As the MAGA cult starts to sputter, the possibility of sanity dawns after America's long national nightmare
DUSK — the beginning of the nightmare
“One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” ― George Orwell, 1984
In 2015, Donald Trump descended his gilded escalator and introduced America to the heart of darkness. He announced his run for the Presidency — and the experts tittered because they were in on the joke. The unqualified reality-TV star was obviously doing it for the publicity. And he, and they knew he had no chance of winning.
Aligned against him were 16 other candidates — including Governors, Senators, a businesswoman, an ex-neurosurgeon Bible-thumper, and the presumptive winner, a scion of an American political dynasty; the son and brother of former presidents — Jeb Bush. Not only did he have the name and connections, but he also had what, in 2016, was an unimaginable war chest of $100 million.
And then MAGA happened. From the moment Trump called Mexicans rapists, permitting racists to be their true selves, bigots have driven Republican policy. Electoral success has sprung from hating brown people as murderous immigrants, painting Blacks as opportunistic rioters, and accusing anyone outside the bigender, heterosexual box as a child abuser with a groomer’s agenda.
At first, a few Never-Trumpers resisted the slide to madness. But their opposition was ephemeral as their declarations of resistance were soon followed by retirement. And anyone who ventured dissent to the Dear Leader was crushed under a blizzard of lacerating tweets and personalized insults.
When the dust settled, the serial failure, chiseler, and convicted fraud was seated in the Oval Office, surrounded by North Korean-style sycophants and evangelicals who declared him Cyrus the Great reborn — come to save the Christians. Night fell on Morning in America as the cult of Trump blighted the nation.
DARKNESS — the time of hate
In conversation with [a cultist], one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
Ask a MAGA/QAnon believer how they know their beliefs are true, and they will say they have done “the research”. This means they have read websites that confirm their bias, talked to fellow travelers, attended rallies, and watched the docu-fantasy “2,000 Mules”.
Cultism has always been a feature of American life. God is usually the agent. Some cults prosper and move into the mainstream — e.g. Mormonism and Scientology. Others end in disaster for the followers — Branch Davidians, the People’s Temple, and Heaven’s Gate. Regardless, in every case, their reach is limited.
MAGA/QAnon is different — its Godhead is human. And it has corrupted one of America’s two major political parties. This raises two questions, “How can you tell MAGA is a cult?” And “How did the GOP become Trump’s patsy?”
The answer to the first is that MAGAs have lost their connection with reality. They will not believe their idol has seduced them into insanity. They smugly believe they are one of the select smart enough to know the truth. They have no doubts and are unpersuaded by argument. They are impervious to logic, common sense, and facts. And they dismiss reason as a coercive Deep State acting like the Devil tempting Jesus.
And that illuminates the answer to the second question — why did the Republicans discard their pride and kiss the ring? In short, there is no there, there in the conservative asylum. The GOP has no interest in governance. They only want power. And that power springs from the base. And that rabble is underpinned by hate.
Trump’s overwhelming defeat in 2020 only enhanced his appeal to the fanatics. They saw it as proof that he had implacable enemies driven to machinate against him because he was a threat to their entrenched power. Evidence that he was an abject loser validated that he had won. And everyone was in on the fix — even the judges Trump had appointed.
So complete was their belief in the conspiracy that some attacked the Capitol while others cheered them on. And his apologists in Congress excused this Trump-inspired sedition as a tourist excursion and legitimate political discourse. His second impeachment was swatted away by Republican leaders who had switched from condemnation to genuflection when they saw MAGA was standing firm.
DAWN — hope renewed
“I had a pit-of-my-stomach moment as I watched the rally. It is hard to quit Trump — I voted for him twice enthusiastically. But at this juncture, I think we have to move forward to a new generation of leaders.” — Former MAGA
Then another election rolled around, and something strange happened. The red tsunami did not occur. The Democrats — under the flag of an unpopular President and running against rising interest rates and near-double-digit inflation — did not lose like the party in power is supposed to in the mid-terms. Trump-anointed candidates in competitive elections lost. And Republican pooh-bahs grumbled that it was all his fault. Worse for him, many who had run on 2020 election denial conceded readily when their loss in 2022 became apparent. And even Trump himself was mute on vote fraud.
Not that he was silent. He spent sleep-deprived hours posting on his latest failing business, Truth Social, blaming everyone except himself. He railed against his heir apparent — the 19%-point winner he christened Ron DeSanctimonious. Reagan was rarely right, but his 11th Commandment, “Republicans shall not speak ill of other Republicans,” still resonated in the recesses.
The movement to dethrone the naked Emperor is still hesitant. But conservative pundits, politicians, and even some of the base are awakening to the reality that while the future may come from Florida, it will not be Trump.
Trump has suffered existential blows to his political future. Ruppert Murdoch, whose political savvy is unequaled, has discarded him. And other cuts, while shallower, also hurt. Scott Adams, Dilbert creator, active MAGA, and Trump fanboy, declared on Twitter, “Yeah, I'm out.”
And Elon Musk, the guy who was going to make liberals cry by unleashing MAGA on Twitter, has proved to be a whiney little bitch who has driven his $44 billion new toy off a bridge. And his failure has rendered his demand that people vote Republican the plea of an irrelevant man.
MAGA will not disappear overnight. And it retains the aggression of a wounded beast. But it is a spent political force. Trump will not win in 2024 — and the odds are long that he will even be the nominee. The GOP will return to what it was. A racist, hateful party whose only coherent policy is to give more money to the rich while shredding the safety net and taking away healthcare from the average citizen. It will be the same as it is now, only slightly less insane.