I simply cannot believe that in the United States of America...

[kentuck]

That a convicted felon is favored to win the Presidency.

That a con-man, a liar, and a fraudster has the support of so many Americans.

That an amoral, immoral person can persuade so many people that only he can fix it.

I cannot believe that after nine years of this chaos and confusion, people are still supporting this serious threat to our democracy.

How can we ever look at this country and the people, the same again?

I feel like this is the last chance for the people to fix this mess or America, as we have known it for all of our lives, is over.

[TommieMommy]

1. I can't understand

Why people still believe the crazy stuff that comes out of his mouth and it makes no sense. He is a very disturbed person and extremely dangerous. We must win this year.

[Beartracks]

50. Remember, there's a lot of other Republicans and Trump surrogates who...

... defend and explain the undemocratic plans of Trump and their Project 2025 and their Christian Nationalist dreams and do so with decent grammar that sounds truth-y enough to convince a great number of conservative voters who have been conditioned for years through rightwing media to accept such pablum as God's word. Trump's the standard bearer and useful idiot for that vast, corrupt array of schemes and plotters.

===========

[c-rational]

2. I hear you kentuck and am also baffled. I lay the blame on the corporate component, money and

Last edited Sun Aug 11, 2024, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)

the media.

[PatSeg]

16. As well as our deplorable educational system

It can be easy to persuade the poorly educated to believe almost anything.

[birdographer]

21. They aren't being pursuaded

I have mentioned in previous posts that the book Authoritarian Nightmare by John Dean and Bob Altemeyer is must-read if you want to know why trump supporters are the way they are. For whatever reason, they need to submit to an authoritarian--if trump keeled over, they would easily shift to another guy. This authoritarian has to be a dominating figure. As long as he hates who they hate, they are able to ignore absolutely everything else about him, it is lost in the fog. The book is filled with studies done on this kind of people, some are many years old, pre-trump, but they apply perfectly. In some cases they were given opposing statements and saw them all as true. It is fascinating reading (not dry and textbook) and helps explain them.

[DBoon]

31. The Authoritarian Personality written 1950

The Authoritarian Personality "invented a set of criteria by which to define personality traits, ranked these traits and their intensity in any given person on what it called the 'F scale' (F for fascist)."[1] The personality type Adorno et al. identified can be defined by nine traits that were believed to cluster together as the result of childhood experiences. These traits include conventionalism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, anti-intraception, superstition and stereotypy, power and "toughness", destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity, and exaggerated concerns over sex.[2]

- wikipedia

[birdographer]

39. Interesting, TY for posting this

The book I referenced divides them into Social Dominators and Authoritarian Followers. The former submit to the authoritarian above all, but they believe that they are superior to others, the latter tend, as it sounds, to submit to all. The authoritarian aggression you mention would be found in the first group.

It helped me to be able to get some understanding about what is going on with them. I always thought that if trump died, they would wither, but that's not at all true. And since so much of it is about a dominant authority, I have to wonder if it is based on some sort of father issues. He was there and was dominant (so they are followers) or he was largely absent, so they are the dominators. Just guessing.

[Celerity]

44. The F scale targets an authoritarian, anti-democratic personality profile that makes a person susceptible to Fascism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality#F_Scale

Conventionalism: Adherence to conventional values.

Authoritarian Submission: Towards ingroup authority figures.

Authoritarian Aggression: Against people who violate conventional values.

Anti-Intraception: Opposition to subjectivity and imagination.

Superstition and Stereotypy: Belief in individual fate; thinking in rigid categories.

Power and Toughness: Concerned with submission and domination; assertion of strength.

Destructiveness and Cynicism: hostility against human nature.

Projectivity: Perception of the world as dangerous; tendency to project unconscious impulses.

Sex: Overly concerned with modern sexual practices.

