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Just_Vote_Dem

(3,210 posts)
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:07 AM Dec 2021

Something I'm still coming to grips with

That 30 to 40 percent of the people in this country are loons.

No masks, no vaccines, etc., blindly following charlatans and grifters.

I saw it in my own family this year-my sister's children essentially convinced her that she didn't need a vaccine for covid, she eventually got the disease and died a few months ago, leaving me with a hole inside that will never close, partly because of the utter insanity that surrounded the situation, a death that did not have to happen.

And now we get blasted daily that Democrats will get beat in the next election. And to that I say BULLSHIT.

I'm voting. I'm telling everyone I know about the good that Democrats do.

I'll be damned if I let the loons win.

58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Something I'm still coming to grips with (Original Post) Just_Vote_Dem Dec 2021 OP
This isn't new. I've thought it to be around 20-25 percent since the nineties, at least. we can do it Dec 2021 #1
Yeah, I'm still kind of a naive person Just_Vote_Dem Dec 2021 #3
It's ok to be optimistic. Then reality smacks you in the face. we can do it Dec 2021 #5
You just described why I am so cynical! Thank You! OldBaldy1701E Dec 2021 #9
I guess it seemed like a "scant few" for years PatSeg Dec 2021 #21
Plus, with social media, every one of their voices can be heard. CaptainTruth Dec 2021 #22
Exactly PatSeg Dec 2021 #29
I think your description is quite accurate mrsadm Dec 2021 #45
This sums it up very accurately NJCher Dec 2021 #46
Yes, mass delusion is a very real thing PatSeg Dec 2021 #55
Very succinctly put. llmart Dec 2021 #50
Yes, that helps somewhat PatSeg Dec 2021 #56
I'm so sorry. How awful. Especially because it didn't have to happen. My heart hurts for you. Scrivener7 Dec 2021 #2
Thank you so much n/t Just_Vote_Dem Dec 2021 #4
me too. who knew reality was so malleable? mopinko Dec 2021 #6
Bruce Lipton wrote "The Biology of Belief," gab13by13 Dec 2021 #11
Instinctive biochemical reactions are hardwired by evolution and are not intelligence Bernardo de La Paz Dec 2021 #14
+1 uponit7771 Dec 2021 #17
I agree! Trueblue Texan Dec 2021 #7
For me the scary thing is Trump gained viva la Dec 2021 #10
However, Biden got 15K more than Clinton TexasBushwhacker Dec 2021 #37
Sadly, it appears Ohio ain't on the list lonely bird Dec 2021 #24
If the dems get the election law NJCher Dec 2021 #57
One would hope that it would lonely bird Dec 2021 #58
Not sure it's as high as 40% Woodswalker Dec 2021 #8
I'm with you, 20-25% optimistically. we can do it Dec 2021 #35
"Whackaloons ". I like that word! Nt raccoon Dec 2021 #49
They are out there, gab13by13 Dec 2021 #12
I'd say 25-30% are full blown MAGAts. Elessar Zappa Dec 2021 #16
That's where it gets really depressing NJCher Dec 2021 #47
That's the spirit, JVD! . . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Dec 2021 #13
I know exactly what you mean about a hole that can't be filled. Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2021 #15
Like Jeff Foxworthy Said... NonPC Dec 2021 #18
Hell, one wonders how the can dress and feed themselves lonely bird Dec 2021 #26
They follow dear leader gab13by13 Dec 2021 #28
I prefer to consider this foolishness moreland01 Dec 2021 #19
The loons won't "win" it. They're already stealing it. Cyrano Dec 2021 #20
Sorry to hear about the loss of your sister Ohioboy Dec 2021 #23
30-33% is about right lonely bird Dec 2021 #25
Would it be too harsh for them to frame or re-brand the repug party as the Fascist party and Hotler Dec 2021 #27
I started calling the GOP a fascist party years ago, under Trump. CaptainTruth Dec 2021 #32
This is pretty scary, CaptainTruth. calimary Dec 2021 #51
I'm very sorry for the loss of your sister. MontanaMama Dec 2021 #30
I lost my sister to the far right. Texaswitchy Dec 2021 #31
I'm sorry for the loss of your sister. Such a needless death. CaptainTruth Dec 2021 #33
The loon factor may be 45% and apparently motivated to vote. SYFROYH Dec 2021 #34
Such a difficult loss, sorry for you to be going through that. JudyM Dec 2021 #36
USA has been exposed. Worst thing is that 30-40 percent represents many people otherwise Pepsidog Dec 2021 #38
always has been that way, but now they have facebook and fox to amplify their stupidity and insanity housecat Dec 2021 #39
When we lose a loved one to a cult, it can hurt more than from an illness housecat Dec 2021 #40
We need to sell them products at exhorbitant prices bucolic_frolic Dec 2021 #41
Carl Jung believed Mass Psychosis was the greatest threat to humanity. sop Dec 2021 #42
My sister MFM008 Dec 2021 #43
First Law of Human Stupidity Jakes Progress Dec 2021 #44
I feel the same. I never knew before how many people are just stupid. Nt raccoon Dec 2021 #48
Its worse than that Cosmocat Dec 2021 #52
It really is shocking to realize what a large percentage of Americans are truly off their rockers. Vinca Dec 2021 #53
I don't get how people would even consider ecstatic Dec 2021 #54

