Trump supporters demonstrate an “extreme devotion and unwavering admiration for their highly unpredictable and often inflammatory leader” (Azarian). Psychologist Thomas Pettigrew has identified five psychological phenomena that help to explain their behavior. 1. Authoritarian Personality Syndrome. People with this syndrome are submissive to authority, have a rigid hierarchical view of society, resist new experiences, and … Read more
The American public generally doesn’t really know what goes on at a Trump rally. Progressives dismiss them as circuses for lunatics. The mainstream media tend to report only on crowd size and the one most outrageous soundbite of the day. Old-style conservatives excuse the rallies as “just Trump being Trump.” Most people actually pay almost … Read more
It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance. Doctrine and Covenants 131:6 Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear; Doctrine and Covenants 136:32 Simply … Read more
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. Attributed to various people A few months ago, this blog received the comment quoted below. As the administrator of my own WordPress blog site, I did not “approve” this comment to go online for … Read more
An important way to understand Trump and Trumpism is as an assault on reality. At issue is the attempt to control, to own, immediate truth along with any part of history that feeds such truth. Robert J. Lifton The desire to control reality is typical of authoritarianism, religious zealotry, and cultism. If you control a … Read more
I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters. Donald Trump, Iowa, January 23, 2016 Donald Trump’s approval rating among Americans has always been between 37 and 45 percent. Just over a third of our citizens seem to support him no matter what he says or … Read more
Since at least the 1890’s, the phrase “Lies, damned lies, and statistics” has been used to diminish the persuasive value of numbers in an argument. A person who uses that phrase is trying to weaken the persuasive case of an opponent by implying that “statistics” can be found to support any point of view. On … Read more
Charges of conspiracy (“fake news,” “rigged elections,” “deep state”) flow from the Trump White House constantly. They are disseminated by fast, broad-ranging, technologies, facilitated by media co-conspirators, and assented to by elected representatives who know better but remain silent. Today, conspiracism is not, as we might expect, the last resort of permanent political losers but … Read more