Trump learned two valuable lessons from Putin during their July, 2018 Helsinki summit:
- It doesn’t matter how many votes you get. What matters is who counts the votes.
- If you tell a lie repeatedly and often enough, eventually it becomes the truth.
Trump tried his best to apply both lessons as part of his deadly, failed coup d'état that climaxed on January 6, 2021. Fortunately for U.S. democracy during the 2020 presidential election, Lesson 1 failed when all key Secretaries of State and the Vice President adhered to their oaths of office, even though many GOP lawmakers did not. But Lesson 2 has been a resounding success in the minds of the MAGA cultists – to this very day, they believe “The Big Lie”.
Their belief can drive us crazy. How can they possibly still believe the following:
A. That Trump really won the 2020 election.
B. That it was stolen from him by the Deep State cabal.
C. That many Democrats are pedophiliacs who drink babies’ blood in evil rituals.
D. That the 45th president was ordained by God in Isaiah 45 to remain president forever.
E. That each and every prosecution of Trump and lawsuit against him is politically motivated by the Deep State cabal.
F. That Joe Biden is head of an evil crime family, and his son Hunter is just the tip of the iceberg.
G. That the mainstream media (MSM) are also part of the Deep State cabal, and all you will hear from them are lies, lies, lies.
Those of us afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) can’t possibly see how at least 30% of the voting population could believe such nonsense. How could they be so stupid, we ask. Could that garbage be coming from Fox News, Newsmax and One America News (OAN)?
Nope. It’s reinforced there, but that’s not the main problem.
As I stated previously, Section 230 allows Mark Zuckerberg to maximize his income by allowing the MAGA hordes to convince each other of the truth of A through G and a whole lot more. Lesson 2 is a resounding success within the MAGA silos of Facebook and other social media.
Instead of hating them, instead of calling them stupid, imagine what YOU would do if each and every time you picked up your phone and touched the familiar blue F, much of what you saw were variations of A through G in the form of humorous memes from your family, your friends, members of your church. Eventually, you, too, would believe all that B.S. But you’d have to stay away from the lying MSM, or if you don’t, just stick your fingers in your ears and remember that it’s all a bunch of lies.
If you were immersed in a MAGA silo, I mean REALLY immersed, then I’ll bet that you, too, would succumb. Who wouldn’t?
Okay, they’re not blameless, I admit it. They clearly lack the critical thinking skills that you and I apply to everything we see, hear or read. Agreed.
But there is no I.Q. test required to be able to vote. Just accept the fact that over 30% of the U.S. voting population believes A through G because they’re immersed in those lies day and night. That phenomenon makes Mark Zuckerberg gobs of billions of dollars in ad revenue. Just accept it.
So what can be done about it? Trust me, I hate the thought of Zuck getting even more money as part of the solution, but I propose that the DNC do the following:
- Penetrate the MAGA silos with targeted Facebook ads. It should be precision targeting, aimed specifically at those on Facebook who share memes of A through G. Facebook offers such precision tools to its advertisers.
- History shows that the best way to get someone out of a cult is to have a former cult member gently approach them and help them see glimmers of the truth about the cult’s false beliefs.
- Former MAGA cult members could sheepishly explain why they believed it, and how foolish they now feel for having done so. That such lies are the antithesis of democracy and any decent religion.
Why not political ads about the great economy, low inflation, high employment? None of that matters to voters who truly believe A through G. Save your advertising dollars and spend it in ways to fight those false beliefs. Take it to the source of those lies: The Facebook MAGA silos where the lies fester like pus in a ripe zit. Then squeeze until it pops!
As for TDS, from now on, every time you see a presidential poll number, don’t get angry that so many people could be so blind and stupid. It’s just a natural result of Facebook’s algorithm to maximize Zuck’s ad revenue. Understanding exactly HOW so many could be so stupid takes away the “derangement”.
Congratulations! You’re now cured of TDS! (Results may vary.)