If "they" knew what we in Chauncey DeVega's Salon column know, would "they" still vote for Trump? Probably... By Hal M. Brown, MSW

Trump from Perchance Image AI

 With less than a month to go until Election Day  the American people and the world will soon find out if the epic that is the  Age of Trump is about to be over or if they will be forced to suffer through a sequel featuring the various characters and spin-offs that the MAGAVerse 2.0 may spawn. In these final weeks, the story that is the Age of Trump most closely resembles some type of crime novel, one in which the crimes are announced and planned in public and then committed in plain sight.  Chauncey DeVega

This was the main story on Salon this morning. It is a column by Chauncey DeVega .

(About Salon from Wikipedia.) 

It is a series of interviews with several people he interviews about politics on a regular basis. It happens that I am one of them. The quote about Vance in the title comes from what I said.

The "they" I refer to are those who people who believe another Trump term won't destroy democracy. They do believe Trump will fulfill all his promises to make their lives and the country better. They are among the good, moral, ethical, and caring people I wrote about in my blog the other day.

To quote myself from that blog:

Everyone voting for Trump isn't a believer in white nationalism, isn't a racist, and certainly not a violence prone sadist who thinks it's a good idea to separate migrant children from their parents and lock them in cages let alone put alligators in the Rio Grande or shoot those attempting to cross it in the legs.

First and foremost they believe that a Trump presidency will be good for them, their families, and for the country. Second, they believe that Kalama Harris will not be good for them, their families, and for the country. Many of them say that they just don't trust Kamala Harris but they are unable to explain why. 

When confronted with all the reasons not  to vote for Trump they either counter by saying this is fake news or dismissing these reasons by saying that his various strengths as a leader outweigh his shortcomings. They don't think children are being sent to school where, against their parents will, they will have their gender changed. They don't think Kamala Harris will turn the country into a communist or Marxist state.

What do Chauncey DeVega and those quoted in his column know?

Chauncey DeVega knows that Trump is an enemy of democracy. He has clearly made a case for this in his numerous columns.  Chauncey DeVega is a senior politics writer for Salon. His essays can also be found at Chaunceydevega.com. He also hosts two weekly podcasts, The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report. Chauncey can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

Scholar and best-selling author Norm Ornstein knows that if Trump wins there's a good chance he will fulfill his pledge "to invoke the Insurrection Act, provoke political violence, focus on retribution, pardon the January 6 criminals, blow up our alliances and form a new one with dictators."

Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University and author, thinks that "if Trump were to lose, it’s virtually impossible to envision him accepting the election results; he is likely to accuse his enemies of stealing the election and urge his most passionate followers to take to the streets."

Lawyer, writer, political activist David Pepper knows that there is a very real chance Project 2025 will be implemented and could mean the "privatizing weather forecasts to attacks on public education, unions and workers, to bans on abortion and IVF, everyday Americans will quickly see how long-sought right-wing priorities will quickly upend their own lives, their communities and the nation as a whole."

As the only psychotherapist interviewed for this column what I know is that Trump is in cognitive decline. Therefore there is a very good chance that if Trump wins he would eventually be removed through the 25th Amendment. This would happen if his condition deteriorated into advanced dementia that was impossible to hide from the public. This would make a J.D. Vance, a clincially sane authoritarian, president. 

My impression is that Trump voters would miss their "dear leader" and turn him into some kind of god. They would engage in massive denial that people like us addressed the signs he had early dementia for months if not years.  Chris Christie noted this yesterday: 'I Saw': Chris Christie Describes 'Significant Declines' In Trump's Cognitive Skills (read article).

For people to change their minds about Trump (and Vance) they need to open them. This is not only incredibly difficult for those who have deeply held or core beliefs to do. These are beliefs that are part of their identity and how they view the world. Signficantly, it is even harder to radically change a belief that is central to one's identity when doing this means admitting you were gullible. Consider this entry from my online therausus for gullible:

 the swindler preyed upon gullible people. credulous, over-trusting, over-trustful, trustful, easily deceived/led, easily taken in, exploitable, ripe for the picking, dupable, deceivable, impressionable, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary, unguarded, unskeptical, ingenuous, naive, innocent, simple, inexperienced, unworldly, green, as green as grass, childlike, ignorant; foolish, silly; informal wet behind the ears, born yesterday.

Considering the malevolent vengeance driven personalities of both Trump and Vance my suggestion to everyone should they win is that there's both strength and solace when you join with like minded people.

This is my quote from the DeVega column:

I want to share some advice, and hopefully some wisdom, from my 40 years as a psychotherapist and from the insights I gained from both my own clients and from my own therapists. In addition to what I said above, I would remind everyone who feels overwhelmed that no matter how horrific things get you are not alone in the resistance. The most insidious feeling during times of stress is loneliness. If you feel this and want to hide your head under a blanket force yourself to rally whatever strength you can muster and reach out to like-minded people.

Another way to put it is that it is better to hang together than to hang alone.

.............

This was posted on Oct. 14. This is the blog from Oct. 15th.

Read previous blogs here.