Oy vey...WSJ publishes an in-depth look at MAGAts who are addicted to Trump and "attend every rally"

[Miles Archer]

...and I am not behind the WSJ paywall, so here's the Raw Story excerpt:

Trump die-hards follow president from rally to rally to hear him deliver news: ‘How else would I know what’s going on?’

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/trump-die-hards-follow-president-from-rally-to-rally-to-hear-him-deliver-news-how-else-would-i-know-whats-going-on/

The Wall Street Journal has published a lengthy profile of hardcore Trump supporters who follow him around the country to attend every one of his rallies — and it’s filled with horrifying quotes from people who believe every word the president says.

One such Trump supporter is Libby DePiero, a 64-year-old retiree who tells the Journal that she only believes things the president says and attends his rallies so he can personally tell her the news.

“How else would I know what’s going on?” she asked.

And April Owens, a 49-year-old financial manager, tells the Journal that she actually feels addicted to attending the president’s rallies.

“Once you start going, it’s kind of like an addiction, honestly,” she said. “I love the energy. I wouldn’t stand in line for 26 hours to see any rock band. He’s the only person I would do this for, and I’ll be here as many times as I can.”

[Turin_C3PO]

1. Hooked on hate, apparently.

What a bunch of deluded fools!

[Captain Zero]

2. Their neighbors are probably glad they are gone so much.

Makes the neighborhood more peaceful.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. These people are truly lost

They deserve to be ignored. There is no reaching them and any effort spent trying to understand them is folly.

[Miles Archer]

8. For me, understanding cult behavior begins and ends with acknowledging it as cult behavior

Obviously, the analysis and roots go deeper than that, but the simple fact that an individual has surrendered to a cult means that logic and reason may not be the straight line between two points that brings them back. First, you have to accept the fact that they have created their own system of logic and reason that drew them into the cult in the first place. With Trump, it's a black and white decision...accepting him as a dispenser of "truth," in the face of reams of fact-checking that prove otherwise. I see 2020 as an acceptance of somewhere around 40% of the country enthusiastically signing up for four more years of this goon, and the need to focus on the remaining 60%.

That isn't to say cult members are never successfully "deprogrammed"...of course they are. But when it comes to the MAGAts, I don't see that happening before November 2020.

[H2O Man]

40. Valid points.

Well said.

[StClone]

44. MAGAs:Case study in cults

Rich targets for future Thesis or Dissertations in personality of cults, linguistics, authoritarianism and propaganda analysis.

[LiberalFighter]

53. I hope so

And a thorough analysis that is publicized.

[world wide wally]

4. Why is it that Trump and his supporters always have their mouths open?

[Yavin4]

5. How else do you expect them to breathe? n/t

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. How dare that MAGAt on the left co-opt the Cosette image!

[hlthe2b]

12. Yeah. My IMMEDIATE reaction upon clicking on this thread...

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. Victor Hugo must be spinning in his grave.

[lunasun]

7. Fascism is addicting to many Too exciting to just fade away on its own and won't "die out" imo

Rallies are good for the hype and will continue
]https://m.

[Paladin]

9. For the umpteenth time:

If any of you DU'ers have personal ties to these sick trump-worshipping fucks, sever those ties immediately.

The trumpistas need to know that their idiotic political views come with a price. And you'll be much better off, not associating with such morons.

[Miles Archer]

11. Well, my direct tie is my sister, so that won't be happening

We have an understanding...she knows where I stand, I know where she stands, and Trump is never discussed.

She's in her 70s. well past enlightenment. Sometimes love is unconditional. That doesn't mean I support her beliefs. It means that she's my sister. and there will be no severing of those ties. Period.

