On January 6, when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob of
insurrectionists hellbent on disrupting the electoral process, we got a
chilling glimpse of what many of us had predicted. It is not just that
70 percent of Trump supporters don't think the election was free and
fair. It is that a significant subset of them thought that the
appropriate response was to enter the Capitol by force and violently
stop the certification of Joe Biden as the next president of the United
States.

These people believed that the best way to defend our democracy was to
destroy it. That literally made sense to them.

What this means is that the problem we face is far deeper than a
community trapped in its own delusional reality. The problem is not just
the culture of lies and deception and bluster and bragging; the problem
is the cult itself.

This vocal subset of Trump supporters didn't just swallow falsehoods;
they were brainwashed. Moreover, they weren't just confused about the
facts. The core concern is not just disinformation; it is the violent
response to it. So, if we are going to recover from the Trump years we
will have to recognize that we need to do more than stop the lies. We
also have to stop the actions and behaviors that have been justified by
these lies. His diehard supporters will require collective deprogramming.

The Cult of Trump

Over the last four years various commentators have flagged Trumpism as a
cult. Former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci,
of all people, called attention to the idea that his supporters were
part of a cult. In June 2018, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob
Corker (R-TN) suggested that Republicans were in a "cult-like situation"
with Trump because most refused to even consider disagreeing with him.

To make matters even more disturbing, when Donald Trump Jr. was asked on
Fox & Friends about Corker's claims, he replied "You know what? If it's
a cult, it's because they like what my father's doing."

The reason why it matters to think about Trumpism as a cult is because
it allows us to consider that the problem is not simply a consequence of
falsehoods consumed via right-wing media. Yes, the culture of
disinformation was severe, but those listening to the falsehoods did
much more than fall for a bunch of BS. They blindly adored their leader,
refusing to question any of his actions, and then they were prepared to
use violence to protect him, even if, in the case of the Capitol
marauders, it meant risking their own lives.

Yet, as Benjamin E. Zeller points out, describing Trumpism as a cult
misses a few critical distinctions and may not be an effective strategy
to counteract the negative effects of Trumpian ideology. There are a few
reasons for this, he argues, including the fact that Trump supporters
are not a fringe minority as most cult members tend to be. In fact, they
come close to representing half of the voting electorate. But, perhaps,
most importantly, Zeller argues that focusing too much on brainwashing
absolves those holding false beliefs from being responsible for
themselves. Brainwashing conjures up victimhood and turns the
brainwashed into innocents.

Will a cult pushed to the extreme fracture?

That's what leads to the silver lining of the terrifying and disturbing
attacks of January 6 on the Capitol. The good news is that they were so bad.

Certain rioters planned and schemed and deliberately and coldly sought
to overthrow the government. They were not just caught up in a frenzied
swoon caused by Trump's incendiary speech that day. They were not
innocent victims of brainwashing, though they were clearly delusional.
They were openly and unabashedly attempting to perpetrate an
insurrection. The images of them attacking a Capitol police office with
a U.S. flag, for example, are too disturbing for most Trump supporters
to justify. The awful truth of it, it turns out, could prompt an
encouraging step forward.

Sure, the rioter who was shot and killed by Capitol Police is now being
martyred as an innocent victim. Sure, there are rumors circulating that
the attackers were actually Antifa. Sure, there are those who try to
insist that Trump wasn't to blame. But as the truth comes out, thanks to
the fact that most of the rioters had a compulsive need to document
their every move on social media, it becomes harder and harder for those
Trump supporters who are not part of the fringe extreme to ignore the
horror of the attacks.

The chilling reports that the rioters may have been given tours of the
building in advance by Republican representatives, that they had guns
and bombs, that they intended to abduct and harm Vice President Mike
Pence and members of Congress, and that they spent weeks preparing to
storm the Capitol combine to offer such a grotesque picture of the
insurrection that few can stomach it. The promising news is that the
type of "patriotism" on display in the attack was so obscene that it is
serving as a wake-up call for many of those aligned with Trump ideology.

Consider it this way: Trump's call for carnage was so grotesque that it
may well have broken his spell.

In fact, a recent PBS New Hour/Marist poll shows that 80 percent of
Republicans oppose or strongly oppose the actions of the Trump
supporters who broke into the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the process of
certifying the presidential election. While a disturbing 18 percent of
Trump supporters still back the rioters, it is the 80 percent in
opposition that offers a glimmer of hope, because it shows a stark
division among the mass of Trump supporters, a crack in the cult, that
offers the possibility that Trump's ideological grasp on his "base" may
no longer be complete.

