This is a brilliant piece of writing, @agmoore. I watched several of the videos, which was quite painful because I have spent 9 years trying to tune him out and feeling a little ill every time I hear that voice. Or see him do his little dance. All that history is there in living color. Great job.

I am trying not to live in fear and trepidation of what's coming. But between the cabinet he's putting together, his plans to tear apart the Department of Education, the Department of Justice and who knows what else, and the fact that all of his bigotry and misogyny have inspired people to come out of the woodwork to treat others with similar disrespect, I will admit that I have trouble sleeping at night.

Rachel Maddow is a voice of reason and does an amazing job of sharing the facts and bringing these things to light. This podcast about the cabinet he's putting together should make anyone shudder.

On a positive note, I think most people did not vote for Trump because of his misdeeds, but in spite of them. They have forgotten what happened during Covid, maybe didn't pay attention to all of the horrible scandals in his administration (see the Rachel Maddow podcast I mentioned above), and maybe even don't believe that he is all that bad based on his threats to use the military against his own citizens... etc.

I think there are two primary factors at play:

1. Just as in the video you shared where Trump says again and again again "It will go away," he repeats everything else he wants to believe and wants his followers to believe too. And it works. He can rewrite history about January 6 just by repeating a different narrative. He can get people to believe that crime went through the roof during the Biden administration, and that it was at the hands of a massive number of criminals coming over the border... just by saying it over and over and over. And this same phenomenon normalizes his nastiness, his ugly rhetoric and his lies. So people become numb and buy what he's selling.
2. Many people simply want more money in their pockets, and they think he can do that for them. They're tired of stretching their dollars and feeling like they can't make ends meet. And they blame the current administration for the inflation that got us here, seeing absolutely no connection to the Covid pandemic and how long it takes to shift an economy back toward "normal" after such an historic and devastating event. Yes, it has been hard, and yes it needs to get better. But the current administration got the economy back on track faster than any other country and was recently proclaimed "the envy of the world".

I get it. I really do. Inflation slowed, but not fast enough. A great GDPR and a soaring stock market simply don't put shoes on children and meat on the table. But it's unfortunately a situation where the guy who made the louder claims about what he's capable of bumped up against a candidate representing the current administration and the pain people feel in the pockets today.

And here are. Emotion speaks louder than facts. Because honestly, for as many times as Trump proclaimed how terrible the economy is, there are just as many fact-filled articles explaining that leading economists disagree with Trump that he can make inflation go away, that Trump's tariff plans will hurt consumers, that Trump's tax plans will increase taxes on 95% of Americans, and the economy does better under Democrats.

Well, my dear, thank you for letting me jump on your blog with my concerns. I agree with everything you've shared. You did a wonderful job collecting facts and stating what's true. I truly hope facts don't cease to matter entirely.