And now for more of the Trump CULT
And I do not even think it is deniable. Why ? WHO ELSE other than a CULT leader would get his flock to vote twice, as Trump asked his followers to do, in two states, and who has such mind control over his brainwashed dweebs that no one is really actively protesting via hearings in the US Congress as to this latest outrage ?
Here is evidence of the Trump Cult in action
From an E mail I got this morning from a GOP member who has had enough of it. The e mail below is cult like behavior.
Make sure you join to become an Official Trump Text Member!
Trump Text Members are our most dedicated supporters, so the President really wants you on the team.
The truth is, President Trump is worried he’s losing your support. It’s time for you to send a clear message and publicly stand with President Trump and become an Official Trump Text Member.
Please confirm your information below:
Add your name to our official petition TODAY.
By becoming an Official Trump Text Member, you’ll be one of the President’s most trusted advisors. You’ll be one of the FIRST supporters to receive updates from the Campaign about rallies, contests, giveaways, and so much more.
The President has asked to see an updated roster TONIGHT, and we don’t want to give him another list without your name on it.
Thank you,
Team Trump 2020
Wow. Shades of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, up the WAZHOO.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/13/20992370/trump-republican-party-cult-steven-hassan
quote
Is Trumpism a cult?
A new book from a former cult member makes the case.
By Sean Illing@seanilling[email protected] Updated Jan 26, 2020, 11:09am EST
President Donald Trump tosses a hat into the crowd during a homecoming campaign rally at the BB&T Center on November 26, 2019, in Sunrise, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Has Trumpism become a cult?
The question almost feels like a provocation. And yet more and more people, like veteran Republican strategist John Weaver, are comfortable saying, “Yes.”
Famed CBS anchor Dan Rather made the case most recently on the CNN show Reliable Sources. Even former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has likened Donald Trump supporters to a cult.
It’s a provocative claim that I’m not sure is entirely convincing. On one hand, there is something cult-like about the hold Trump has over his supporters and the Republican Party. At the same time, calling it a cult seems too easy, a way of avoiding a much scarier truth about our politics — namely, that Trump isn’t all that exceptional.
A new book by cult expert Steven Hassan, called The Cult of Trump, is the first serious attempt to argue that Trumpism is a cult. Hassan has studied cults for years and is himself a former member of the “Moonies” cult, an offshoot of the Unification Church of the United States led by Sun Myung Moon that made headlines in 1970s.
Hassan is convinced that Trump is more than just a manipulative, charismatic politician. The president, he writes, “employs many of the same techniques as prominent cult leaders and displays many of the same personality traits.”
I reached out to Hassan to talk about what defines a cult and why he thinks Trump qualifies as a cult leader. If Trump is, in fact, a cult leader, I really wanted Hassan to explain how he’s different from other political figures. Although he makes some interesting points, especially about how our conception of cults needs rethinking, Hassan’s argument about Trump strikes me as thin in some crucial places, and I pushed back during our exchange. Readers can decide whether or not to buy the argument.
Our conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
Sean Illing
How do you define a cult?
Steven Hassan
I define cults along a continuum of what I call ethical or unethical influence. There can be cults where people know what they’re getting into and have access to alternative opinions and are free to leave without threats. That’s what you might call an ethical cult.
And then on the unethical side, there are cults that are essentially based on authoritarian pyramid structures, usually with somebody at the top that claims to have total power and total wisdom, and they use deception in recruitment, which is crucial.
Sean Illing
Are there meaningful differences between a political cult and a religious cult (or any other kind of cult)?
Steven Hassan
There are differences, but the core influence techniques are basically the same no matter the purpose or structure of the cult. And there’s almost always a core deception at the center of the cult, which is that the leader is the only [one] who has the keys to saving the planet, who has access to the truth.
Sean Illing
Do the majority of cult members recognize themselves as being members of cults?
Steven Hassan
No, most people would laugh at the idea of being in a “cult.” But that’s crucial to the sort of mind control you find in a cult. When people are being brainwashed, they think they’re making their own decisions, they think they’re doing God’s work, they think they’re saving the world. And above all, they think they made a conscious decision to do all these things all on their own.
Sean Illing
And how do you distinguish a cult leader from what we’d normally consider a charismatic leader?
Steven Hassan
I have a chapter in the book on malignant narcissism as a characteristic of destructive cult leaders. These are people who have a deep need for grandiosity, to be the center of attention, who need to control others, and who lack empathy and lie without hesitation. These are psychological traits perfectly attuned to manipulation and projection.