[4catsmom]

42. it doesn't hurt

that twenty years of Fox brainwashing has made America fertile ground for extremism. I wish Harris would reestablish the Fairness Doctrine when she gets into office

[Persondem]

56. How much time have you spent in schools lately?

I just retired from a 25 year teaching career. Trump's popularity has little to do with "our deplorable education system". Tribalism coupled with social media, echo chambers, "news" purveyors who deliberately lie and corporations controlling much of our media have had a far greater influence in hyping up trump. He was a media darling in 2015-2016 and given waaaay too much air time because he was a novelty. There are plenty of well educated people who have bought into the trump nonsense for whatever reason. He preaches fear and division, and having a reactive amygdala isn't something that schools can fix.

[demigoddess]

57. some of those things are essentially brainwashing.

[PatSeg]

58. Yes, I agree that there are well educated people

who have bought into the Trump hype, but with a better educated populace, we have a better chance at combating anti-democratic authoritarians.

There are people out there with high school and even college degrees who know nothing about history, government, or political science. When I was in school, certain subjects were required before we could graduate from high school. Granted, that is no guarantee that students will understand and apply what they learn.

[Zoomie1986]

78. Those subjects are still required for HS graduation

In most states. Around 80% of them require at least a semester of Civics.

It's not education that's the problem, really. It's the failure of American culture and society to value education enough.

If they valued it, then every graduate of a state-supported college in Texas would have a thorough understanding of civics and history. After all, the state requires that every student take one year of history and another of political science.

And yet the state has droves of college-educated people supporting sedition, and making up nonsense about US history.

[Emile]

3. He is the best con man in the United States or a

large part of the population are suckers to cons in general.

[ananda]

12. The media and billionaires are propping him up.

And at the same time, the court system is completely
broken and corrupt in his favor.

We have to win this election big and bring back
fairness in media and the rule of law.

[babsbunny]

4. No one is protecting the American people!

Instead they are protecting criminals and the devil himself! We should sue! We have been through enough! At the very least a huge protest! But there is so many things to protest!

[EarthFirst]

5. Favored to win?

He’s losing that trend rapidly.

[malaise]

6. THIS

Ask M$Greedia!

[Butterflylady]

7. And I don't think the cult has thought it thru.

Trump is 78 and is not in good health. If something happens to him they will have jd as potus. Just the thought of jd becoming president is chilling as you can get.

[appalachiablue]

51. A scary thought, the troubled, woman- hating Shillbilly fraud who lacks

any shred of authenticity and only lusts for power. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (w eyeliner), no disrespect to Willie Nelson.

[MrWowWow]

8. The Best Democracy That Money Can Buy

Last edited Wed Aug 14, 2024, 06:26 AM - Edit history (2)

Right Here in the United States of Amnesia
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[Cherrycheeks]

11. I always enjoyed listening to..

Gore Vidal during the Bush yrs.

[Mysterian]

9. I'm thinking he's not favored anymore

What I can't believe is that Americans were predicted to reject an honorable, capable and decent president, just because he's old, when the opponent is an avowed enemy of the constitution and the rule of law.

[ecstatic]

10. It's disappointing. The Supreme Court

has turned Republican presidents into Kings and Queens--above the law and above accountability.

They've stripped women's rights in the South and want to strip them nationwide. Have these idiots taken one moment to think about how the so-called abortion exceptions even work? How would a rape exception work? Is the victim granted access to an abortion after a conviction? When it's far too late to do anything other than give birth?

If women don't rise up like never before in the face of this shit, I honestly will have zero sympathy for trump voters and 3rd party/non-voters going forward.

[brush]

13. And not only all of that, he's in obvious mental decline.

The rethugs have to limit his public appearances so that his decline in mental acuity escapes public and media scrutiny as much as possible.

But it's ok with the rethugs because they figure they can manage him, much like they did Reagan during his decline.

[Oopsie Daisy]

14. It makes me ASHAMED of my country and FEARFUL for the future. We must *

[Elessar Zappa]

15. Who says he's favored to win?

[RandomNumbers]

17. That ship sailed in 2016 for me.

I haven't looked at this country the same since.

2020 was too close, and too many people bought into the lies about so-called "steal", that it didn't bring me back at all. I am happy for Biden's competence but a large swath of this country doesn't deserve him.

