Area Conservative Excuses Trump Loving Politicians. MSM Forgives and Forgets
By Spocko
I don’t usually care what right-wing conservative op-ed writers have to say, except when I want to mock them. (David Brooks: The Firefighters’ Mistake: The Rush To Extinguishment. Getting the fire’s point of view.)
However, this op-ed by Peter Wehner said some things similar to what was in a great article in the Atlantic: The Most Dangerous Way to Lose Yourself ; “Identity fusion” might explain why people act against their own interests.
“Fundamentally, fusion is an opportunity to realign the sense of self. It creates new systems by which people can value themselves. A life that consists of living up to negative ideas about yourself does not end well. Nor does a life marked by failing to live up to a positive self-vision. But adopting the values of someone who is doing well is an escape. If Donald Trump is doing well, you are doing well. Alleged collusion with a foreign power might be bad for democracy, but good for an individual leader, and therefore good for you. “Fusion satisfies a lot of need for people,” Dovidio says. “When you fuse with a powerful leader, you feel more in control. If that person is valued, you feel valued.”
 |
| Fusion with the Donald. — photo: AARON LAVINSKY – STAR TRIBUNE |
People on the left would point out that something that Trump did wouldn’t help them personally, so why would they support it? From the article:
“Even if this personal enrichment didn’t come to fruition for his voters, the researchers found that fusion with Trump only increased after his election. The presidency itself made him more powerful, and hence a more attractive target to fuse with”
Trump is getting more powerful and richer in office. I identify with him, therefore I am too. Trump is sticking it to the libs. Therefore I am too.
When Trump gets away with breaking the law or has multiple affairs and his wife doesn’t leave him, he is crushing it in a kind of life many want.
Trump is their avatar on the world stage, they see him as rich and powerful, so they are too.
If Trump is under attack, they are too.
In Wehner’s piece he talks about cognitive accommodation:
All of this is tied to the psychology of accommodation. As a conservative-leaning clinical psychologist I know explained to me, when new experiences don’t fit into an existing schema — Mr. Trump becoming the leader of the party that insisted on the necessity of good character in the Oval Office when Bill Clinton was president, for example — cognitive accommodation occurs.
When the accommodation involves compromising one’s sense of integrity, the tensions are reduced when others join in the effort. This creates a powerful sense of cohesion, harmony and group think. The greater the compromise, the more fierce the justification for it — and the greater the need to denounce those who call them out for their compromise. “In response,” this person said to me, “an ‘us versus them’ mentality emerges, sometimes quite viciously.”
“What used to be a sense of belonging,” I was told, “devolves into primitive tribalism, absolute adherence to the leader over adherence to a code of ethics.”
Sounds like how a mob forms right before a lynching, doesn’t it? Many fine people.
——
Wehner, a speech writer for W. Bush and an adviser to Romney, wants to push the idea that Republican politicians are really good, moral people and they will snap back to Idealized Republican once Trump is gone.
As the psychologist I spoke to put it to me, many Republicans “are nearly unrecognizable versions of themselves pre-Trump. At this stage it’s less about defending Trump; they are defending their own defense of Trump.”
“At this point,” this person went on, “condemnation of Trump is condemnation of themselves. They’ve let too much go by to try and assert moral high ground now. Calling out another is one thing; calling out yourself is quite another.”
The drive to explain adherence to Trump right now is HUGE, so once that is explained, the Republican think tanks need to lay the ground work for the minute they abandon him. They are preparing for the Republicans return to MSM respectability.
Republican politicians expect that the mainstream media will welcome them back with open arms when Trump goes down.
Future Media To GOP “Welcome Back! Now tell us what is wrong with the Democrats.”
The mainstream media will LOVE to have Trump supporting Republicans on their shows the instant it looks like he is toast. The first will be the Republicans who sort of stood up to Trump, even though they voted for him 100 percent of the time. Then those who “retired.” but didn’t attack Trump when they had a chance. Next the quiet ones who didn’t speak up but didn’t retire.
The media will welcome them as they talk about bipartisan-ism and how we need to “come together as a country and heal.” some of l these people will be Republican lite-Democrats. I expect they will talk about how we must cut the deficit because “The Economy” blah, blah, blah. And we can’t too crazy with health care because of “Jobs.”
The saddest time will be during the Rehabilitation Tour of 2020 when MSM hosts will have on Republican guests who will talk about what they did behind the scenes to stop worse things from happening. But they did nothing to stop Trump until the House forced him down. I can’t wait for the lack of hard hitting questions! Don’t look back at the caged children, look forward to undermining Democrat’s Socialist Agenda.
There is an old Vulcan Proverb:
Media that forgive War Criminals–and Politicians who enabled Trump–should neither live long, nor prosper.
.