In my opinion, many Republicans are in a deep psychological trauma...

[kentuck]

I was watching Lou Dobbs on another post and it was very obvious that he was having a difficult time accepting that Donald Trump lost the election.

Many Republicans are suffering the same psychological fate. They have been sucked into a psychic vortex in which there is no easy escape. They will need to be de-programmed, just like in a cult.

They are not capable at this time of accepting reality. They are living a life of illusion. If Trump lost, it was because there was fraud or it was rigged. Never mind that the Republican Senators and Congressmen that won their elections were on the same ballot.

I am not a medical Doctor but it seems to me that these people were so invested in the cult of personality that they are now deeply traumatized.

Just my opinion.

[MustLoveBeagles]

1. This is probably true

I just don't have much sympathy. When our side loses we aren't coddled or given a grace period to accept it. We're immediatly told to shut up and quit whining or they won you lost so suck it up.

[riverwalker]

2. They live in such a bubble

Like Jim Jordan tonight just couldn’t possibly believe that many people voted for Biden.

[MustLoveBeagles]

3. I know how he feels

I can't believe so many voted for Jim Jordan.

[dchill]

5. He knows. He KNOWS. Denial is just his job five days a week.

[Mariana]

61. Yup. He's a performer, playing his role. nt.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. I think that is true for many of them others are just behaving like petulant children pitching a fit

[summer_in_TX]

15. After Hillary lost in 2016, our behavior resembled

what theirs is now to some extent.

We knew that the depth of our outrage and fear had everything to do with knowing that DJT was a corrupt megalomaniac who might destroy our democracy.

Republicans were told it was because we were spoiled and sore losers.

I was in a Zoom today where conservatives said matter-of-factly that the media helped Trump win. (They were not referring to RW media obviously.)

I'm not sure that wasn't true, although this was a true emergency, and it took all of us. But still, not what we want the press to be doing. They are not supposed to pick winners and losers. (Regardless of the fact that they do it all the time for other reasons.)

[Boomerproud]

18. The media helped Trump win in 2016 for certain.

Is that what you meant or did you mean Biden? Either way I am totally closed off on what they feel after what they"ve put us through. Bleep them all.

[summer_in_TX]

19. The media certainly helped Trump.

And I think that a number of media outlets (CNN in particular) used reporting to hurt Trump and help Biden beyond straight news reporting.

Countering the outright propaganda Faux News was perpetrating may have required it. Not all of it seemed unbiased.

[not fooled]

43. Agree

I think the non-RW media also realized that in 2016 they gave red don a pass on his well-documented history of bad actions and criminal associations in NY, plus they didn't want to help tip the country into outright fascism and chaos.

[Skittles]

29. no comparison

we were freaked out because we realized the "president" was going to be a pussy-grabbing reality TV show CON MAN

[brush]

36. Also that the 2016 election really was stolen. Putin and Russian bots...

helped trump, as did Assange an wikipedia, not to mention that in three states trump won by less than 1%, just enough to switch and gain EC votes.

[radius777]

40. +1. Bipartisan investigations proved this. /nt

[Skittles]

53. CORRECT

it is ridiculous to compare what we "felt" to cultists who refuse to live in reality

[uponit7771]

59. +1, the over performance of 3rd party candidates in swing states aidded by Russia was a huge factor

[madaboutharry]

6. Also this is happening

They are witnessing him fall apart. They thought he was a tough strong leader. Since the election, he has displayed an infantile behavior lacking all dignity. Even his supporters see it. It is humiliating and embarrassing.

I have no doubt that in the time since the election there are those who would take back their vote for him.

Others are probably very confused and don’t know who to be angry at.

[OrlandoDem2]

7. I hope he runs in 2024. He will take up all the energy on their side.

It’ll be hard for them to build a bench, and hopefully we can take an advantage somehow.

