(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . More magas breaking free: help them find the exits! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-07-02 When we declare all those in the Maga movement to be lost causes, we are giving up without trying. It’s like putting up no Democratic candidates in down-ballot races, and then wondering why we’re so unhappy with so many local governments. It’s like not bothering to vote. It’s forfeiting the game by not showing up. Besides, as this and other videos show, not all these people are lost causes. Some people are disgusted with him and what he has done to our country. And, these days, we need every damned vote. I’m only including one video this time, because it has a section I think that is really important. You can read my other diaries with other videos here 6/26/2024 and here 6/19/2024. The bit I really like here can be seen at about 3:20. In case you still don’t want to click, in this someone explains how a guy in Arizona participated in a straw poll at work. Only 30% were actually for tRump (an indication that there is not that much support, although we know nothing about the sample). But what is interesting is how those who supported tRump started to question their positions when they realized how little support the monster has. This shows that some magas can be reached, especially when they learn from more than one source that their position is not supported. I think it would be cool to stage conversations in coffee shops between two Ds, speaking loudly enough while praising B and trashing tRump. Could even talk about how some people are no longer supporting tRump. I might try this myself when I return to the States. Anyway, now that we know that it is possible to get people to stop voting for tRump — we know this because it has happened already, many times, Ben Meiselas says he has received more than 100K messages — what can we do? Read the following, and please add your own ideas. What to do to encourage people to leave the maga cult. Repetition is good. We at Daily Kos tend to learn the first time, and to us it may feel rude to repeat stuff, especially true stuff that seems so obvious. But repetition is how most people learn; it is how a message sinks in. It also helps if you can expose them to the same idea from multiple sources. Baby steps. Maybe don’t expect them to fly Biden flags or even vote for Biden. Maybe the best you can get them to do is to abstain from voting at all. That’s not as good as a vote for Biden, but it’s a lot better than a vote for tRump. Don’t expect an instant conversion. Let your words sink in. Also, don’t overwhelm them. Instead, ask questions, listen to their concerns, and address them specifically. One tRumper challenged me about crime, and I pointed out that crime was way down, something confirmed by another. They may say the media is fake. Well, we can agree with them there. A lot of media is fake. Can use many recent examples. Can show the testimony of David Pecker and how many stories he and tRump arranged to put into the National Enquirer. What not to do Don’t insult them. It can be tempting to insult them, call them names. And I am not impressed by their logic, their hypocrisy. Their cognitive dissonance is so deep that it hurts me – how can it not hurt them? But name calling – of supporters, not of the leaders, because calling tRump a convicted felon is not only true, but necessary, and must be repeated over and over – only pushes them away. Don’t give up. OK, some people are lost causes. My own dad, liberal Democrat for most of his life, started to vote R at the end. Well, he was in the initial stages of dementia, so I could not really argue. Still, if you’re not comfortable, start with low-hanging fruit, people you think might be reachable. On the other hand, many people who you think are unreachable may be reachable after all. Don’t spend too much time with one person. As I wrote above, we can’t expect the buzz of instant conversion. Let people know a few facts, answer their questions, encourage them to do more research. And let them know that if they want out of the maga cult, you’ll be there for them. Why it’s hard to leave maga You may think this is hard for us – and it is – but it can be harder for them. Remember that. Here are some reasons leaving the maga world is so difficult. Hard to admit you were wrong. These people have to admit they were wrong, which is really hard for self-esteem. And, not were they wrong, but they may have been conned, which is extra embarrassing. It could help to show them the videos above. They are not alone. Also, let them know there are powerful billionaires who have dedicated substantial resources to keeping them in the dark, which may be why they were fooled. And they are not named Soros! Hard to leave your tribe. It may be that all the people they know – in their churches, their neighborhoods, their workplaces and their families – are committed to supporting tRump and tRumpsters. It’s hard to disagree with, like, everyone you know. We can help them by telling them there are lots of recovering tRumpsters. They can find others like them. Also, our side has plenty of nice people, because here at team blue, cruelty is not the point. Anyway, it’s important to help them leave, as opposed to insulting them when they do. It makes it easier. Sometimes leaving has a price. Several Rs who came out against tRump lost their jobs (Liz Cheney, Adam Kizinger, and more). Of course, other who supported tRump lost their jobs, too. Senator Lankford stopped supporting his own border bill when Sean Hannity threatened him with adverse coverage on Fox. George and Kellyanne Conway ended up getting divorced, and although neither has said anything about it in public (for which I commend them), one has to suspect that her work for tRump and his disgust with tRump must have been an issue. I’m not sure what to suggest here, except that not leaving is even costlier, in terms of what will happen with the world. Sometimes leaving is dangerous. Here are some cases we know about: Rusty Bowers, the former Speaker of the House in Arizona, was threatened when he refused to say that tRump won the election. Lindsey Graham, after condemning the Jan 6 attack, was threatened in an airport himself. Michael Cohen – never really a Republican, but certainly a tRump fanboy for a very long time – gets death threats. I expect this is just the tip of the iceberg. On the other hand, some of the threats are coming from other countries. This has been true of many swatting attempts. We can naturally say that our side is already in danger. People were hunting Nancy Pelosi on Jan 6. People tried to kidnap Governor Whitmer in order to kill her. And look what happened to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman! We can expose these threats and fund the FBI and local police to track them down. And we can remind people that not leaving is even more dangerous, again in terms of what will happen to the world. The best way to make the danger go away is to make more people leave. The thugs can’t target everyone. Why it’s so important to try About 74 million voters went for tRump in 2020. That’s a huge number, and not good for our country. It’s also not good for the world. We need the Biden-Harris administration to be in place for a second term to keep Europe from being overrun by putin and autocrats and to keep working on human rights and climate mitigation measures. The more we can get people to stop supporting tRump and the maga movement, the more it benefits us. As Meiselas reports, there are some excellent indicators. Ds are outperforming in special elections. More and more often, the tRump rallies are exposed as staged with numbers exaggerated ten-fold. Hardly anyone showed up to protest his indictment or his conviction. From anecdotal reports, and during my own drive across Texas at the time of the eclipse (April 8), I only saw two tRump signs that might be recent. Remember, many of these people are in information silos and they do not know the truth. Also, lots of people are just not that good at numbers or logic. Let’s do this! It’s so important for our country and for the world. 🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: the CrowNickels (chronicles), a trilogy about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction: Hunters of the Feather, Scavengers of Mind and Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories,based on Jane Austen novels — such as TheMeryton Murders — and others based on history and Greek mythology, such as Jocasta:The Mother-Wife of Oedipus, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/2/2250140/-More-magas-breaking-free-help-them-find-the-exits?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/