Chaos and mistrust are the two most powerful tools at work inside MAGA right now. Chaos, a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order, is the norm right now. Lies are the very heart of this chaos.
Remember the words of Hannah Arendt?
“This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong. And such a people, deprived of the power to think and judge, is, without knowing and willing it, completely subjected to the rule of lies. With such a people, you can do whatever you want.” -Hannah Arendt
As lies multiply, the result is not that the lie is believed, but that people lose faith in the truth and are increasingly susceptible to believe anything. The lie leads to cynicism.
Lies are now a constant key feature of Trump’s campaign (along with his word salad unintelligible rantings), as well as J.D. Vance.
Texas leadership is no stranger to the lie game. Texas newspaper, Nacogdoches’ Daily Sentinel regrets endorsing Greg Abbott, ten years ago , calling him the Disrespecter-in-Chief of Texas.
Nevada’s Tina Peters was recently sentenced to nine years in prison for her deceptive actions and lying attempts to influence the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump.
They’re all chaos agents who want to destroy systems, not improve them. Not to serve the people, but to destroy the systems and institutions our democracy depends on.
The worst coterie of recent lies involves FEMA aid and Hurricane Helene. Trump and the MAGAts are bellowing how the Federal Government is doing nothing to help the displaced and dead in the Asheville region. Claims of the stacks of unrecovered dead bodies proliferated on social media—all lies. MAGA falsely claims we don’t have enough money for recovery and that Biden gave money to Ukraine and immigrants instead. Ironically, this was projection on Trump’s part since he DID take FEMA money for immigrant purposes. There were direct quotes from Republican governors that FEMA assistance was more than adequate, but many citizens don’t believe this—they adamantly cling to MAGA falsehoods.
Go right back to Arendt—with the proliferation of so many lies, no one believes anything anymore. Trust is gone and replaced with mistrust.
This is intentional. This is planned. It’s a strategy.
Elon Musk is the most prolific producer of lies of all MAGAts. Both Rolling Stone and the Atlantic claim he is the mogul of misinformation. AND he has a broad audience with 6.1 billion visits a month.
Is there a solution to all of this? Anyone who tells you a solution is simple, doesn’t know that much about it. I’ve maintained that philosophy for a long, long time.
Remember to vote EARLY!! As early as possible…It is no exaggeration to say this election is the most important election of your life.
In these times, nothing is predictable, and it could be a real event like Jan. 6, or it could merely be another lie or a rumor that might prevent you from going to the polls.
Words of inspiration count for a lot to inspire comfort and certainly; allowing us to “keep our heads” and cling to reality.
When I think of the philosophy of “cooler heads prevail”, I think of Rudyard Kipling’s words in his timeless poem, “If”.
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you…
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools…
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a man, my son!”
Hang on, kids.
