They aren’t smart, but they have a strategy.
One thing bullies require to be who they are is usurping a legitimate dominant presence in your head. The sooner we learn to not give them that, the better.
I was a kid who went to a lot of schools. By today’s standards, I probably would have been like an ADHD kid, but it wasn’t like that then. I got picked on a lot.
It was hard. I cried often. Got beat up on the way home from school a time or two. Never felt safe to begin with. That did not help.
I thought about them a lot..bullies.
The bullies I encountered fought for their place in my mind. They were present, even when not around. Took me a long time to learn to not think about them so much.
Trump takes me back there. He triggers memories of encounters I have experienced with bullies.
One of their biggest weapons is actually what you think of them.
MAGAs in general have phony legitimacy. They are recognized as a legitimate political force. They aren’t. Not even close. But they get a lot out of making us think they are. What they are after isn’t even political. It’s domination.
My encounters with MAGAs revolve around us having different facts. Not just seeing the world in a different way, but having a different set of dates, occurrences, and significance. They are prone to not get the point of the story because they leave out parts of it, or they add a narrative that didn’t exist… whatever, they don’t absorb the facts.
This very much reminds me of school when I’d draw the attention of a bully. “You looking at me, Kuntner?” (What they typically called me). Trouble ensued. My not looking at them was a provocation they needed to justify messing with me.
In my life so far there have been types of folks who need facts to ground themselves, or folks who need reasons to act the way they want to. Pretty much all politics fans fit the bill, one way or another. The MAGA’s appear to be a hefty cloister of the folks looking for a reason.
What do we give bullies?
Once I had not reacting down, and it took a bit, I learned that I actually granted that bully a large chunk of his presence in my mind. I was fearful. Looking for a way out. It finally occurred to me he had gotten what he wanted. I felt dumb for giving it to him. So I quit.
Key:
I think this was a key moment in my overall development. Honestly I didn’t understand a lot. But I understood that I was the one who determined someone’s legitimacy in my own life, not them. They didn’t like that. But they had also lost a huge chunk of their power by then. Worked out.
I only mention all of this because the Trump regime is nearly exactly the same way. When we say they’re bullies, we are saying they are seeking “legitimate” dominance and there’s actually no such thing.
Refuse, repeat.
What has to happen is a massive refusal of their demands for legitimacy. They can’t steal it, they can’t buy it, they can’t beat it out of you. They have to earn it. They’re terrible at that. The only thing they’ve earned is time to think it over in the slammer.
The trump regime is cheating at the game of life. Not only are we paying for it, we’re allowing it. Every time someone rolls over or admires him (ew), they get unearned legitimacy. That’s all they’re after, being the boss.
Return to home.
