can any of you recall such widespread stupidity and/or ignorance!

[NRaleighLiberal]

Last edited Thu Apr 30, 2020, 09:17 AM - Edit history (1)

at any time in your lifetimes? In my 64 years, I've never seen so much self pride in blatant fucking stupidity. Never.

Then again, has there ever been a cult as large and impermeable to sanity as the trump cult???

[dhill926]

1. 66 here, and no, not even close...

of course there wasn't social media to amplify the dumbfucks in the old days, but still...

[lagomorph777]

47. Slightly younger here; never saw so many so proud to understand so little about the world.

[soldierant]

50. 74 here, and you put your finger on it: it's the pride that is so shocking.

Stupidity is always in evidence. Pride in it didn't use to be.

[exboyfil]

2. I can't even imagine what the history books will think

[Yeehah]

27. That depends on who writes the history books

Hopefully not the fascists.

[yellowdogintexas]

59. Remember, Texas's choices in textbooks pretty much define what is offered

to schools all over the nation.

Texas has so many kids in school that the publishers push the selections made by our SBOE because it is cost effective - the fewer options there are, the lower the cost of production.

if you can find this documentary somewhere, please watch it.

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/revisionaries/

It is yet another indication of how the arch conservatives have taken over in ways the general public never knows.

[Kaiserguy]

76. At the rate America

is declining because of the RW there may be no one left to write the history books. The RW hateful propaganda works very well on way to many of our fellow citizens. So much stupidity from so many is destroying our nation.

[BamaRefugee]

3. Growing up in Birmingham,Alabama in the 50s and early 60s, yes, vast ugly ignorance and stupidity.

[Ahpook]

86. I don't know exactly why

But your comment reminded me of a movie scene.

Just pure ignorance!

[BamaRefugee]

88. This is exactly like going to college in Alabama in 1969. I had ultra long hair, bell bottoms, and

lived in constant fear of having the life beaten out of me.

Which actually happened the next year when I organized the first anti-Vietnam protest ever seen in Birmingham and got beaten to a pulp by the cops. While showing them the permit I got from City Hall to run the thing.....

[Ahpook]

89. I can imagine

I had some Outlaw acquaintances when I lived in Daytona asking me why I liked that movie. I don't ride so they were curious.

What could I do but roll my eyes? The motorcycles were just a part of the story. That movie says so much and does it well!

[Locrian]

87. my thoughts exactly....

never underestimate ignorance and stupidity, and never believe it isn't or wasn't there

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. They have been there all along...they want us dead or gone

[Arkansas Granny]

5. 73 here and the MAGAts have left me shaking my head.

We talked of willful ignorance in GWB supporters, but Trump's supporters have taken it to a whole new level.

[efhmc]

6. 2016 Election.

[slumcamper]

7. Such ignorance may well spell our doom.

[blm]

8. I thought the Bushies were dense. Trumpees are a level unto themselves.

The lowest possible.

[Pobeka]

15. +1 n/t

[JHB]

61. They're mostly the same people. They've just had more practice...

...and better tools to insulate their bubbles.

[JI7]

73. it's the Evil in Trumpees that makes them so dangerous

[blm]

79. They do seem more like Isis, mentally, whereas Bushies were

more like the Taliban.

[Botany]

9. The level of IQ on some of those calls was about the highest you'll ever see on phone calls.

Link to tweet

Lycopersicon esculentum brillance.


https://www.picuki.com/media/2295336983175651541 Get This Book!

[sop]

10. Every Republican administration over the past fifty years has been worse than the last.

And now we have Trump. I don't see the party or their voters changing. One wonders how much worse the next Republican president can possibly be.

[MuseRider]

11. 66 in Kansas and my answer is no.

There has been unearned pride and strutting etc. but the absolute stupidity blows me away. When were the last citizenship/civics and government classes taught? I had them in 1971. My oldest had it in 2001 with a really good but RW teacher and my youngest only got a cd with no testing, no way to ask questions they just got the cd and it was considered good.

I would start there. It is obvious not very many of these people know what we are really about and how our country is supposed to be run and the president is just a moron and whatever he does know he prostitutes for his own good by messing it all up.