But the malignant part is about sociopathic tendencies. Almost every cult leader thinks he’s above the law, which is why he’s allowed to persecute and harass or harm anyone he wants. When someone really believes this, they can rationalize all kinds of destructive behavior.
Sean Illing
Well, let’s get to the book. Why are you calling a Trumpism a cult?
Steven Hassan
I began this book with the assumption that Trump is a malignant narcissist. Actually, watching him and listening to him reminded me of Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the cult I joined in college, in that both have a kind of God complex where they’re the only one with the answers, the only one who can fix things. Moon was going to create a theocracy and Trump was going to “drain the swamp.” But the way they carry themselves is similar.
But what really made me think of Trump as a cult was the way the groups who supported him were behaving, especially religious groups who believed that God had chosen Trump or was using Trump. There are actual pro-Trump religious groups, like the New Apostolic Reformation, whose leaders were saying, “We’re of God. The rest of the world is of Satan, and we need to follow our chosen leaders who are connected to God.”
There was this blind-faith aspect to the whole thing and an unwillingness to look at any inconvenient facts. That’s all very cult-like.
Sean Illing
Politics is all about persuasion, all about influencing people. What is it that makes Trump’s approach fundamentally different from non-cultish politicians?
Steven Hassan
First, a lot of people don’t know that Trump was raised by an authoritarian father in what I’d call a cultic church, where you’re taught to believe 100 percent in yourself, that magical things are going to happen, and that the only sin is doubting yourself.
Sean Illing
Wait, what? A cultic church?
Steven Hassan
Yeah, Trump was part of Norman Vincent Peale’s church growing up. [You can read about that here.] Peale was an important figure in his life. He even presided over some of Trump’s marriages, I believe. But Peale preached a cultish prosperity gospel, where everything’s about how God is going to bless you with material rewards. It’s not about spirituality or Christ or anything like that. It’s all about turning self-confidence into a religion.
Sean Illing
I don’t know anything about that, so I can’t speak to it. So, what else distinguishes Trump in your mind?
Steven Hassan
The bottom line is that I see very sophisticated mind-control techniques being used through the media, through religious broadcasters and radio talk-show hosts. It’s a black-and-white, all-or-nothing, good-versus-evil, authoritarian view of reality that is mostly fear-based. And there’s a deliberate focus on denying facts in order to protect the image of the leader.
These are universal mind-control techniques common to all destructive cults, and something I call “phobia introduction.” Irrational fears are drilled into people’s minds so that they can’t even imagine leaving the group or questioning the leader without terrible things happening to them.
Simon & Schuster
Sean Illing
But that doesn’t really map onto our political reality. No one is being forced to be a Trump supporter in that way. I guess I’m having a hard time seeing how Trump is all that different from other politicians who speak in repetitive clichés and use slogans and platitudes to manipulate voters. I mean, that’s just mass politics.
Steven Hassan
Well, the cult of Trump is definitely the fruit of decades of issues and problems that have never really surfaced. But I do think he shows, in a way we haven’t quite seen before — at least in modern history — how people can be recruited and indoctrinated to do things completely contrary to their belief system and value system. And he’s exceptionally good at using the media to amplify his messaging techniques.
Sean Illing
I’ll try to get at this another way. So, I kept thinking about a politician like Barack Obama while reading your book. Obama is the opposite of Trump in every sense imaginable, and yet he exercised a similar pull on many of his followers.
The big difference between Trump and Obama is that Trump lies and insults and projects weakness onto others, and that seems more straightforwardly cultish, and maybe that’s where we cross the line into cult territory. But Obama still had something like a cult of personality, although many people don’t see it that way because he was a good man with benign intentions and he didn’t use his influence over people for malicious purposes.
Steven Hassan
I think that’s very true. If you’re going to run for president of the United States, you’ve got to have some narcissistic qualities. But it’s the amorality piece that distinguishes Trump from Barack Obama.
Beyond that, Obama was brilliant and he was someone who liked to learn, who wanted to hear different opinions and make reasonable decisions, as opposed to Trump, who says “I use my gut” and insists he knows more than his generals.
Sean Illing
But that doesn’t necessarily make Trump a cult leader ...
Steven Hassan
Right, but for people to believe in him and follow him religiously and not question anything he says even when it’s obvious that he’s lying, that’s where I stop and go, “Wait, this is very cult-like.”
