The attempted coup failed, for which we can be grateful.
The horrifying beliefs and attitudes that led to it are still with us. The people who somehow believe we Democrats stole the election from Trump but left Mitch McConnell in place, the people who never met a conspiracy theory they didn't adopt wholesale, the people who have been convinced that the election was stolen and that there was massive fraud despite there being no evidence at all to support their nonsense...
These people are pitiable perhaps, having been gullible enough to fall for the grift, but they are also dangerous. They won't talk to you. No, they rant and then don't allow comments, they spout their baseless conspiracy theories and offer absolutely no evidence to support them, they accuse us of blind allegiance to our candidate (I mean have they watched the Democratic party? It's not like we are reluctant to find fault with our own, right?) while worshiping Trump and refusing to believe a bad word about him. Their practice is always Whataboutism. Their practice is always to attack us, and never to take responsibility for the actions of their own in-group. Their practice is always to accuse without providing the slightest bit of evidence while refusing to accept the evidence offered that their beloved Trump is wrong. This is, after all, the group that coined the term #AlternativeFacts.
I know life-long Republicans who do not support Trump and never have. I know conservative Independents who don't support Trump and never have. This isn't about party. This isn't about patriotism or love of country. This is about a cult.
I welcome comments. I'll reply here.
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Obviously, they also don't read/understand history. And they have their -isms mixed up. Social programs aren't socialism. Neither is wanting the same wage for doing the same job with the same skills and experience. And nationalism isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are many things about our country we can be proud of. We have fair elections, we have rights, but nationalism and "us first" lines up with fascism. We came dangerously close on 6. January 2021. If you haven't seen this video, it's worth a look. https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006154922/fascism-leaders-america-trump.html?fbclid=IwAR1zRarItRAqsLBLIsh5YN9Y1UyFTLjIif_BDUjFcZYpvDZEVdGjHnND9do
ReplyDeleteI'm watching the video now. Fascism is scary, and this is a good look at it in the current trump context. Thanks!
DeleteYes
ReplyDelete...too much Kool Aid consumed!!!
ReplyDeleteSo true. This is a man who told us he cannot deal with losing well before the election and started to convince people that if he loses the election will be rigged. And people fall for this. I never understood how Nazism came to power until we had Trump in office and people just blindly followed and believed and became crazy about. I also know die hard Republicans who would not vote for Trump this time around. They are intelligent people who didn't like Biden but knew it would the best for the country in this election. I am preaching to the choir I know, but I am still so upset about what happened yesterday. The man is a danger to democracy and needs to be removed. Immediately. I could go on as we have these conversations at home most nights. But I will keep this short and hopefully to the point. I am might be a bit emotional today to write to the point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. We've always known what Trump was, and I was horrified that the GOP picked him and that people wanted him as president the first time around. To do it again?! Trump has encouraged violence all along, and it has certainly escalated since the election, and now look at us. The cultists cling to him with a scary devotion. Yes, I do hope that either by the 25th amendment or impeachment we can separate him from the presidency.
DeleteThey're beginning to identify more and more of the insurrectionists, and I hope they see prison time.
I think it is interesting to hear the news media decry the protests yesterday as the worst thing ever when all through the summer we watched cities burn and businesses looted and many people killed all the while being told they were mostly peaceful protests. People can be dismissed and lied to only so much and credibility vanishes. I voted for Trump both times not because I like him I voted for Trump because I find Democratic policies to be incompatible with the way I believe our country should function. Any Republicans that would vote for a Democrat are deluding their selves that the country won't drift further from where they want it to be.
ReplyDelete1) Your first sentence is a perfect example of the whataboutism I mentioned in my post.
Delete2) Trump supporters have been lied to since 2015. The gullibility of folks who keep falling for the same old grift amazes me.
3) That you voted for Trump the first time because he was the GOP candidate? Fine. I'll spot you that one. (Knowing his history was enough for me, but you do you.) If you think Trump has done things to promote the way you believe our country should function, then I'm sad that anybody wants this nation to function this way.