If Harris-Walz pulls it out this year - and I think they will - America can be on the road to redemption. The alternative is too grim to even consider - yet it is what, inexplicably, a large number of people still think they want.

[Blues Heron]

18. years and years of daily hate radio is going to leave a mark. Brainwashing is real.

[BattleRow]

34. Agreed...the spin cycle

stayed on far too long and washed their brains completely away.

[NJCher]

53. and Walz was out there

in the middle of it. Butte, NE.

How did the guy ever stay sane?

Yet he not only did, he thrived.

[DENVERPOPS]

19. For awhile

the Trumphumper voters even had my psychiatrist friends stumped.....They would say: It is like the Trump voters were all brainwashed........

Over the past few years, the shrinks I know seem to have figured it out.........They actually HAVE been brainwashed......
By ONLY watching FOX News, and listening to RW Radio fanatics like Rush Limbaugh, they have been brainwashed. And they are un-willing or psychologically not able to move away from the shit that has been pounded into their brains. Especially for the last ten years....

The most incredible thing that we are witnessing is, that no matter how ludicrous, the Trumphumpers openly believe anything and everything that comes out of a Republican Politicians mouth.........it is un-fathomable......and the Republican Party and their Republican Politicians are taking full advantage of that fact.....

[Farmer-Rick]

20. Yeah it's like a religion

You are indoctrinated with the BS from an early age. You see all your friends and family repeating the BS. You see people in power mouthing the BS. It's constant propaganda and preaching. So, you believe the BS even if their is absolutely no evidence to support the BS.

Look at how many people think there is a god with absolutely no evidence for a god.

So, why doesn't everyone buy into the BS should be the real question.

Why can you see through the fog and how can we recreate that for others?

[DENVERPOPS]

54. You are right (correct)

I lived in Salt Lake City for a short period, and nowhere is it so true as there..........

And as you said, it is an indoctrination, from the time a child is born.............

True Story: One of my employees there was raised in the Mormon Church......When he got to college, he started thinking for himself and told the Mormon Church he wanted out......no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't leave him alone.
So, he wrote a college paper, exposing how the brainwashing techniques used by the North Koreans, who brainwashed our GI Pow's, were very close to the techniques he was exposed to in the mormon church........That did it, they finally "ex-communicated"??? him from the LDS community......LOL I read his term paper, and it was incredibly accurate and shocking.........

And I feel that is why Republicans and Trump went after the Fanatical Religious and Evangelicals.......they were looking for a massive crowd that was already indoctrinated to be "followers" despite reality......All unable to be able to think critically......they figured if these people could already whole heartedly believe in an "imaginary companion", they were all perfect for the Republican Party to use for their political doctrines.

Don't get me wrong, not all religious people fit this generalization, and are indeed religious....(Think Jimmy Carter for example)

[Farmer-Rick]

22. The convicted felon and pedo is not favored to win

According to the Economist 11 Aug 2024 aggregate of polling averages Harris is projected to win with 47.5% and Trump with 45.7%.

https://www.economist.com/interactive/us-2024-election/trump-harris-polls

[Joinfortmill]

30. So damn close. Ugh.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

72. It is the Electoral College that is the worry.

This anachronism should have been scrapped years ago. That a candidate can win an election without drawing the most popular votes is ridiculous.

Trump himself in 2012 called the electoral college “a sham and a disaster for democracy”. He reaffirmed this view on Fox & Friends in 2018 that a national popular vote should decide the presidency. This was AFTER he won the EC in 2016 despite losing the popular vote by almost 3 million.

The electoral college reduces campaigning to trying to win a few “battleground” states with the “winner take all” in a state no matter how thin the margin. A popular-vote only system would change this as every individual vote in every state would be of more importance.

I doubt if the EC could be thrown on the scrap heap of history anytime soon, though. The republicans know they don’t have enough popular votes to win and the Democrats don’t have the majority needed to get a bill pushed through the House and Senate to end the EC.

Despite my concerns about the EC, I am encouraged by the energy and enthusiasm of the Harris/Walz campaign. It is critical that women and young voters turn out to support them and I believe it will happen in November. I also believe that the Democratic Party will take back the House and perhaps even flip a couple of Senate seats.

