I realize that thinking is hard, and some people would rather not do it. Take for example Republicans. They want Biden to fail. And that's as far as their thinking goes. If he doesn't contain the coronavirus and end the pandemic, Republicans win. Therefore, don't get vaccinated. Get sick and maybe die instead. Thinking sure is hard, isn't it?
Thinking is hard for me, too. On one hand I don't care how many Republicans die. Many of them were once my classmates, my colleagues, my relatives, and who knows what all. I know from a moral standpoint, I really should care about them, but I know I don't. Republicans want to replace our very feeble democratic form of government with their version of fascism. Maybe I'm prejudiced. Maybe I watched too many WWII movies with all these good guys beating Hitler's bad guys, but I just can't see fascists being better at running the country than people chosen in fair elections.
I never understood the fascination with Trump. Nobody ever offered a rational excuse for his popularity. He was a steaming pile of shit long before his popular TV show. Recently I was reminded of the best explanation for how Trump came to be revered by certain people — I know I shouldn’t call them morons — by
George Lakoff in 2016 during the campaign.
One of Lakoff’s key quotes from the article concerned the right wing’s (and Trump’s) view of winning:
Why does Donald Trump publicly insult other candidates and political leaders mercilessly? Quite simply, because he knows he can win an onstage TV insult game. In strict conservative eyes, that makes him a formidable winning candidate who deserves to be a winning candidate. Electoral competition is seen as a battle. Insults that stick are seen as victories — deserved victories.
Consider Trump’s statement that John McCain is not a war hero. The reasoning: McCain got shot down. Heroes are winners. They defeat big bad guys. They don’t get shot down. People who get shot down, beaten up, and stuck in a cage are losers, not winners.
Then a few days ago Jonathan Chait in New York Magazine provided us with four things, arranged as Trump’s hierarchy of needs:
1. To be treated as a winner
2. To pal around with celebrities
3. To not be laughed at
4. To gain the specific approval of Tom Brady
“Aha,” I thought upon reading the last one, “This may be all that is needed to ‘destroy’ Trump.” Remind him at every turn that Tom Brady thinks he’s a loser. Trump has been able to toss all the others who have deserted him under the bus, but his gigantic man-crush on Brady may bring him down at last.
Being jilted by his one true love at a time when many of his lackeys and loyal followers are having the scales fall from their eyes may be all it takes to make the Orange Turd crawl in a hole and die.
Trump can never admit that he’s a loser...unless...unless he can be reminded daily of Tom Brady’s laughing at him at the White House.
Come on, media, remind Trump that Tom Brady thinks he’s a loser. It’s pay back time for his calling you traitors.