Ever since DJT ran for president the first time, I have seen the absolute worst of people

[MIButterfly]

and everyday it just gets worse. It's as if they strive to be just as evil and soulless and selfish and twisted as he is. It's shocking to me.

Whatever happened to kindness, compassion and basic human decency? Those used to be admirable traits; now I don't know what they are. Or where they are.

I remember when Bill Clinton was impeached for a consensual sex act and the right-wingers were collectively clutching their pearls and crying "what do we tell the children?" Well, what do you tell the children now? Go out and be the biggest asshole you can possibly be and you'll be rewarded? Scream racial slurs at customers at your job and set up a gofundme and reap in the dough when you're rightfully fired? Participate in an insurrection and get pardoned? Cross state lines and shoot peaceful protesters, get acquitted at trial and be hailed a hero? Join a pack of lawless armed goons in masks and shoot an innocent woman in the face and people will lie and cover for you? I could go on and on with examples but there are far too many.

I don’t have any answers, but I do know that it's not okay. None of it is okay and shame on the people who think it is. Shame on people who celebrate the very worst of humanity. Shame on the people who support DJT and his synchophants. Shame on them all.

Rant over. MIButterly out (for now).

[Playingmantis]

1. Well said!

[MIButterfly]

7. Thank you, Playingmantis!

[Dave Bowman]

2. Monkey see, monkey do. But with lower IQs.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. I say "FUCK" a lot more.

As does everyone I know, but not to be shocking. To make a point that this man is FUBAR to the max!

[Blues Heron]

4. They seem to have "burned the boats" and are going to take this hell ride to the bitter end.

That should terrify the planet because trump has expressed a desire to set off nukes somewhere

[no_hypocrisy]

5. He's continuing the tradition of

Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn.

[Fil1957]

6. If this behavior you've described continues to spread around the country and the world, it will be the end of

civilization as we know it.

[KT2000]

8. You nailed it -

the worst of this is to see on a daily basis how cruel and hateful so many people living among us have become. There is no longer shame in vomiting hate into our society.

I watched the movie Nuremberg about the psychiatrist who was sent to learn about Hermann Goering. He tried to warn the world that evil and hate can manifest in anyone but no one would listen. It ultimately destroyed him.

All I know to do is to maintain our standards and speak up.

[MIButterfly]

9. Thank you, KT2000!

[Buddyzbuddy]

10. You couldn't be more correct, MiButterfly.

[MIButterfly]

13. Thank you, Buddyzbuddy!

[Crowman2009]

11. Hope that the MAGA cult winds up dying alone in their later years and abandoned by their families.

Because who the hell wants to be around those unsufferable POS on a daily basis. May as well file a restraining order against them since they are violent as well.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. "Go out and be the biggest asshole you can possibly be and you'll be rewarded?"

Nah, that has been common knowledge in this country for a long time.

[MIButterfly]

14. I'm afraid you may be right, OldBaldy1701E.

It just wasn't so in-your-face as it is now, I guess.

[OldBaldy1701E]

23. True, it was always the practice to kind of act like they were not behaving in that manner, but...

[Orrex]

15. In my life I have seldom wanted anything more than news of him stroking out

[MIButterfly]

19. I hate to say it but that may be the only way we'll finally be rid of him

but I'm afraid the damage he's wrought will live on long after he's gone.

[moondust]

16. Barbarians.

Doing away with anything that promotes civility, grace, and equality because it gets in the way of their brutality.

[yardwork]

17. I'm right there with you.

I read history and I've seen this story before.

How could the German people go along with the mass deportation and murder of millions of people just because they were Jewish, gay, travelers, or just different from some arbitrary standard? Austria and Germany were the epitome of civilized nations when they let this happen.

How could people who considered themselves to be Christian enslave other people for hundreds of years, torturing, raping, murdering? Why did white European colonists think God gave them the right to murder millions of other people and take their land?

It happens over and over throughout human history.

If we survive this the lesson is that the U.S. is not special. We are not exceptional. We are human beings just like everybody else and many of us have really shitty values and behaviors.

[jmbar2]

24. I've been reading a history of the "dark ages" in Europe

The term is disputed now, but it referred to the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance, the time of wars, plagues and religious and scientific repression. Fortunately, the Arab world preserved a lot of earlier advanced knowledge in math, science and medicine, to be later reintroduced to the western world.

