This behavior - what we see from Trump and his minions - is a cultural game changer.

[vlyons]

45. I can make sense of it

As a Buddhist, it's easy to understand. The 3 mental poisons are ignorance, greed, and hatred. Without dealing with and overcoming these poisons with wisdom, generosity, and love, there are no other antidotes. The driving forces in the republican party are greed for money and lust for power at any cost. Republicans have fomented hatred and fear of "the others" as a means to get votes. The Republican party has become a vast criminal enterprise, mostly fueled from the top by the unrelenting greed for money.

The Golden Rule about treating others is a rule that is stated in all religions. That's why it's called "golden." But somehow we have lost our way. Our moral compass is broken. Religion has become a con game to get money and pass condescending judgement, rather than teach true moral ethics. The Buddhist code of ethics is similar, but a little different from the Judeo 10 commandments. Buddhist ethics are the ground floor from which one pursues and practices towards higher states of consciousness. They are:

No killing, no stealing, no lieing, no sexual misconduct, no harsh abusive speech, no divisive speech to set people against one another, no envy, no ill-will, no wrong views. A wrong view being one that doesn't recognize that all things are impermanent, and everything is connected to everything else. Barack Obama said something early in his presidency that I've never forgotten. In speaking about the "us versus them" mentality of Republican tactics to fear monger, he said, "There is no them, there's only us."

It's very difficult for me, as a Buddhist, to see ignorant and hateful republicans as anything other than "them." It's difficult for me not to hate them, not to harbor ill-will in my heart towards them. But at least I know it. But somewhere, somehow, we all of us have to practice the Golden Rule - at the very minimum. We have to talk about it. We have to teach morality to our children. We have to understand that practicing ethics and the Golden rule is in our own self interest.

I don't know what else to say, except that I hope that you will give this some thought.