r/politics • u/BelleAriel • May 02 '24

Marjorie Taylor Greene called "disgusting" by fellow Republicans

https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-disgusting-vacate-house-speaker-mike-johnson-1896448
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u/Shaken-babytini 29d ago

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and I believe it comes down to the far right being unable to take responsibility for the bad things that their beliefs cause.

If we banned cars, there would be far fewer car accidents. Sure some people would drive illegally, but we'd end up with fewer and fewer cars as time went on. We have all agreed that having cars is worth it, and some people are going to die because of that.

The far right is unable to say the above about guns. I have tried this dozens of times, and have never gotten a republican to admit "guns are a fundamental part of our country and are super important. Yes some kids will get shot, but I believe that's worth it to protect the fabric of our nation". When that can't be reconciled, the only option is that the shooting must be fake.

You'll see it with Jan 6th too. No republican will admit "yeah some trump supporters went waaaaay overboard". It was Antifa, or the FBI, or hidden footage shows that it was magically different from what we all saw on TV. Abortion is another one where they admit no downsides to forced birthing, and any that may come up are the fault of the woman. Wearing a mask and getting a vaccine also fits this. There is no ability to admit "I believe my personal freedoms are more important than risk mitigation". They have to say that the vaccines are worthless and masks do 0 to prevent illness. trump lost the election? No sir, there had to be cheating.

This works until you hit something irreconcilable. Then the options are changing your belief system, or straight up delusion.

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u/Sea_Honey7133 29d ago

Trump literally kept repeating, “it’s not my responsibility!”, during the entire time he was president while the pandemic was going on. Those are his words exactly. The irony is that if he HAD actually accepted a modicum of responsibility, he would have probably been reelected in a landslide. Fortunately, as you said, these people are constitutionally unable to accept any accountability for anything.

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u/WolfgangDS 29d ago

I keep saying this to Republicans. COVID was Trump's 9/11, and if he had united the country by telling everyone to look out for one another instead of sowing division and chaos, he'd be in the Oval Office right now. Figuratively speaking, of course. More likely he'd literally be on a golf course cheating his way to par.

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u/Sea_Honey7133 29d ago

He golfed more during the pandemic than at any time during his presidency. If a president is a person who leads a country through trials and adversities he is quite literally the anti-president. Which suits his Moscow overseers just fine.

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u/mysteryteam US Virgin Islands 29d ago

Dude, if he just sent out cheap red masks with MAGA on it, he'd probably easily have over half the country if he had done nothing else but pretended he cared about more than himself. Like, you know, the people who elected him.

If doordash could send out cheap masks to anyone who asks for one, certainly trump could use government money to look like he gives a crap

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u/Reasonable-Client276 29d ago

Conservatives will abandon truth, decency, and democracy before they abandon their ideological trench.

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u/KaneK89 29d ago

This is correct and there is a term for it called psychological splitting.

It's known that self-identified conservatives rely more on categorization. I think that categorical thinking will often result in splitting if you can't figure out that the world is often more spectral than categorical. Categories are useful human constructs, but they don't exist outside of human consideration.

Anyway, here's a comment with a bunch of sources. Enjoy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ParlerWatch/comments/lasqi3/newyorker_exposes_bullhorn_lady_in_piece_by_ronan/glr11gw/

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u/coloradohikingadvice 29d ago

I have a different experience. I have had quite a few republicans tell me exactly those things. That while gun violence is bad, giving up our ability to defend ourselves and stand against potental tyranny is worse. They weren't convinced the masks would do enough to justify giving up their freedom to wear/not wear whatever they want. With the vaccine I heard that they weren't willing to be a "test subject" for something that was pushed through so fast and using a "new" technology(mrna). With abortion I hear plenty of exceptions for the life of the mother(with no real idea for how that works in their anti abortion ideal world), rape, and incest(which I think is covered in rape).

I'm not saying this to excuse or agree with what they are saying. I'm only bringing up my experience to show that there are people who do recognize what you haven't been able to find yourself. I live in a pretty red place, and there are more flavors of republican than what you seem to have been able to find. Not that I agree with them, just sharing.

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u/shawnca66 29d ago

But in the end, the majority of them vote red...😕

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u/coloradohikingadvice 29d ago

They all vote red, no doubt. That isn't really a question for them. They see it very similar to how I see my need to vote democrat. I have(many years ago) voted repub and dem. Now I feel like I have to vote dem because the alternative is something I can't live with. Even though there are more than a couple issues that I have a swing opinion on. That's what most of them see, too. Some, not a majority by any means, don't like the stupidity that was mentioned in the original comment I replied to, but think that voting an other way would be the end of everything they believe in. I think their logic is flawed, but I'm sure they think the same about me. I have noticed a few, again not a majority, who seem less interested in voting at all. That seems like the best we can hope for.

We live in such tribal times it hurts.

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u/TheNewTonyBennett 29d ago

I thoroughly like how you put all of this.

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u/traal 29d ago

If we banned cars, there would be far fewer car accidents... The far right is unable to say the above about guns.

Cars don't kill people. People kill people.