[sir pball]

75. The EC can't be ended by a simple bill, an Act of Congress - it's hardwired, it would need an Amendment.

Which is currently, for all intents and purposes, a flat-out impossibility.

Getting 2/3 of each chamber of Congress on board to propose it, and then convincing 3/4 of the States to vote for it (most of which would be losing a lot of power and influence), is slightly less likely than finding a unicorn grazing on your lawn one sunny summer morn.

[moondust]

23. Darkness.

"Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest"

The Boxer, Paul Simon, 1968

Some people will obviously say or do or believe anything if it means gaining power, money, influence, fame, support, whatever.

[HUAJIAO]

24. There have been literally hundreds of posts almost identical

to this over the past 8 years or so.

I say to all, not just you... BELIEVE IT !!!! And get out the vote!

[ClimateHawk]

25. The felon is not favored to win

The White House party has 8 keys and that’s enough to win the election. A lot would have to go wrong for Harris to lose.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

63. The White House Party has 8 keys?

What 8 keys. Help me out here.

[ClimateHawk]

64. Historian Allan Lichtman's Keys to the White House

He’s going to make his prediction after the DNC.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

67. Thank you.

[BComplex]

26. If we're EVER going to fix America, we have to fix the Fourth Estate. The for profit media. For profit social media.

THAT is the biggest problem.

People who don't give a shit about the future of our country control 99.9% of the narratives.

[BattleRow]

36. The movie "Network"

foretold much of what's happening now.

"I'm mad as hell,and I won't take it anymore!"

Howard Beale as portrayed by Peter Finch.

[love_katz]

27. Poison goes where poison is welcome.

The people who have bought into the lies and hate of the frightwing have welcomed it.

They were just waiting for someone to justify their nasty and bigoted beliefs.

The uber wealthy who have taken over the R party are simply greedy conniving ba$terds who are in it to grab as much wealth and power as they can. The Dark Money moguls don't really believe in the culture wars claptrap that they are pushing.

The fake poutrage is simply their most efficient tool for manipulating the frightwing mobs.

[Joinfortmill]

28. Yup. We can thank the MSM for much of this.

Once we win, and we will win, a serious reckoning is in order.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

33. No more of them in the white House press room

Only real journalists, please. CNN gets a handout.

[panfluteman]

29. It Is Mass Insanity When Joe Biden, One of the Most Decent, Hardworking and Accomplished Men in American Public Life,

Had to fight tooth and nail against the worst criminal, fraudster, demagogue and traitor in American history just to get an edge up in the polls.

Hopefully, career prosecutor Kamala Harris will be able to really turn the tables on Trump and put him in his place come November.

[hawkeye21]

32. I've lived and worked all over the world, and I am ashamed of the USA

I spent many years in the Middle East, South Africa, Eastern Europe (Ukraine, actually), South America, and South Asia. I have worked closely with people from more than 50 countries, most major religions and ethnicities and political systems. Those experiences confirmed that the vast majority of the people on the planet want the same things: peace, opportunity, fairness, justice, and to be left alone to live their lives.

But since Trump burst onto the scene in the US, I've been overwhelmed with sadness and shame. In a country that has no excuse, tens of millions of people continue to support for president one of the worst human beings ever born.

The issue of Trump and MAGA have never been about politics. It's never been about Republicans vs. Democrats. The issue has been, and still is, as simple as it gets: Do you want decency or depravity? That's it. That's what every election since 2016 has been all about.

But one thing we should remember is this: without the travesty known as the Electoral College, Trump never would have been president, and this nightmare may have ended before it had a chance to begin. Many democracies around the world have modeled their systems after the US Constitution, but not one of them has adopted anything like the Electoral College. In every other democracy on earth, and in virtually every other political system, the candidate with the most votes wins. If that were the case in the US, Hillary Clinton would have won in 2016 by nearly three million votes. Instead, we ended up with Trump and MAGA despite the fact they were rejected by the majority of American voters.

