America is exhausted.

[kentuck]

We see it everyday in the reports of people losing it over whether or not to wear a mask? They are videotaped in the big stores and markets across America as they empty their frustrations upon those they disagree with. Most of the time, it is those that say they are Trump supporters that are "losing it". They are losing their "freedoms", they say. They refuse to wear a mask.

For too long, they have been faking it. In the polls, they say they still support their President. But, one has to wonder from their actions if they are being totally honest with the pollsters? They are barely holding on to the rope. Their anger and frustration does not bode well for the Republicans in the next election, in my opinion.

The lies, the deceit, the division, the partisanship have all taken a huge toll on the American people. We see it all around us.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. I'm proud to be the first person to recommend this post.

I have to believe your median voter regardless of his or her ideology isn't tired of all the drama.

[2naSalit]

2. They are losing it...

in part, because they are losing. They sold their souls to the devil and now he is showing them what they must do and still, never get "it" back. So they will be taking it out on everyone else because they didn't get their way, we wouldn't let them. Retaliation is inevitable, because they are also stupid.

[kentuck]

3. I agree that is a very big part of it.

They cannot fathom losing. It is turning their entire belief system upon its head.

[2naSalit]

5. That really is the root of it.

At this point they could almost be categorized as the TV believers, people who have been conditioned to believe what they see on the teevee as gospel truth. I encountered one once, she came to live in our little mountain town and I attempted to befriend her at first but quickly became a non-option as she was too much of a high-maintenance acquaintance, specifically believed reality shows, pretty scary after I realized this. Serious into religion but could only quote bible verses to answer any questions and said that gawd would do the thinking part so it was okay to be stupid.

[Butterflylady]

9. Absolutely, they know he's losing

So their going to let their hate flow now because they don't know what else to do.

[Scarsdale]

16. Just like their bloated orange

"hero" they refuse to accept the fact that they are WRONG. He is the one they should be mad at, not fellow citizens who are all suffering from his ineptitude. How many people will lose their homes, vehicles etc because of this jackass? It is heartbreaking to see the long lines at food banks. Ivanka should visit some of them, give out her sage advice about "finding some other type of work". Stupid bitch is as brain dead as her useless daddy.

[ThoughtCriminal]

30. The liberals were right again - about everything

and they can't stand it. Better to even serve in Hell than admit that they were wrong - again.

They sold their souls to feed their hate and have nothing to show for it.

[BigmanPigman]

4. They have an unlimited supply of anger

to feed on. Fux Ruse and the Right-wing media has plenty of hate to keep them going.

[DIVINEprividence]

6. I think you may be on to something

I think having the pandemic explode in all these red states (entirely predictable) has thrown the MAGAts into a tizzy. Having someone’s delusions destroyed by reality is a traumatic experience.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. He who can read the MAGAt psyche and target their vulnerabilities

will help save America. Neuter their anger, wake them up, numb them, do whatever you can. Demoralizing the opposition is also a strategy, and they must be angry and tired of reading the polls and watching the news. When reality doesn't mesh with Trump's reality they are fed, it must be mentally exhausting. This is the landscape. Paint it blue!

[sop]

11. The Lincoln Project is deprogramming MAGATs. The process can be mentally exhausting.

[lagomorph777]

15. I doubt any MAGATs (with a single exception) are seeing the Lincoln Project ads.

They are tightly targeted, and they do seem to be taking a toll on Trump's ability to keep it together in public. No doubt even worse behind the thick walls of the White House.

[usaf-vet]

22. Put Diazepam in the drinking water. Up the dose, until the anger is tempered & reality has a chance.

This is not going away for years even if Trump is defeated and jailed. He/they have changed the psyche of the country.

We will see in the rest of the world when Covid-19 has a vaccine and reliable contact tracing that those communities will go back to pre-Covid -19 conditions for the most part.

But unfortunately, America won't be so lucky MAGA has left serious scars on us that won't simply fade away.

I hate to generalize but anyone who bought and wore a MAGA hat or shirt has the deepest scars. All that they hated about their life hasn't been fixed and won't be fixed by Trumpism. THE HAVE SWALLOWED HIS LIES. Hook, line, and sinker and the fishermen say.

