MAGA vs. America First

[Pototan]

Too many pundits use MAGA and America First interchangeably. I don't see that. Let me give you my opinion of both these movements.

MAGA is made up of MAGAts. MAGA is whatever Trump says it is. If Trump changes his position on an issue, so will they. MAGA is a personality cult. They are for Trump and whatever he says that day.

America First dates back to before WWI and gained its greatest fame prior to WWII, with antisemitic, Nazi apologists like Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh and Father Coughlin. It is an isolationist position. Those in this group, like Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes and others really fall into the original founders' vision of this movement. They aligned with Trump because he mouthed the same rhetoric as they did. Trump now has betrayed this group, which probably includes J.D. Vance and Tulsi Gabbard. Although they remain silent to save their jobs, the others have become outspoken critics of Trump.

So, to summarize, MAGATs are neo-Nazi cultists who follow Trump wherever he goes, and the America Firsters are neo-Nazi isolationists.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Both are un-American traitors to American values, history, and morality.

[Roy Rolling]

2. Yes

MAGAts.

It all about projection.

I’m definitely not laughing with them.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Think back to 2008 when Chris Matthews had on Michele Bachmann on HARDBALL.

Talking about then candidate Barack Obama on being "Pro-America or Anti-America".

I am of the opinion that most Americans understand what it means to love this country. What it means to them to hear the National Anthem. To pledge allegiance to the flag. To want what is best for this country and the opportunities it fosters. The pride taken in hard work and accomplishment, knowing that all will be well in the end.

The MAGA and America First movements forget that.

[Martin Eden]

4. Sad to say, I've lost faith in "most Americans"

I was crushed when GW Bush was elected to a 2nd term, then 2016 & 2024 destroyed what little faith I had left. 2020 was only a momentary reprieve.

Far too many citizens are ignorant of history, constitutional government, and the highest ideals of our nation's founding.

Far too many don't make an effort to be better informed of these things, are easily fooled by disinformation, or don't even bother to vote.

I'd like to think that younger generations will do a better job, but my wife was a public high school teacher for 30 years and bemoans the short shrift given to civics and how disinterested most young minds are in such things. Online culture dominates, which is a horrible source for molding future leaders.

Meanwhile, our media landscape is increasingly owned by billionaires aligned with the growing autocracy / oligarchy / fascism of the current regime -- as are the titans of the tech world who own the vast data centers of AI.

Can winning the midterms, or even the presidency in 2028, substantially change this paradigm? The voting public is fickle, has a short memory, and is easily fooled. They will always have grievances, and rightly so. Repairing the extensive damage caused by the current regime will take a long time. Dissatisfied and impatient, they can be swayed to vote for the party that caused the damage in the first place.

Sure, Trump’s approval rating is shrinking, but that will not translate into a long term embrace of Democratic efforts to fix what is broken and build a more sustained democracy that better serves the American people.

I used to be an optimist, but have always strived to be a realist. Perhaps my current view is colored by these dark times, but I just don't see the foundation of good citizenry necessary to effectively turn things around.