Terrific, educational post, thank you!! You've covered so many intriguing and compelling points. One view I took on early in this disease process of our polity, is that these magats are just a more dangerous incarnation of the suckers who have succumbed throughout our history to the snake oil salesmen who have appeared in politics, economics, basically every realm of american life. What has been so demoralizing and despicable is the number of people who willingly thought that all the awfulness publicly known and subsequently revealed was acceptable 'enough' to continue the allegiance, to keep feeding their addiction to the spectacle, the reality tv show sick pseudo reality, even to their own stupid detriment. I have lost a lot of faith in the american public. I'm furious and pissed off as f#ck. It's like we've been taken over by demented spoiled children who don't have the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions on others. And now it's begun to bite them too.
I hear you loud and clear, Philip....and you’re right...this is the oldest story in America dressed up in a louder...uglier costume.
The snake oil has always been there...con men promising miracle cures...miracle profits... miracle politics. The difference now is that the huckster has reality TV reach and a party infrastructure behind him.
What’s demoralizing isn’t just that people bought it...it’s how many decided they liked being lied to...as long as the lie made them feel powerful. That’s the addiction. The spectacle.
And as you said...it’s eating them alive too. Their towns are hollowed out...their health is wrecked...their futures dimmed...but they keep cheering because the show must go on.
The fury you’re feeling? It’s not wasted. It’s fuel. It means you haven’t surrendered to numbness. That’s what keeps us dangerous to them...the refusal to just “accept” the con. And that’s why we’ll keep calling it out here, week after week...until the snake oil dries up and the carnival finally collapses under its own rot.
We lefties are much to blame. We took education and jobs away from them and then expected them to behave in the educated way that is born of affluence.
The republicans have built a cognitive warfare machine. Basically they have a network of misinformation spreaders and amplifiers. It is on X, but also outside. I asked ChatGPT to build and network diagram of this (with foreign influences) and it did. MAGA Cult Slayer on X has multiple network diagrams of the X cognitive warfare machine. This is how they will continue to control the masses after Trump is gone. Democrat don't have this.
You’re absolutely right, Charli....they have built a cognitive warfare machine. It’s not an accident. It’s been methodically engineered over years...fed by foreign amplification...and scaled on platforms like X. That’s why even after Trump is gone...the noise doesn’t just evaporate...it lingers like smoke.
But here’s the distinction: the machine can pump out messages...but it cannot replace the magnet. Trump is the magnet.
He fuses those disjointed lies and amplifications into a single rallying cry. Without him... the network becomes what it was before: chaotic...fragmented...loud…but far less effective at converting anger into unified action.
And you nailed the other key point: Democrats don’t have a parallel system.
They’ve never built an ecosystem of amplification with the same relentlessness...the same shamelessness. That means one of two things: either we let ourselves keep playing defense...or we learn to build our own “counter-machine”...one rooted in truth...clarity...and the discipline of repetition.
The Republicans have a noise cannon. Trump is the one who turned it into a marching band. When he’s gone...the cannon still exists...but it won’t have the conductor. That’s when cracks in the machine become opportunities…if we’re smart enough to seize them.
One person once suggested watching to see how the situation plays out. Maybe that person had a greater understanding all along than mine, yet along the way of the situation, I feel it is necessary to help our country as is possible, and to try to lessen or eliminate any harm if possible. It is important that we all keep learning as well as caring.
Would that have been James Carville? I think it was something like, "sit back and wait til the Republicans just fall apart". He was applauded by some- but others who had their fingers in the bigger storm decried this, but like so much else last year- and this one, and probably the next few- no one really thought they'd pull it off.
Randy, I’m so sorry that happened to you or to anybody. Some things cannot wait, and although sometimes the urgency is obvious, there are times when it is hard to know if or when and how to act. Still other times we might know but are unable to take any action. Because our circumstances can and do vary to extremes and not uniformly, we cannot expect everyone to think or behave in the same way. Sometimes experience shows us that. However any situation happens to be for each person, I hope for the best outcome, and I hope that I can make decisions as needed and have the ability to take the right steps.