[lunasun]

15. +1 people can't expect others to resist and speak up while they are silent, carry on and ignore

the trump supporters among them. It doesn’t need to be confrontational but silence is acceptance
At the very least disassociate from the pack
If you wondered what you would have done during Nazi germany or during civil rights and it was keeping quiet to fit in or not make trouble , then think of how your silence makes a difference today

Remember one of the biggest problems was that many didn’t take Hitler seriously
He was considerd a clown
Whether one can admit it or not trump has a following and a lot of propaganda is given to those who are curious
He may sound stupid to you but he attracts the unintelligent and bigots. There are plenty of both in the US
All the radio stations that are broadcasting the same hate message and fb. Think about FOX

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/early-warnings-how-american-journalists-reported-the-rise-of-hitler/254146
Then you had this period after the Beer Hall Putsch where Hitler came out of prison and a lot of people had forgotten about him. After the Great Depression hit, suddenly the Nazi Party became a major contender for power. Yet you had Americans meeting Hitler and saying, "This guy is a clown. He's like a caricature of himself." And a lot of them went through this whole litany about how even if Hitler got into a position of power, other German politicians would somehow be able to control him. A lot of German politicians believed this themselves.

Of course, everyone began to reassess that very quickly after he took power. But some of the Americans were much more prescient -- for instance, Edgar Mowrer, the Chicago Daily News correspondent, kept frantically trying to warn readers and the world, "What he's saying about the Jews is serious. Don't underestimate him

If you look back to the very beginning of Hitler's rhetoric about Jews, it was all there -- the talk about extermination and vermin. He didn't spell out exactly what would happen in the Holocaust, but he gave a pretty good indication of its overall thrust.
When someone lobs those kinds of rhetorical bombs, it's sort of a natural human tendency to say, "Oh, that's just a figure of speech. They don't really mean it. It's just a way to whip up supporters.

[pangaia]

23. WHERE are our candidates on this?

I don;t follow that closely?
Does ANYBODY say what is really happening right now?

[Takket]

10. Love how that guy in the picture is wearing the Cosette shirt from Les Mis

He’s such a great American! Probably has no clue he’s wearing a French girl

[pwb]

13. Paid attendees ?

.

[Poiuyt]

14. Don't these people have jobs?

[RhodeIslandOne]

16. Look at the two fuckwads in the picture

‘Nuff said.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. "Once you start going, it's kind of like an addiction, honestly," -- well, it's certainly some form

Last edited Fri Sep 6, 2019, 05:03 PM - Edit history (1)

of self-abuse.

[luvtheGWN]

28. "It's an addiction". Yep.

Same reason thousands of people go to the evangelical mega-churches.

[Aristus]

18. Get a job, you losers...

[Bengus81]

20. Hitler had lot's of followers also...............

I's sure they tried for every speaking engagement he did and hung on every word.

[OMGWTF]

21. Dead Heads

[mr_lebowski]

30. No ... can't appropriate that one in this case ...

That's sacrilege ... though I understand what you're getting at ... it can't be done.

[denbot]

45. More like "Death-Heads".

There, I fixed it for you.

[muntrv]

22. Hope April Owen's loses a whole bunch of accounts.

Would not want her to be my financial manager.

[NightWatcher]

24. Time to buy some cheap acreage down in Guyana

[mr_lebowski]

33. You're alluding to the opposite politics, unfortunately ...

Jones was a left-wing demagogue, the members were all peace and love types.

Jones himself became more a paranoid abusive fascist Manson type (and likely always was), but the original Jonestown plan was an idyllic liberal hippy commune type of deal ... or at least that's what members thought.

[NightWatcher]

34. Both promised populism but were run by unruly authoritarians

Manson was a hippie...until he was the leader of a death cult.

Sell them what they want, then change it for the needs of the ruler.

[mr_lebowski]

54. The Trump cultists want exactly what Trump is selling, and what he's selling is who he really is ...

UNLIKE the Jonestown people, that's my only counter to your point, otherwise, yeah ... we're for sure dealing with unruly rulers and a cult-situation across all three given examples.

The way so many people are given to falling in line (and even giving their lives) for charismatic leaders who tell them what they want to hear/believe is truly disconcerting to me when it comes to the future of humanity.

