I’m totally stealing this.
This is like saying that poop has no appeal to you, so you can’t understand why it draws houseflies. They LOVE it.
Couple things:
- "A demagogue or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, appealing to emotion by scapegoating out-groups, exaggerating dangers to stoke fears, lying for emotional effect, or other rhetoric that tends to drown out reasoned deliberation and encourage fanatical popularity. Demagogues overturn established norms of political conduct, or promise or threaten to do so. Historian Reinhard Luthin defined demagogue as “a politician skilled in oratory, flattery and invective; evasive in discussing vital issues; promising everything to everybody; appealing to the passions rather than the reason of the public; and arousing racial, religious, and class prejudices—a man whose lust for power without recourse to principle leads him to seek to become a master of the masses. He has for centuries practiced his profession of ‘man of the people’. He is a product of a political tradition nearly as old as western civilization itself.” [Wikipedia]
- We also know (from interviews with Ivana) that Trump enjoyed reading transcripts of Hitler’s speeches (large print edition, I’m sure) – one of the very few books he’s said to have read in adulthood.
- “The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could accept the actions of the Nazis during the Second World War.” [Wikipedia]
When you watch the Trump and his loyalists, you really DO feel like you’re watching that dynamic in action … again. It’s as profoundly shocking as it is unbelievable.
Dark days. Let’s never forget JD Vance referring to Trump (in the before times) as “America’s Hitler.”
I would think that on a board that values observable fact that disbelief and incredulity aren’t great counter-arguments. Our lack of understanding is not evidence of the lack of existence of Trump’s charisma.
No matter our inability to comprehend or personally feel Trump’s charisma, we can observe it exists through its effect on his (obnoxiously at times) vocal supporters. It is to our detriment to deny it exists or underestimate its power, as any hope we have of what comes “after” will have to account for those people and their mindset and how that gets passed on to the next generation.
I’m one of those Americans, and I think they should worry. However many of us think the criticism is warranted, it clearly isn’t enough
I perceive a strong element of countries not being willing to suffer (often great) economic harm from taking a moral stance. Such as much of Europe continuing to buy Russian oil. Not to single Europe out. But there is a LONG - and generally consistent history of ostensibly liberal and democratic nations condemning other countries - up to the point that it is economically challenging for them to do so.
I really wish the rest of the world would take whatever economic steps appropriate to reflect the US’s deserved status as a pariah state. Either hasten the US decline or force the US to reconsider/reposition. Hard to say I think countries should look to China instead of the US, but I also would have thought it easier to believe the US was far better than China in many respects. Maybe the sane and decent portions of the rest of the world should take a step back, ostracize the US/Russia/China, and try to focus on Brazil/India/SE Asia/EU…
Sadly, one of the few planks on the GOP platform is “Never admit that our side is wrong.” So they are not going to do anything about this. It was the same with Reagan. He was mentally feeble throughout the entire second term. After he left office they admitted that he had Alzheimer’s (or some other form of dementia?)
Anyway, they’ve gotten away with this before. And I don’t honestly believe that a President Vance would be an improvement. TACO; does Vance? Because if not, the devastation could be much greater.
According to conservative think tank The Hudson Institute, Steve Bannon called it “the greatest speech since Pericles at Athens.”
Just a minor quibble; that’s not the result of propaganda. Those traits and behaviors were already there- that’s “manly” stuff from way, way back. The idea that he does what he wants and nobody can hold him accountable, therefore making him more macho and powerful than everyone else long predates any right-wing propaganda. The idea that he doesn’t apologize and says what he wants long predates any propaganda. The idea that in essence might makes right long predates propaganda.
What has been relentlessly propagandized into the followers of the Right is that their side and their candidates are better and worthy, that the Right is fighting the good fight against the forces of corruption, immorality, weirdness, and laziness, and that they’re sticking up for old timey values like honesty, forthrightness, very old school gender and sexual identities, and a certain “way of life”.
So when Trump comes along, what he says tends to resonate pretty strongly with that crowd- he touches on all those points. And unfortunately, they tend to overlook that his actions run almost orthogonal to them, because his ability to brazenly do what he wants apparently trumps the rest.
The biggest problem is that there are a lot of people out there who will NOT ever vote for anything but a candidate with an “R” after their name, no matter how odious that person is, or how saintly the other candidates are. I mean literally if Jesus were to come to Earth publicly and run for office with a “D” after his name, there would be a huge contingent who would decry him as woke and vote against him, because he’s on the wrong side of the aisle.
Combine that with the weird us-vs-them sports fanatic / identity business going on with people on the Right (many of them are obsessed with this stuff, and their whole personal identity is wrapped up with their political identity), and you’ve got a recipe for Trump being elected.
I have a feeling Congress and the rest of the Republicans aren’t nearly so scared of Vance as they seem to be with Trump.
I used to work in a print shop years ago, and my co-worker Arthur always had the Christian radio station on. One of the ministers sounded like he was growling and huffing, and Arthur kept yelling “Tell the truth! Tell the truth!”
I asked him what’s this guy saying? I can’t understand a word. He replied with a twinkle in his eye, “It’s the spirit.”
The MAGAts don’t care what he’s saying. It’s the spirit.
I can’t even read that crap, but I caught most of it on the news. Pathetic. The creep is delusional.
Well there was one, but he wasn’t American.
I saw part of the Davos speech (if you can call it a speech) and it reminded me of his speech in the White House briefing room the day before. Both were rambling and just went from subject to subject.
Edited to add, here is a transcript of his press briefing on January 20, 2026.
“This transcript was produced using AI and subsequently edited for style and clarity. The edits do not alter the substance of the speaker’s remarks.”
So the transcript has been “cleaned up.” No wonder I cannot see his crazy.
He can flip the bird and say “Fuck You” quite easily.
Omg. I’d pay real money to be in a place where’s he’s walking by, within hearing distance, I’d think of one pertinent, simple insult to holler.
That guy who yelled “Pedo Protector” may be a genius. He got his goat. Tickled me.
His Davos speech? Yeah there’s something seriously wrong with the man. Duh. 