[bucolic_frolic]

25. Hopefully they will turn against each other and leave normal people alone

But how?

[usaf-vet]

27. I always thought we should re-implement the draft. Two years minimum. Like Israel.

I always thought we should re-implement the draft. Two years minimum. Like Israel. Teach respect for self and country.

Everyone should be required to serve. PERIOD.

Then college or whatever.

I know I'll hear a thousand reasons why not. BUT I'm not talking combat arms. I talking about community/government service.

There was a joke when I served in USAF 1965-1969. It went something like this. "when you get out at least you will know what you don't want to do for the rest of your life."

There would be far fewer MAGA hats for 18-20-year-olds.

We would IMHO have fewer wars. EVERY MOTHER, FATHER, AUNT, UNCLE, BROTHER, SISTER, BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND would be in the street YELLING NOT with my loved ones.

YET if we were attacked Pearl Harbor and 911 (I purposely left out the Gulf of Tonkin) the lines would be long with patriots will to fight if necessary.

Well, tell me why it's a bad idea.

[Boomer]

8. The GOP has been trading on fear for decades now

People are becoming unhinged because the GOP has been triggering their fear response year after year until their emotions have completely overwhelmed any intellectual reason.

Anyone who was barely coping before is now in full-blown crisis.

[crickets]

23. This sums it up beautifully.

It's not just the true believers that have to listen to the fear sirens year after year. Even if we don't buy in, we're also getting dinged with it. As kentuck said, everyone is exhausted. Core GOPers are finally just losing their minds all around us. Oof.

[Lonestarblue]

10. I'm not sure Trump supporters believe they are losing.

A relative in a ruby red state is convinced that Trump will be reelected. She’ watches only Fox, wears no mask, and believes the coronavirus is not very serious. Does Fox share the results of current polls with its viewers? It might share their own polls online, but fewer of its television viewers will go there.

I don’t watch Fox, so I don’t know whether they’re covering the extent of the virus accurately. If they’re still downplaying it, at least some Trump supporters may not know how bad it is and may think that Trump is in good shape to be reelected because he tells them that he's done a great job and the virus is disappearing. It’s hard to believe that people are still in the dark about the virus, but it’s possible.

The depth of anger about wearing a mask is surprising. The anger is there even when Republican governors mandate mask wearing. The anger may come from those who do know that the idol they worship is being toppled. With these folks, it’s just hard to tell because their thinking seems fairly warped.

[Empowerer]

12. I know I am

[gab13by13]

13. The mask thing I compare with smoking.

We had a debate for a long time propped up by the tobacco industry whether smoking was even harmful. People finally agreed that smoking was harmful. Smokers complained that they had the freedom to smoke, so people were given the freedom to smoke. Then studies came out that 2nd hand smoke was just as bad as smoking. Now people lost their freedom to not smoke when they went out to restaurants and other places that were full of smoke. So smoking was then banned in "most" places. So now people who smoke are just killing themselves and not non smokers. The problem with the non mask wearers is that they are killing other innocent people, we just can't see the smoke.

[flibbitygiblets]

17. I've been thinking about that.

Watching Bill Nye demonstrating how much air can/cannot get through various types of face coverings made me wish there were a PSA showing something akin to a "black light" that illuminated human breath expelled into a room, so even stupid people could SEE microdroplet particles and finally understand.

Conversely, cigarette smoke can easily be smelled, and most find that smell offensive. And as you mentioned, the science has been available about 2nd hand smoke for decades. Once these two factors were in play, the general public (in the US anyway) got onboard with eliminating smoking in public spaces. (In other countries, it can be shocking to try to eat in a restaurant, however. Smokers are much more apt to just do their thing. I'll get back on that rant if I'm ever allowed to travel again...)

[crickets]

24. You're right. If someone sane in the WH admin wanted it to happen, for instance

a competent surgeon general, we could have had a series of short PSAs running on all TV channels 24/7, showing people this very type of thing. It could have been done from very early on, and we'd have skipped most or all of this mask nonsense. There could have been early versions with quick and easy ways to substitute others means for masks, including how to make them, while there was a shortage.

Everyday people like you and me can think this through - there's no excuse for the incompetence at the top. None.

