... and you know that this disregard for the truth will change exactly zero minds. The ones that might have changed already have. The ones that won't don't give a sh!t about this kind of lie.

Want another example: Here's T lying about crime in El Paso. To his credit, the mayor of El Paso essentially called Trump a liar. I'm glad papers of record are willing to tell the public that the president has repeated false claims (as close as they'll get to simply saying he is allergic to truth). Unfortunately, Trump's claims have likely created a lot of believers out of people who had never thought about this issue. The stories that debunk Trump's lies have probably changed very few minds.

Trump Repeats False Claim about El Paso Crime

Wait, you mean Trump lies?

Who knew....

But, the big news from the El Paso riots... I mean rally:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47208909

Trumpists still think it's okay to physically assault journalists. The assailant was apparently pulled away from the reporters. I would like to know if he was arrested and charged with assault.

I just don't get it...lie lie lie, and still support him.

Do they just don't like the options?

I want to Scream.

Don't they remember the wall was suppose to be paid NOT by us?

Tell me. How do we get through to them?

I don't know. I don't understand the Svengali-like spell he has them under. They have been groomed for this for decades -- raised on Rush Limbaugh and the like (many of whom make Rush seem tame by comparison) and a constant drumbeat of "distrust science", "hate east coast elites" (just the sort Trump has tried (and failed) to become his whole life), "taxes are evil", "regulation is evil", "GOVERNMENT is evil" (remember Reagan? "government isn't the solution to your problems, government IS the problem"? (unless your problem is pollution, unsafe consumer goods, usurious banks, etc.)).

Anyway, Individual 1 is not the origin of any of this... he is the useful idiot who personifies the culmination of all of this.

Someone... may have been Reagan or a Bush or someone... ran a campaign ad along the lines of "are you better off today than you were eight years ago?" The message being that if your life had not materially improved in the last eight years, blame the incumbent and his party, then vote for this guy because he's not that guy.

Even that won't penetrate most of Individual 1's fanbois. They believe only him and his gaslighting. Even if one were foreclosed out of his decent three-bedroom rambler and is now living in his car or in a tent under a bridge, if Individual 1 tells him he's better off, he will believe he is better off. That's the curious and scary thing about both President Svengali and his base. He tells them whatever he wants and they believe every word of it.

So... don't bother trying to get through to them. My father always said, "never try to teach a pig to sing... you'll only frustrate yourself and annoy the pig". Nobody wants to hear that they've been duped. So, let's not bother. Let's fix the system so this never happens again.


I think the first step is to clean up the election process. If not killing the electoral college, we need to end the disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, vote caging, sham voter ID laws, and all of the other Atwater-esque weapons that have been allowing republicans to steal elections for decades. Remember, Atwater said all republicans need to do to win an election is to reduce the number of people who vote. That will naturally reduce more democratic votes than republican votes if you limit polling places, days, hours (rich white people can easily take a couple hours away from their white collar jobs to vote), require state-issued photo ID, require an actual street address, and so forth. The republicans know they only way they can consistently win (at least national elections) is to cheat, and they have gotten very good at it.

In short, there is no plausible reason why someone who lost the popular vote by millions still ended up getting inaugurated.

Then we move on to term limits and strictly publicly-funded campaigns and elections. Get the Koch brothers, the Mercers, and Joe Ricketts out of politics... or at least take away their ability to buy elections.

Trump lies about... [fill in the blank].

PJ

A lot of wise words.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

...if Individual 1 tells him he's better off, he will believe he is better off. That's the curious and scary thing about both President Svengali and his base. He tells them whatever he wants and they believe every word of it.

I generally agree with you, but in this case I'm not so sure that they believe that they are better off. They believe that *everyone* is out to get them, and the government is the most corrupt of all. They don't believe they're better off. They believe that someone's screwing them over. Probably a woman, person of color, or immigrant. Everyone is in someone else's pocket except for them and Donald, who "tells it like it is." (Read: feeds my fear and need for scapegoating because it certainly can't be my fault.)

Nina, you're right, of course. It was more a hypothetical. They believe whatever Individual 1 tells them. If he were to tell them they are better off, they will believe they are better off, despite clear evidence to the contrary. If he tells them the sky is pink and a flock of condors just landed on the White House lawn, they would swear up and down... condors... from the pink sky!!! Yes, fear is his weapon. The one thing to add to your point is that Individual 1 then says "and I, alone, can fix it/protect you". That is what cult leaders always say.