[yellowdogintexas]

63. I believe the early 1970s was when Civics began to disappear as a required course

In Kentucky, every 8th grader had a semester of Civics. The textbook was boring as all get out but I was very lucky to have an excellent teacher (she was part of a huge family of Democrats too.) who really made it interesting. This was 1962

Somewhere along the way it disappeared as a requirement. American Government was still offered in high school but it was an elective so fewer and fewer students chose it.

I am fairly certain it was gone by the time my youngest sister was in 8th grade in 1974.

[albacore]

12. You 66 year old whippersnappers... move over...

I'm 76... and taught history for 30 years....and I have NEVER seen this kind of shit.
Is it the flowering of the poison plant that Newt and Reagan planted? Is it the excrement that fell out of the Fundamentalist Christian movement?
I dunno, but we truly have never seen anything like that 36-40% that approve of trump.

[Botany]

13. "Is it the flowering of the poison plant that Newt and Reagan planted?"

Yes, Reagan got rid of the fairness doctrine and after that we have had 2.5 generations
who have been bathed in misinformation 24/7.

[rsdsharp]

19. It started with Scalia and Bork who comprised

The majority in a 2-1 decision in the DC Circuit striking down the FCC rule setting out the Fairness Doctrine. Congress subsequently codified the Doctrine, but Reagan vetoed it.

[albacore]

20. Isn't it amazing that Reagan and trump are two really big Repub heroes?

They fucked the people who have made a cult of their worship.

[lonely bird]

80. It actually started long before.

The founders unwillingness to deal with slavery, the destruction of indigenous peoples, the Mexican War, the Gilded era, the rise of mythology and on and on.

The latest weeds came from Leo Strauss, Russell Kirk, William FBuckley (to borrow from Laugh-in) and the Chicago School.

The difference now is that science and education are frowned upon. At least in the past the mental illness known as conservatism valued education.

[rsdsharp]

81. Uh, I was responding to a post about Reagan

killing the Fairness Doctrine. What your post has to do with that specific issue is beyond my comprehension, but thanks for your insight.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

65. This. It's the Amurkin culture of normalized extreme propaganda.

[CrispyQ]

68. There's a reason why the GOP focused on filling Boards of Education

across the country back in the 80s.

"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."
~ Karl Rove

[musclecar6]

14. Oh Yeah

The dumbfuckery is off the charts for our country. Yes many are dumbasses that show up at those MAGA rallys, but there are lots of smart people as well who somehow have bought into following this useless amoral con man liar and cheat off the proverbial cliff as he manipulates their worst instincts. He’s a national disgrace as are the rest of his moronic sycophants.

[yellowdogintexas]

62. Manipulation of humanity's worst instincts has been the hallmark of the Republican

party since the middle 1960s, and is the #1 reason I will never vote for another Republican as long as I live. It is how Nixon was elected over Humphrey. (I admit to voting for Senator Howard Baker when he was my senator and for Lamar Alexander when he was a young moderate candidate for governor)

I'm old enough to remember Eisenhower, and I just cannot imagine he would even allow discussion of some of the BS the Republican party has thrown at us.

Back in 1968 I was rooting hard for Rockefeller to win the Republican nomination instead of Nixon. I figured if he won the election, things would not be as awful as if Nixon won. Turns out I was right

[Guilded Lilly]

16. I shake my head hourly at the profound "STUPID". Just. Never. Ever. n/t

[Brother Mythos]

17. I'm 69. I've seen stupid before, but not this quantity of stupid.

I don't believe our global civilization can endure much more of this level of stupid.

[captain queeg]

18. Nope. All we can hope is they will forget how to breath.

[lagomorph777]

48. Well, they are certainly jeopardizing their ability to breathe, by ignoring epidemiologists.

That's some consolation.

[niyad]

54. I have been saying for many years that it is a pity that breathing is an autonomic function.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. Same here.

It truly boggles the mind.

[relayerbob]

22. 62 and no

Cult is the only word for it. How the fuck is it that so many "leaders" are so easily swayed. Mass willful stupidity

[dlk]

23. It's foundation is in widespread and untreated mental illness

Dr. Bandy Lee, Yale psychiatrist, has spoken (and written) extensively on this issue.

[tclambert]

24. It's like Gilligan became President.

[Mercurian]

25. Now that's just unfair

Gilligan was stupid, sure. But he was never malevolent.

