NYT: "Hitler Tamed by Prison"

[barbtries]

8. i think it's denial,

at least among those who are not part of the trump cult. there is unbelievably great resistance to admitting that the republican party is a thing of the past. as if it would be worse to admit that they've gone completely off the rails than to submit to an authoritarian state full of oppression, poverty, and untold suffering.

i have a friend who was a big fan of collins during the kavanaugh hearings. i told her she was full of shit but she could not be convinced that collins really does not give a flying fuck about the loss of reproductive rights. all she cares about is staying in office and being a republican. i don't know how she maintains an iota of credibility, but i'm literally afraid to ask my friend how she feels about her now, because i do truly value our friendship. she does not want to believe what is right in front of her eyes. I can still make an argument with her. She is moderate, but she clings to beliefs she held in a different America.

If we're talking about the trump cult, that's mental illness. very unhappy people void of empathy or generosity and full of racism, misogyny and grievance. for moderates like my friend, of which there are many, i can only conclude it's denial.