Knowledge along with the understanding of it is often crucial. Yet we can have something happen with no noticeable or recognizable symptom at all. We never know for sure how our own situations will go. All we can do at any point is our best for the moment based on whatever knowledge and resources we have. May everyone be safe in this and other situations, and may we each do the best going forward from whatever point we find ourselves. Best wishes to you!
To continue the metaphor: they caught it in time, unlike what has happened to us. I was hoping otherwise. (And thanks for your comments, much appreciated.)
My main concern is Miller and the other people with brains and hideous plans to destroy the government. They have already done quite a lot. Even with no figurehead, they will continue to manipulate elections and everything else for the benefit of the oligarchs and billionaires. 👹
“MAGA is not a factory that can crank out interchangeable strongmen. It’s a one-man show. A cult of personality glued together by one man’s unique blend of celebrity… grievance…and circus-barker charisma.”
Nicely done Jack. You wrapped it up and tied it in a nice bow!…:)
“It’s unsustainable without a living leader to direct it.”
For now:
Is it possible the living leader (or living cabal / agency) is off-shore? Is it possible the ‘transaction’, if there is one, is (almost) complete? Is the USA being sold?
Jack, what a wealth of understanding you have shared! Thank you immensely! Some of it is predictable, but not all of it, and playground aspects anyone might understand or have seen in other situations, though to a far lesser degree, seemed only a shadow of a hint, I believe, because of all of the far reaching hatreds, the deaths and extremely horrific abuses we know of through news if not encounters, and possibly because of the shock factor which seems incomprehensible and unbelievable, yet which becomes more tangible daily as it spreads, and as horrific threats increase in unfathomable directions.
I would like to suggest the idea, may none of this following of negative emotional contagion ever happen again, anywhere, yet I realize that just as human nature is for people to be compassionate and to have the will to help people, to do what is right, and to care, there also is a dark side to human nature, as we can see. Can it ever be redirected in a being’s early years? There are plenty of situations in which nurturing parenting, and in which parenting by discipline have made no difference, so I wonder much after all of my decades of trusting in the goodness of humankind. Is there a cure for such hateful character traits or personality traits of spite, of craving for attention and ownership, all to the detriment of anyone or any group, according to the person’s whims?
In the adulthood of a current life of observation, I see no chance of change. In a child with such tendencies, I wonder, and I ache for any good parent who is given such a blow as a hateful, greedy, cruel child, and for any society afflicted by such traits forced upon it.
Your message of today is a treasure to review periodically, as well as one to keep in mind. Each of your messages is valuable and one to keep in mind. This is another one with extreme impact. Thank you so much, Jack. You make such a difference, and that is a gift to us all.
Awesome article! I do think he will die. He is not at all well. The pressure of the Presidency is intense a man half the age of Trump would be stressed. The job ages people fast. My guess is he won’t make it another 6 months. I think that we can always make lemonade out of lemons. Out of this catastrophic presidency a transformation will occur. Most of the country now sees the danger of loosing our democracy. If Trumps approval rating is 27% the most of the country is not behind him. I think after he exits we will become a much stronger democracy. People will wake up and honor our constitution. That is what I am creating.
And when politics stops being entertaining…many will disengage. They won’t vote. They won’t donate. They’ll drift back into private grievance instead of public mobilization.
I worked the 2020 election... You would not believe how many old farts proudly this was there 1st time voting while wearing their MAGA hats. Most also asked if they had to fill out the whole ballot or if they could just vote for Trump and be done.
Excellent article Jack! I enjoy the psychological breakdown. Looking forward to the fractures & splintering of this cult.
Terrific, educational post, thank you!! You've covered so many intriguing and compelling points. One view I took on early in this disease process of our polity, is that these magats are just a more dangerous incarnation of the suckers who have succumbed throughout our history to the snake oil salesmen who have appeared in politics, economics, basically every realm of american life. What has been so demoralizing and despicable is the number of people who willingly thought that all the awfulness publicly known and subsequently revealed was acceptable 'enough' to continue the allegiance, to keep feeding their addiction to the spectacle, the reality tv show sick pseudo reality, even to their own stupid detriment. I have lost a lot of faith in the american public. I'm furious and pissed off as f#ck. It's like we've been taken over by demented spoiled children who don't have the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions on others. And now it's begun to bite them too.
