Oath Keepers and Proud Boys were like little kids living out a fantasy.

[fightforfreedom]

At some point in our lives were grow out of the child fantasy stage. Not these idiots. I have following the Proud Boys trial and read about some of the Proud Boys e-mails, texts. It's un-believable.

These idiots have always fantasized they were the true American patriots who would one day rise up like the Americans of 1776 and overthrow a tyrannical government. Then Trump shows up and played them for the childlike fools they are.

When Trump tweeted come to the Capital, it's going to wild, among other statements. They took that as verification their fantasy was real, coming true. In their e-mails, texts they were giddy with excitement. They were so happy they were going to repeat 1776. How in the hell can you repeat 1776? They actually believed they were going to take over the government.

I will never understand how grown men can be so stupid. It's like they never grew up. I wonder if any of them have figured out Trump played them for the fools they are. Maybe they will figure it out as they sit in their prison cells for many years. But then again, maybe not.

[gab13by13]

1. Hey, I live among the Magats in central Pa.

I have a spare bedroom, why not come visit me for a weekend. We don't have Proud Boys or Oath Keepers in our town, just plain Magats.

I will take you out on the town, we can stop at the Vets, the Sportsman Clubs (there are 2) and you can just tell those Magats that they are stupid. Explain to them logically why they are stupid. I will be right there for you I will take out my cell phone and dial 91 and wait.

[Lasher]

13. There's a Poud Boys chapter in Harrisburg.

According to the SPLC.

[homegirl]

40. Believe it or NOt

From Liberal Northern California. Our local Democratic political community held our annual fund raiser last night. 600+ loyal Americans. We had a problem with a squad of MAGATS blocking the entrance to the property, the local Veterans Hall, and the actual entrance into the building! Local police had to negotiate a proximity limit and remain on site. But the Dungeness Crab Feed event was a huge success. Speaker was Adam Schiff our next Senator from California!!!

[The Jungle 1]

15. Then come vist my neck of the woods. Philly!

Where unorganized bystanders ran a patriot front flash mob out of town. I mean they ran. They turned tail and ran.

The speed with which the community understood the threat and responded highlights, at least anecdotally, a shift in collective awareness toward the threat of white nationalist violence. From the referenced article
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/philadelphia-bystanders-ran-patriot-front-out-town-it-won-t-ncna1273283

Yea the middle of Pa is a conservative un-American hole.

[paleotn]

26. It's Philly. Of course they ran.

Even Santa can attest that Philadelphia is one tough town.

[The Jungle 1]

37. Well, there is that Santa story.

I still say Santa started it.
His elves kept stealing sneakers and throwing them over the power lines. He had it coming.
That is my story and I am sticking with it

[paleotn]

45. Never gets old.

&t=5s&ab_channel=AnneRoberts

[paleotn]

28. How exactly does that disprove the OPs point?

How? In fact, I think you just proved the OPs point. Sounds like a bunch of hayseed dumbasses to me.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

49. Your post indicates you seem to think the OP is a fool. What orifice

... did you pull your suggestion out of?

The OP wrote nothing to prompt your bizarre suggestion.

[vlyons]

2. Well that's the thing about being delusional

One can't see how reality actually exists. When the mind is filled with delusions, what is seen is merely a reflection of one's own mind. Their minds are filled with contempt for authority. "Ya can't tell me what to do!" Filled with hatred for the "other." Libtards, wokes, non-whites, non-Christians need to be put down.

It's pointless to try and reason with them. They are incapable of living peacefully with people, who are different.

[gab13by13]

6. Living among them it didn't take me long to figure that out

[cyclonefence]

3. It's a dead giveaway when adult members

of an allegedly serious movement wear Outfits and have rules about masturbating. I'd guess they stopped their emotional development at about age 11. And if you have to announce in the name of your organization that you keep oaths, well, that's pretty sad. I mean, that's kind of expected when you make an oath.

[niyad]

4. Yikes!! You just reminded me about those yellow skirts! Mind bleach, quick!

[FalloutShelter]

16. Start with gamers, Larpers, and cosplay...

Add in a hearty dose of AM RADIO and a dash of Vikings.

Suddenly they are the only first person shooter, shield wielding manly patriots anywhere.

Delusional.

[Silent3]

46. Hey, a lot of people into gaming, larping, and cosplay...

...are just having harmless, nerdy fun, and aren't a threat to anyone. I actually like that our culture has become more accepting of adults being playful in ways that once would have been called "childish".

