Based on their indelible belief in Donald J. Trump with his specious and inflammatory commentary, there is no doubt that tens of millions of American voters fall into those categories. While living in an alternate reality, impervious to facts, they macerate the very essence of democracy they so ardently profess to embrace. The process is potentiated by the current Republican National Committee (RNC), and the feckless GOP Congressional leadership, that have descended so far from Ronald Reagan’s polity as to be unrecognizable.
Watching interviews with Iowa Republican voters is both mind-blowing and emblematic of the improbability that American democracy can survive. Demonstrating the gullibility factor, a member of the business-oriented Mudd family claimed that the reason the U.S. was continuing to support Ukraine was that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was blackmailing President Biden.
There is only one place that level of ignorance could come from; right-wing media. Attributed to Mark Twain, there is an appropriate quote, “God created war so that Americans would learn geography.” Here,
As the article states: “Attributed to Mark Twain, there is an appropriate quote, “God created war so that Americans would learn geography.” How sad but an often true comment on the state of the American electorate. It would be simple to just maintain that Trump voters are stupid. This, I believe, is an error. The reality is much more complex. What passes for American journalism is a far too often an ahistorical accounting of facts without context. The reader is expected to “connect the dots” for themselves, and this is not an easy task. It leaves many bewildered attempting to understand the events occurring around them, and the results for the gullible are beliefs in Q Anon conspiracy theories. This is far from the entire Trump electorate. It should not be ignored that Trump’s mantra has been over years that “the system is rigged”. This speaks a truth to the experience of many, and , I believe, accounts for one of the reasons for the counter intuitive rise in his poll numbers with each indictment. To attribute this to pure ignorance is an error and discounts the lived experience of many in the electorate. If the perceptions of the fairness of the system are not addressed, and Trump is convicted, whoever arises from the darkness to replace him will be worse.
Trump supporters are less educated and the GOP is working hard to keep them in line.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/us/politics/how-college-graduates-vote.html
There are a number of well-educated people who do support him, they too are the gullible. Would be hard, not impossible to get worse than Trump. Trump has never applied fairness in any of his personal, business, or political affairs. As I indicated, this does not bode well for American democracy.
You do not address my main point: there are millions who experience the system as rigged. Their intelligence level may be of interest but it is secondary to what occurs in their daily lives.. What will be done by the Democrats to address structural imbalance? Until they are able to deliver, and they have been only partly successful when in power, this dynamic will continue. Trump may not be the face of this block of voters, but an outlet they will seek – guaranteed.
‘Right on’ is this report. It has clarity and shows how qualities of real democracy upholds humanitarian qualities. Democracy is not about criticizing and condemning. Rather, intelligence can flourish in a real democracy because people can study and reflect in order to expand and walk more freely and share and be kindly too.