Regarding the morality and rationality of fear and anger against DJT and his MAGA

The election is still too close to call. DJT could be elected in 2024. The Hill comments: 

Democrats start to hit the panic button 

“Everything is deadlocked and the composition of the electorate is unknowable, and there are so many things that are unprecedented,” said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who served as Harris’s communications director until last year. “We can’t look back with any level of security because we haven’t had an African American woman on the ticket. We haven’t had a former president running again. We haven’t had a campaign with two assassination attempts. We haven’t switched out a candidate two months before Election Day before. .... So it’s just hard to know. If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention.” .... “Now that the sugar high is gone, people have realized what Kamala Harris has said from the start, which is that she is the underdog. This is going to be a fight. … These numbers are just so stubborn.”

I feel the fear. It is getting more intense. Personal anger too. We should not have to face the horror of the thoroughly morally rotted, chronically lying DJT, GOP and their morally rotted MAGA movement, which is currently reveling “motivated ignorance”[1]. But here we are, staring a deeply corrupt authoritarian moral horror in the face. Personal feelings of sympathy for the deceit, betrayal and dark free speech-fomented bigotry of the MAGA rank and file are gone. There is no excuse for supporting DJT or MAGA. No excuse.

There are multiple rational reasons for fear and anger at DJT and America's radical right authoritarianism. The trend among radical right authoritarians remain solidly supporting of corruption and authoritarianism. Recent Annenberg data on trust in the USSC exemplifies the radicalism and authoritarianism of America's radical right.

56% disapprove disapprove of the Supreme Court, they trust the USSC 

either “a little” or “not at all” to act in the best interest of “people like you”

But, Republicans like the USSC -- their level of trust is increasing

One of the things about MAGA that really rattled me in 2018 was (i) how the Brett Kavanaugh investigation whitewashed staggering amounts evidence of Kavanaugh's very bad behaviors, and (ii) the lies DJT and his corrupted DoJ told us about their "through" investigation of hundreds of allegations against Kavanaugh. Salon reports:

Trump is not women's "protector": New Brett Kavanaugh 

report shows MAGA protects predators

Republicans believed the allegations against Trump's Supreme Court pick — and knew Trump would still defend him

Trump won't protect women, but on Tuesday, we were reminded of who he is determined to protect: Men he believes to be his fellow sexual assailants. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., released a years-long investigation into how the Trump White House responded when Christine Blasey Ford accused Justice Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape during his 2018 confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court. Unsurprisingly, Trump's goal was to suppress evidence and silence anyone who could corroborate her story. Yet the details that show the extent of the cover-up are still shocking.

Trump told the public at the time that the FBI had "free rein" to investigate the allegation and he wanted them "talking to everybody." This was a flat-out lie. As the new report outlines, the White House blocked the FBI from interviewing either Kavanaugh or Blasey Ford. Investigators were barred from interviewing corroborating witnesses. A "tip line" was set up, but tips were sent to the White House, which ignored them. It's important to remember there was a lot of corroborating evidence, including another woman who claimed Blasey Ford was abused by Kavanaugh in front of witnesses. As Whitehouse said on Twitter, the investigation "was a sham, controlled by the Trump White House, for political cover to Senate Republicans to put Judge Kavanaugh on track to confirmation."  

Polls at the time showed most Americans believed Kavanaugh was guilty. The White House cover-up shows Trump and his staff also believed in Kavanaugh's guilt. If they thought Kavanaugh was innocent, they would have been eager to conduct an investigation to exonerate him. Instead, they ignored over 4,500 tips and prevented the FBI from doing basic background research.

That does not just show that DJT is a morally rotted authoritarian thug and sex predator. It also shows the same for Republicans in the Senate, and by rational association, House Republicans too. They all knew that Kavanaugh was a sleazy thug and liar and that the FBI was prevented from investigating Kavanaugh's sleaze and lies. But they voted for him anyway. Republican elites did that in 2018 and they will do it again if they get the chance. Also note that MAGA and GOP elites do not care about public opinion that opposes their wishes. That is a hallmark of authoritarianism.

Various sources are reporting (NYT report) that at a recent rally in Wisconsin, DJT encouraged his supporters to physic ally attack people who plan to vote for Harris: “Is there anybody here who’s going to vote for lyin’ Kamala? .... Actually, I should say don’t raise your hand; it would be very dangerous. We don’t want to see anybody get hurt. Please don’t raise your hand.”

There are more than enough reasons for rational, evidence-based fear and anger at DJT, the GOP and the entire MAGA movement. The moral rot** of America's authoritarian radical right wealth and power movement stinks worse than death. MAGA elites are morally rotted in the name of wealth and power, while most of the rank and file are rotted mostly in the name of their MAGA propaganda-fomented irrational fears, anger and intolerant bigotry.

** A NYT opinion from 2018, The Moral Rot That Threatens America, commented: What eats at America — and so its place in the world — is moral rot: unrelenting blight that emanates from on high. When it comes to rottenness, Denmark is passé. Try the White House. .... [Trump] traffics in slurs and untruths. The deepest form of rot is the erosion of the distinction between truth and falsehood. Totalitarianism was one big lie perpetrated on human beings reduced to the often hopeless quest for survival in a fog. A universe where morality ceases is the one Trump is most comfortable in.

Footnote:

1. Perplexity discusses some of the lies and insulting slanders that rank and file MAGA people are sanctimoniously spewing on the public and political opposition:

There are several major lies that MAGA supporters are currently asserting:

MAGA supporters continue to propagate false claims about the 2020 election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary

They assert widespread voter fraud occurred, particularly with mail-in ballots.

Some claim that 20% of Pennsylvania's mail-in ballots were fraudulent, even though mail-in ballots for the upcoming election haven't even been sent out yet.

Attacks on Democratic Opponents

MAGA supporters, led by figures like Elon Musk, are spreading false narratives about Democrats:

They claim Democrats want to take away freedoms, including freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and voting rights.

Some falsely assert that Democrats are bringing illegal immigrants into the U.S. so they can vote for Democratic candidates.

MAGA supporters are distorting the nature of legal actions against Trump 

Some claim that the Department of Justice authorized the use of "deadly force" during the Mar-a-Lago search, which is false.

They portray legal actions against Trump as politically motivated "lawfare" rather than legitimate law enforcement.

MAGA supporters are promoting various [crackpot] conspiracy theories

Some suggest that if Trump doesn't win, "this will be the last election," implying a threat to democracy from his opponents rather than his own actions. They portray Trump as a victim of assassination attempts, mischaracterizing legal actions as violent threats.

These lies persist despite being readily debunked, demonstrating what some observers call "motivated ignorance"** among MAGA supporters. The spread of these falsehoods through social media platforms and conservative news outlets continues to shape the political discourse, even as the 2024 election approaches.

** Instead of mostly ignorance, is it mostly a matter of knowing lies, slanders and crackpottery grounded in the authoritarianism and moral rot inherent in the our means justify our ends mindset? In my opinion, it probably is more motivated ignorance than knowing lies, although both are non-trivially present.