Reza Aslan: "The dangerous cult of Donald Trump":

[tblue37]

Last edited Sun Nov 12, 2017, 11:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Cross-posted from GD:

snip

The authority that a cult leader exercises comes from his self-ascribed role as the one true information source for his followers. Competing ideas and facts are not just wrong; they are demonic.

Trump, of course, characterizes most media outlets as “fake news.” He calls journalists “liars” and “sick people” who are “trying to take away our history and our heritage.” In a May HuffPo/YouGov poll, a whopping 60% of Trump supporters agreed with him that the media are “the enemy” of people like them.

The cult leader is generally believed to possess special knowledge. No matter how demonstrably false his pronouncements, they become, by definition, truth for his followers. Trump has been spectacularly successful at getting his supporters to believe his blandishments rather than their own eyes. Consider the fact that in another HuffPost/YouGov poll, conducted after allegations of sexual harassment and assault surfaced against producer Harvey Weinstein, only 8% of Trump supporters believed the claims of sexual assault made against him despite the evidence of the “Access Hollywood” tape.

One of the ways a cult leader maintains his unquestioned authority is by creating a siege mentality among his followers and presenting himself as the antidote. In Trump’s view, the country is a wasteland of empty factories “scattered like tombstones” and crime-ridden cities that are more dangerous than war zones. “Our military is a disaster. Our healthcare is a horror show,” he declared during the campaign. And as Trump has often said, “I alone can fix it.”

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More at link: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-aslan-trump-cultists-20171106-story.html

[Irish_Dem]

1. Why are so many Americans susceptible to being part of the Trump cult?

Years of intense and unrelenting propaganda or is there more to it?

[tblue37]

2. Propaganda works. The RW media bubble created a perfect audience for Trump's BS. nt

[Irish_Dem]

3. Some seem to be more prone to believing propaganda. nt

[tblue37]

4. True. Studies of those with authoritarian mindsets and those with more

tolerant and open-minded attitudes show authoritarian followers tend to unquestioningly accept what their leaders tell them.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Sometimes I wonder how much propaganda I am swallowing.

Even though I consider myself to be educated, smart, tolerant and open minded.
How much have I accepted as truth?

Of course I grew up in an era where we questioned everything.

[Nitram]

6. You're definitely on to something here.

Trump has weaponized the Cult pf Personality.