CommentsMY TURN-“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” -- George Orwell.
The moment that these words appeared, the internet exploded with Orwell’s quote. Reporters, journalists, and news anchors began talking about the sick and twisted philosophy of Trump and his supporters and the fact that they are emulating a cult. Of course, his supporters, in their drooling, dreamy brainwashing, are not only not familiar with the famous quote, but have no idea who George Orwell is.
The general public may be outraged, but it’s the cult of Trump that continues to bleat the same forms of propaganda that was seen in pre-World War II Germany, with supporters who were blind to their own idiocy.
We can blame sources such as Fox/Breitbart/Sinclair for feeding the cult the kind of information that they want to hear. Rachel Maddow, of MSNBC referred to this practice as “deliberate trafficking in unreality,” and the world looks on in horror, wondering when/if the American people will stand up…or not.
In an MSNBC article they state:
“The White House hasn’t exactly been subtle about its vision: Don’t trust news organizations. Don’t trust the courts. Don’t trust pollsters. Don’t trust U.S. intelligence agencies. Don’t trust unemployment numbers. Don’t even trust election results.
The list, however, keeps growing. The FBI is suspect. So is the Justice Department. So are climate scientists. So are medical professionals who aren’t comfortable with regressive GOP health care plans.
The authority for truth will tell us what’s true. Others are not to be trusted.
Adding insult to injury are those who volunteer to go along with these tactics. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), the chairman of the House Science Committee, advised Americans last year ‘to get your news directly from the president. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.’”
Trump is Emulating Hitler’s Philosophies and Actions
Yes, you might already be rolling your eyes and complaining that the comparisons between Hitler and Trump are overdone. However, the truth of the matter is that when it comes to the topic of fascism it can never be considered “passé.” This is as serious and dangerous as it gets and if the American people to wake up and recognize what is going on, it may be too late.
A Business Insider article quoted an interview with one of Trump’s ex-wives when she stated that he kept a copy of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside. As we watch his interaction with world leaders, we see that he demeans our allies and praises dictators. He and his supporters scream “fake news” while Hitler yelled “Lugenpresse” (lying press). Hitler blamed other cultures and religions for all of their problems; beginning with the Jews, then the gypsies, then the media, then the intellects and finally anyone that disagreed with him. Trump started with Mexicans, then Muslims, then immigrants and now wants to punish anyone that disagrees with his version of a false reality.
The list of comparisons is quite extensive and the fact that the Republicans aren’t standing up to the travesty and destruction of their own Party, proves that they are spineless. Their fear, like that of many cult leaders, is that Trump’s retribution and vindictiveness will destroy their own personal careers. Each one remains silent for fear that if they speak up they will be personally burned at the stake.
I cover the topic of Trump and his dictatorship dreams in my 3-part article series: “Is The Trump Administration a Fascist Regime?” Each of the characteristics of fascism are examined in-depth, offering a comparison of actions between what Hitler and the Nazis accomplished and how Trump and the Republicans are repeating history.
But cults don’t arise overnight; they must be carefully cultivated. Hitler had a perfect breeding ground with post-World War I anger and resentment. The German people were crushed and wanted someone to blame as well as seeking a new leader, and the formula was there for the taking. With 21st Century America, Reagan vetoed the “Fairness Doctrine Bill” which then allowed the creation of a propaganda channel for the conservative right from his friend Rupert Murdoch. The Trump cult followers are typically ignorant of how and when they have been brainwashed, and I cover the entire conversation in my article: “How Fox Brainwashed Conservative America,” in which I explain how dictator brainwashing works:
While people of all ideologies enjoy hearing validation of their personal beliefs, conservatives are the least likely to want to hear anything that contradicts them. There is also a kind of brainwashing aspect that occurs in hearing a lie repeated over and over again. I address this topic in my article: “Supporting Trump: The Psychology of the Lie.”
“To find out why so many lies have become not only acceptable but completely believable by the Trump supporters, you have to delve into how our brains process lies. This is explained in a NYMag.com article:
‘Upon first hearing a lie, your brain must accept it as truth. Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert has theorized that to do the work of separating truth and lies, our brains first must accept the false statement as if it were true; otherwise, it’s impossible to engage with it. ‘For instance, if someone were to tell us — hypothetically, of course — that there had been serious voter fraud in Virginia during the presidential election, we must for a fraction of a second accept that fraud did, in fact, take place,” [psychologist, Maria] Konnikova explains. ‘Only then do we take the second step, either completing the mental certification process (yes, fraud!) or rejecting it (what? no way).’
If you hear a lie often enough, it starts to sound true. According to what’s called the “illusory truth effect,” the more you hear a false statement, the truer it starts to sound. This is even true when you should know better. In a fascinating, if disheartening, 2015 study, researchers showed that if people repeated the phrase ‘The Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth’ enough times, the Atlantic Ocean did indeed begin to seem like the largest ocean on Earth.’