[csziggy]

26. Thanks for mentioning the Bill Nye interview

Here it is:

And another one:

[ThoughtCriminal]

31. And I remember how much many die hard smokers whined

About the restrictions. The language is almost exactly the same.

I some places it took many years to get indoor smoking banned.

[TexasBushwhacker]

32. And bars and restaurants complained that they would go out of business

if they couldn't allow smoking.

[lagomorph777]

14. The anti-maskers have plenty of energy for tantrums; they don't look exhausted to me.

But they do seem desperate for validation of their mythology. Frankly, I hope they all die soon.

[aggiesal]

18. I believe that the "people losing it" are the ones exhausted, are all Pendejo45 supporters and ...

they are really upset that the current poll numbers are showing Pendejo45 losing BIG!

Pendejo45 is their reason, their purpose to show who they really are (i.e. Racists) and losing in November means that they will have to retreat to their closet and suppress their true self.

There might be some violence/tantrums around Nov 4th or Jan 21st, but it will subside and they will march back into their closet. Every now and then, coming out to commit something stupid like yelling at someone for not speaking English, or flashing the WP hand gesture, but that will eventually die down as well.

When they were their MAGAt hats, they will reveal themselves, over and over and ...

[wnylib]

19. If you see the nation and world through their eyes,

you can understand their emotional and psychological state now.

Since childhood they were told that America is the greatest because of Puritans who fled Europe for (Christian) religious freedom, then rebelled against Britain for political freedom. No one else was in the picture for them except for "dangerous heathen Indians" that they defeated and rebellious Black slaves that needed to be controlled for the safety of society after they were freed. Later waves of European immigrants assimilated after hard struggles. Their understanding of US history is naive and juvenile. To them, George Washinton most certainly did chop down a cherry tree and confess to his father because he was so honest and pure.

For decades now they have been told by RW politicians and pundits that THEIR America has been under threat from people who are not part of that scenario and therefore not "real" Americans. They have accepted fear of "the other" as a sign of patriotic defense of American values. They have learned to consider all political views outside of their own as unpatriotic. They indescriminately use labels they don't understand because their view lumps all "bad guys" together as one, whether communist, socialist, fascist, atheist (or wrong religion), global economist, etc.

Whenever there is social unrest, economic hardship, or now, a pandemic threat, their leaders demonize the political opposition and/or socioligical "other" as the cause.

As the pandemic and economy worsen, they suffer like the rest of us. But they blame "the other." And then "the other" stands up for their own rights in demonstrations across the nation and around the world. And then, by God, white folks join 'em and agree with them and talk about changing "honored" institutions.

To them, it is Armageddon for sure. End of Anerica. End of the world. They must take a patriotic stand for all they believe in before it is all lost. Defy orders of all kinds. Liberty is at stake. Liberty means individuality. Social responsibility in a pandemic is, to them, the opposite of liberty. It is socialism and the erosion of American values. This means carrying arms in self defense against the socialists who tell them to wear a mask.

Their whole world and simplistic ideology are crumbling and they are terrified. They will consider it an honor and duty to oppose us by any means possible.

[Boomer]

28. +1

Well said.

[ehrnst]

20. Trump supporters owe absolute fealty to their candidate. They think "He is us, we are Him."

To criticize or disagree with him on even the smallest thing is to betray a "movement."

He can do no wrong, even when he does, he's excused because "he speaks for us who have no real voice in the establishment, so you can't hold him to establishment rules.He transcends the establishment, and will "destroy it and rebuild it in the name of those of us who have been kept down. He is angry on our behalf, and sacrifices so much, so we have to support him no matter what. Those who don't understand him are corrupt and hate what is good for us who he defends. What is good for his political fortunes is therefore good for the country, and anything that isn't is harmful to the very idea of democracy."

The cult of personality will keep on perpetuating itself no matter what. His infallibility and need for complete devotion has become dogma.

[hay rick]

21. Lies are corrosive.

Many Republicans are lying to pollsters but also constantly lying to others and themselves. Yes, they are frustrated and exhausted by constantly having to mouth support for someone they despise as a person. We are also exhausted by our exposure to an endless stream of sewage emanating from Trump, his enablers, and supporters.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. Caroline Myss says that liars don't heal.

Your body knows when you are lying.