I used to dog very hardcore Bernie supporters a bit for tying their identity too much to a politician.
I would like to take this time to formally apologize to anybody I even thought that about. Clearly I did not understand what true fanaticism looked like.
Dude Bernie was chill as fuck and his supporters some of the nicest most intelligent people I’ve been around.
Then came the astroturfing shitheads - a mixture of chapotraphouse tankies and right-wing operatives trying to wedge-drive. This worsened a lot for his 2020 run.
But skip the online games and go to any of his rallies and it was a good message not full of hate but of love and working together. Our identity was always that; it’s just that for once we felt represented.
I remember going to one Bernie March and one of the guys next to us, an older guy, he was just so positive and full of genuine energy. Inbetween chants we chatted. Very welcoming, way more understanding of the conservative opposition than I’ve ever been - very “They’re in a bad place, and their views are bad, but mostly I feel bad for them, and think we need to help them find their way left.”
As someone who grew up in a very conservative area, my cynical-ass position was (and is) more “They’re beyond saving; ignoring them is the kindest thing we can do”, but I found his sincerity very touching. Lot of little moments like that during campaign events. Lot of people who really wanted to make the world better, and probably have made the world better just by their honest efforts.
As someone who grew up in southern Louisiana it is very difficult to find that compassion, no doubt. I try and sometimes I do alright but man…I’ve seen some true cruelty down here.
Ah I’m frustrated I forgot to hit send on my message to you and lost it when my phone updated lol.
To summarize, I come from the idyllic Republican — perhaps MAGA — roots: Rural Appalachian Christian conservative; my family voted for Bush Jr., in his first time; they marched at pro-life rallies. Guns 'n all. For a couple reasons we as a family were able to perform a complete 180 from those days for a couple unique reasons. Generally I attribute the change to three things: (1) The Wild West of the Internet. At the time, echo-chambers weren’t established so you were exposed to a wide range of viewpoints that opened our minds. (2) Iraq echoed the Vietnam war, for which my dad was heavily-invested in his hippie days. The parallels helped shatter the Republican indoctrination. (3) My mom homeschooled us but put a massive emphasis on empathy, and eventually the dissonance became too strong in the Republican party. Since then we became non-religious and voted Democrat every election.
So I appreciate that man you encountered, because my family is living proof people can change. It’s just harder today. The propaganda is so incredibly strong…
Anways, I try to tell people if you’re looking for fear and rage Republicans may be for you; but if you’re looking for love and solidarity, I think you can find that among people who gather around folks like Bernie. Follow the love.
This can’t be real. What a fucking loser.
Supposedly as he held the sign he yelled this: “Look at what they’ve done to your son God!”
These are the people who are now, seemingly unironically, wearing diapers to rallies.
Because Trump wears diapers, and libs made fun of this, so … if they wear diapers its … owning the libs?
…
I have a degree in poli sci.
While at a larger level I can understand how a society slips into fascism, at the granular level, I stopped attempting to understand the individual seemingly constant state of delusional psychosis caused by the amount of cognitive dissonance needed for half of what these morons do.
For me that moment came 3 years ago when I attempted to convince my dad that no, no Tom Hanks is not a pedophile satanist who is part of a grand conspiracy.
It didn’t work.
They started wearing diapers to prove that Trump is a big strong man, at this point I’ll believe anything.
this is not reported as fact by any legitimate media outlet i can find and the images purporting to feature Trump wearing diapers were faked.
careful what you post and upvote just because it matches your perspective, else we end up no better than the “they’re putting litter boxes in the schools” crowd.
What?
Hilarious because Mother Theresa was actually a hypocrite POS who let people suffer and then agreed to treatment with modern medicine that she denied to those in her care when she got sick
The MAGA cousin of
