Good to talk
I spent some considerable time today engaging with a number of Trump supporters. They are without doubt, prepared to lay down their lives for him. In their world, ANY criticism of
Trump is regarded as a very personal insult, not only to him, but to them too. My fears of this 'cult like' culture has not been dispelled. Things I know to be factually correct are brushed aside in favour of the campaign message regardless of truth
In one particular tweet I made reference to finding Trump's tax returns. It was like standing on an insult IED. The key takeaway, was why would he release his tax returns to 'the enemy' and therein lay the problem. It's not about Republicans and Democrats in a campaign for the presidency, it's about enemies at war. Democrats are all communist agitators, hell bent on violence, destruction and the murder of unborn babies (and these are the repeatable messages). The Trump fight is 'righteous' and has the backing of God and God fearing Americans. It's about 'Making America Great Again' and dredging more of the swamp.
It is hard to know where to begin. In the 'good old days' as Trump likes to describe them, the type of messaging that is promoted on social media from his supporters was difficult to access, but now, if you have a social media account, you can effectively promote almost any message without fear of consequence.
Whilst contemplating the imagery, I was minded to reflect on Trum'p's moral compass. Let's take a look at his disregard for the 5th commandment
Thou shalt not kill. 204,000 violations of this one since March. There must be a few Hail Mary's for that? Given he's in court to try and strike down the ACA, he's attempting to break the 7th commandment, Thy shalt not steal, as he tries to steal healthcare from millions of Americans. He's in trouble with the 2nd commandment too, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. I
would argue that his campaign rallies, better know as Covid spreading parties, have provided numerous examples of him disrespecting the man upstairs.
Then there's number 6, Thou shalt not commit adultery better known as the 'locker talk commandment' and 7, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, which condemns lying. All in all, he sort of fails the righteous 'man of the year' He's gone big on Godly law breaking.
All of this aside, it is interesting to see that human nature is the same today as it's ever been. A nationalist message resonates well and if you can stir up a tribal frenzy, you are on a winner with certain demographics. It really is propaganda 101 and Trump has adapted it for the modern age. He frequently re-tweets offensive right wing messaging and when challenged, his spokesperson laughs and says 'it was a joke guys, stop taking it so seriously, knowing full well the
base has soaked it up and is ready to run with it It is carefully calculated and very effective..
Whilst I did get some abuse today, I want to give credit where credit is due. I had 2 exchanges which were shall we say, 'intense'. However, I remained polite and respectful, even if sometimes a little dry in my replies. The upshot was, each had a happy ending. They didn't all have the same endings, I was blocked by a couple of people who were getting more and more angry as I had the audacity to inject some humour into what they felt was not a joking matter. The interesting thing about this, was a sort of technical advantage they gain. Their final, often abusive message is sent, then they block. This means they have the last word, as you can't reply. One guy suggested you are getting blocked by people because you KNOW NOTHING. Then I got really paranoid, thinking they were hunting me in packs. The thought of gun toting flag waving cult members with no masks chasing me down is the stuff of nightmares! All done in pursuit of my art.
It really is a fascinating study into human behaviour. I find it a bit like wandering around a neighbourhood, You have the affluent area's, where civility and good grace is demanded, at least to your face, then there are places where you don't want to go at night. The places not even the police patrol, incase you are set upon by thugs and vagabonds. It's quite amusing that the Twitter equivalent of the no go area is the president's Twitter feed, its like a literary East LA on steroids and that's probably being disrespectful to East LA. Abusive lookouts and dissenter hunters patrol the feed, looking to attack anyone not part of the 'Silly hair gang'. ' If you manage to penetrate the outer perimeter of sycophants and Lyndsay Graham, then you are game for the hunters, armed with GIFS with BIG large font slogans, video clips of a red tsunamis etc etc. The good news is that there are also many like me, who like to chip in and keep him honest. How bad is it that this was my Sunday day out?
Time to sign off for the day as I have a banging headache. Let's see what tomorrow brings.