[moonscape]

16. I'm fearful of tempting fate this way. I was

over the moon when he got the nomination in ‘16 thinking he was the one person we could easily beat. I’m humbled by things I can’t grasp, such as how he could exist.

I realize how things are different, all the factors, but there is nothing in me that is willing to hope for something that could end up with President again. If that happened just shoot me. Literally.

[Chemisse]

54. A friend and I even joked about voting for him in the primaries.

Since he was such an obvious and huge disaster in every way, and so clearly the easiest to beat.
(We didn't, of course, because we take voting seriously and don't use it to manipulate the outcome.)

It was - and is - impossible to fathom that millions of people want him at the helm.

[Cha]

34. Not too long ago trump bragged he

was "going to run for a 3rd term.. he deserved it"

What happened to the 2nd term, maggotrump?

[coti]

8. Yes, they have a deep, deep psychological investment in the cult

It would be devastating to them to confront how they've been lied to and manipulated.

[Frasier Balzov]

9. We are as mystified that they love him

as they are that we don't.

[Crunchy Frog]

10. Fuck their feelings. If they're old enough to vote, they're old enough to...

deal with an election not going the way they preferred.

If you know any of them that you think you can deprogram, by all means try, but don't expect anyone to coddle them on their deep trauma.

I do think we need to seriously start combating the RW propaganda machine, like starting 25-30 years ago, but I'm not at all sure that these people are retrievable.

[elleng]

11. and bent on traumatizing the world around them.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

12. Fine with me.

Let them live in trauma, delusion and confusion. That just weakens them.

[NBachers]

13. I suggest the Heaven's Gate solution.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

26. I wish they'd do a heavens gate

Solution. We need to rid this world of dark triad assholes, there's no other way to contain these people and keeping them from harming others.

[Quixote1818]

14. I know I would be in trauma if he had won again. LOL nt

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. Just think of all the wailing and gnashing of teeth in their churches.

"What did we do wrong, dear Lord?" "Have I sinned before you?"......... .......

As much as I hate to say it, coronavirus will de-program a number of them and some may actually listen to their accountants when they're told their taxes are going up due to Trump.

KY

[regnaD kciN]

20. "Suck it up, buttercup..."

[Flaleftist]

23. +1

[liberalla]

46. I do enjoy that flag! Especially because it turns their own mean message back on them!

Poor sensitive assholes!

[Beakybird]

21. Only a sick, depraved society would give such a moral degenerate the reins of power.

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. You're wrong.

It doesn’t take a “sick, depraved society” to give such a man power by any means.

All it takes is a significant number of a society to have been convinced it has been victimized by people of lessor stature, and therefore to blame those people for their lot in life. The right wing media, starting with the abolishment of “The Fairness Doctrine” - from Rush Limbaugh to Fox News and on down, has been exceedingly effective in convincing millions of decent, hard working Americans, people of modest means, who care about their families and their communities, to vote against their better interests.

This is politics 101. And I have never studied it! It just seems irreducibly rational.

The leaders of conservative political ideology in this country have known since the days of FDR that their perspective is a losing one if the masses are allowed to have a free, unfettered say (Edit here: And be well educated! That is important. Can’t have a smart voting populace, capable of critical thinking, not by any means). FDR was elected FOUR FUCKING TIMES! And the conservatives stood up and took notice and realized they just couldn’t allow that to happen again, so they shoved through the 22nd Amendment to make sure those pesky workers could never do that again! BTW, shortly followed by the Taft Hartley Act ensuring the utter throttling of the labor movement in this country.

So they haven’t allowed it, certainly not to any large degree.

Until now. And even now, it is a serious struggle.

Want to see some serious change in this country?

