General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething 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.

we can do it
(12,820 posts)Just_Vote_Dem
(3,210 posts)Always wanted to believe that kind of behavior was limited to a scant few.
we can do it
(12,820 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(7,212 posts)I am going to have to remember that one!
PatSeg
(49,856 posts)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)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)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.
mrsadm
(1,198 posts)Very well put!
NJCher
(38,823 posts)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?
Im 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)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)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)Though of course, a minority can wield an awful lot of power.
Scrivener7
(53,955 posts)
Just_Vote_Dem
(3,210 posts)mopinko
(72,154 posts)lately i think we are too complex a species to survive much longer.
it's getting to me, too.
gab13by13
(26,402 posts)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)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)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 million more voters in 2020. Those people are scary... saw 4 years of chaos and hate, and wanted 4 more.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,840 posts)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)Between Josh Mandel and Bernie Moreno trying to out-Trump each other in the race to see who will run as a Republican for Portmans 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 Ohios laboratory of democracy exploded and burned to the ground.
NJCher
(38,823 posts)Through, would that solve the gerrymander issue?
lonely bird
(2,085 posts)Sadly, I am not holding my breath.
Republicans hate this country.
Woodswalker
(549 posts)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
we can do it
(12,820 posts)raccoon
(31,615 posts)gab13by13
(26,402 posts)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)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)When you see it close up. You see how completely and totally they are committed to these crazy ideas.
Its even worse when they are highly educated. All 3 of the cases I have are minimum masters and one who has a Ph.D.
Bernardo de La Paz
(52,588 posts)Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)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)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.
lonely bird
(2,085 posts)gab13by13
(26,402 posts)and eat at McDonald's.
moreland01
(835 posts)A Self-rapture.
Lord? Why didn't you save me? God: I sent you a vaccine, you dumbf*ck!
Cyrano
(15,386 posts)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)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)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)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)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.
calimary
(85,175 posts)SCARY.
MontanaMama
(24,241 posts)Indeed a death that was unnecessary.
Im with you
Ill do everything I can to defeat the MAGAts and their ilk.
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)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.
CaptainTruth
(7,415 posts)SYFROYH
(34,207 posts)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)Weve 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)considered smart or successful. I know many Trumps who are very smart and successful in all areas of life except their politics. Its truly a scary thing to behold. My 4th year medical school son is attending a funeral today of his friends 52 year old anti-vaccine father.
housecat
(3,138 posts)housecat
(3,138 posts)bucolic_frolic
(48,616 posts)Figure that out and it would improve our chances
sop
(12,552 posts)Indeed, it is becoming ever more obvious that it is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer but man himself who is mans 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)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)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
raccoon
(31,615 posts)Cosmocat
(15,092 posts)30% of this country thinks our 30% are "just as bad."
Vinca
(51,594 posts)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)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.