What a long, strange trip it's been...

[kentuck]

Donald Trump never thought he was going to be the President. It was just another scam to promote himself and make more deals. There was no need for him to stop the "deals" that were ongoing. That included the shady operations with Russia and the Saudis.

It wasn't his fault that he became President.

And it wasn't the fault of his 'base", either, as much as we like to hate them and blame them for the situation we now find ourselves in. In truth, they were victims. If we had been subjected to the same degree and type of propaganda as they, we do not know that we would have acted differently? They were used as tools to further an agenda of the right-wing propagandists in this country.

They were nurtured by right-wing radio, by FOX News, by right-wing editorials, by a nation-wide network of local broadcasters, and others to believe that America was in a downward slide that neither political Party could save us from. Trump was the vessel. It didn't matter to them if he was a "con-man", a criminal, a tax cheat, a person lacking any moral base. He served their purpose.

They are the culprit in this entire tragedy. The Rush Limbaughs, the Sean Hannitys, the Lou Dobbs, the Mark Levins, the Michael Savages, and the thousands of right-wing blowhards in local radio across this nation. They are the ones responsible for where we are today.

And we cannot overlook the role of most elected officials in the Republican Party. They were seduced and willingly bowed down to the corruption and sickness that surrounded them.

We should not rush into blaming Trump's "base", however easy that is to do. They were used. But, just as Trump cannot be excused, neither can they. We must be responsible for our own actions.

The American people have endured this tragic episode of our history for many months and it looks like the puzzle is finally falling into place? It has taken so long because it is such a deep and complex conspiracy that only time could resolve it.

Hopefully, the truth will emerge victorious. And we must understand who the real culprits are?

[Zoonart]

1. The person who WANTED MF45 to be president is Vladimir Putin.

[ananda]

2. And MF45 didn't exactly resist!

He was a very aggressive campaigner.

[underpants]

3. The media in general but RW media prepped the battlefield

specific to the primaries. The 10-15 candidates didn’t help either. Trump didn’t get a majority of votes in the primaries which no one has done before.

Fox News tried desperately to put him down (Megan Kelly) but it was too late. Trump was a Monday morning fixture on Fox n Friends. The viewers knew him. Heard him starting their week with attacks on Obama and deriding THEIR own COUNTRY.

All those years the dashboard believers were prepped for this, while actually being lead around by the nose, and in he came with a wrestling schtick. It worked. On them and now us.

[kentuck]

4. Edited:

To add a couple of sentences for clarification.

[Pobeka]

5. I blame Ronald Reagan.

That was the pivotal moment in my opinion.

Destruction of a well funded education system and destruction of the media fairness doctrine.

Most disastrous was tax cuts for the wealthy, which led to the destruction of good paying low/middle income jobs and the necessary response -- "the dual working couple".

The hours necessary to read, research and understand social issues and what politicians were doing vaporized as the second person in the home now spent 10-12 hours a day dealing with a job instead of taking care of home/children.

Many of those 10-12 hours used to be spent reading the paper and actually understanding our political issues. The only time left after those 10-12 hours were gone was 5 seconds. And the 5 second sound byte became the main means by which the electorate understands political issues.

All of that enabled the propoganda spewers you describe to have a major impact.

Thank you for your post. I strongly agree the most of the right-wing base is not the problem. They fundamentally want the same things for themselves and children as we do. They just don't have time to understand the full truth of the matters at hand.

[Kurt V.]

6. there could be no Moscow tRump tower deal without him becoming president.

bc of the sanctions that were already in place. he wanted and needed to become pres. to move that foward.
the rest i agree.

[EarthFirst]

7. Jerry would not be pleased... nt

[bluedigger]

8. Hell in a bucket.

Well we know you're the reincarnation
Of the ravenous Catherine the Great
And we know how you love your ovations
And the Z-rated scenes you create
And the Z-rated scenes you create

You analyse me, attempt to despise me
And you laugh when I stumble and fall
There may come a day I will dance on your grave
If unable to dance I will crawl across it
Unable to dance I will crawl
Yeah, unable to dance I'll crawl

You must really consider the circus
'Cause it just might be your kind of zoo
I can't think of a place that's more perfect
For a person as perfect as you

https://www.dead.net/song/hell-bucket

[dhill926]

9. the base fell for the propaganda....

because it bolstered their prejudices. I do hold them accountable...they heard what they wanted to hear...

[Aristus]

10. I agree. They're not innocent dupes. They are cruel, mean, savage, angry, vicious dupes.

Like that one woman who complained about Trump: "He ain't hurtin' the people he 'posed ta be hurtin'!"

This is not some aw-shucks dimbulb who was innocently taken in by a con-man. This is someone who wanted to be conned, as long as other people suffered more than she did.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Amen!

[LisaM]

17. I'm reluctant to paint a whole group with the same brush.

But I do think you are correct about the hardcore base.

[Initech]

11. I'm honestly no longer interested in what the Russians have on Trump.

I'm becoming more interested in what the Saudis have on him, and I really wonder what their role in this whole thing is. And I'm sure it has something to do with that $110 billion weapons deal, and that's something they should not be trusted with.

[saidsimplesimon]

12. Another excellent diary, imo

Thank you, kentuck

[FiveGoodMen]

14. If Trump didn't want to become president

then that blows holes in the notion that he colluded with Putin to win the election.

Do we REALLY want to jump to that conclusion?

[LisaM]

16. I don't think he intended to be President, but now I think he's justifying to himself that he did.

He re-writes his own history to fit his own narrative.

[H2O Man]

15. Recommended.

I think Michael Cohen is doing a fine job of exposing the true culprits today.

[ffr]

18. This is the one and only time I'll not REC your post, Kentuck

"If we had been subjected to the same degree and type of propaganda as they, we do not know that we would have acted differently?"

Unequivocally no. Sound reasoning dictates that you follow deductive thought that is supported by facts, beginning to end. No amount of propaganda can turn a good person into the persona of a bad person. At no point before, during, or after the 2016 election did I or anyone in my family ever doubt that Hillary Clinton was anything but what she has always been, a public servant for the betterment of average folks. The hit squads on CNN. Fox Entertainment, AKA Fox News, et-al, did their deeds, but it didn't sway anyone in my family in the slightest.

No, we too had been subjected to the same degree or worse type of propaganda and to the man/woman & children, not one of us was swayed by the propaganda. That's how deductive thought works. Conclusions are self evident because they are supported. They either support the argument or they do not. In Hillary Clinton's case, she will always have our full support until some evidence comes forth to impeach her impeachable character.

I can only conclude that those who question Hillary Clinton's character have flawed reasoning and don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[kentuck]

19. Perhaps not you or I?

But we cannot speak of the Democratic Party as a monolith, all thinking the same way. Unfortunately, division by Party lines does not equal division by rational intelligence. We are humans before we are Democrats or Republicans. As John Prine said, his Grandpa 'voted for Eisenhower 'cause Lincoln won the war'. It is not always about deductive reasoning.