Just_Vote_Dem

(3,210 posts)
3. Yeah, I'm still kind of a naive person
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:33 AM
Dec 2021

Always wanted to believe that kind of behavior was limited to a scant few.

PatSeg

(49,856 posts)
21. I guess it seemed like a "scant few" for years
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:54 AM
Dec 2021

because they weren't as loud and in your face as they are now. I guess all the "crazy" was just waiting to be activated and Trump set them off.

CaptainTruth

(7,415 posts)
22. Plus, with social media, every one of their voices can be heard.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:21 AM
Dec 2021

I'm convinced that before social media there were a lot of loons who ranted to friends on their front porch, at the local bar, wherever they hang out, we just didn't hear them. Now it's easy for them to create online accounts & broadcast their lunacy to millions.

PatSeg

(49,856 posts)
29. Exactly
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:44 AM
Dec 2021

We've all known them and for the most part ignored them whenever we could. With social media, they were able to reach out and find like-minded people. Then Trump encouraged them to get out of their homes and off their barstools and take the nuttery out into the real world. Meanwhile, as they shared their crazy beliefs with others, the looniness just grew to unimaginable proportions. Their inherent gullibility made them more susceptible to even more bizarre conspiracy theories. A perfect storm of unbridled lunacy.

I guess these pathetic lost souls now feel like they've found their tribe and that after years of being rejected and laughed at, they've been vindicated.

NJCher

(38,823 posts)
46. This sums it up very accurately
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 05:20 AM
Dec 2021

Last edited Wed Dec 22, 2021, 12:09 PM - Edit history (1)

I would emphasize your sentence about their looniness growing to unimaginable proportions. They feed on each other. They make each other crazier.

A perfect example is this gathering where they are waiting for jfk jr to come back. Did you know they are still hanging out there?

I’m researching some material for a post on mass delusion. I will tell you right now it is quite interesting. Jung was on to it and so were the American Indians.

PatSeg

(49,856 posts)
55. Yes, mass delusion is a very real thing
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 10:32 AM
Dec 2021

We've seen it throughout history and even today to a smaller degree in cults. It really is contagious to those who are vulnerable and there doesn't seem to be a limit as to how extreme it can get. I am very interested in what makes some people immune and others susceptible. I don't think it is always the weak-minded, but can be relatively normal people who are going through a rough period. In the process of seeking answers, they may connect with other people in similar situations and/or follow leaders who take advantage of them.

I look forward to your post. It is a fascinating, though disturbing subject.

llmart

(16,332 posts)
50. Very succinctly put.
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 06:48 AM
Dec 2021

You have summed them up nicely. I'm still going to try to remember that people like us are still in the majority.

PatSeg

(49,856 posts)
56. Yes, that helps somewhat
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 10:34 AM
Dec 2021

Though of course, a minority can wield an awful lot of power.

mopinko

(72,154 posts)
6. me too. who knew reality was so malleable?
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:34 AM
Dec 2021

lately i think we are too complex a species to survive much longer.
it's getting to me, too.

gab13by13

(26,402 posts)
11. Bruce Lipton wrote "The Biology of Belief,"
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:03 AM
Dec 2021

that created quite a stir among the Darwin crowd. Lipton proved in the lab that organisms survived not from being the strongest or fittest, but from cooperation. He took the nucleus out of an organism and placed heat in front of it, and it moved away. He discovered that the intelligence came from the outer shell. When danger approached organisms they banded together to survive.

Moral of the story; simple organisms have more intelligence than Magats.

Bernardo de La Paz

(52,588 posts)
14. Instinctive biochemical reactions are hardwired by evolution and are not intelligence
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:09 AM
Dec 2021

Nonetheless, your post is an interesting one. I guess you mean that the organism without the nucleus gets the heat and moves away ( "the outer shell" ).

Nature is replete with instincts that sacrifice a few in the herd/flock/pack/school(fish) to save the group.

