(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Boosting Biden Outreach to Recovering MAGAs [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-22 It is universally agreed among professionals that the first requirement for penetrating the bubbles of cultists is finding common ground. Forget argument. Don’t even think of berating them for their errors. Befriend them. The classic modern instance can be seen in the documentary Accidental Courtesy, linked below, about a Black musician, Daryl Davis, who befriended Klansmen and got more than 200 of them to leave the KKK behind. Some sent him their robes. Most of Boosting Biden is aimed at those who already approve of President Biden, or are at least are disappointed or disgusted with The Former Guy, now a convicted felon, who is busily throwing away followers hand over fist. So how do we connect with the ex-Trumpers? Two words: Truth Sandwiches. The Indivisible Truth Brigade uses Truth Sandwiches, as I have described here. Truth Brigade: The George Lakoff Truth Sandwich But they are a 501(c)4 non-profit, which means that they can’t do partisan election messaging. We, however, can explicitly call out Trumpists. x The point of the American revolution was to escape tyranny. But a large minority of the US explicitly supports a would-be tyrant. Let us welcome those who see the light, & help them with the truth. For example, President Biden Even Made People Love the IRS! Boosting Biden Day 95 https://t.co/RBjh0b2dYO pic.twitter.com/igQB4XRkTw — Mokurai Delusion Fighter 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 (@Mokurai) June 22, 2024 x There are those who lie, and those who want to be lied to, and those who can see through self-serving, vicious lies, like most of us. Welcome those who are learning to tell the difference, and aren't going to take it any more. https://t.co/hkzRaM2Qab — Mokurai Delusion Fighter 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 (@Mokurai) June 22, 2024 Daryl Davis | Amazing Boogie Performance The Cult of Trump, by Steven Hassan A masterful and eye-opening examination of Trump and the coercive control tactics he uses to build a fanatical devotion in his supporters written by an authority on breaking away from cults…an argument that…bears consideration as the next election cycle heats up Kirkus Reviews Amazon’s description: One of America’s leading experts in cults and mind-control provides an eye-opening analysis of Trump and the indoctrination tactics he uses to build a fanatical devotion in his supporters. Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders—cult leaders. In The Cult of Trump, mind-control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie” himself, and he draws on his forty years of personal and professional experience studying hypnosis and destructive cults, working as a deprogrammer, and a strategic communications interventionist. He emphasizes why it’s crucial that we recognize ways to identify and protect ourselves and our loved ones. The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward. How is it that people who have suffered serious abuse turn against themselves, with self-denigration and contempt? Some form of self-alienation is always the legacy of any kind of trauma experience with which one has been left alone, without help to process. To become self-alienated is to lose compassion for one’s wounded, victimized self. Without help, traumatized people tend to feel ashamed of their victimization, ashamed of their ongoing emotional dysregulation. They are trying to get over their trauma; they want to be the person who looks and feels strong, not the one who was shattered and humiliated. Ashamed of the wounded part of themselves, they become trapped in a vicious circle of self-blaming and self-loathing. Recognizing and understanding this self-alienation, finding and experiencing compassion for one’s most vulnerable self, is what I think is at the heart of recovery from traumatic abuse in cults. These people desperately need compassionate friends who also understand what they have been through. 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