[niyad]

55. Gilligan was ignorant, unlearned. Not stupid. But you are correct, he was never malevolent.

[blm]

43. Gillian had many redeeming features. Trump has NONE.

[blitzen]

72. Gilligan is pretty much the Anti-Trump...

there's not a scheming bone in his body, and he always (and only) sees the best in other people.

[PatrickforO]

26. I was talking with a millennial colleague about this today. He

had an interesting take. He believes unemployment will go up around 30-35%, and much of the leisure/hospitality industry will fall apart. He lives in a world-class downhill ski-town, and he wonders how the new season will look with social distancing. How lift lines will look. How the restaurants will look.

As to national politics, he said that the national government's response has been so weak that it endangers this very nation.

The safety nets have purposely been sabotaged (his word) so they do not work well. They are hard to apply for, hard to get and the difficulties are engineered in so that people fall off the rolls. He said unions have been destroyed in this country and there's no real labor party that represents workers - and pointed out that Clinton hurt her campaign by not going to the big labor states in the rust belt in an effort to swing Texas, but still conceded that she did win the popular vote by three million.

He said he's tired of old white guys governing the country and that he'd like to see a woman in the presidency. Like me, he felt Warren was the smartest candidate at the table, and supported her in the recent primary. He will vote for Biden but is not excited about him. Sorry, but that is what he said.

He will not be surprised if Trump tries to delay or cancel the election illegally, and failing that, blame the governors. It is possible, he went on, that Trump might convince most people that it is the democratic governors who have done the most damage, and that people might fall for it unless we're aggressive in getting out our message.

Finally, he wondered if the republic would survive or if the national government will fail of its own inertia and either do the Colin Woodard thing and split into eleven separate nations, or go to a city state kind of thing. Or, if we're really, really lucky, we will save the republic.

It didn't cheer me up much because he's right in too many ways. I've been in federally funded programming for 30+ years, and I've watched Republicans purposely sabotage eligibility, crucify us on crosses of data validation, and basically make it harder for people to apply for services, hard to get the services and too easy to drop off due to bullshit punitive regulations. It really is true that the Republican neoliberal 'invisible hand trickle-downers' honestly don't want good government. They believe that everything but defense should be devolved on states and local governments, and that we should privatize, deregulate and gut all the social safety net programs.

So there you have it. Another fucked up COVID day thanks to the death demon Trump.

[NRaleighLiberal]

34. great comments. thanks for sharing those.

[blm]

44. Appreciate you sharing, Patrick.

[KT2000]

28. we have to figure out why

if this country does not fall apart. The stupids are in power.

[malaise]

29. The most important thing to remember is that not one of them promoted this madness until they

heard how badly it was affecting African Americans and Latinos

[NRaleighLiberal]

33. thanks for stating that my friend.

[Blue_true]

39. I am African American. As I go about, I see lots of AA not wearing masks or

observing social distancing. I see other AA wearing masks and trying to keep distance between themselves and other people. The most mind boggling thing is that many of the AA not wearing masks appear to be in the high risk segment, obese, some morbidly so. Racists don't have to harm us when some of us are busily exposing ourselves to risks, that is what I find so disheartening.

I drove past my barber's shop a few days ago on what would have his busiest day of the week, his shop was shut tight, that was great to see since I seldom venture out now that things are mostly shutdown for me. So there are a lot of us determined to not add to the horrid statistics that our race is experiencing now with covid19.

[malaise]

42. Everyone should wear masks

Your barber is doing the right thing but lots of African-Americans work in essential services and don't have the option not show up.

[Blue_true]

49. I understand the work situation, although my situation has been different most of my adult life

(working from home is an easy option for me).

But I see African Americans out shopping with zero masks and often walking in groups. People don't require racists to harm them when they are making such bad choices on their own.

[hay rick]

30. Sadly, much of it is manifested in my peers- old white people.

It feels like they stopped exercising adult judgement.
If feels like the part of their psyche that supports compassion has withered or died.

[lunatica]

31. This is a first for me and I'm 71

It takes my breath away, like when you get punched in the breadbasket!

[ooky]

32. No. It feels like it is peaking.

There is nowhere to turn anymore where you can't see it.

[Javaman]

35. Yeah I can

When George w moron* claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction

[Stuart G]

83. I agree with you..Bush Jr..see post 82.

[tiredtoo]

36. At 79 years old my question would be

Was Jim Jones cult dumber? Close maybe.

