>My standing opinion of him is that he got elected by tapping
>into, normalizing, and emboldening the worst sentiments of his
>base- mostly whites, but, anecdotally speaking, also to a
>shocking amount of Hispanics.
>
>People tell me that he didn't normalize anything, that this
>sort of racism has always been there, and I disagree with
>that.
>
>This racism has always been there, but in my life time, I have
>not seen it this bold, this open, by so many people. The quiet
>parts are said out loud, and nobody is looking around the
>corner first. That doesn't make the racism itself any better
>or worse, but I do think that the brazen displays that are
>given in his name are indicative of a "green light", so to
>speak, and that's what I mean by "normalize".
>
>The more he escapes real consequences, the more his base
>believes that the same applies to them- and it has. Thus, they
>are emboldened.
>
>His name is, pun unintended but all too appropriate, their
>trump card. He's as close to a religious figure as I've ever
>seen a politician, literally worshiped by his base. The people
>who stormed the Capitol did so for him, in his name, and at
>his call.
>
>He was, they thought, their permission slip. Not even a get
>out of jail free card, because it's clear that these people
>were convinced going in that jail wasn't even a remote
>possibility.
>
>He has undermined the press to a degree I can't recall
>happening in my lifetime.
>
>He made "alternative facts" acceptable, and he's essentially
>the patron saint of conspiracy theorists and snake oil
>salesmen all across this country. Q*** was a LARP that
>succeeded primarily due to the blind hero worship of this guy.
>
>
>Yeah, mental illness, yeah, lack of education, etc- but these
>are things he catered too. Remember, he loves the uneducated.
>
>Q*** also succeeded in part due to the quarantines due to the
>pandemic- the length and depth of which he is directly
>responsible for.
>
>He's also undermined the integrity of elections to a
>frightening degree, and while we got a W this election with
>the Pres and the Senate, we got saddled with some of his truly
>horrifying sycophants in the process.
>
>I think this is so deeply rooted that it's reinvigorated the
>Deplorables to the point where the prior GOP basket looks
>downright acceptable by comparison- but only by comparison.
>
>So even with the GOP being somewhat split, they're still the
>same basket of deplorables. The difference is, that basket is
>now a bag of bad apples, rotten apples, fermenting pruno, and
>the MAGAts that have been energized by it all. It's still the
>same old devils, except the demons have gotten some upgrades.
>
>And even with Orange losing his ass over and over and over and
>over and over again, he still presents a serious threat-
>because the people who had the power to shut him down for real
>not only refused to do so, they straight up aided and abetted-
>even after they damn near got killed by his insurrection
>attempt.
>
>His Tinfoil Army, when he lost, barely waivered. Most of them
>just shifted the goalpost. And when March 4th passes and
>Orange STILL isn't the president, they'll just shift again.
>
>That brand of deplorable has illustrated time and again that
>they don't die. They just get worse.
>
>This motherfucker is on some supervillain shit.
>
>I don't think this just fades away. I think we're a long, hard
>road away from him or his influence going anywhere.