We have seen defections from the Republican elite in the form of Mitch
McConnell's condemnation of Trump and the fact that ten Republican
members of the House voted to impeach. But if we look at the general
public, we see that the percentage of the population that voted for
Trump, yet condemns the attacks, is far higher than what we are
witnessing in Congress.

This offers a unique opportunity to dismantle Trumpism and its cognitive
hold on his supporters. The more that the violent rioters can be
separated out from other Trump supporters, and the more that Trump
supporters can be separated from the Republican party, the better our
chances of fragmenting the right and unraveling Trump's psychic hold on
the party.

On one of the few lawns that has a Trump sign in my neighborhood, the
name "Pence" has been cut out. When I first saw it, I wondered why
someone would deface the sign that way only to quickly realize that the
Trump household itself had cut out "Pence" from their very own sign. It
struck me to see an act that was so openly childish and silly and also
so deeply anti-democratic and aggressive. The worse it is, the better it
gets.

And it made me hopeful to think that it may well be exactly through
these sorts of absurd, cult-like actions that others might start to
question their allegiance to Trumpism. What if the excessively
delusional dogma of Trumpism might actually be its own undoing?

https://tinyurl.com/y5ywuwez


--
Bozo Binned: Herring, Bert Robbins, JackGoff 452471atgmail.com,
Just-AN-Asshole, Tim, AMDX, and Gunboy Alex, aka the Gang of Dull,
Witless, Insult-Tossing Trumpsters. If you are on this list, I don't see
most of your posts and I don't read any of them.

