Let’s face it.  The national polarization created by Trump is something you could say we have not seen since the U.S. Civil War.  Discussions involving  opposing viewpoints are exercises in futility, and when they do occur, they very often become alarmingly incendiary.  How can one man create such a furor?  The allure of Trumpism is something that is difficult for me to get my head around. Having said that,  I like to think I am educated and empathic enough to at least listen to someone who feels differently than I do.  And  I understand how parts of Trump’s campaign messaging resonated with his voters.  I was not enthralled with any of our 2016 presidential candidates.  I could see how people were more than willing to take a chance with a left field candidate.

Yes, I get that.  But what I can’t figure out is the mind set of people attending a typical Trump political rally.  Honest to god  a Trump rally for me is the equivalent of watching a troop of squatting monkeys perform a shit-flinging show.   I don’t waste my time watching any of them on television, but it’s difficult to escape all the snippets  the national news programs present.  If you are like me you just can’t help focusing on the people lined up behind Trump at one of these things.  Admittedly there are always a few that look like they might be riding the distal point of a bad meth trip, but heck, take a photo of a large group of the people I hang out with and to a casual observer one or two of them would probably look out of sorts also.  But the majority standing there cheering on the president seem perfectly normal to me.  That is until once again something  unforgivingly stupid spills out of his mouth.  Then the normal people just vanish.  They were there, but then they’re gone.

To prove my point, I need only refer to the comment Trump made in Tampa about purchasing groceries.  He emphatically stated if you intend to leave the supermarket with all those items you have piled up in your shopping cart, you damn well better show ID.  The statement is so blatantly incorrect and shows such a complete disconnect from the very people standing behind him that you would think there would be at least a smattering of people with quizzical expressions on their faces.  If my wife and I were there what we would be doing is glancing at each other and those around us, and if not actually saying “what the fuck,” at the very least our stunned appearance would convey to the entire viewing audience that we consider what we just heard to be unconditionally moronic.

But no, what you see are normal people turning abnormal.  There is nothing about those attendees standing behind Trump that would indicate they find anything out of the ordinary in what he just said.  Just glazed looks of acceptance.  What is going on there?  Sure Trump lies all the time.  His lying during ambiguous political and social commentary that can’t be readily fact-checked is one thing.  But geezuz even the nine year old kids who were dragged to the event by moms and dads with questionably commendable parenting skills  know how to grocery shop.  I refuse to believe all those people are that stupid.

So are they brainwashed?  Is there something behind all the talk about gas-lighting?  What in the hell goes on at Fox News anyway?   Is there some kind of subliminal message Sean Hannity is surreptitiously transmitting?  Does Fox News broadcast via a secret wave length that is able to worm its way into the subconscious and gradually abduct the human mind?

I guess I don’t know what’s worse- stupidity or perverse psychological manipulation.  Whichever, it becomes even more perilous when people so afflicted are coerced into hostility.  Trump’s use of the term “fake news” has certainly  instilled vocal provocation in those attending his political gatherings.  However, calling the main stream media the “enemy of the people,” a phrase that normal people consider to be outrageous subterfuge,  somehow triggers people at a Trump rally to react in a very abnormal, extremely vitriolic manner.  For a frightfully long period of time it looked like CNN’s Jim Acosta might not get out of that arena in Tampa alive.  Trump rally attendees display their displeasure with hot dog vendor when he runs out of mustard

I know there are decent Trump supporters out there.  If you considerer yourself to be decent and normal, I encourage you to attend your local Trump rally, only please, do your best to shoulder your way through the crowd and position yourself directly in front of any television camera you happen to notice..  And then when the president of the United States says something incoherently implausible, maliciously insulting,  or blatantly incorrect, restore my faith in humanity and evoke all the normal powers within yourself and stay normal.  And for your own safety and well being, it wouldn’t hurt to wear a tin foil hat while watching Fox News.

SHARE- and you will rest tonight in peaceful slumber knowing people might think you really aren’t an asshole after all.