The willfully deluded think that THEY are defending Democracy
That is the crux of the matter. That delusion is the force field that MAGA world uses to repel any criticism of their blatantly undemocratic choices, behavior and actions from penetrating into their skulls. The Trump cult WANTS to believe lies that they can use to justify their predetermined world view; which is that THEY are the true patriots upholding what America really stands for, and that any extreme measures taken by them therefor are fully justified in order "to defend the Republic."
Biden and the Democrats rigged and stole the last Presidential election. That's what their leader tells them, a lie further echoed and amplified by a host of right wing influencers motivated by greed and a lust for power. "Voter fraud is rampant across America," that's the corollary lie used to justify sweeping purges of voting rolls, thwarting the certification of legitimate election results, and a plethora of Jim Crow 2.0 initiatives to make the actual act of voting harder, especially for minorities and youth. They believe that the real threat to Democracy is Biden and the Democrats, not Trump.
Trump cultists are the modern cannon fodder being manipulated by overtly and fully conscious autocratic and fascist forces in America today to formulate a slow moving, but deadly serious, coup against our democracy. Those formulating the coup are not in any way deluded, they know exactly what they are doing. The cultists, however, believe that they are the ones fighting for democracy, so all of the discussion generated by those of us who recognize the actual right wing threat to our democracy also, perversely, subliminally reinforces the convictions of Trump cultists, pushing them to double down on their efforts to "stop the steal" etc.
The lies they choose to believe are easily factually disproved, but they reject actual facts in favor of, as Kellyanne Conway so famously once put it, "alternative facts." Why? That's an important question. No doubt racism is a big part of the answer. To them an America dominated and defined by white male Christian led culture and values IS the only true America, one which is now endangered by growing multi-ethnic, multi-national, secular and feminist forces. Trump "rose up" as their champion, they WANT to believe him, so they do. And as long as the prior POTUS proclaims that he is still the rightful president, that the last election was stolen from him, there is no seeming contradiction in the minds of his cult followers between fighting for Trump and fighting to save democracy.
Trump has to be destroyed. He has to be totally discredited and exposed as the pathological liar and grifter that he is and always has been. Not once, not two, three or fours times, but constantly without pause or end. He can't be allowed to "regroup", he must be kept on the defensive. Trump has to be held accountable. the trappings of grandeur and legitimacy that he wraps around himself must be shredded. He has to be indicted and criminally charged. He has to go on trial, not just once, but two or three times. His failings as "a leader", but more importantly as a human being, has to remain front and center between now and November 2024. The core of his cult will not be shaken, but they can be isolated and then overwhelmed. And in so doing perhaps a meaningful minority of his cult can eventually be deprogrammed.
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