I hear you loud and clear, Philip....and you’re right...this is the oldest story in America dressed up in a louder...uglier costume.
The snake oil has always been there...con men promising miracle cures...miracle profits... miracle politics. The difference now is that the huckster has reality TV reach and a party infrastructure behind him.
What’s demoralizing isn’t just that people bought it...it’s how many decided they liked being lied to...as long as the lie made them feel powerful. That’s the addiction. The spectacle.
And as you said...it’s eating them alive too. Their towns are hollowed out...their health is wrecked...their futures dimmed...but they keep cheering because the show must go on.
The fury you’re feeling? It’s not wasted. It’s fuel. It means you haven’t surrendered to numbness. That’s what keeps us dangerous to them...the refusal to just “accept” the con. And that’s why we’ll keep calling it out here, week after week...until the snake oil dries up and the carnival finally collapses under its own rot.
-Jack
We lefties are much to blame. We took education and jobs away from them and then expected them to behave in the educated way that is born of affluence.
How did we take education away? How did we take jobs away?
The republicans have built a cognitive warfare machine. Basically they have a network of misinformation spreaders and amplifiers. It is on X, but also outside. I asked ChatGPT to build and network diagram of this (with foreign influences) and it did. MAGA Cult Slayer on X has multiple network diagrams of the X cognitive warfare machine. This is how they will continue to control the masses after Trump is gone. Democrat don't have this.
You’re absolutely right, Charli....they have built a cognitive warfare machine. It’s not an accident. It’s been methodically engineered over years...fed by foreign amplification...and scaled on platforms like X. That’s why even after Trump is gone...the noise doesn’t just evaporate...it lingers like smoke.
But here’s the distinction: the machine can pump out messages...but it cannot replace the magnet. Trump is the magnet.
He fuses those disjointed lies and amplifications into a single rallying cry. Without him... the network becomes what it was before: chaotic...fragmented...loud…but far less effective at converting anger into unified action.
And you nailed the other key point: Democrats don’t have a parallel system.
They’ve never built an ecosystem of amplification with the same relentlessness...the same shamelessness. That means one of two things: either we let ourselves keep playing defense...or we learn to build our own “counter-machine”...one rooted in truth...clarity...and the discipline of repetition.
The Republicans have a noise cannon. Trump is the one who turned it into a marching band. When he’s gone...the cannon still exists...but it won’t have the conductor. That’s when cracks in the machine become opportunities…if we’re smart enough to seize them.
-Jack
I am hoping the Universe does us a solid and takes him out in the middle of a gaggle of reporters.
Excellent analysis! The one thing the Orange Idiot does not realize is that God does let pedophiles into heaven!!!
And I forgot to thank you, Jack. This is heartening. And since I’m smack outta ice cream, you’re all I’ve got. 😉
Cherae Stone, thanks for the chuckle and the smile. Now I am wanting ice cream but will settle for yogurt.
I did find yogurt, but there’s no appropriate fruit. Blech.
I have been saying this for a long time. I’m glad to see it in print and fully explained.
GAWD, please hurry it up.
It ought to be amusing to watch when he goes and JD crumbles.
One person once suggested watching to see how the situation plays out. Maybe that person had a greater understanding all along than mine, yet along the way of the situation, I feel it is necessary to help our country as is possible, and to try to lessen or eliminate any harm if possible. It is important that we all keep learning as well as caring.
Would that have been James Carville? I think it was something like, "sit back and wait til the Republicans just fall apart". He was applauded by some- but others who had their fingers in the bigger storm decried this, but like so much else last year- and this one, and probably the next few- no one really thought they'd pull it off.
Randy, thanks for sharing. It was a voter who is not publicly known who made the comment.
Guess it was a more common strategy than I realized. Oh right, it's like waiting to see how melanoma plays out. I did, and it was really ugly.
