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APRES TRUMP, DELUGE CONTINUES [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-17

Trump is dangerous for well established reasons but one that is not yet talked about (you read it here first) is that his death will

leave a hateful, violent, grievance tormented cult larger and more dangerous than Q Anon, larger and more dangerous than any in US history.

Trump has declared in his rallies that he is "your sword and shield" and most recently "your vengeance." He has divided the country into his supporters -- the cult of his righteous, and everyone else.

The trump movement that has supported him through two election defeats, two impeachments and four indictments of 91 counts and a dozen civil suits including sexual abuse that would sink any other candidate is not a typical American political phenomena, but something else, something more emotional, even spiritual. Trump is all about riling up the disaffected, those losing social, cultural and economic status, the confused, the lied to, the pandered and exploited, the Fox and OANN audience, the tormented in turmoil.

When trump dies, he will continue to be revered by many in his cult. After his death, tales will be told and stories sung, monuments erected and incense burned, his passing mourned -- his return awaited. Awaiting the return of the fallen King to redeem his people, is an unfortunate but too frequent human behavior. Christian culture rests on the two millennia long wait for the redeemer. Even many of the Lubovitcher faithful, unable to accept the death of their revered leader, refused to believe that Schneerson had actually died like any mortal. They believed that he was the M'shiach whose role was not yet completed and thus his return was imminent. Are trump's minions less credulous, less desperate? Is the excitement and energy of a trump rally greater and more emotional than that generated by an appearance by any other candidate -- ever? There is high, intense passion in that crowd, many won’t quickly let go of the trump promise of their redemption from a society they see as alien and threatening.

The trump/MAGA movement is not an American political party. Trump speaks little now of policy, even bad GOP policy. The MAGA movement is not reaching out to convince new voters to build its coalition. Trump speaks only to the already converted It is all about his grievances against the State and the people the State protects and serves.

Even with the inevitable hagiography, we will be better off whenever trump takes his final putt; but, his death wont presage the end of his "movement". Cults tend to fragment upon the leader's passing, rarely is there a successor strong enough to expand the founders' power and influence (Joshua and Brigham Young notwithstanding). So, expect the movement to continue but a bitter fight for the power and all that grift to ensue among the presumptive heirs. They will exhaust their energy and reputation fighting among themselves. Meanwhile, Gen Z's ranks at the polls will swell while the number of uneducated, old, rural voters will decline due to disease, guns, addiction.... Then we shall build the City on the Hill...or,

The worrisome caveat to this forecast is if the country is so tossed in conflict from climate catastrophe and ensuing economic disaster, from internal migration, from technological revolution and the collapse of constitutional consensus leading to cumulative social disruption and violence. That would enable one charismatic scoundrel channeling trump to grab the fallen Maga flag, marshaling the millions of ‘morons to march’. Then we will be lost in a decade or more of chaos too dark to foresee the ending thereof...

Best of Luck.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/17/2193915/-APRES-TRUMP-DELUGE-CONTINUES

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