So we need Kamala and Coach Tim to win for a million reasons, and one of those reasons is to abolish the Electoral College.

Let's fight, and let's win. We have no other choice.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

68. Trump humpers have been brainwashed to

believe that it's the Dems who are depraved. For instance, many MAGATs actually believe that blatant nonsense about Dems eating babies, trafficking children, etc. Propaganda works.

[Martin Eden]

35. J6 should have been a deal breaker for any citizen who treasures our Constitutional rule of law

Donald Trump is the most unpatriotic and least Christian POtuS ever to disgrace and betray the United States of America.

And yet, flag-waving citizens who call themselves Christians vote for The Felon in the tens of millions.

They still believe the BIG LIE of a stolen election and the false narratives from decades of RW talk radio & Faux News.

[BattleRow]

38. I have said

almost verbatim to acquaintances exactly what you have written.

I no longer feel like a voice on the wilderness.

[Jarqui]

37. Media, poor education & the billionaires are making it possible ... nt

[Martin68]

40. I think I'd add incompetent and dysfunctional to the fixing it part. It requires experience, intelligence, skill, and

empathy to fix things in a political system.

[Blue Full Moon]

41. They themselves

Are criminals and think that everyone else is too. Their big thing is putting one over someone.

[Clouds Passing]

43. The media megahorns are blowing lies louder than a football field of trumpeters.

It’s not that close. He’s losing voters like moths to light. Cheating and lying are all they have.

[kentuck]

46. Still, they do not report on how they plan on stealing the next election.

It isn't in their universe.

[Clouds Passing]

47. Even though the gqp is advertising it out loud and in the open!

Still crickets from the librul media 🙄

[jujubeets]

45. Everyone everywhere says same

Excepting oligarchs who feel it doesn't affect them. V. interesting!

[Steve C]

48. The threat will never end

I agree that this election is very important. But who comes next? We will fight this as an on going problem. Don’t blame the teachers for our problems in education. It started with no child left behind and test scores driving it. Cut out civics ed and teach to the test. Threaten teachers jobs if the don’t have scores above average. Forget teaching creativity and independent thinking. Add the internet offerings of conspiracy theories and half truths and here we are. How many tv shows come off as fact that have no basis in fact. Don’t even start to add religion.

[Codifer]

49. Easy.

Set up a system of propaganda AM radio available to rural areas. Nurture the ember of hatred innate to everyone. Fan that into flame with freaking rush limbaugh government bitching and badmouthing. Feed the marks a constant stream of fear and lies. Tell them their wives and daughters will be raped by (insert group name here, commies, minorities, democrats ..... what ever) and their jobs and homes and farms will be taken by an evil state and given to someone with a deeper tan.

Keep up this barrage for fifty years and preach it on Sunday too.

Then you can tell them who to focus their hate on. They will then fight your enemies for you. You will own them. For you they will sacrifice themselves in battle against "gummint" and destroy programs that were designed to benefit themselves; programs that were the result of long struggles and bitter combat against company thugs and ignorant militias and paid for pocketed politicians and greedy asshats.

Then you will have won.... something. For a while.

edit to add: Zombies. Or at the carnival; rubes.

[lame54]

52. Don' believe it...

Because it's no longer true

Now is the time to increase the lead and bury is ideology along with him

[Thunderbeast]

55. I believe that the MAGA mystique...

...is based on adults who long for the simplicity of their own childhood. They think America was great because their lives were simple. Their parents removed the burden of feeding and housing themselves. Their days were defined by external expectations of school and church. They carried few burdens of decision making. Making consequential decisions was the work of others.

THIS is the America they long for... a Norman Rockwell painting of the stable nuclear family that rarely existed... a world where the struggles of non-dominant races were hidden behind a media culture of "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver"

Rupert Murdock and AM radio fountains of hate speech exploited the fears and stresses of adulthood; Turning it into divisive and mean narratives of tribalism and suspicion.

MAGA is the result of these forces waiting for the right dictator to fix their lives... lives that did not realize their childhood dreams and expectations.

