The thinner the skin, the thicker the armor. Remember “The Force is strong with this one?”
A similar realization crosses my mind when I discuss certain issues with Perryville MAGA people:
“The cult is strong with this one.”
When MAGA people bring up politics, I’ve discovered it’s not to discuss or reach any truths.
If they are uncertain of my viewpoints, they send a probe, invariably consisting of assigning blame to some group—immigrants, liberals, the media, Biden, Obama.
If they know my political perspective they present with some bold and ridiculous statement — “America has never been stronger” or “The world finally respects us.”
I’ve realized they have been spoon-fed so much misinformation that only a trickle of any accurate information they have been exposed to is so rife with rhetoric that it is rendered opinion.
They have identified so profoundly with their ideology that they are no longer individuals capable of independent thought.
“Fit to be packed by the gross” as Henry David Thoreau put it.
Talking to one MAGA is the same as talking to any other MAGA.
Introducing new facts has no effect—the glassy-eyed acolytes are impervious to reason.
Intellectual honesty has been wrung dry by Tiny Hands and tiny minds.
The fundamental and conscious ability to understand their own character, thoughts, motives, feelings, and behavior (basic self-awareness) has been suppressed to the point that any consideration that perhaps they may be in error, that their judgment has been compromised, is met by simply shutting down, throwing stones, then disengaging.
I never hear “I didn’t know that,” or “Well, that changes things,” or “Let me do some research, and I’ll get back to you.”
Rather than taking advantage of an opportunity to prove, in some measure, that the capability of independent thought still exists, when their worldview is credibly challenged by any heretofore unknown information or actual reasoning, there, for the briefest of moments, a completely blank, expressionless face appears.
After the shutdown and reboot, the condescension and insults begin.
My favorite insults are ‘narcissist’ and ‘liberal.’
‘Narcissist’ because it’s pathetic and laughable to see someone who is literate and has such easy access to knowledge, come up with a slur that cannot withstand the thinnest slice of consideration for accordance to reality.
And ‘liberal’ because if they look at the Liberal Party USA platform, it’s highly likely that they agree with and share nearly all of same views on government reform, criminal justice reform, social reform, election reform, individual rights, economics, and foreign policy as liberals do.
The difference being, the Liberal Party’s approach doesn’t include cruelty or robbing their fellow humans of dignity.
Liberals hug; MAGA loves to shove.
And if they have mustered the courage to read through this, they will feel uncomfortable.
But never fear, to shift back into their comfort zone all they have to do is find one, just one other cult member and exchange a few bumper-sticker grunts to find the bliss of ignorance once again.
Paul Flentge
Gallatin Gateway, Mont.