[calimary]

25. I hope nobody's taking April's financial advice.

[kimbutgar]

26. I kept thinking this for some time it's the same people who attend his rallies

Like grateful deadheads.

[dem4decades]

27. Now that college is back in session will they still have time to go to the rallies?

Just kidding.

[lunasun]

31. They will be meeting with their turning point USA groups on campus recruiting and ratting out any

liberal teachers and confronting groups like BLM on campus
Plus some will have a pt job
Wiki
Each of Turning Point's paid workers is supposed to meet a quota to make at least 1,500 student contacts per semester.[17] Student volunteers have several different themes for promoting conservative ideas, including "The Healthcare Games", "Game of Loans", and "iCapitAlism
Turning Point USA is pro-military and pro-police.[19] It supports the NRA and the use of fossil fuels,[20] and opposes groups such as Black Lives Matter.[21]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA
They are in HSs too

[NellieStarbuck]

29. Sad, sick 'n' stupid.

[Brainfodder]

32. Trogs gotta trog?

Zero credit given, scorn well earned.

[usaf-vet]

35. If you know these two idiots avoid them at all cost. Someday their heads will explode.

Decades from now people will still be pointing at them and either LOL or snicker at their stupidity.

[JDC]

36. Bigly Losers.

[H2O Man]

37. Recommended.

You are correct in calling it "addicted." It is brain chemistry, the seeking of the temporary "feel good." We need a Nancy Reagan to tell them to "just say 'no"."

[dchill]

38. "How else would I know what's going on?"

This is SOOOOOO beyond helpability.

[LudwigPastorius]

39. They're all dead inside.

...looking for that authority/daddy/messiah to fill their inner void.

These are the people who would joyfully round up and kill their neighbors if Trump told them to do it.

[amuse bouche]

41. I can't stand looking at him and you couldn't pay me to attend one of his noxious events.

[moose65]

46. Agreed! Puke!

I can't imagine going to see him over and over and over again. Ugh. He's so repulsive and I can't stand the sound of his voice. I will never, ever understand his "appeal."

[stopbush]

42. Imagine what it's like to keep your racism bottled up for 30 or 40 years

and to then suddenly have a POTUS who is as openly racist as you have been covertly racist.

What a relief it must be to not only finally feel free to be openly racist, but to attend rallies surrounded by your fellow racists, to listen to a racist POTUS and to know that you and he have the full support of the racist Republican Party - and soon, the judiciary - all the way up to and including the SCOTUS.

[wryter2000]

43. I wonder

What the average IQ in that crowd is

[keithbvadu2]

47. Would believe Trump over Jesus for credibility...

Would believe Trump over Jesus for credibility...

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/11/21/trump_voter_if_jesus_christ_came_down_from_the_cross_and_told_me_trump_was_with_russia_i_wouldnt_believe_him.html

About 2:55 on the timeline.

"Let me tell you," he continued. "If Jesus Christ gets down off the cross and told me Trump is with Russia, I would tell him, hold on a second, I need to check with the president if it is true. That is how confident I feel in the president."

?t=170

[progressoid]

51. Frightening.

[jmbar2]

48. They remind me of the Walking Dead

What will happen to them after Trump? Will they go into withdrawals, or stumble around, arms outreached for another racist nutbag to latch onto?

We'll need to learn how to herd them

[keithbvadu2]

49. Many thousands (millions?) of republicans are wearing red hats that say America is not great.

Many thousands (millions?) of republicans are wearing red hats that say America is not great.

In great big letters.

Ask them what countries they are going back to.

What countries are they going back to?

[bucolic_frolic]

50. Lemming Dementia

A cult of personality

[kentuck]

52. Traitors all !

Witting or unwitting? What does it matter?

People's lives are not for their entertainment. This is not The Apprentice. This is not WWE.

This is sick and unexcusable.

They can all go to hell !

[IcyPeas]

55. he is a d-list celebrity

he is on the Apprentice. he's a star.....

[COLGATE4]

56. Gives new meaning to the term "slack-jawed idiots"