"...the first rule of MAGA is to never, ever, under any circumstances, admit that liberals might be right about something."
People in cults stay in them for the same reasons. So many times, they were told they were wrong, that they couldn't take the embarrassment of making such a mistake.
Maybe MAGA people need to be coddled a bit. Tell them that Trump changed towards the end. They were right, but he betrayed them in the end. Something else should be tried. Many of these people are dangerous in the mental state their in.
Maybe. But this just kicks the can down the road. They'll do the same shit with a new messiah figure as soon as they find one that can string two words together and make them feel like they're virtuous for their hatred.
Ultimately, it's because we let them get away with a literal civil war. Here in 2023, almost every protection put in place after the civil war has eroded to nothingness, and they/their ancestors weren't held accountable, and have been allowed to lie a false narrative into being for almost two centuries.
They've told us they still view this as a civil war. I wonder when enough normal people will believe them.
Mollycoddling them is what caused the problem in the first place. They need to be forced to accept responsibility for the choices they made even if it hurts them. Them entrenching themselves out of embarrassment is a moral failing on their part, not ours.
The only solution is the California model: vote them into powerlessness. They'll never change. Just leave them to their impotent rage while the rest of us move on.
You forget that California actually allows for a fair amount of direct democracy - the South will cling to Republican government and will fight any movement toward direct democracy and ballot initiatives because every effort to appeal to their base would be defeated.
True but if we get enough dems in office, we naturally progress towards stronger ballot measures. We can't do anything while Republicans are in office.
And it will take some bizarre set of circumstances to ever get the GOP out of state office because they have gerrymandered everything to fuck, and the rural base is seemingly forever captured by the GOP, and the states' supreme courts are GOP, and ...
I frequently fantasize about Canada, where the assholes are fewer in number. Though I was recently in upstate New York and I realized how much I fucking miss the Northeast.
I hear you, but the black community has been saying the system is rigged (regardless of who wins) for far longer than nearly anyone else. I don't know how you go from massive disengagement to engagement given the levels of distrust that exist. Or how you get black politicians elected to office outside of statewide office or city government. The youth vote decided to suddenly show up, but it's not enough by itself.
It was never, ever, about "economic anxiety". It was about hurting the right people, and they didn't care if they had to suffer too as long as the right people suffered
He pretended to want to help them during his campaign. They fell for it and just ignored all facts and evidence since. Doubt they're going to see the light.