On the other hand we can talk about our favorite Dracula and Frankenstein movies and be fine :)
I've seen what happens when a Democrat is president, when Obama pushed through the affordable care act all it did is make health less affordable for the majority of Americans. Small businesses that could provide decent health insurance no longer could because the prices went through the roof. The democrats bemoan the loss of the middle class and do everything they can to eliminate even more of the middle class.
DeleteWe probably have about 6months before they start lining up for the next election, plenty of time to discuss movies;)
And none of what happened yesterday has anything to do with Obama. That's just another example of whataboutism while avoiding discussing the attempted coup and Trump's behavior.
DeleteThere's always time to discuss movies :)
I agree with Bob
DeleteWhataboutism is a good way to shut up dissent. If we don't look at things that have happened before we can't understand what's going on. No Obama and Obamacare have everything to do with yesterday, Obamacare gave us Trump. The anger aimed at that law gave us Trump people thought he would abolish the law. It is also Trump biggest failure but once you start giving free stuff away it is hard to put things right. Without Obamacare there is no Tea Party, Trump or angry mobs.
DeleteNo, whataboutism doesn't shut up dissent it just asks that the conversation not be derailed by "Look! Squirrel!" distractions.
DeleteIf you wanna talk about the BLM protests or Obama, I'm in. I love political discussion, but I like political discussions to stay on topic. Whether or not "Obamacare gave us Trump" is a topic we could discuss, as is Trump supporters' willingness to believe Trump's claims about it and what he would do about it and what "giving free stuff away" actually means and what led to the Tea Party. All great discussion topics. Just not on this post.
My post is about the attempted coup and the continuing danger posed by Trump cultists.
Okay lets go back to my original sentence which pointed out the media's role using euphemisms or loaded language depending on your point of view. This was no coup this was a bunch of yahoos letting off steam. First off there is not going to be a coup without the support of the military. Secondly even if they burned the electoral ballots it wouldn't change the vote. Lastly there were several hundred thousand people in attendance most of them so far away from the Capitol building that they didn't even know what was going on. So to me the hypocrisy and bias of the media is the most interesting part of the story.
DeleteMedia coverage is part of this story, but this was an attempted coup with a plan to stop the due congressional process of affirming Biden's election. No matter how ignorant and uninformed, this was a violent take-over of the capitol building while Congress was in session deliberating and voting. It's my understanding that "yahoos letting off steam" have plans for the inauguration. This boys-will-be-boys attitude is dangerous. How did conservative media cover this? "Yahoos letting off steam"?
DeleteThe only things I've seen on conservative media look at the actions within the Capitol building as pointless and fruitless. Which is basically true of most protests, real change does not come from marching in the streets generally speaking it just angers your opposition. A bunch of ignorant yokels inconveniencing our supposed betters at least in their minds is better than a bunch of ignorant yahoos blocking roadways, burning and looting businesses and inconveniencing people just trying to live their lives.
DeleteYeah, "blocking roadways, burning and looting businesses and inconveniencing people just trying to live their lives" is _way_ worse than a violent take-over of the capitol building where people are killed while our representatives are considering the electoral college votes /sarcasm
DeleteBut again, the blocking roadways, etc. is whataboutism, and I'm sorry I let myself be drawn in. It really is a constant battle to get Trump supporters to focus on discrete current events.
DeleteLast I heard 4 people were killed ,not a good thing; taking over the Capitol is way strong the interrupted and made a nuisance of their selves hardly taking over. The whole thing lasted what an hour or two tops. Taking over is what happened in Portland where they set up their own autonomous zone for several weeks. If it didn't look like it might be effecting Biden's chances they would still be there.
DeleteAgain I am not for any protests they all seem pretty useless to me. The thing that bothers me is a media that can't state a fact without skewing things around to serve their agenda.
5 people died, including one of the capitol police. They took over the capitol building, forcing the capitol police back,
Deleteforcing Pence into Secret Service protection in a secure undisclosed location (there's video of them yelling "Hang Pence" and they had the noose ready out on the grounds), and bringing the constitutionally mandated work of the congress to a screeching halt. There were bombs and other weapons. This wasn't a protest but a violent coup attempt, and my post is about the fact that -even though it failed- Trump cultists pose a continuing danger.
Whether or not protests work is a subject for another time. Portland is whataboutism.
News and commentary are different things. I check out both, but it's importance to recognize the difference.
