On the Senate floor Ron Johson makes the bizarre claim that Capitol rioters were "fake Trump supporters"

boing
#21

Unfortunately I don’t think the mental gymnastics they’re doing amounts to that. It’s a way of divorcing themselves from the bad acts (all the violence, vandalism, cops getting beaten and killed) while supporting all the people who… actually did those things. It’s all the fault of antifa, who were secretly, invisibly there, pushing Trump supporters to do bad things that they’d never, ever do on their own! (Never mind that none of that crowd could have been there if they’d been unwilling to smash down doors and beat up cops, with the intent of killing members of congress.) Sure, they might even throw the few individuals who get arrested, tried and convicted under the bus, while still being fine with all the rest of the rioters (and the movement to which they belong).

Yep. That claim was being made within days of the event.

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#22

And a way of proving their loyalty to the movement.

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#23

Let’s just hope that Ron Johnson, Kevin McCarthy, and Louie Gohmert are never in the same room together. The critical mass of delusional stupidity would cause a singularity of anti-intellect that might destroy the entire planet.

#24

well, over a hundred of them have been arrested and indicted – why not just ask them who they were there supporting?

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#25

Citation desperately needed. Those morons gobble this shit up with the fervor of a Pentecostal congregation.

You cannot apply logic to arguments with people who have forsaken reality for religious belief. You cannot lead them through a rational argument, because they have been told you’re lying. It doesn’t matter if you have proof that their argument is invalid. It doesn’t matter if you have proof their authority is lying to them. They won’t change.

Once you realize you’re arguing with a True Believer, it’s time to walk away. You’re wrestling with a pig in the mud, and you need to understand that the pig enjoys it.

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#26

Beat me to it, nice work.

#27

late stage capitalism

#28

Anybody who was “egging on” rioters who meant to help Trump is by definition a Trump supporter

It’s not Schrödinger’s Cat, they’re not MAGA if they win but magically Antifa if it doesn’t work

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#29

image

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#30

Don’t forget Tuberville

#31

Oh yeah, I agree. It just seems like Trump supporters don’t believe in free-will and think that one person with questionable political affiliations (i.e. not an obvious die-hard Trumper) who encouraged people to do what they were doing, is somehow singularly responsible for everyone’s actions.

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#32

white evangelicalism sure. i mean they accept blue eyed white prosperity jesus as their savior, despite everything that’s in their book on god.

there are plenty of progressive people in one of the various christian religions, and some of their religions are more progressive than others.

contrariwise there’s whole sects of mens rights atheists - so being a- or anti-religion is no salvation.

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#33

You have to go further… and support the fake fake Trump. Uh, or maybe it requires one more level of deception past that. I get confused.

#34

The funny thing is: even though they “know” the rioters were not Trump supporters, at base, the rioters intentions were “good.”

Reminiscent of whenever they ask a neo-Nazi about the Holocaust. To a person, they spout the line: oh, yeah, it’s all fake, but it wouldn’t have been a bad thing if it had happened.

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#36

Discussing whether these people “really believe” these things is not going to give coherent answers because they aren’t interested in what is true. They are interested in what justifies them. And if that ends up being entirely contradictory things from one moment to the next, well then, they will believe entirely contradictory things, what Orwell called doublethink.

I’m going to quote Sartre about the anti-Semites again:

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#37

Seth Meyers Reaction GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers

I think we need to look at a person’s individual behavior in the world, as well as the theology or lack thereof in question. I’m of the mind that anything that asks you to accept or reject something without question, no matter the specific circumstances, isn’t helpful.

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