Keyser Söze Wrote in message:r
On January 6, when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob of insurrectionists hellbent on disrupting the electoral process, we got a chilling glimpse of what many of us had predicted. It is not just that 70 percent of Trump supporters don't think the election was free and fair. It is that a significant subset of them thought that the appropriate response was to enter the Capitol by force and violently stop the certification of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.These people believed that the best way to defend our democracy was to destroy it. That literally made sense to them.What this means is that the problem we face is far deeper than a community trapped in its own delusional reality. The problem is not just the culture of lies and deception and bluster and bragging; the problem is the cult itself.This vocal subset of Trump supporters didn't just swallow falsehoods; they were brainwashed. Moreover, they weren't just confused about the facts. The core concern is not just disinformation; it is the violent response to it. So, if we are going to recover from the Trump years we will have to recognize that we need to do more than stop the lies. We also have to stop the actions and behaviors that have been justified by these lies. His diehard supporters will require collective deprogramming.The Cult of TrumpOver the last four years various commentators have flagged Trumpism as a cult. Former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci, of all people, called attention to the idea that his supporters were part of a cult. In June 2018, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) suggested that Republicans were in a "cult-like situation" with Trump because most refused to even consider disagreeing with him.To make matters even more disturbing, when Donald Trump Jr. was asked on Fox & Friends about Corker's claims, he replied "You know what? If it's a cult, it's because they like what my father's doing."The reason why it matters to think about Trumpism as a cult is because it allows us to consider that the problem is not simply a consequence of falsehoods consumed via right-wing media. Yes, the culture of disinformation was severe, but those listening to the falsehoods did much more than fall for a bunch of BS. They blindly adored their leader, refusing to question any of his actions, and then they were prepared to use violence to protect him, even if, in the case of the Capitol marauders, it meant risking their own lives.Yet, as Benjamin E. Zeller points out, describing Trumpism as a cult misses a few critical distinctions and may not be an effective strategy to counteract the negative effects of Trumpian ideology. There are a few reasons for this, he argues, including the fact that Trump supporters are not a fringe minority as most cult members tend to be. In fact, they come close to representing half of the voting electorate. But, perhaps, most importantly, Zeller argues that focusing too much on brainwashing absolves those holding false beliefs from being responsible for themselves. Brainwashing conjures up victimhood and turns the brainwashed into innocents.Will a cult pushed to the extreme fracture?That's what leads to the silver lining of the terrifying and disturbing attacks of January 6 on the Capitol. The good news is that they were so bad.Certain rioters planned and schemed and deliberately and coldly sought to overthrow the government. They were not just caught up in a frenzied swoon caused by Trump's incendiary speech that day. They were not innocent victims of brainwashing, though they were clearly delusional. They were openly and unabashedly attempting to perpetrate an insurrection. The images of them attacking a Capitol police office with a U.S. flag, for example, are too disturbing for most Trump supporters to justify. The awful truth of it, it turns out, could prompt an encouraging step forward.Sure, the rioter who was shot and killed by Capitol Police is now being martyred as an innocent victim. Sure, there are rumors circulating that the attackers were actually Antifa. Sure, there are those who try to insist that Trump wasn't to blame. But as the truth comes out, thanks to the fact that most of the rioters had a compulsive need to document their every move on social media, it becomes harder and harder for those Trump supporters who are not part of the fringe extreme to ignore the horror of the attacks.The chilling reports that the rioters may have been given tours of the building in advance by Republican representatives, that they had guns and bombs, that they intended to abduct and harm Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress, and that they spent weeks preparing to storm the Capitol combine to offer such a grotesque picture of the insurrection that few can stomach it. The promising news is that the type of "patriotism" on display in the attack was so obscene that it is serving as a wake-up call for many of those aligned with Trump ideology.Consider it this way: Trump's call for carnage was so grotesque that it may well have broken his spell.In fact, a recent PBS New Hour/Marist poll shows that 80 percent of Republicans oppose or strongly oppose the actions of the Trump supporters who broke into the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the process of certifying the presidential election. While a disturbing 18 percent of Trump supporters still back the rioters, it is the 80 percent in opposition that offers a glimmer of hope, because it shows a stark division among the mass of Trump supporters, a crack in the cult, that offers the possibility that Trump's ideological grasp on his "base" may no longer be complete.We have seen defections from the Republican elite in the form of Mitch McConnell's condemnation of Trump and the fact that ten Republican members of the House voted to impeach. But if we look at the general public, we see that the percentage of the population that voted for Trump, yet condemns the attacks, is far higher than what we are witnessing in Congress.This offers a unique opportunity to dismantle Trumpism and its cognitive hold on his supporters. The more that the violent rioters can be separated out from other Trump supporters, and the more that Trump supporters can be separated from the Republican party, the better our chances of fragmenting the right and unraveling Trump's psychic hold on the party.On one of the few lawns that has a Trump sign in my neighborhood, the name "Pence" has been cut out. When I first saw it, I wondered why someone would deface the sign that way only to quickly realize that the Trump household itself had cut out "Pence" from their very own sign. It struck me to see an act that was so openly childish and silly and also so deeply anti-democratic and aggressive. The worse it is, the better it gets.And it made me hopeful to think that it may well be exactly through these sorts of absurd, cult-like actions that others might start to question their allegiance to Trumpism. What if the excessively delusional dogma of Trumpism might actually be its own undoing?https://tinyurl.com/y5ywuwez-- Bozo Binned: Herring, Bert Robbins, JackGoff 452471atgmail.com,Just-AN-Asshole, Tim, AMDX, and Gunboy Alex, aka the Gang of Dull,Witless, Insult-Tossing Trumpsters. If you are on this list, I don't seemost of your posts and I don't read any of them.

GOODBY PRESIDENT TRUMP. HELLO THE NEW ANTI BIDEN ERA.
--


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

On Wed, 20 Jan 2021 11:04:48 -0500, Keyser Söze
wrote:

On January 6, when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob of
insurrectionists hellbent on disrupting the electoral process, we got a
chilling glimpse of what many of us had predicted. It is not just that
70 percent of Trump supporters don't think the election was free and
fair. It is that a significant subset of them thought that the
appropriate response was to enter the Capitol by force and violently
stop the certification of Joe Biden as the next president of the United
States.

These people believed that the best way to defend our democracy was to
destroy it. That literally made sense to them.

What this means is that the problem we face is far deeper than a
community trapped in its own delusional reality. The problem is not just
the culture of lies and deception and bluster and bragging; the problem
is the cult itself.

This vocal subset of Trump supporters didn't just swallow falsehoods;
they were brainwashed. Moreover, they weren't just confused about the
facts. The core concern is not just disinformation; it is the violent
response to it. So, if we are going to recover from the Trump years we
will have to recognize that we need to do more than stop the lies. We
also have to stop the actions and behaviors that have been justified by
these lies. His diehard supporters will require collective deprogramming.

The Cult of Trump

Over the last four years various commentators have flagged Trumpism as a
cult. Former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci,
of all people, called attention to the idea that his supporters were
part of a cult. In June 2018, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob
Corker (R-TN) suggested that Republicans were in a "cult-like situation"
with Trump because most refused to even consider disagreeing with him.

