(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . MAGA is getting stronger (among Republicans) [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-01-02 To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason ... is like administering medicine to the dead” ― Thomas Paine A headline of a Washington Post article on Tuesday reads, “Republican loyalty to Trump, rioters climbs in 3 years after Jan. 6 attack.” (Click HERE for the article — the paywall should be down.) The piece explores the rising belief among Republicans that Trump is telling the truth that his 91 criminal charges are bogus, that he did not incite the Jan 6 riots, and that the riots were not really riots anyway. The piece starts: "Three years after the Jan. 6 attack, Republicans are more sympathetic to those who stormed the U.S. Capitol and more likely to absolve Donald Trump of responsibility for the attack than they were in 2021, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. Republicans are showing increased loyalty to the former president as he campaigns for reelection and fights criminal charges over his attempt to stay in power after losing in 2020. They are now less likely to believe that Jan. 6 participants were “mostly violent,” less likely to believe Trump bears responsibility for the attack, and slightly less likely to view Joe Biden’s election as legitimate than they were in a December 2021 Post-UMD survey." In addition, there is a growing belief among the right wing that the J6 riots were a false flag operation instigated by law enforcement to suppress political dissent. All of which proves that propaganda is a devastatingly effective tool. And that people will believe anything as long as it jibes with their view of the world, echoes their feelings about issues, and permits them to wallow in their prejudices. This failure by blinkered zealots to grasp reality is only reinforced by proof that their beliefs are wrong. For instance, no amount of courts rejecting election rigging claims has dented their conviction that Democrats illegally denied Trump his rightful second term — even though many of these courts have Republican, even Trump-appointed, Judges. The fanatics ignore statements by Trump’s own lawyers — including his hand-picked Attorney General, Bill Barr — that there is zero evidence of result-changing fraud. They dismiss the Republican witnesses — including people who worked in Trump’s administration — who gave evidence of Trump’s role in the attempted insurrection to the Jan 6 Commission. You do not need to be a psychologist to understand that cultism is a powerful force that is rarely defeated by empirically provable error. Christian wish-casters have been predicting the Second Coming for centuries. Around 200 C.E., Hippolytus of Rome predicted Jesus’ return would occur in 500 C.E. His error did not stop others from making their own . Various Christian Religious authorities have predicted the Second Coming will happen in different years from 1260 to 2060. So far, not a whisper. (Although my cynical self says it is possible that Jesus did return. Took one look at what the human race was up to. And threw up his hands muttering, “What’s the use?” Before departing quietly.) There are another gang of Cassandras who have confidently predicted various apocalypses. In 365 C.E. Hilary of Poitiers stated that humankind was in its last year. My favorite is Cotton Mather , the Colonial Puritan cleric who took three stabs at it — in turn saying that 1697, 1716, and finally 1736 were the for-sure drop dead dates. Oops. It is astounding that so many Americans, who claim to be practicing Christians, think God anointed Trump as his earthly representative. I have read the Bible. I suppose there are ways of interpreting the Old Testament to validate the proposition. But how anyone could read the Gospels and think that Jesus would be a fan of the man is beyond me. Take the Ten Commandments. Trump has unequivocally broken all of them, with the possible exception of, “Honour thy father and thy mother.” Jesus was clear in Mark 19 that God expected people to follow the rules. And in Mark 10:21 Jesus added, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” Do not hold your breath. But enough exegesis. Anyone who has a MAGA friend or relative knows that their brain is not wired for truth. They have no capacity for critical thinking. No ability to admit they may be wrong. Their shields are up, and their fingers jammed in their ears. Unless Trump, or Tucker, Sean, Laura, Steve, Greg, Jesse, Charlie, Mark, and the rest of the cynical pocket-liners are offering their 'alternative facts.' The most incomprehensible feature of these deluded souls is their capacity to believe everything — except the truth. I understand the suspicious souls who believe nothing. I get the gullible people who accept everything. But it takes a mental makeup unfamiliar to me that allows someone to keep the chaff and throw out the wheat every day and twice on Sundays. How do you reason with someone who believes that Hillary Clinton ran a pedophile ring out of the basement of a Washington Pizza parlor located in a building that does not even have a basement? Or who believes Mike Lindell is really JFK Jr.? Jesus wept. 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