[Joinfortmill]

37. Nope. They're dumber than door knobs.

[niyad]

56. And at least door knobs perform useful functions. And can be quite decorative and interesting.

They cultists wouldn't even be useful as compost.

[Blue_true]

38. Like it or not, the president sets the tone.

In 2009, President Obama was modeling how to cough into an elbow and talking about how people should wash their hands and use the paper towels used to dry them to open the door when leaving the restroom. Companies were encourage to share and promote best practices to employees. One can only guess how many people would have died of H1N1 if Trump was president in 2009-2010 as H1N1 was fought, my guess is a massive number 100,000+.

[leanforward]

40. Consistent with all of the preceding comments, I agree.

I'm an old white guy, and several years ago, I became thoroughly disgusted with our government because of the lack of diversity. I have enjoyed the results of the 2018 election.

But, I've never seen so much ignorance displayed with regards to peoples needs and wordsmithing to avoid the wrath of dip stick. He leads with outstanding ignorance and it seems the GOP is following suit.

You know, that an investment in people where they live will help that local community. There is an economic multiplier that rises up as opposed to trickle down. Invest in all the local and state governments, they are our safety net. But, they also, spend in their community. Fast food, restaurants (testing), stores.

Finally, pay your taxes. They help your state, local, and national governments. The taxes are the cheapest way to move money around , with out too much corporate influence. I like my tax dollars going to the social programs, urban or rural.

[Blue Owl]

41. It's like we instantly devolved back into the dark ages

n/t

[BigDemVoter]

45. NEVER

And I NEVER imagined I WOULD see such blatant, proud stupidity, especially from the "leaders" or our country.

[Progressive dog]

46. I'm guessing you meant stupiodity and ignorance from the White House.

Second hand reports claim it's been rampant on the RW media for years.

[Paladin]

51. I'm damn near 70, and I've never seen it this bad. Absolute nightmare. (nt)

[NNadir]

52. My feeling is that there have always been cults of ignorance, but social media has made them more...

...obvious.

[niyad]

53. I have watched the anti-intellect, anti-rational groups nearly my whole long life. Back in high

school, I saw how easy it was to lead/control people with no critical thinking skills. You cannot control a popuLation that can think/reason.

Over these long decades, I have watched the growing attacks on reason, on learning, on education itself. This is deliberate, this is long-term planning. Frankly, it scares me. With the coronation of the moron in chief, these ignorant yahoos have crawled out from their caves and rocks, proudly displaying their ignorance, their hatred, their utter contempt for rational, civilized society. And their numbers seem to be growing faster than the virus can kill them off.

I think about Mao's "re-education" policies, and "Fahrenheit 451"., and the Inquisition, and The Burning Times, and the near-genocide of the Indigenous peoples by the European invaders. Some days, I despair for humanity.

[Stallion]

66. Good post--but what I find truly frightening its not just the Trump's "poorly uneducated"

it has invaded the alumni of some of our truly great universities who crudely attack the very kind of academic institutions that developed their talents. I'm a regular on several athletic websites and you see the same type of anti-science, anti-intellectualism from its mostly male graduates. At my school I believe it comes from the business graduates who probably were threatened by, or avoided, the liberal education afforded to them. But its shocking that "highly educated" people also have joined the "No-Nothing" Party

[Kaiserguy]

78. A look at Germany

in the 1930'S would show the same thing smart people making really bad decisions by joining the Nazi Party. The desire for greed and power is the driving factor for many so called smart people. They may be smart but they lack compassion and empathy.

[Stuart G]

57. Yes, but not in my lifetime..in 1860 there was such stupidity

..At the very beginning of the Civil War, in 1861, there were many that thought it would be over very quickly..Like it was a show to be watched. Lincoln did not believe that, and neither did the leaders of the South. But some people did. I read that some people thought that it would be over in a few months or weeks, and everything would return back to normal.....
..Lincoln on the other hand knew as did many others that it would take years, not months. And Lincoln had empathy for the deaths. Southern leaders also knew this would be a fight to the death. Only stupid people even thought that it would be over quickly...just like today....

[hatrack]

58. There's never been a shortage of crazy or stupid, or crazy AND stupid . . .

But none of these character traits were considered virtues until the last decade or so.

Mrs. Moose was the starting dumb, er, gun, and the drain-circling has only been accelerating since.

