Hey, everyone. It’s going to be difficult to write extensive posts over the next three days. It’s a big transition week for the family, with our becoming empty nesters. But in the interest of developing the daily writing habit I’ve mentioned before, I do plan to keep up the weekday posts, no matter how short. Let’s go.
I’ve described the Trump movement as a cult of personality. Well, thanks to a CBSNews /YouGov poll, we can put some numbers on that statement. This is the result grabbing many people’s attention:
Stop for a moment and reflect on this. Trump voters are more likely to believe what Trump says than friends and family. In classic cult-like fashion, even family is less trusted than Trump.
As for conservative media figures being trusted less by Trump voters, I guess that doesn’t surprise me. The definition of what qualifies as “conservative” is in flux, so naturally some “conservative” journalists and commentators are likely to fall out of favor - especially if they question Trump.
Religious leaders falling out a favor doesn’t surprise me much, either. Trump is the new Jesus. Why listen to people talking about some old version of the savior, when the new one is right in front of you?
Reflecting on the health of our republic, I don’t know what to do with any of this. Look, truth is hard. I’ll grant that. So, it’s very tempting to seek easy answers. Many of us do just that to get through daily life. In fact, we have to. There’s too much to process in any given minute of any given day.
But there should be some alarm bell that goes off in a person’s mind when only one person’s take on events and the world is taken as gospel (not using that word lightly). If that alarm bell is broken or non-existent - much like a functioning conscience - well, I don’t know what to say.
A couple of other discouraging results. It’s not just Trump cultists. Likely GOP voters (which is presumed to be a larger group) see Trump as honest.
Oh, and those indictments? As we pretty much knew, likely GOP primary voters see it as all politics - which means it’s good politics for Trump.
By the way, none of this would matter all that much without Jan. 6 as a backdrop.
Most of us start with in-group truth - partisan truth, tribal truth, truth as put forward by people like yourself - then work our way out of that. Even if a person is committed to breaking out of tribal truth, that takes a lot of hard mental work and a willingness to sacrifice sacred cows and elements of our personal identity. It’s a big ask.
But at least, in a properly functioning democratic republic, that process can take place within a system that keeps political violence at bay, avoiding the horrors that always result from civil wars.
However, we as a people and our leaders have to be committed to the peaceful transfer of power to make the system work. Jan. 6 proved that one leader and his followers are not. And regardless of whether that leader wins re-election to the presidency or not, we must prepare for more violence. And wherever that leads us.