They said Hitler was a joke, look what he managed to destroy.
They say Trump was a joke, look at all the damage he managed to inflict.
Now they say Ron DeSantis is a joke. Some jokes we need to learn to take seriously.
Jen Psaki: Despite being a laughingstock, don’t ignore what DeSantis is actually saying
Jen Psaki breaks down DeSantis’s 2024 launch. Psaki says, “We could spend the remainder of the Republican primary talking about awkward DeSantis moments… but don’t let that distract from what he is actually saying, because that is far more consequential.”
DeSantis makes the MAGA right wing mindset crystal clear: All he has to do is win over 50% of votes in order to take and wield 100% of the power. That’s some serious treasonous crap and many people love it and want to vote for it.
What has the collective we allowed to happen in our American society???
The democracy loving people in America definitely need to get out and vote, and start defending our “Right” to exist, and question the totalitarian tendency of so many of our neighbors. Democracy depends on an informed and engaged citizenry.
I forgot to include Mussolini in my opening, my bad. Since the trump and Mr. DeSantis probably resemble that clown more than Hitler.
But many seem to love it. This morning I saw some headlines about how voters are leaving the GOP in droves, yet doing a little fact checking was very depressing.
Back to the dangers of today’s Republican Party, the special interest group for billionaires, they care not one wit about the notion that the more people vote, the more American we are.
No, instead they are all about limiting who can vote as much as possible. How can I say that?
Psychology can help explain these tense times. Old theories, like motivated reasoning, are more clearly true than ever before. And new work has confirmed that humanity still contains its same base instincts of the prehistoric era.
Consider this a primer. Here are seven essential lessons on the hidden forces shaping our views and actions in the Trump era.
1) Motivated reasoning: rooting for a team changes your perception of the world
2) People who are the most well-informed about politics are often the most stubborn about it
3) Evolution has left us with an “immune system” for uncomfortable thoughts.
4) The argument that’s most convincing to you is not convincing to your ideological opponents
5) Many people seem unashamed of their prejudices
6) Fear has a powerful influence on political opinion
7) Social norms that protect against prejudice can change in the blink of an eye
Further reading: a few more psychology concepts to understand our political age
There are a lot more concepts in psychology that can help us understand what’s going on in the world of politics. Here are a few more worth learning about.
The rise of American authoritarianism: Authoritarianism is a personality trait correlated with fearing outsiders and supporting strong, punitive leaders. Trump tapped into authoritarian concerns, which helped formed his political base.
“Collective narcissism” is a personality trait similar to authoritarianism. Collective narcissists are a group of people who desperately need their group to be admired and validated by others. Collectively narcissistic Americans would feel the need for America to be revered the world over. They would need America “to win.”
Notably, in light of DeSantis’s later professed concern with civil liberties, the order gave the coordinating officer the authority to “suspend the effect of any statute, rule or order that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay any mitigation, response or recovery action necessary to cope with this emergency." In the same document, DeSantis ordered the state’s adjutant general to activate the Florida National Guard “as needed.”*
An NPR report at the time noted that more than 30 other states had imposed lockdowns before Florida did so, and that those orders “affect more than 85 percent of the U.S. population.”
Then his power lust got into his head, now he’s trying to rewrite his own history. The Hill provide a little history fact check:
April 1, 2020: Declares lockdown …
April 29, 2020: Moves to lift lockdown …
September 25, 2020: Ends lockdown …
December 8, 2020: Attends Trump White House summit on vaccines …
April 2021: Gets vaccinated …
July 21, 2021: Praises vaccines, advocates vaccinations …
September 21, 2021: Appoints anti-mandate surgeon general …
Nov. 18, 2021: Signs ban on vaccine mandates …
Jan. 21, 2022: Declines to say if he got a booster shot …
August 24, 2022: Attacks Fauci as ‘little elf’ …
Dec. 13, 2022: Calls for grand jury to investigate COVID vaccine ‘wrongdoing’ …
Jan. 17, 2023: Seeks to make mandate bans permanent …
By Bess Levin
As you’ve probably heard by now, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is a bad man who should not be allowed to make decisions that affect people’s lives. What evidence do we have to back that statement up? Well there’s his bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” law. His absurd crusade to prevent schools and businesses from talking about racism. His bullying of anyonewho disagrees with him. The fact that he thinks it’s fine to treat immigrants like chattel. The list, quite obviously, goes on and on and also includes the fact that he demonizes public health safety measures to score political points and just today announced his intention to criminalize what he alleges is the nefarious pushing of COVID-19 vaccines.
“To prove his point, DeSantis relied not only on Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo—who has regularly shared opinions about COVID-19 and vaccines that fly in the face of medical consensus—but figures like Martin Kulldorff and Jay Bhattacharya.”
Which bring us to the “Great Barrington Declaration,” though after a bit of research, it reminds me of the OISM Petition Project.
Several members of the Institute’s staff are also well known for their work on the Petition Project, an undertaking that has obtained the signatures of more than 31,000 American scientists opposed, on scientific grounds, to the hypothesis of “human-caused global warming” and to concomitant proposals for world-wide energy taxation and rationing.
Image of facility and staff at the so-called “Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine”
I’m hoping my theory about how you can’t be smart and understand economics and be a populist, is correct. The people who see through populism won’t buy it, and the smart people will out-debate them.
Yesterday I heard DeSantis reference the debt-ceiling vote, saying America is on the verge of bankruptcy. That’s the stupid part.
That’s why another impotent hobby horses of mine is that, if we aren’t changing minds, we’re losing.
That and of course, a healthy democracy requires a informed and engaged citizenry.
