THREAD 1- When we marvel or roll our eyes at Trump supporters, we're often asking the wrong question. Instead of asking: "How can they believe this nonsense?" Better we ask: "What do they get out of being part of Trumpism that makes them so willing to suppress reasoned thought?"
2- There are a lot of answers to the question of what they get out of Trumpism. First and foremost is "the need to belong." They can dislike and defy the same people, share common grievances, do stuff together. It's a brotherhood of purpose. It's easier to "believe" than think.
3 - We're often asked if Trumpism is a cult. The short answer: Yes, it is. A cult is defined by an unusual, unwavering interest or belief in a particular personality or goal, where devotion transcends reasoned thought. And when you do that, you transcend science, math, and facts.
4 - But here's the important point: Trumpism changed. It's no longer a "Cult of Personality," about a man. It's about tribal contrarianism. The goal: TO WIN (and "own the libs"). When Trump himself got booed for advocating vaccines, we saw how far the cult had outgrown the man.
5 - Trumpism has become a full-on apparatus. Enablers. Amplifiers. Fox News. Talk radio. Right wing podcasts. Performative elected officials. Foreign actors, like Putin. A SCOTUS Justice and wife, FFS. It's spread like a plague to many millions of our most susceptible.
6 - Culture wars. Nationalism. Demonization. Xenophobia. Perversion of words. (Does any Trump cultist understand the actual meaning of the word "evidence"?). Total politicization of EVERY issue. Shameless fearmongering. In an echo chamber; with mass repetition. This - is TRUMPISM
7 - The future of OUR democracy will unfold before and during our midterm elections. We MUST not only be more plentiful at the polls, but we MUST be smarter in understanding what Trumpism is, and how to defeat it.
8 - For democracy to prevail, enough TRUTH must prevail! This IS the bottom line. The other bottom line: WE NEED TO PLAY THE MATH. Not all our citizens are political creatures. Not all Republicans are Trump supporters. Not all Trump supporters are racist, rabid, or ridiculous.
9 - We're making a film called #UNTRUTH. It will make sense out of where we are and why we're here. It's a behavioral perspective we don't EVER get in the media. It will speak truth to ANYONE who isn't fully entranced. It will arm us AND help flip moderates. That's SMART MATH!
10 - The film WILL be released before the midterms. It's an independent film featuring psychologists and pundits, some of which you know well. We did this in 2020 with #UNFIT about Trump. Now in 2020, it's called #UNTRUTH about TrumpISM - the TRUE foe. It WILL make a difference.
11 - You can read about the film NOW. And we hope as many people will do that as possible! Here is a link. Watch the trailer, read the "Messages of the Film," and please consider supporting the effort (it's the FINAL HOURS of our "campaign").
12- The film needs to stay independent, with the right messages told the right way. Behavior and psychology over politics and partisanship.
Democracy IS on the line. TRUTH is stronger than lies.
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We now learn the FBI “resisted” using subpoenas and search warrants to investigate the organizers of 1/6.
Chris Wray is really skilled at not investigating Republicans. @WHCOS
The whole “bottom up” approach to the investigation of 1/6 never made sense. The mob was publicly summoned on Twitter. They can’t “roll” on the people above them when they had no contact with the organizers. That’s a formula for a dead end.
Ron DeSantis threatens Disney, saying they “crossed the line” by denouncing “don’t say gay.” What are you going to do about it, Ron? Punch Mickey Mouse in the nose?
He also said Clarence Thomas is “the greatest living Justice.”
🤮
But we can say Gaetz, which is just a synonym for pedophilia?
THREAD
1 - Here's the exact :30 spot for #UNFIT which we aired on Fox & Friends on the morning of 8/28/20, the one which raised eyebrows at the WH. Our web traffic saw an immediate bump. People went to the website because they, Fox viewers, wanted to learn where to watch the film
2 - We ran this as a test. Fox and Friends viewers had to search to even find the site url. AND THEY DID! Once we saw this, we bought some time on Fox in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin (Biden won all), and N Carolina (Biden lost, close), with the website IN the spot at the end.
3 - Using local cable was and is key. It's targeted, affordable, and we know the inventory is controlled locally, by the cable companies, NOT by Fox itself! So, ALL THE SPOTS RUN. Our 2022 film #UNTRUTH also needs to be seen in places like Fox News, where it can do a lot of good.
THREAD
1 - In 2016 we elected a pathologically compromised president. Crises were botched, our treasury was raped, and tribalism, already bubbling to the surface, became rampant. Winning became everything, expertise became subordinate to feelings, and stubbornness became a virtue
2- We narrowly escaped as a functioning democracy. Institutions barely held. But a cult metastasized, and now, every single flaw in our system has been exposed or is in process of being exposed by a power-crazed minority party and a network of enablers, grifters, and amplifiers.
3- It's so pronounced that a major American amplifier (Fox) champions a mass murderer. We've even lost faith that our own Supreme Court can rise above partisan politics! When the Jan 6 committee has public hearings, we'll learn more about how narrow our 2020 escape really was.
1 - Authoritarians like Putin use ONE weapon above all to keep its own citizens supportive and unaware. Like "The Devil", it has many names: Propaganda. Gaslighting. Disinformation. False narratives. Russia is a closed society, so Putin tries to NEVER let the truth in.
2 - We are still a democracy, with freedom of the press. So authoritarian wannabes like Trump have to work harder to bully the narrative. But he has help. Fox has used fearmongering and culture wars to emotionalize OUR electorate; and they've co-opted many into cult-like beliefs.
3 - The most famous propagandist ever - Josef Goebbels - famously said two things - the first one, we've ALL heard: "Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it, and people WILL believe it.” BUT Goebbels also said something else.
THREAD
1 - Here's the exact :30 spot for #UNFIT which we aired on Fox & Friends on the morning of 8/28/20, the one which raised eyebrows at the WH. Our web traffic saw an immediate bump. People went to the website because they, Fox viewers, wanted to learn where to watch the film
2 - We ran this as a test. Fox and Friends viewers had to search to even find the site url. AND THEY DID! Once we saw this, we bought some time on Fox in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin (Biden won all), and N Carolina (Biden lost, close), with the website IN the spot at the end.
3 - Using local cable was KEY. It was targeted, affordable, and we knew the inventory was controlled locally, by the cable companies, NOT by Fox itself! So, ALL THE SPOTS RAN. Our 2022 film #UNTRUTH also needs to be seen in places like Fox News, where it can do a lot of good.