Trueblue Texan

(3,157 posts)
7. I agree!
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:36 AM
Dec 2021

I do not follow the logic that the Democrats will get beat in the next election. There are a bunch of morons in this nation, as the Trump administration revealed. But there are more sensible people than morons and it is clear to see what brought us the straits we're in. To say that Democrats will lose the next election because they haven't cured all the nation's woes is to say we'd rather trust the thief who just robbed us at gunpoint than to put our money in the bank. Most people aren't stupid enough to trust the thieves again.

viva la

(3,924 posts)
10. For me the scary thing is Trump gained
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:02 AM
Dec 2021

10 million more voters in 2020. Those people are scary... saw 4 years of chaos and hate, and wanted 4 more.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,840 posts)
37. However, Biden got 15K more than Clinton
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 12:33 PM
Dec 2021

Last edited Tue Dec 21, 2021, 01:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Shirt of a catastrophically low voter turn out, one would expect numbers to go up over 4 years just because of an increase in population and the number of registered voters.

Regarding the percentage of vaccinated, it's up to 72%, so that's less than 28% who are maskless unvaxxed morons. If course, children under 2 can't get the vaccine, so you can knock another few million off for the little ones. Of course, this could be counting everyone who's gotten at least 1 shot, but hey, I'll take it. Russia is only 50% vaccinated.

My favorite tracker, designed by high school senior Avi Schiffmann.

Ncov2019.live/data

lonely bird

(2,085 posts)
24. Sadly, it appears Ohio ain't on the list
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:30 AM
Dec 2021

Between Josh Mandel and Bernie Moreno trying to out-Trump each other in the race to see who will run as a Republican for Portman’s senate seat to attorney general Yost claiming that the was government overreach in the pandemic response to Gym Jordan to a state so gerrymandered on the state and federal level it appears that Ohio’s laboratory of democracy exploded and burned to the ground.

lonely bird

(2,085 posts)
58. One would hope that it would
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 02:07 PM
Dec 2021

Sadly, I am not holding my breath.

Republicans hate this country.

 

Woodswalker

(549 posts)
8. Not sure it's as high as 40%
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:40 AM
Dec 2021

The problem lies with people who choose not to see, then vote in a way that empowers the small percentage of off the wall whackaloons

gab13by13

(26,402 posts)
12. They are out there,
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:06 AM
Dec 2021

I used to think there were only 20% of them but now I believe there could be 40% of them. I believe this because many of my closest friends who I thought possessed critical thinking are full blown Magats.

Elessar Zappa

(16,295 posts)
16. I'd say 25-30% are full blown MAGAts.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:22 AM
Dec 2021

The other ten percent are Republicans who voted Trump but may not love him. We have 70%+ with at least one shot so the large majority are following COVID guidelines.

NJCher

(38,823 posts)
47. That's where it gets really depressing
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 05:58 AM
Dec 2021

When you see it close up. You see how completely and totally they are committed to these crazy ideas.

It’s even worse when they are highly educated. All 3 of the cases I have are minimum master’s and one who has a Ph.D.

 

Laura PourMeADrink

(42,770 posts)
15. I know exactly what you mean about a hole that can't be filled.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:15 AM
Dec 2021

Mine is blaming Trump for death. And seeing that the House Committee concluded that he purposely hid the deadliness from people, and the story not even reaching a " big story".

We know for sure 25% want to see trump run again. That makes my head explode.

NonPC

(405 posts)
18. Like Jeff Foxworthy Said...
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:41 AM
Dec 2021

You can't fix stupid.

Whenever I watch Jordan from The Daily Show interview MAGAs or anti-vaccers, it just amazes me how programmed these idiots are. And they are allowed to have children and checking accounts. Incredible.

moreland01

(835 posts)
19. I prefer to consider this foolishness
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:43 AM
Dec 2021

A Self-rapture.

Lord? Why didn't you save me? God: I sent you a vaccine, you dumbf*ck!

Cyrano

(15,386 posts)
20. The loons won't "win" it. They're already stealing it.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 09:53 AM
Dec 2021

Voter suppression, state legislatures overriding the will of the voters, the "cleaning" of voter registration lists, and so much more.

They may be loons, but they've declared war on the constitution, our freedoms and our country. It's time we understood this and start making all necessary preparations for next November. (Read whatever you want to into that last sentence.)

Ohioboy

(3,579 posts)
23. Sorry to hear about the loss of your sister
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:27 AM
Dec 2021

When you describe her passing as a "death that did not have to happen" it makes it even worse.

It's so frustrating to see such a large percentage of the population not understanding the consequences of their lunacy, and their sheep- like following of the grifters and charlatans. Please, at least, find some comfort in knowing that you are not one of the sheep.

lonely bird

(2,085 posts)
25. 30-33% is about right
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:33 AM
Dec 2021

Over at Hypercrites.com Kuni started a thread titled iirc 32% of the population is bug-fuck, batshit crazy.

It varies by geography. YMMV.