[Initech]

59. It's truly mind boggling.

I'm personally disgusted and disappointed with half of the country that's so blind sided by propaganda that they are actively cheerleading the destruction of their own country, just so a privileged few who are richer than entire continents can add more zeroes to their net worth. Fuck.

[Dem4life1970]

60. He is a useful idiot, nothing more...

The majority, that's us, voted AGAINST him twice (and we will do it a third time).
He lost in 2016 (but the electoral college and the Russian Govt. "saved" him)
He lost in 2017 (GOP Governor races/Congressional Special elections).
He lost in 2018 (Mid terms)
He lost in 2019 (GOP Governor races/Congressional Special elections).
He lost in 2020 (and lied about it).
He lost in 2021 (GOP Governor races/Congressional Special elections).
He lost in 2022 (No "Red Wave&quot
He lost in 2023 (GOP Governor races/Congressional Special elections).
Guess what he is going to do in 2024?

[lees1975]

61. I don't believe he is or was favored to win, that was a media fantasy.

But the fact that he has been nominated by a major party, still has the majority of their support and they take him seriously as a candidate is an aberration beyond fathom. Who'd think that in a prosperous and educated country such as this, political radicalization to this degree can still happen?

[lees1975]

62. I don't believe he is or was favored to win, that was a media fantasy.

But the fact that he has been nominated by a major party, still has the majority of their support and they take him seriously as a candidate is an aberration beyond fathom. Who'd think that in a prosperous and educated country such as this, political radicalization to this degree can still happen?

[vapor2]

65. Our neighbor who is older and very religious

sent me an email asking who I was voting for and this was my reply........

Harris of course. Trump wants to give tax breaks for the rich and is cognitively declining not to mention his 34 felony counts

She wrote back and said "I was wrong".

Want to ask her how I am wrong but his cult won't fact check nor hear others. Just sad how this fraudster has swayed so many

[krkaufman]

66. Sadly....

… it didn’t start with the escalator descent in 2015 and won’t end even with a resounding Harris/Walz victory in November. Money never sleeps.

[Zoomie1986]

69. Why can't you believe it?

A long time ago, a bunch of people decided to bake hate and stupid right into the very foundation of this country, and then to keep building more on top of it.

I'd suggest starting with the book 1619 Project, for how we got here, and why change is so hard to come by...and rarely something one can count on. America being full of stupid, hateful people benefits a whole bunch of very sick people. That's what it boils down to.

[John Shaft]

70. Yes

Fruit of the poisoned tree.

[betsuni]

71. It's very American. The Trump Show is popular.

[SARose]

73. We had a screaming argument

with a family member last week. Not to get too personal but it was the most shocking display of deliberate ignorance I have ever seen.

It was truly shocking to hear Fox News and Truth Social lies repeated in my home.

It’s all about transgender people now. Used to be about a wall. Used to be about “those people” dog whistle. Used to be about a stolen election. Used to be about birthers.

It’s total denial about Project 2025 - that will never happen.

It is about an alternate reality.

It’s about wanting to believe the ugliness. Family member stood right there and denied his entire X feed and the lies he is promoting.

It is truly truly sad. I have no clue how we move forward.

[fightvision81]

74. This shouldn't even be this close.....

I feel like I'm living in the twilight zone. We have a Cheetos-flavored loser going on dementia-filled rants about election lies after committing 34cts of felonious activity and competitive against the most upstanding Vice President we've had in ages. It's something to make your head spin. Everyone knows that he cannot even be trusted to be in charge of a Big Mac supply truck let alone the executive office. It brings national shame that we're all here in history.

[Wounded Bear]

76. As my drill instructor used to say, "You better fix your believer, then!"

Reality sucks sometimes, but we still have a lot of work to do to recover from the trump years. Polls are shifting in the right direction now, which is encouraging, but in football terms we're still in the first quarter.

I intend to continue voting against any candidate with even a hint of trump support in their resume.

I'm more hopeful than I was a month ago, but we ain't out of the woods yet. Sadly and strangely, a trump "win" remains a real possibility and denying that possibility only works against us.