Randy, I’m so sorry that happened to you or to anybody. Some things cannot wait, and although sometimes the urgency is obvious, there are times when it is hard to know if or when and how to act. Still other times we might know but are unable to take any action. Because our circumstances can and do vary to extremes and not uniformly, we cannot expect everyone to think or behave in the same way. Sometimes experience shows us that. However any situation happens to be for each person, I hope for the best outcome, and I hope that I can make decisions as needed and have the ability to take the right steps.
Knowledge along with the understanding of it is often crucial. Yet we can have something happen with no noticeable or recognizable symptom at all. We never know for sure how our own situations will go. All we can do at any point is our best for the moment based on whatever knowledge and resources we have. May everyone be safe in this and other situations, and may we each do the best going forward from whatever point we find ourselves. Best wishes to you!
To continue the metaphor: they caught it in time, unlike what has happened to us. I was hoping otherwise. (And thanks for your comments, much appreciated.)
My main concern is Miller and the other people with brains and hideous plans to destroy the government. They have already done quite a lot. Even with no figurehead, they will continue to manipulate elections and everything else for the benefit of the oligarchs and billionaires. 👹
“MAGA is not a factory that can crank out interchangeable strongmen. It’s a one-man show. A cult of personality glued together by one man’s unique blend of celebrity… grievance…and circus-barker charisma.”
Nicely done Jack. You wrapped it up and tied it in a nice bow!…:)
I’ll have to read this a few more times.
You wrote:
“It’s unsustainable without a living leader to direct it.”
For now:
Is it possible the living leader (or living cabal / agency) is off-shore? Is it possible the ‘transaction’, if there is one, is (almost) complete? Is the USA being sold?
Jack, what a wealth of understanding you have shared! Thank you immensely! Some of it is predictable, but not all of it, and playground aspects anyone might understand or have seen in other situations, though to a far lesser degree, seemed only a shadow of a hint, I believe, because of all of the far reaching hatreds, the deaths and extremely horrific abuses we know of through news if not encounters, and possibly because of the shock factor which seems incomprehensible and unbelievable, yet which becomes more tangible daily as it spreads, and as horrific threats increase in unfathomable directions.
I would like to suggest the idea, may none of this following of negative emotional contagion ever happen again, anywhere, yet I realize that just as human nature is for people to be compassionate and to have the will to help people, to do what is right, and to care, there also is a dark side to human nature, as we can see. Can it ever be redirected in a being’s early years? There are plenty of situations in which nurturing parenting, and in which parenting by discipline have made no difference, so I wonder much after all of my decades of trusting in the goodness of humankind. Is there a cure for such hateful character traits or personality traits of spite, of craving for attention and ownership, all to the detriment of anyone or any group, according to the person’s whims?
In the adulthood of a current life of observation, I see no chance of change. In a child with such tendencies, I wonder, and I ache for any good parent who is given such a blow as a hateful, greedy, cruel child, and for any society afflicted by such traits forced upon it.
Your message of today is a treasure to review periodically, as well as one to keep in mind. Each of your messages is valuable and one to keep in mind. This is another one with extreme impact. Thank you so much, Jack. You make such a difference, and that is a gift to us all.
Awesome article! I do think he will die. He is not at all well. The pressure of the Presidency is intense a man half the age of Trump would be stressed. The job ages people fast. My guess is he won’t make it another 6 months. I think that we can always make lemonade out of lemons. Out of this catastrophic presidency a transformation will occur. Most of the country now sees the danger of loosing our democracy. If Trumps approval rating is 27% the most of the country is not behind him. I think after he exits we will become a much stronger democracy. People will wake up and honor our constitution. That is what I am creating.
This part:
And when politics stops being entertaining…many will disengage. They won’t vote. They won’t donate. They’ll drift back into private grievance instead of public mobilization.
I worked the 2020 election... You would not believe how many old farts proudly this was there 1st time voting while wearing their MAGA hats. Most also asked if they had to fill out the whole ballot or if they could just vote for Trump and be done.
They won't be back.
I just took advantage of your Labor Day yearly lifetime discount! I love your posts and hope this country’s future is righted at some point soon.