‘A constant stream of lies becomes so mentally taxing that your brain gives up. ‘It’s called cognitive load,’ Konnikova writes, meaning that “our limited cognitive resources are overburdened.’ Lie detection is difficult work, and your brain can only handle so much.’”
Why His Cult Isn’t Stepping Back
Once an individual buys into the values (or lack thereof) of the cult belief system, they are hooked. Like an addictive drug, they are continually fed reasons and explanations as to why extreme actions are taken and given a twisted rationalization for validation. There is a progress of steps, each one being more extreme, until it crosses over their own personal barriers and becomes enmeshed as part of the whole.
A Pacific Standard article entitled: “A CULT EXPERT FINDS FAMILIAR PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR IN TRUMP’S GOP.” What do you call an organization where total loyalty to a charismatic but volatile leader is strictly enforced?
“Last week, retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) openly worried that his party was ‘becoming a cultish thing’ marked by forced fidelity to its mercurial leader. While he’s not the first to make the point, his insider perspective carried considerable weight.”
The article continues with:
“I think he has touched on something important,” says scholar and author Janja Lalich, who has extensively studied the phenomenon.[sic] ;I think there are plenty of similarities — enough to be concerned about.’
She continues: ‘The people around Trump, and the Republicans in Washington, absolutely kowtow to him, either out of fear they’re going to anger him, or out of adulation. That behavior is very typical of a cult.’
Polling suggests the party has been shrinking, and its remaining members are solidly behind Trump, giving him a remarkable 87 percent support in a recent poll. Even the policy of separating immigrant parents and children, which directly contradicts the traditional conservative belief in the sanctity of the family, was supported by more than half of Republicans before Trump rescinded it under pressure on Wednesday.”
Additional important information from this article:
“I think you have to look at the effect of Trump’s behavior and language on his base. He readily ridicules and chastises people. He readily pushes people aside if they’re not worshipping him. We’ve all seen the videos of his aides praising him to high heaven. That’s the kind of adulation cult leaders expect and demand.
Are the big rallies he held during the campaign, and still conducts periodically, an important way for him to bond with his followers?
Yes. Cult leaders constantly need to rev up their people. That’s one of the challenges of being a charismatic leader. You have to keep people enchanted with you. [sic] Him holding these rallies is both a recruitment technique and a way to keep his followers happy.”
Cults must be continually fed a diet of propaganda, and this is where Fox, Breitbart, Sinclair and their ilk come into play. Every single person that works at these sources are completely aware that what they report is based on lies. They buy into it, make money from it and are active participants in the brainwashing process. This onslaught of misinformation, redirects and false accusations about liberals covers the gamut from everything from the ridiculous to the bizarre. In reality, these channels are of course not “news” but instead tools to crush any democracy and replace it with a fascist regime.
I include a detailed explanation of who and what the cult supporters are in my Article: “Trump Supporters: Today’s Nazi Brown Shirts.”
“To comply with the base ideology that anyone that wasn’t of the ‘white race’ wasn’t ‘pure’, Hitler needed a group to enforce his laws. At that time, Germany was filled with a population that had lost a war and was feeling angry. They also had a large number of former soldiers that were trained and Hitler took advantage of both the hate and despair and formed the Storm Troopers. This situation offered a dual purpose in accomplishing Hitler’s goals and giving the soldiers as sense of national pride.
It should also be noted that Hitler supported a “Christian” doctrine, and the first groups of people that he and his brown shirts attacked were non-Christians.
This Will Not End Well
The main problem with the Trump cult is that they are not being exposed to the realities of the truth. Their version of existence is in the propaganda that they are fed. Making any attempt to offer them facts, fact-checking or an alteration of their perception is an exercise in futility. They simply will not accept anything that goes against their doctrine.
This is standard cult behavior and specialists have seen it and diagnosed the symptoms in all cult-style followers.
Each negative action will be followed by an increasingly worse one and they will support them, no matter what. This has been seen most recently in the separation of children and babies from their parents under the accusations of “illegal immigrants”. Here is a so-called Christian political group that is validating these actions and spewing hate towards even the youngest of those being persecuted. Those of us objecting loudly are being told that we are un-American.
With the adulation of separating families, we will not be surprised when the Trump cult members begin clamoring for the execution of these immigrants. This is their next logical step in the brain-sick process….and to this, there will not be a good ending. There is hope that they will finally step over the boundary and that people will rise up against them and overturn the insanity.
(S. Novi is ajournalist that worked in the media and continues to seek out truth and integrity. A liberal and one that is suspicious of cults and empty promises.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