Sad, scary times. Hard to believe that one man could do so much damage. I just hope he's done, and we can move on, heal, rebuild. But it will never be the same.
ReplyDeleteHe's not done. His latest little video release says he's only beginning. Scary.
DeleteThank you for this, dear friend. I would like to point out that ideology is NOT what we should be discussing. Each of us has our own beliefs and mores. What needs to be discussed is the fact this attack was on our Nation's capital, our Federal land. The same type of land that Trump sent the National Guard to "protect" in Portland this summer. Had these been blacks, they would have been shot (or rounded up and held in a secret location) before they got close to the steps of the Capital, much less before they were able to enter it.
ReplyDeleteI DO agree with you on the idea that nearly every word that comes out of Trump's mouth is a lie and has been since he was a child. We no longer have a Republican party, we have a splintered Trump party. I believe that's one of the reasons The Lincoln Project was created.
Amen. And yes, The Lincoln Party was formed as an attempt to restore the GOP.
DeleteI just watched the video CJ suggested. Back in March of 2020, I wrote this about Trump:
ReplyDeleteDeny
Attack
Control the narrative
Place blame elsewhere
Play the victim
After seeing excerpts of Trump trying to get the Georgia Sec of State to change the vote count, I see he displayed all these characteristics over the course of 62 minutes. Here's the full transcript in case you haven't seen it:
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/nation-world/full-text-transcript-of-president-trump-call-with-georgia-sec-of-state/507-776ec762-22fe-438f-948c-96a9d52257eb
You were right back in May. We've always known all this about Trump. Always. Long before the Republicans picked him in 2015.
DeleteThat 62 minute phone call was _perfect_ -just like that Ukraine call and everything else he's ever done ;)
And something else to consider. It came to light a month or so ago that Russia had hacked many government agencies, scoured emails for intel, etc. With the terrorists invading offices in the Capitol and sensitive materials taken, Trump handed Putin what he wanted. Sensitive intel on the US and eroding the country's faith in our democracy
ReplyDeleteRussia has had words to say about the attack on the capitol. for example: "The celebration of democracy is over.
DeleteThis is, alas, actually the bottom, saying this without a shadow of gloating. America is no longer paving the course, and therefore has lost all its rights to ask it. And especially to impose on others."
agree.
ReplyDeleteYou can't talk with someone who refuses to admit the facts.
Following a man who pledged to uphold the constitution and incited americans to take the capitol by force, well, that pic of a confederate flag being held by someone wearing a MAGA hat said a lot. I believe all the senators who supported that action should be replaced by someone who can support the constitution and who care more about the country than party or party leaders. I hope the inauguration is held in a secure place. I hope people will learn what socialism and fascism actually mean.
Facts mean nothing to the cultists. They find a source that agrees with them, claim it's the only one that's reliable, and dive even deeper into cult-hood. Disagreeing is one thing. Insisting that there are #AlternativeFacts is quite another.
DeleteWell stated. I like the "whataboutism" argument. I hear that all the time. No party is perfect but some things are simply wrong; some arguably criminal. While I can't fathom why anyone who studied candidates voted for him in the first place, I can at least understand the power of a single issue -- SCOTUS, abortion, NRA or the allure of "he's rich, he must know something." But after four years.... His behavior isn't new, which makes me all the sadder for the state of mind of those in the country who still follow like sheep. I've studied a lot of WWII and Hitler. The parallels -- from the campaign onward -- have been far too frightening and spot on. Wednesday was just another terrible incident -- but in many ways, I believe it to be the worst.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly, there are reasons for voting for your party's candidate no matter who it is, but as you say "after four years"? The video link CJ posted in her comment above is chilling. Trump's inflammatory rhetoric has whipped the cultists up to a frenzy. I fear it won't get better, especially after Trump's post coup attempt statements.
DeleteOn social media there are calls to return on the 19th with weapons.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason involved here.
I'm hearing this. I swear, how some can dismiss this as just not really being that big a deal shocks me.
Deleteikr--5 dead, damage done, laptop and paperwork stolen.
Delete"Blue Lives Matter" sometimes. "Law and Order" sometimes. It boggles the mind.
Delete