The Nihilism of MAGA World

[Celerity]

The president said something frightening and true. Joe Biden’s “Soul of the Nation” address got at a cold and disquieting truth: The MAGA movement cannot be placated, reasoned with, or politically accommodated in any way. There is nothing its adherents want—and nothing anyone can give them—beyond chaos and political destruction.

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/the-nihilism-of-maga-world/671355/

https://archive.ph/VPZRt



Soul Sickness

Joe Biden’s address to the American people last week was, as I wrote at the time, necessary and right. The staging was bizarre, and the speech had some of the hallmarks of a group product that hadn’t been subjected to a final spackle-and-smooth by a chief writer. But Biden got one big thing right, and that one thing explains why Donald Trump and the MAGA World apologists are reacting with such fury. The president outed them as anti-American nihilists:



This, as Biden pointed out, is what makes the MAGA movement so dangerous. It has no functional compass and no set of actual preferences beyond a generalized resentment, a basket of gripes and grudges against others who the Trumpists think are looking down upon them or living better lives than they are. It is a movement composed of people who are economically comfortable and middle-class, who enjoy a relatively high standard of living, and yet who seethe with a sense that they have been done dirt, screwed over, betrayed—and they are determined to get revenge.

Biden broke with tradition by saying what presidents are never supposed to say: He admitted that he was finally giving up on trying to accommodate a group of Americans, because he understands that they do not want to be accommodated. I know that some of my friends and colleagues believe that Biden, as president, must continue to reach out to MAGA voters because they are our neighbors and our fellow citizens. (The former GOP operative and my fellow Never Trumper Tim Miller made this point just this morning.) My instinct is to agree with them. But how do we reach those voters? These citizens do not want a discussion or a compromise. They don’t even want to “win,” in any traditional political sense of that word. They want to vent anger over their lives—their personal problems, their haunted sense of inferiority, and their fears about social status—on other Americans, as vehemently as possible, even to the point of violence.

snip

[czarjak]

1. But, my feelings?

[rubbersole]

11. Your feelings were addressed by the flag on the back of the truck at Walmart.

[hatrack]

2. This. Precisely this.

Last edited Thu Sep 8, 2022, 11:23 AM - Edit history (1)

Trumpers are the Elephant's Foot. They're a toxic heap of lethal radioactive waste that melted and dribbled down into the subbasement before assuming its present form. This was the aftermath of an artificially induced rage explosion that built up between 2008 and 2016. The resulting explosion dusted half a continent, inducing hate-cancer in many of its inhabitants.

[Harker]

6. Is that a mop to the left?

If so, that's an iconic image of futility.

[hatrack]

13. Probably a pipe or maybe some monitoring equipment . . . .

I don't think anybody would bother exposing themselves to 5-minute lethality for the sake of housecleaning.

[Harker]

17. The early days were full of horror stories, so I was unsure.

I suppose there are plenty of modern horror stories, too, come to think of it.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. Joe hit the nail on the head

There is no reaching these people, they are anti American and anti Democracy. Biden and the rest of the country are done coddling them. What Biden must do now, is show the rest of the 75% of the country that it's OK to shun this group of people who would end our Democracy.

[Meadowoak]

5. +1

[Mysterian]

4. Deranged cultists who will follow their glorious leader right off the cliff

And drag the rest of us with them - if we allow it.

[Gaugamela]

7. Violence is their agenda. Cruelty is their ideology.

These militia types and MAGA loons don’t care about abortion or healthcare or the free market, they just want permission to riot in the streets. We need to start confronting them, as Biden did in his democracy speech, provoke them and flush them out so law enforcement can round them up. If the police won’t do it then Biden should federalize the national guard. And the orange slob at MAL needs to be incarcerated. It’s way past time to take the fight back to these goons.

[TheBlackAdder]

8. Where have I seen this before?

.



.

[Wrestlefire769]

9. They must kill us to save America.

Some of us actually realize this.

Some of us higher on the list are terrorized by this nihilism every day.

It literally is like the old Looney Tunes situation. They would rather rule a decrepit shard of a planet than even share that planet with everyone else.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-big deal."

[keithbvadu2]

10. Those millions of republicans want an authoritarian gov't but they mistakenly think they will be the

Those millions of republicans want an authoritarian gov't but they mistakenly think they will be the few thousand elites actually in charge.

Those millions are useful tools for those who will actually be in charge.

One poster called it a 'new social feudalism age'.
-----------------------
Same/same for those who want our country to be Christian run.

[Jade Fox]

12. Author Tom Nichols can always be counted on......

to deliver the goods.

I haven't heard the word 'nihilism' used in awhile, but it's perfect for MAGAs -- they believe in nothing. They are just pissed off, miserable, and want someone else to fix their lives.

[Samrob]

15. Wonder why Trump never held a rally at Mar-a-logo for his beloved MAGAs??? nt

[FakeNoose]

16. None of this matters ... as long as Democrats VOTE!

As long as we Democrats vote - and get others to vote - we'll win every election.
None of this other crap even matters.