Make Gerrymandering illegal.
Make voting easy, simple, accessible, a paid day off, occur over multiple days and most of all, MANDATORY. (Punishable by no more than a $10 parking ticket type offense, but the incentive needs to be there, like it is in Australia )
Repeal the Taft Hartley Act and make “Right to work” laws (a misnomer if there ever was one) illegal
Do away with the Electoral College.
Do away with elected Judgeships.
Raise the minimum wage to the $20 it needs to be.
Overturn the tax incentive given to companies that put “Shareholders first”. Put workers and communities first.
Stop giving half the fucking federal budget to companies whose sole purpose it to build mechanisms designed to slaughter other humans. Fuck that bullshit, make-my-dick-hard militarism we have grown so fucking wedded to. I would MUCH rather have my taxes pay to allow a 15 year old teenager from central Texas an abortion than I am to give $10 million a year to the CEO of Raytheon.

That’s enough.

No one will see this anyway.

[Beakybird]

31. Thanks for your lucid perspective.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. That is serious change. If only.

[flibbitygiblets]

33. Epic post!

[disalitervisum]

35. Excellent and informative, thank you

I would just like to add two things:

1) Make political advertising on television illegal.

2) Stop allowing the Texas Board of Education to determine what textbooks our schools get to use.

[The Wizard]

45. Bribery doesn't cost,

it pays

[A HERETIC I AM]

49. Precisely

[luvallpeeps]

52. I couldn't agree more.

Except the part at the end where "no one will see this anyway". Who are we? Chopped liver?

[A HERETIC I AM]

62. I was feeling a bit melancholy last night!

I’m in a hotel with an early wake-up scheduled and I was feeling a bit crabby last night!

So...sorry for the last sentence!

[luvallpeeps]

69. I could tell by what your post said

in the first place that you are clearly a thoughtful person. I already sensed your weariness. I feel the same way. It seems like when Democrats get any power, we have to spend all our focus and resources on just getting the boat afloat again, and filling the gaping holes in it. It frightens me that the real structural work that needs to be done will be neglected again because of that fact. I think your post covered some really excellent points. We lucked out this time with Trump being so inept. We may not be so lucky next time. Citizens United is a big one, but there are so many. Try and get good rest, we have a boat to fix.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

58. I see it and wish it could be scrolled on every screen in every football stadium.

Thank you.

Maybe post as an OP, too?

[uponit7771]

60. OP WORTHY !!!!!!

[shrike3]

68. Thanks for your very reasoned post. n/t

[Flaleftist]

22. Yeah. The "Fuck your feelings" crowd is having a lof of feelings right now.

[liberalla]

50. Aww... poor sensitive assholes...

[Initech]

24. If anything, they are most certainly in denial.

[Blue Owl]

25. The Dobbgoblin of small minds

[PatrickforO]

27. Cult deprogramming. Interesting.

Makes sense.

[The Wizard]

48. FEMA reeducation camps make the foam at the mouth.

[mudstump]

30. No...don't give these people a break...they are fascists.

Any discomfort they are experiencing is their own doing. If Trump had won these people would have no problem gutting any liberal/progressive/democrat that got in their way. We most likely would never have another election. I don't feel one bit of sympathy for them.

[Orrex]

37. Just one psychological drama after another.

You are guilty and how you ever entered into this life
God only knows the infinite complexities of love.
We all have the ability
Our freedom is fragile.
We all laugh and we cry don't we? We all bleed and we smile.


Wait. What?

[BobTheSubgenius]

38. Altogether now....repeat after me:

FUCK YOUR FEELINGS!

[58Sunliner]

39. LOL.They just can't believe they didn't cheat enough.

They aren't invested in a cult of personality, they are essentially sociopaths with one goal in mind. What's in it for me? Identity politics of white males, males, and women who will allow them to abuse the society, social norms, and basic human rights. Can we just stop pretending they are fixable. They aren't. Not unless they somehow want to give up their culture of greedy self-interest. It is no accident that this is the party of child molesters, closeted assholes, rapists, extortionists, fraudulent elections and graft and corruption. Not to mention treason. The only illusion is the lie they tell you, the public. The rest is just a con, con, con. Are sociopaths redeemable? No. There an inherent difference between someone who is a sociopath and someone who who functions as one. One knows he is doing wrong and still sleeps at night, the other does not even consider it. Both will screw you over.

