#DerangedDonald voters not really into us anymore!

I recently found out all the crazy Trump stuff I was sending to my Trump worshiping friend in Milwaukee via Twitter/email was being ignored...because as a "liberal," I'm just not on his radar anymore and neither is my personal point of view. Hey, I'm not in the cult.

Thus the persistent belief among Trump’s critics that exposing his manifest dishonesty will finally awaken his base to reality is mistaken. His ability to get away with every possible form of cheating is part of his appeal, because he is cheating the establishment, the elite, the “deep state”, the “them” that is not “us”.

I sent him this great "debate" between right wing lunatic Jesse Lee Peterson and sane "Beta Male Gamer" named "Destiny" (Steven), because I knew he would love it. Didn't watch it. And I thought he would be outraged at the Dutch dairy farmer being kicked out of the county because of Trump's disastrous immigration policies...nope, didn't watch or read the story!

Coincidentally, a few stories turned up that dealt with my own disturbing realization that if you're not on board with Trump, you're nothing, just a noise disturbing their perfect world now made great again by Trump. 

Trump’s supporters cannot be won back to normal politics and normal society until they hit rock bottom and have a moment of personal and group catharsis. It is not the job of the Democrats to help Donald Trump’s supporters become healthy and well.

Yup, news stories and tweets mean nothing, and they're certainly are not worth bothering with.

Steven Hassan, who is one of the world’s leading experts on cults explained to me in a conversation here at Salon in March of 2018 how, “Donald Trump fits the stereotypical profile of a cult leader. His followers fit the model as well. Many of them ... sound like people who have been indoctrinated into a totalistic mindset.Trump’s strategies of fear programming, redefining reality and defining independent journalism as “fake news” mirrors a country on the verge of a totalitarian takeover.”

Donald Trump represents an authoritarian movement and a cultural force. Trumpism is not merely or just a set of political policy preferences. Like other authoritarian cultural movements Trumpism promises a national-cultural transformation, psychological uplift, group superiority, personal salvation, and a sense of membership and belonging in an exclusive community for its members and other supporters.

As a cultural force, Trumpism offers pleasure and joy for its followers and other members of the right-wing as Donald Trump gives permission to torment and commit violent and other harmful acts against “liberals”, “progressives”, “minorities”, “immigrants”, “Muslims”, “the news media” and any other group which he as the leader and they as the followers deem to be “unAmerican” and not sufficiently “loyal” to the “cause” and “the movement”.

CNN reported on Wednesday how: The Florida man who pleaded guilty to mailing explosive devices said in a letter to a federal judge that attending a rally for President Donald Trump “became like a new found drug.”

Trump’s followers only trust him to tell them the truth — even though it has been shown that he has publicly lied almost 10,000 times since becoming president ... they believe that Trump’s lies are a way of destroying “the system.” Trump’s supporters actually think that he is “god’s vessel” and some type of divine and holy figure. Republican Fox News viewers overwhelmingly believe that Trump is “the greatest president ever”.

Remember this comment by rural Trump voter:

70-year-old Sonny Sonnichsen: "I'm not a die hard Republican, but I'm following Trump. We needed a change, and if they just give him a chance, I think he'd do wonders, if he hasn't already done some great things." He says the Washington establishment won't give Trump any credit. He says they still can't get over the fact that Trump won.

And yet...

At the heart of connection between bad boy folk hero Trump and his adulating base is a fundamental misunderstanding. Trump is not fighting the establishment. Trump is not using his powers to help his angry supporters. Trump is screwing them.

He attacks their health by eliminating rules which reduce corporate air and water pollution. He hasn’t stopped his repeated attempts to cut their health insurance by Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare. He is dismantling the bank and lending regulations. These are all assaults on the standard of living, present and future, of non-elite America.

In other words, it's not a mistake to give up on changing the Trumpist cult. And like Trump, Democrats need to appeal to the base and independents, since polling shows there is strong support for the platform.