I imagine you don't get to learn about that now at Texas A&M and other dumb factories that are banning classical works like Plato. But here we are. Anti-vax, antiscience, etc.

History rhymes.

[yardwork]

26. Yes. I've thought about the plague years a lot.

I studied the history of diseases in college. When COVID emerged I expected to see bizarre behavior, just as many people acted during the plagues in Europe. It's guaranteed that some people react to crises with fear, paranoia, hysteria and blame.

The really big crisis heading our way is climate change, which will bring water shortages, famines, and mass displacement. Based on how poorly a lot of people responded to COVID, I expect it will be a bad scene.

[jmbar2]

30. I think of lot of current anti-immigrant hysteria is related to climate change migrations

Climate is already setting off mass migrations from increasingly unliveable regions. The Ukraine war, Venezuela, Gaza, Africa - all have climate and resource issues driving migrations.

It's short-sighted to think that we can hold back a wave of people flowing across the globe without addressing the underlying issues.

[yardwork]

33. That's it.

[popsdenver]

18. Couldn't agree more

and it is most apparent out on the streets and roads with road rage, aggressive driving, and "entitled" driving...here in Denver and Colorado.....(not sure in other areas of the U.S.)

My grandchildren are forbidden by their parents to drive on interstates or major roads here in the Denver Metro area.....

[MIButterfly]

20. It's true here in Michigan too.

It has permeated every area of our lives and we're all the worse for it.

[mwmisses4289]

25. Texas is probably absolutely the worst.

Especially the pickup truck drivers. The bigger the pickup, the worse they are. Also, the expensive car drivers (think Mercedes, bmws, lexus). Road rage is worse because many of these idgits keep guns in their vehicles

[popsdenver]

32. brand car

has ALOT to do with driving.....Used to be Mercedes, Audis, Lexus in a close tie. Now, it is BMW's being far and away in first place, with Tesla and Prius

[canetoad]

21. K&R

Couldn't agree more. Very well said.

[MIButterfly]

22. Thank you, canetoad!

[2na fisherman]

27. Malignant Aggression

"The “authoritarian” or sadomasochistic character is the result, Fromm believes, of efforts to meet human needs in an unpropitious environment. Unable to achieve satisfaction through either work or love, the lonely and anxious self finds dubious fulfillment either through thralldom to the power and glory above it—masochistic submission to God, the Leader, Duty or another person —or by captivation and control of weaker beings below. Since sadistic and masochistic elements are invariably found in the same character, the individual is apt to enter into both relationships at once, in a perfect expression of the bureaucratic personality."
The Anatomy Of Human Destructiveness (Eric Fromm)
New York Times book review by Sara Sanborn
Nov. 18, 1973

This may help to explain what's on the minds of many supporting the Trump regime and others like it. But one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century will be to discover a way to change hearts and minds to remove this malignant aggression before it ends civilization.

[MIButterfly]

31. Thank you, 2na fisherman, for this possible explanation.

I am especially intrigued by your final sentence, how to discover a way to change hearts and minds to remove this malicious aggression before it ends civilization, indeed.

[jmbar2]

36. Wow - that really rings true

I keep seeing posts on Reddit asking why young folks aren't out in force like in Iran and other nations. Instead of fighting the forces making our lives miserable, some are choosing to become the forces that make everyone miserable. Being a goon has become the best-paying job in America for average young folks.

[Jilly_in_VA]

28. I cried when I went to bed last night

It was only Jan. 7th, but it seemed like every day had been worse than the one before it. Maybe it is, or maybe it's just because I've been so sick (I've had the flu and it's been brutal, I'm still so weak and tired) but today I got up and it's just more of the same. Is there no hope at all?

[MIButterfly]

34. I've cried a bit lately, too.

It does seem like every day is worse than the day before, doesn't it? Sometimes I feel like it's hopeless, too. How much more can we take?

I hope you feel better soon. I had the flu a couple of months ago and it was no fun.

[SunImp]

29. The need to hurt, demean, & dominate others is the way of the world now

Thanks to people like Carl Rove, Rush Limba, Alex Jones, etc

[MIButterfly]

35. And isn't that a sad state of affairs? That the worst of humanity has the most influence.

I just don’t get it.