Hotler

(12,664 posts)
27. Would it be too harsh for them to frame or re-brand the repug party as the Fascist party and
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:36 AM
Dec 2021

start using the words fascism, and fascist to describe what they will bring to America? I think it needs to be said; Democrats = Democracy, Republicans = Fascism. Make them own it. Remember the end of the movie Inglorious Bastards?

CaptainTruth

(7,415 posts)
32. I started calling the GOP a fascist party years ago, under Trump.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 11:10 AM
Dec 2021

If you look at the famous Early Warning Signs of Fascism list, Trump, & the GOP under Trump, either checked off every item on the list or tried their hardest to check off every item on the list.

The GOP has embraced fascism. I'm convinced that's why they bring up socialism so often when they criticize Democrats, it's to distract from their own fascism. It's a technique they use all the time.

?w=511&h=662]

Also, I just bought the book "American Fascism - How the GOP is Subverting Democracy." I've just leafed through it, but it looks good.

MontanaMama

(24,241 posts)
30. I'm very sorry for the loss of your sister.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 10:54 AM
Dec 2021

Indeed a death that was unnecessary.

I’m with you…I’ll do everything I can to defeat the MAGAts and their ilk.

Texaswitchy

(2,962 posts)
31. I lost my sister to the far right.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 11:06 AM
Dec 2021

We were never that close.

I do not know if she is alive or dead.

She went crazy when President Obama won.

Around the bend.


SYFROYH

(34,207 posts)
34. The loon factor may be 45% and apparently motivated to vote.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 11:12 AM
Dec 2021

This is why we need to turn out the non-loon side and try to sway that 5% who could go either way.



JudyM

(29,537 posts)
36. Such a difficult loss, sorry for you to be going through that.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 12:09 PM
Dec 2021

We’ve got to Be-vocal-and-vote.
And our leadership has to strengthen Dem messaging immediately.

Wishing you peace in your heart.

Pepsidog

(6,329 posts)
38. USA has been exposed. Worst thing is that 30-40 percent represents many people otherwise
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 01:32 PM
Dec 2021

considered smart or successful. I know many Trumps who are very smart and successful in all areas of life except their politics. It’s truly a scary thing to behold. My 4th year medical school son is attending a funeral today of his friend’s 52 year old anti-vaccine father.

housecat

(3,138 posts)
39. always has been that way, but now they have facebook and fox to amplify their stupidity and insanity
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 01:39 PM
Dec 2021

bucolic_frolic

(48,616 posts)
41. We need to sell them products at exhorbitant prices
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 03:15 PM
Dec 2021

Figure that out and it would improve our chances

sop

(12,552 posts)
42. Carl Jung believed Mass Psychosis was the greatest threat to humanity.
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 03:26 PM
Dec 2021

“Indeed, it is becoming ever more obvious that it is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer but man himself who is man’s greatest danger to man, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against psychic epidemics, which are infinitely more devastating than the worst of natural catastrophes.”

Carl Jung, The Symbolic Life

https://academyofideas.com/2021/02/mass-psychosis-greatest-threat-to-humanity/

MFM008

(20,035 posts)
43. My sister
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 03:37 PM
Dec 2021

Didnt talk to me for weeks because i said Kyle Rittenhouse was a murderer. I thought she had covid or something. I didnt even remember the comment hardly.
Unbelievable my parents would cringe.

Jakes Progress

(11,196 posts)
44. First Law of Human Stupidity
Tue Dec 21, 2021, 04:04 PM
Dec 2021

I find that this concept explains a lot. Cipolla wrote his treatise in the 1970's, but Dietrich Bonhoeffer contemplated the same ideas while in a Nazi prison.

https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2016/09/the_basic_laws_of_human_stupidity.html



Vinca

(51,594 posts)
53. It really is shocking to realize what a large percentage of Americans are truly off their rockers.
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 08:44 AM
Dec 2021

I had no idea just how bad it was until Trump came along. You had the odd cult leader knock off his followers in the name of something or other every few years, but it's as if Trump opened a floodgate. The Q people really should be rounded up and taken to a nice hospital for deprogramming. When you drink industrial bleach cocktails while waiting for JFK to appear, that's off the normal cuckoo scale. The anti-vaxxers are a cult by themselves, even though they had different beginnings, most inspired by far right (vaccinated) hucksters turning a buck selling magic potions. I hate to say it, but at this point the rest of us won't be safe until the virus wipes them all out. In the meantime, we face the very real peril of a mutation caused by them killing us.

ecstatic

(34,604 posts)
54. I don't get how people would even consider
Wed Dec 22, 2021, 08:55 AM
Dec 2021

voting for tfg and the party that dropped the ball and caused the pandemic in the first place. They removed all the protections in place to prevent pandemics and then did everything they could to undermine the scientists trying to fight it once it became a pandemic. They're STILL blocking progress on fighting covid. Thanks to them, we're about to enter the THIRD fucking year of this shit!

Sorry for your loss.

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