[speaknow]

41. Nah, they were preparing

for his loss for months. Best thing
CNN did was let Dobbs walk. He cries
about losing the Republic but he wants the
courts to invalidate votes. All this BS is
to give them time to dump records so it
will be hard to find what they did.
As far as that POS in the WH he will never
go to jail, because his Lawyers will say
He has a mental condition! The SOB already
started his new hustle.

[radius777]

42. F'em, once the Orange clown is no longer in power

they will start to disintegrate and have internal feuds. There is the 'respectable Republican' wing that will start to try to grab power (Haley, Rubio, etc) who want to be president.

I for one will enjoy seeing them tear themselves apart.

[The Wizard]

44. Dangerous to themselves and others.

At the next MAGA rally, people with strategically placed firecrackers could (fill in the blank).

[barbtries]

47. it's too bad

that they don't care who else gets hurt. I think most of us collectively have PTSD. i don't feel sorry for them. it's not like a cult. it is a cult.

check this out. who does shit like this?

Link to tweet

?fbclid=IwAR03jPONTibVAXlKUvIKO0oQEl6FZVhqJhbK6mbHuO0Z5R7a2SYhXOkdQ3c

[Marcuse]

51. Stages of GOP grieving process as the counts and recounts continue.

[Eyeball_Kid]

55. Given you're correct,

it's not Trump who is suffering the kind of problem you describe. It's the Trumpers. Trump himself knows what he's doing. He doesn't believe that he won. He's keeping his base dependent on his every word so that he can FLEECE THEM. He has no intention of serving a second term. It's too damned hard to pretend to be working and then be held accountable. It's just not in Trumpy's wheelhouse. He could have worked for a second term. He could have acted as a president and earned the support of millions more. He didn't. His fault. He lost.

But, ah, there's billions to be picked out of the pockets of tens of millions of suckers. All Trumpy-Boy has to do is be himself. He's got his fans' contacts on his database, the same database that he'll have tucked under his arm when he walks out of the White House. That's his next grift. He'll move on if he can dodge the indictments and courtroom battles and jail.

[Aristus]

56. I made this comparison before, and I think it's rather apt:

The Trumpsters are like the natives of Skull Island after King Kong was captured.

They're stunned, depressed, and listless; their god was taken away.

[Chicago1980]

57. Fuck Their Feelings...

That's what they've said.

[canetoad]

63. With all due respect

Bullshit, Kentuck.

Spoiled brats who refuse to act like adults when things don't go their way.

[struggle4progress]

64. Again? Or still? Or gimme a fuckin break already?

They've been shrieking louder and louder about their ever-deeping distress for about as many years as I can remember

I'm perfectly happy to have grown-up conversations with other adults

Tantrums aren't interesting: put the toddlers down for a nap and start with cookies and milk after they're rested

[betsuni]

65. If their candidate lost "it was because there was fraud or it was rigged."

Not only a Republican thing, cult of personality. People who don't know about how politics works are susceptible.

[Martin Eden]

66. They've been suffering from a mass psychosis for four years

What else explains tens of millions who believe this ignorant incompetent immoral pathological liar is not only a great president but chosen by God to lead America?

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

67. Hitler loving Nazis were crushed when little Adolf ate cyanide

and shot himself in the head while holed up in an air raid shelter, as his Thousand Year Reich was all blown to shit by anti-fascist forces.

It's one of the drawbacks of being a totally brainwashed sycophant worshiper of a patriarchal, dictatorial, authoritarian madman. When the authoritarian cray cray they worship is put down by the forces of truth and justice, the sycophant's identity and reason for living is shattered, leaving them stunned, saddened, empty, and deranged from grief and rage.

Their god is not invincible. How, oh how, could this possibly happen?