I was listening to a podcast yesterday about a man with autism who is in prison for life. I was lamenting how terrible it is that he is in hell for the rest of his life, when the direction of my mind was changed. Said man is a racist Trump supporter. He literally said we need a bully in the whitehouse.
Here’s the thing. No matter who you are, you don’t deserve the life conditions we subject maximum security prisoners to. Our prisons are the clearest a reflection of us as a brutal society than almost anything else. And yet… once I knew this man was a Trump supporter, I stopped being able to feel much sympathy for his plight.
Trump is the personification of a society that is drawn to extremes and wants the world to be dualistic. Them and Us. When I was younger, I generally had a preference for one candidate over another, but the idea of the other guy winning didn’t really bother me.
But these days we have pushed ourselves into corners and Trump takes full advantage of the boxing ring mentality with all of his ridiculous blathering, making sure everyone finds their corner and fights it out.
He is a product of us, all of us. Even those of us who think he is a diarrhea stain on the planet’s backside. Because we want to feel that there is a THEM. And that means that there should be no way to sympathize with THEM. No middle ground, no way they are like US. And Trump plays into that American Mentality quite well.
He is running a reality show not an election. He’s working people’s greed and hate and fear so that he can be the last one standing. I hope there is still enough sanity in America to flick him out onto the side of the road like a used cigarette butt, but I’m not going to stop worrying about it until he’s part of the litter in the gutter.
It's a Thought 
He is indeed running a reality show. How he has sold himself as the champion of the common man when his history defines him differently is the biggest con since The Wizard of Oz. We just need more people looking behind that curtain.
“Now, Mr. Trump tell me again why you are on trial for misrepresentation of Trump University to seminar goers and students?” asks the DA in a real trial, the first of three, that will occur after the election, regardless of whether he wins or loses.
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The classic is that so many of them say things like “He tells the truth”. I will say he is a gifted conman.
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Confirmed 75 % plus rate of lying would disagree with those folks. But, think about his he makes money – using his name to exploit people in a variety of ways.
True story Oprah was approached by her publisher to sell her subscription list to other sellers. Even though she would have made money, she declined as that would not be fair to her subscribers and her name was important.
Donald Trump sells his name to developers sometimes, even though he is not involved to woo buyers. In other words, the developer is exploiting the buyer with Trump’s name. Using these two stories, which person has the most integrity?
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Imagine what he would do the world if got elected. With that kind of slimey attitude he could really reek havoc.
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There is so much going on behind the rise of the extremist beliefs that is fueling what’s going on with the GOP, the tea party, etc. You are very right about this us versus them attitude. If you look at the rise of other extremist groups, one of the tactics they use again and again is creating a scapegoat, a person or group of people who are blamed for everything that’s going wrong.
The most obvious example of this is the Jewish people. But the scapegoats have also been immigrants of sorts, unions, ethnic groups… the list is almost endless.
It’s attractive for a lot of people, scapegoating. It gives them a convenient target, a tangible reason for all of the things they feel are going wrong with their lives, their society. It gives them a simple solution to their problems. It’s THEIR fault. All we have to do is restrict their rights, throw them out, put them in jail, execute them, get rid of them somehow, and all the problems will go away.
In the past it’s been the Jewish people, or the Germans, or the Italians, or the Irish, or whatever immigrant group happens to be in the news or has been selected as a target for whatever reason. Hispanics and Muslims just happen to be the most visible target at the moment.
The whole us/them thing… I think it exists because people want a simple solution, a ‘magic bullet’. Social problems are complex, and have multiple causes.
I also think a large part of it is a refusal of people to believe that they themselves might be part of the problem. If you look at the ‘solutions’ politicians offer to problems, they never, ever accept the fact that they themselves and the people who support them are often at least partly responsible for the problem. It’s always someone else’s fault.
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I thought the people (AKA scapegoats) were the people who actually liked and bought Peeps — surely they play a huge role in what’s going wrong with the U.S.! 😉
http://www.peepsandcompany.com/brand/brands/peeps
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You are so right. The human desire for a simple answer is definitely part of the root of this problem.
The scapegoating is a terrifying trend. Especially when you consider the atrocities humans have perpetrated on scapegoats in the past.
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I guess from your last “boob” post, you went onto another “boob”! 😉
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so true.
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Coming (now) from the land that birthed Hitler, I should probably be careful about what I say here. Your title is so right – “we made him”. But you can also “unmake ” – something the Germans and Austrians failed to do. The key is speaking out! – yelling! – blogging! – resisting! – protesting! – doing exactly what you are doing! Just not resigning yourselves or worse yet, accommodating. Nothing is inevitable.
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I certainly hope you are right. I feel like he is riding the train of people just giving up. A huge number of republicans have done that its making me sick.
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It is because the don’t really understand fascism and their own complicity. What is important now is that no “critical mass” evolves that makes Trumpism self-perpetuating.
Resist!
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Oh. I am going to resist. Possibly annoyingly.
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You’re right that we are all part of the problem, because I find myself seething with as much hatred toward Trumpeters as they proclaim against muslims, hispanics, women, etc. I somehow feel like my hatred is justified but you are absolutely right that the solution has to start with less hatred all the way around. Still…I am terrified for our country and for the world.
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