The only ones to be concerned about are those who are way too much into real guns and real violence.

[FalloutShelter]

47. As I said, and I have personally seen it turn the corner-

When you add AM radio and right wing bro culture into the mix it can go south to violence, and a misplaced notion of patriotic heroism, fast.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Back in '86, I met two displaced young men from Idaho who were

living with me in Rockland County, NY.

They were brothers. And were inexplicably fascinated by the Civil War.

On Friday and Saturday nights, they couldn't wait to visit the local bar. Not to get drunk. Rather, to hopefully goad a local into a good fight outside where they'd whip'em. They were caught up in recreational violence.

I asked them why and they obliquely responded that they wanted to re-dress the Civil War and win some battles that needed to be fought.

I thought they were nuts and haven't thought about them until the Proud Boys.

[tanyev]

7. Revenge fantasies. That's why Donald Trump had so much appeal for them.

His entire existence is revenge fantasy.

[Hotler]

19. +1. That makes sense. Back during the early part of 2016 CNN was at a rally

for the orange one and ask one of the maga's why they supported TFG, "he's our chance to hurt the dems." That is all the repug voters live for is to be mean and hateful to dems and libs.

[3Hotdogs]

8. --- inability to distinguish between cosplay

and reality.


To help them, maybe an advertisement in the American Rifleman magazine.

"Cosplay is when your weekend is over and you take off the stupid gear and go back to your shitty job,

Reality is when you spend the next 18 months in Club Fed because you were stupid enough to listen to a bloated asshole who suckered you into his fantasies."

[Archae]

9. There's this guy I know...

He's of the "Trump can and did no wrong, while Biden's crime family is hard at work."

Total Foxbot.

[nuxvomica]

10. It's the broken hero's cycle

We are supposed to transition from the innocence of youth through rites of passage to the awareness of corruption in the world and the commitment of our newfound adult powers to protecting the innocent from that corruption so the cycle can begin anew. If we pass the awareness stage without answering the call to heroism, either because we fear sacrifice or have no confidence in our powers, this broken instinct must be mitigated by fantasies in which we are pantomime heroes easily fighting the made-up corruptions invented by abusive parental figures who only acquire power by keeping their followers in a permanent twilight of childhood. This broken cycle has been the primary cause of human misery since the dawn of humankind, even though myth and literature, from Gilgamesh to Skywalker, keeps telling us how the whole thing is supposed to work.

[Scrivener7]

12. I cannot tell you how much I love this. Brilliant.

And FASCINATING!

I have seen the hero cycle described before, but never came across this concept:

pantomime heroes easily fighting the made-up corruptions invented by abusive parental figures who only acquire power by keeping their followers in a permanent twilight of childhood

It is perfect and succinct.

Your post after your mom died did the same thing to me.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210905045
I think that one was so profound it should be re-posted weekly.

If anyone who sees this hasn't seen that post, read it. You will be happy you did.

[nuxvomica]

34. It's an idea I've been working with since that old post

And it's helped me understand a lot of crazy things in politics that I had always thought were unfathomable. I like that it goes beyond morality and religion and speaks to instincts we humans likely have in common because the idea of the hero's journey is found in all of storytelling so there must be a point to it..

[Scrivener7]

43. It really does explain all the things that make no sense. And it tells us one of the meanings

life.

That's quite a feat.

[Locrian]

14. yes

And there are a whole range of mechanisms from "societies of control" to the fantasy / hero industry that reinforce this.
The constant merchandising, the disdain for anyone who isn't $ucce$ful, etc all contribute to a lack of self awareness and growth.

[gab13by13]

22. Not to mention the effect of the MSM,

American oligarchs who own and manage the MSM. Their use of propaganda is like a herd of buffalo running toward us, forcing us to follow the herd or be stomped on. It becomes much easier to run with the buffalo than to face them. To those who do face the herd they learn that the buffalo aren't real animals, they are fake holograms who are trying to trick us to follow them.

What does it matter if we start calling a fence a wall? It grows.

[Timeflyer]

18. Such an insightful explanation--thanks.

I get too emotional when discussing these people (almost went there just now, wanted to use profanity), but your words are rational.

[fightforfreedom]

25. Good post.

[KPN]

35. Thank you for sharing that remarkable insight.

It explains a lot. Having rational explanations for disquieting events is enormously reassuring and calming in effect.