[Tertullian]

60. You're so right.

It's appalling.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

64. It's a litmus test for exposing lethal level stupidity. Results: Exactly what one would expect. nt

[mainer]

67. education and expertise used to be valued. Now it's called "elitism"

I'm a little older than you, and I remember the days when libraries and books and getting into college were all good things. I remember when science was believed, not scorned.

Ignorance -- and the worship of ignorance -- has destroyed us.

The United States is going the way of the old Roman empire, taken over by barbarians.

[LiberalLovinLug]

69. The Corona virus was a shock, a surprise.

But its almost a bigger shock to me still, how Trump won (enough for the EC) Including how his support among Republicans remains so strong to this day. Even after time and time and time again he puts his foot in his mouth, caught lying thousands of times, and generally acting like a fool.

[Ellen Forradalom]

70. No..

..but the Bernie-bro far left is giving them a run for their money.

[Raine]

71. Yes I can ... "Trees cause more pollution then automobiles"

"if you've seen one tree you've seen them all" . Just a two examples of President Ronald Reagan's "wisdom". After all these years he's still "St Ronnie" and Ronnie the great".

[Skittles]

74. no

and remember all the idiots who fell for Reagan's shtick that started us on this long, dark road

[sakabatou]

75. Not really

But then there was the whole cheering to go kill Saddam Hussein for Gulf War II.

[Cosmocat]

77. I am in my mud 50s

and have had heartburn over republic/conservative bullshit my entire life.
All the bullshit poll tested talking points in the 90s and their relentless slander of Bill and Hillary, being befuddled the night when 43 won and knowing he would be a disaster, stll bitter how us opposing the Iraq lie made up terrorist lovers and how they lazily slipped into just bullying their way through because, 9-11, how they won the biggest mid term election running against their version of health care, knowing the jackass was no joke when ge came down the escalator cause he embodied everything the party had become ...

Yeah we are more stupid than ever now, but it did not happen overnight. It happened because this country relentlessly indulges right wing fuck wittery time after time after time after time.

[Stuart G]

82. Yes, it is sad to say yes. Bush Jr. was this stupid,,"weapons of mass distruction"

How many killed & wounded? for us?
How many killed & wounded" for Iraq?
What about torture?.. Yes, there was torture..wasn't there?
Lies..??? Yes there were lies. Weren't there?
You may think that Bush Jr. wasn't so bad...If you do, ask Senator Tammy Duckworth from Illinois


Oh, & this is just as important as above. It has been noted that Bush Jr. was warned about 9/11 and he ignored that warning,,,,just like Trump

[Javaman]

84. Right on!

[marybourg]

85. Yes. Civil Rights resisters.

In the 60's and early 70s. Even uglier than now, but same kind of people..

[Jspur]

90. I'm 36 years old and I would

say I lost faith in this country during 9/11. I was 18 at the time but it shocked me to see Bush's approval rating go to 90 percent for that period of time. I was the only one at the time on my college campus speaking out against him. It got more depressing when we went to war with Iraq and everybody thought Sadaam was also responsible for 9/11. So for my whole entire adult life I have felt this country is filled with stupid/ignorant people.

[AirmensMom]

91. 63 here ...

nope, nothing like this at all. Well, I mean, the idiots did give Shrub 2 terms, which was pretty damn stupid. But this is way beyond that. And the problem is that we all have to pay for their stupidity.

[GulfCoast66]

92. I was 14 in 1980. In my opinion it is mainly caused by bringing in evangelicals as their base.

These are people that believe that the earth is 6000 years old and some dude put every living animal on a boat to float around for a month or so. And they truly believe that in their gut. We all know some.

It was not hard to convince them that American politics is good vs evil with god on your side.

Once a good percentage of your supporters think god is with them and anyone against them is governed by Satan, there is no extreme they will not explore to win.

Their Achilles heel is that they are a rapidly shrinking part of the population. 2018 showed us that. Democrats just usually underperform in midterms but that playbook got thrown out.

When Biden wins in November I expect some really ugly incidents around the country. Not open rebellion or any bullshit. But there will be some killings.

[PatrickforO]

93. 61 and not even close. I've never seen government be as dysfunctional as

Trump has made it.

I fondly remember Obama saying that people don't necessarily care if government is big or little, just that it is good and provides the services they need.

Not only is Trump and his joke of an administration NOT doing that, they are actively trying to destroy this republic, or so it seems.