have to be willing to understand one another. This begins not by saying "What the hell is wrong with you?" to someone on the other side. It begins by you listening to them. A lot of what they believe may be incorrect, or spun in ways littered with confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. You have to be willing to listen and disagree with them kindly and politely. It may not work, but we must try.

I am a WWII buff, specifically in the area of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. I could write pages on this, but instead I will just share this video by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California. He is a republican, an immigrant, and contrary to what many think, he isn't just a movie star. Actors are often told they should keep their political opinions to themselves and stick to acting. The problem is that they are people like everyone else, and actually have ideas and opinions. Most are very well thought out, and all are relevant. 

As ALL people are.