My Dad was a loving, playful and responsible father and generally compassionate person, but he had a dark side, a volcanic anger that could erupt in a moment’s notice that routinely put me and my siblings on pins and needles. We never understood this and often felt like we were walking on eggshells around him. When I was in my late 30s, I and my siblings learned from our Mom that my Dad’s mother had killed herself when he was 15. And he had been the one who found her hanged in the basement of their farmhouse. He had never told us how his Mom had died. Nor had any of his siblings, our three aunts on his side of our family. As my Mom described it, they were all ashamed by and had kept it a secret. Only after that did I realize that my Dad’s emotional development had been interrupted by that one disturbing event in his early life. His innocence had been violated and in some ways corrupted. This knowledge was a tremendous gift for me and my siblings; it gave us an explanation and it gave us peace.

[nuxvomica]

44. They probably thought they were protecting you

I am glad the truth gave you peace.

[vlyons]

11. They must have been raised in a barn

Grew up in a dysfunctional family, where one or both parents were control freaks, bullies. Not much affection. Never taught to be a good person with a kind and loving heart.

[wnylib]

29. Well, that's what Fred Trump was like with his family.

People who also had a family like that identify with TFG.

[The Jungle 1]

17. When 1/6 was going down I thought well this is Fort Sumter.

Turns out is was a bunch of children playing with their dicks.
I bet 99% of them have ADHD. They had no idea what their actions would result in or what tomorrow would bring.
These children were pissed because they lost the election and just wanted some instant gratification. Just like every 12 year old boy.

[fightforfreedom]

27. For a brief moment I thought I was watching a new episode of the Walking Dead.

A herd of people, all functioning with their brain stems only. Aimlessly wandering about attacking people. I quickly realized it was the Trump voters attacking the Capital.

My brain almost short circuited when I heard them start chanting 1776 while they were carrying Confederate Flags.

[The Jungle 1]

39. The Walking Dead, now that is funny

Thanks

[Martin Eden]

20. Great post, fightforfreedom!

They believed they were fighting for freedom, but in truth they were proving that:

Those who can make you believe absurdities
Can make you commit atrocities

[Ptah]

21. I spent almost two years impersonating a sheriff,

I carried a gun and a badge, tracked suspects and investigated many crimes. I never had any issues from the police and the community was nothing but happy when they saw me.



Then i turned 7 and decided to be a cowboy.

[gab13by13]

23. That is profound.

[fightforfreedom]

30. Lol!

[KPN]

36. Lol. Sums it up in a nutshell!

[spanone]

24. Adults committing sedition.

[EleanorR]

31. No, they are dangerous, radicalized adults

And trump did want them to overthrow the government so he could stay in power, even if it got people killed.

I get a little tired of the narrative that these radical right-wingers don't have agency because they are child-like or delusional or stupid. They knew what they were doing and trump wanted them to do it. Now they has a sad because they failed and are going to prison.

[uponit7771]

32. K&R, Isolated info sources and an echo chamber can make anything look normal

[barbtries]

33. they do it by not growing up,

by being devoted to tribalism, racism, nationalism, by listening to fox news and hate radio 24/7. I think the stupid part must be just something they are. my best guess

[keithbvadu2]

38. "It's a revolution" she says. Poor baby got maced.

"It's a revolution" she says.

Her revolution includes smearing poop in the Capital, attacking cops, and killing their own kind.

It was going to be so easy.

Link to tweet

[jalan48]

41. Hitler spent time in prison in the 1920's for his child like fantasies. We know how that ended.

[Chainfire]

42. Living in a very rightwing area left me with the feeling that the far right started snowballing

with the election of Obama.

I think that the biggest problem is racially oriented. How dare they force a black President on us. "The country is coming to an end,and only we can save it." The hate for Obama and his supporters was a great recruiting tool for losers that need someone to blame for their economic and social failures. A lot of these types still grieve over the loss of the "War of Northern Aggression." And would like to overturn the results and return to a world where being White made you, legally, superior to all others. Skin color nobility.

It is all ignorance based hatred. Ignorance is what sustains the Republican Party and that is why Republican leaders, like DeSatan are doing everything in their power to destroy public education. Teach them to hate young, and you own them for life.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

48. As if a couple hundred nuts can create a race war and a real revolution. Self-aggrandizement

They have an inflated image of themselves, but more importantly they have a completely bogus view of christian victimhood and conservative victimhood and white male victimhood.

These kinds of nuts get in their circle jerk bubbles and jack each other up about how "bad" and "desperate" and "broken" society is, and how ripe things are for a new uncivil civil war.

Like so many in bubbles they fool themselves.