MAGA and ISIS the painful truth

On Wednesday 6th January 2021, a armed, frenzied and violent militia stormed the Capitol building, not only in protest to, but with the mission to stop the ratification of a legally binding, bi-partisan vote. Why? Some say they believe the election was stolen from President Donald J Trump, as part of a complex plot involving voting machines, mail in ballots, stopping and starting counting and Hugo Chavez brother. On the surface it looks inocuous, after all, we're all suseptible to believe things that fit with 'our side' and our world view.

But wait. The truth is more harrowing than that. When asked why they were there, many of the peaceful 'stop the steal' protesters stated; 'because Trump won.' Now here's the problem. He didn't. Not anywhere near. Yet many Trump voters still think he was robbed, that despite no evidence, it was snatched away from him. Even with Trump's inner-circle legitimizing the election and quashing any claims of wrongdoing. For example, when William Barr, Trump's outgoing Attorney General suggest the election was legit, he was immediately branded 'a deep state operative' and called for a cull. Or Vice President Mike Pence, who, after refusing to go against precedent and not ratify the electoral college results, was threatened with a noose and a chant of 'hang Mike Pence.' Make no mistake, Trump rallied his base, and let them lose.

As the days after the election progressed, Trump doubled-down on the theft, stoking his followers to fever pitch and culminating in the violent scenes we say just outside the senate. The violence turned to terror as senators donned smoke hoods, removed identifying pins, and prepared for the worst. It was somewhere between a Gerard Butler film and an ISIS wet dream.

But this didn't happen overnight. Trump's ideological, political, and cultural shaping of his MAGA base was a slow burn. He offered them something new, away from Leftist ideals. And with it, he conditioned them. He told them how to consume media, who were their enemies (See Orwell's two minutes of hate), what to believe (for example Hillary Clinton's crookedness), and who to target (BLM). He weaponized, efficiently so, a swarm of acolytes who bought into Trump over everything. Except maybe Jesus.

Speaking of religion, a world away, in the middle east, Islamic State (IS or ISIS) promotes a political ideology and worldview that classifies believers and enemies including those within the Muslim religon. It essentially exploits hate, division, and fundamentalism aligned to religious values and cultural perspectives. It offers it's followers, those following by choice, a reason and a target for their lot in life, and why the world is shifting, and the dangers of reality if it does. It dictates, it controls and it uses fear to rip up reality and recast in its image. Clerics justify IS violence through its mission, linking acts to stories of religious salvation and heroics, helping to shape the minds of recruits. Sound familiar?

This is the new world GOP and Democrat party members face. A reality cast in Trump's image. One linked to a near-religious mission, with the fate of the hearts and minds of every American hanging in the balance. Sure, it's based on lies and deception, but that doesn't matter. Only Trump's view matters. Race. Gender. Science. It's all up for grabs. Everything is ideological. Everything is open to being shaped. Anyone that goes against him, no matter how right they are (and I mean that in both senses), is branded an enemy.

And that's where we're at.

Ask a die-hard MAGA voter if Trump won. After GOP members and staunch Trump advocates said he lost. After the electoral college vote was ratified. After the violence. After the court cases. After the investigations... Because Trump said so. Because Cleric Trump said so...