I’ve been grappling with a question and I’m not sure how to answer it:
Should we feel pity for stupid people?
Clearly, most of the MAGA accounts here and elsewhere are bots. But, not all of them, which means there are people who believe the weakest con ever perpetrated on the population: The lie of Trump.
It’s the weakest con because Trump’s not even a decent conman.
[He launders money more than he launders his diapers.]
During his first campaign, most of the population knew he was a rapist, a pedophile, a terrible businessman (how the fuck does anyone bankrupt multiple casinos?), a malignant narcissistic, a slumlord, and a thief.
But, despite all of the proof of Trump’s failures and crimes, the MAGA cult blindly believed him.
He said he was smart, so they believed he was smart.
He said he could fix what he thought was wrong with the country, so they believed he could fix it.
He said he was 6’3”, so they believed he was 6’3”.
[Prince William is 6'3" exactly, while Trump is the size and shape of a truck stop turd.]
Of course, lo these many years later, the people that platformed him are finally seeing through the bullshit. People like Joe Rogan, Candice Owens, and Tucker Carlson, to name just a few.
[Among the jellied brain-trust in this photo are Tucker Carlson, former Trump counterterrorism official Joe Kent, and former Republican reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie., reportedly meeting to discuss a new political party... or possibly what child to eat for dinner.]
Yet, many remain loyal followers of Trump. I have a few thoughts about why. And I’m guessing these points all kinda blend together, anyway.
These people...
…want to be led.
Some people want to be told what to do, what to believe. It relieves a lot of pressure and a lot of responsibility. Thinking for yourself takes energy, after all. Also, it’s worth noting that many of the MAGA cultists who get mad at Trump criticism often throw out that "Clinton’s in the Epstein files, too," or "Biden did whatever crime." They think it’s upsets us because they think we have these politicians on the same pedestal they put Trump, that we also wan to be told what to think and believe. But, we don’t because we’re not in a cult. Clinton’s in the Epstein files? Fine, let him rot in prison next to Trump.
…like that Trump makes it OK to be a bigot.
Must be a relief for these people to finally be able to use the N-word in public again. And it gives them justification to ask what’s going on between an athlete’s legs.
…like that Trump makes it OK to not work on themselves.
If thinking for yourself takes a lot of energy, the work to improve yourself is exhausting, right? I mean, you actually have to give a shit. Ugh.
…are genuinely stupid.
Maybe they’re not ignoring the facts, maybe they don’t understand the facts.
That last one is what I’ve really been fighting with. If the MAGA cult is just a bunch of genuinely stupid (and therefore gullible) people, is that something that deserves pity? Especially, if they’re too stupid to know they’re stupid?
After Trump was re-elected, I wrote that I don’t believe all of those in the MAGA cult are dumb because that would mean there are vastly more idiots in this country than I thought possible and I was already pretty cynical about it. That much imbecility would mean half of the population is out there drinking paint and making toast in the bathtub.
But, after seeing many MAGA cultists leaving the cult, I believe those that remain really are mindless idiots following a cruel, blatantly false profit.
So, again, does that warrant pity?... I guess my answer is no.
Whether or not they understand their actions are anti-American doesn’t matter. A drunk driver doesn't decide to kill someone, they make a choice to drive drunk and that leads to a death. They are punished for the crimes they commit, not the choice they made.
So, yeah, MAGA cultists get no pity from me. But, I do feel bad that they’re so fucking dumb.
[Back when Lindsey Graham had balls and I don't mean the ones that used to bounce on his chin.]
