Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away . . . And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:3,11)
Millions and millions of MAGA Republicans have come under a strong delusion, believing that the twice impeached ex-president Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election. Many residents of MAGA (Make America Great Again) World think Trump is actually still the president; that he is actually controlling the military.
Recently, Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper went to a “Trump Rally, Not a Rally” to interview Trump’s most avid supporters. Listen, laugh, and weep.
We are at a dangerous point in American history. Millions and millions and millions of Americans believe things that are not true. From Trumpism to QAnon to Creationism, large swaths of our country have bought into lies. And don’t think for a moment that if Trump isn’t the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, we are out of the proverbial woods. Candidates such as Ron Desanctimonous DeSantis, Mike Pompeo, and Nikki Haley are hardly any better. If anything, these candidates are even more dangerous. They don’t have the temperamental problems that Trump does, yet they are every bit as racist and bigoted as the ex-president. One need only watch what is going on in Washington D.C. with Republicans to see Christian nationalism and white supremacy on full display. My God, congressmen are espousing racist, bigoted, homophobic beliefs and conspiracy theories right on the floor of the House of Representatives. It is hard, at least for me, to see a better tomorrow in the short term. I fear our Republic is hanging by a fraying thread.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Disgusting 🤮 comment deleted.
I fear the same. And people who live surrounded by more liberal and diverse people don’t get how bad it is. I have a ghost of a hope that things won’t get much worse, which still isn’t great.
LOL! I loved the video.
The things people believe. A good military a d a bad military. Telling Putin to knock it off without committing to nukes or troops. While these particular people are sad and laughable, yoy are dead-on correct about DeSantis, Haley, Pompeo, and the others being more dangerous because they are actually serious and know how to get things done beyond mean tweets and rallies.
I wonder if the “rally” was downgraded to a “special VIP event” because no one showed and it needed to be spun differently for optics because Trump’s base has become distracted and couldn’t be bothered to turn out.
The video was rally, rally good!
Seriously–I think what Obstacle says in her second paragraph makes sense: Trump is all about spin.
If DeSantis, Haley or Pompeo wins the GOP nomination over Trump, I wonder whether their–or Trump’s–supporters will convince themselves of the same sort of fantasies they express in the video in support of their candidate. Knowing what we know, it’s simply not possible to support any of them–or almost any other Republican–without engaging in some willful cognitive dissonance.
Check this out: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2150599/-Satanic-Temple-opens-telehealth-abortion-clinic-and-names-it-after-Samuel-Alito-s-mom?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Right on! I randomly came upon your blog a few hours ago and have been unable to break away since lol. Reading your writings has in many ways been just like reading my own, and I can’t even begin to express how incredibly liberating, inspiring and refreshing it is to realize that there are in fact other like-minded people out there whose sentiments echo my own on just about every conceivable issue to date. Sharing seemingly identical views, however, is not of any significant value to me and it is not what has kept me reading essay after essay all night long. What I find so incredibly amazing is how upon the first five minutes into reading your words, I immediately knew beyond any doubt that I had just entered into a realm where for the first time in all 50 years of my life, I feel completely comfortable being not only my true self, but my ENTIRE unapologetically true self without any fear of judgment or criticism or ridicule. As a mixed race, gay, super liberal civil rights activist, black history scholar, gospel singer yogi agnostic athiest, my identity might seem to most an unabridged jambalaya of contradiction and intersectionality. The human embodiment of chaos, as my friends lovingly refer to me (well, at least I hope lovingly lol). Anyway, there is so much I wish to say however Ive already babbled well over what is generally considered appropriate and havent even touched on my reactions to this particular essay. Suffice it to say that as an historian of the black diaspora currently under attack by DeSantis and the entire Republican party in their crusade to CRIMINALIZE the teaching of black history as a FELONY, I am right with you 100% on your assessment of the GOP.. Thank you for making me feel that my life may still be of some value in this not so very nice world.
Welcome to the best blog on the Internet, William.
I second what Merle said! 🙂👍
Karuna and Merle—I agree!
A-woman, brothers and sisters!
Yes,I enjoy the blog,new posts especially,and check it out every day. Never a dull moment. A lot of us have Post Traumatic Church Syndrome,you know. So it’s nice to be able to talk about these things,and have someone ” who gets it” to recount our experiences to ! I find Bruce’s writing style to be very evocative. A real ‘ you are there’ feel to his life events as he describes them.