To make matters even more disturbing, when Donald Trump Jr. was asked on
Fox & Friends about Corker's claims, he replied "You know what? If it's
a cult, it's because they like what my father's doing."

The reason why it matters to think about Trumpism as a cult is because
it allows us to consider that the problem is not simply a consequence of
falsehoods consumed via right-wing media. Yes, the culture of
disinformation was severe, but those listening to the falsehoods did
much more than fall for a bunch of BS. They blindly adored their leader,
refusing to question any of his actions, and then they were prepared to
use violence to protect him, even if, in the case of the Capitol
marauders, it meant risking their own lives.

Yet, as Benjamin E. Zeller points out, describing Trumpism as a cult
misses a few critical distinctions and may not be an effective strategy
to counteract the negative effects of Trumpian ideology. There are a few
reasons for this, he argues, including the fact that Trump supporters
are not a fringe minority as most cult members tend to be. In fact, they
come close to representing half of the voting electorate. But, perhaps,
most importantly, Zeller argues that focusing too much on brainwashing
absolves those holding false beliefs from being responsible for
themselves. Brainwashing conjures up victimhood and turns the
brainwashed into innocents.

Will a cult pushed to the extreme fracture?

That's what leads to the silver lining of the terrifying and disturbing
attacks of January 6 on the Capitol. The good news is that they were so bad.

Certain rioters planned and schemed and deliberately and coldly sought
to overthrow the government. They were not just caught up in a frenzied
swoon caused by Trump's incendiary speech that day. They were not
innocent victims of brainwashing, though they were clearly delusional.
They were openly and unabashedly attempting to perpetrate an
insurrection. The images of them attacking a Capitol police office with
a U.S. flag, for example, are too disturbing for most Trump supporters
to justify. The awful truth of it, it turns out, could prompt an
encouraging step forward.

Sure, the rioter who was shot and killed by Capitol Police is now being
martyred as an innocent victim. Sure, there are rumors circulating that
the attackers were actually Antifa. Sure, there are those who try to
insist that Trump wasn't to blame. But as the truth comes out, thanks to
the fact that most of the rioters had a compulsive need to document
their every move on social media, it becomes harder and harder for those
Trump supporters who are not part of the fringe extreme to ignore the
horror of the attacks.

The chilling reports that the rioters may have been given tours of the
building in advance by Republican representatives, that they had guns
and bombs, that they intended to abduct and harm Vice President Mike
Pence and members of Congress, and that they spent weeks preparing to
storm the Capitol combine to offer such a grotesque picture of the
insurrection that few can stomach it. The promising news is that the
type of "patriotism" on display in the attack was so obscene that it is
serving as a wake-up call for many of those aligned with Trump ideology.

Consider it this way: Trump's call for carnage was so grotesque that it
may well have broken his spell.

In fact, a recent PBS New Hour/Marist poll shows that 80 percent of
Republicans oppose or strongly oppose the actions of the Trump
supporters who broke into the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the process of
certifying the presidential election. While a disturbing 18 percent of
Trump supporters still back the rioters, it is the 80 percent in
opposition that offers a glimmer of hope, because it shows a stark
division among the mass of Trump supporters, a crack in the cult, that
offers the possibility that Trump's ideological grasp on his "base" may
no longer be complete.

We have seen defections from the Republican elite in the form of Mitch
McConnell's condemnation of Trump and the fact that ten Republican
members of the House voted to impeach. But if we look at the general
public, we see that the percentage of the population that voted for
Trump, yet condemns the attacks, is far higher than what we are
witnessing in Congress.

This offers a unique opportunity to dismantle Trumpism and its cognitive
hold on his supporters. The more that the violent rioters can be
separated out from other Trump supporters, and the more that Trump
supporters can be separated from the Republican party, the better our
chances of fragmenting the right and unraveling Trump's psychic hold on
the party.

On one of the few lawns that has a Trump sign in my neighborhood, the
name "Pence" has been cut out. When I first saw it, I wondered why
someone would deface the sign that way only to quickly realize that the
Trump household itself had cut out "Pence" from their very own sign. It
struck me to see an act that was so openly childish and silly and also
so deeply anti-democratic and aggressive. The worse it is, the better it
gets.

And it made me hopeful to think that it may well be exactly through
these sorts of absurd, cult-like actions that others might start to
question their allegiance to Trumpism. What if the excessively
delusional dogma of Trumpism might actually be its own undoing?

https://tinyurl.com/y5ywuwez

Which cult is rioting in Seattle and Portland as we speak?
--

Freedom Isn't Free!