I really want to make the point that not everyone who voted for Trump is in a cult, and not everyone who supports the Republican Party is a mindless follower of Trump. But those who buy everything he says, who think he’s some kind of savior or a gift from God, whose loyalty is both unquestionable and irrational, I do think they’re behaving more or less like cult members.
Sean Illing
Couldn’t everything you’re saying about Trumpism also be explained as simple partisanship? Republicans basically supported Trump at virtually the same rate they supported previous GOP presidential candidates. I’d argue that’s a much simpler account of the dynamics here than attributing everything to cult-like brainwashing.
Steven Hassan
So, I would take the word “brainwashing,” put it aside, and think about the science of social influence and all the research that’s being done, especially about online influence. Modern tech companies are learning how to make their platforms sticky, how to gather data from our “likes” and “retweets” and use it to quietly manipulate us.
My reason for doing this book wasn’t really about Trump or Republicans or Democrats. It was to take everything I’ve learned about how vulnerable human minds are and how psychology works. We’re living in a very different world where the conventional idea of “brainwashing” is really obsolete and the idea of a cult as a small group of people sharing physical space is outdated.
The internet has changed things, and I think Trump is an example of what a 21st-century cult leader looks like.
This article was originally published on December 13, 2019.
End of quote
Now for the law violation inherent in voting twice
https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/09/03/politifact-california-despite-trumps-suggestion-voting-twice-in-an-election-is-illegal-under-california-and-federal-law/
quote
Despite Trump’s Suggestion, Voting Twice In An Election Is Illegal Under California And Federal Law
Thursday, September 3, 2020 | Sacramento, CA
In this June 5, 2018, file photo, election workers Heidi McGettigan, left, Margaret Wohlford, center, and David Jensen, unload a bag of ballots brought in a from a polling precinct to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters office in Sacramento.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo
If You’re Short On Time
- President Trump suggested this week that people should vote by mail and in-person during the fall election.
- Voting twice in an election is illegal under California and federal law.
- The crime is punishable by imprisonment of between 16 months and three years under California law and a maximum of five years under federal law.
- Election experts say there are safeguards in place to prevent double voting.
President Donald Trump during a campaign stop in North Carolina on Wednesday encouraged people to vote both by mail and in person this fall, before walking back some of his comments a day later.
Voting twice in the same election is illegal under California and federal law.
“Let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote,” the president said. “If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote.”
“That’s the way it is,” he added. “And that’s what they should do.”
For months, Trump has attacked voting-by-mail, including California’s plans to send all active registered voters a mail-in ballot.
He’s made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims that it will lead to widespread fraud, an allegation that election experts reject.
With Election Day just two months away, we decided to examine the state and federal rules that make it illegal to vote twice, along with the penalties and safeguards in place.
California And Federal Election Codes
Under California Elections Code 18560, every person is guilty of a crime who “votes more than once, attempts to vote more than once, or knowingly hands in two or more ballots folded together at that election.”
The crime is punishable by imprisonment of between 16 months and three years, according to the state elections code.
“Intentionally voting twice in the same election is, indeed, illegal. Clearly so. And straightforward to prosecute, because there’s always a paper trail,” Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor and elections expert wrote in an email.
Voting twice is also a crime under federal law, specifically under U.S Code Title 52, which reads: “Whoever votes more than once in an election … shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
The federal code notes that “the term ‘votes more than once’ does not include the casting of an additional ballot if all prior ballots of that voter were invalidated.”
Levitt, who previously worked as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, said the crime can be prosecuted by both state and federal officials.
Trump on Thursday tried to clarify his statements during his North Carolina visit, saying voters should go to the polls to verify that their mail-in ballots were received.
PolitiFact National examined that idea and described it as “bad advice” that could clog up lines at polling places. There are legal ways North Carolina voters can confirm their ballots were received, PolitiFact wrote, such as using the state’s online lookup tool or contacting your local county elections office.
California also offers a ballot tracking service called Where’s My Ballot?
Voting Safeguards In California
Levitt said jurisdictions across the country use several security measures to prevent double voting. But, at its most basic level, the job comes down to election workers checking to see whether an individual’s vote has already been recorded.
“If the voter has voted already when an official goes to log a vote for that person (either checking them in at the polls or tallying an absentee ballot before the ballot is opened), the space will already be full,” he wrote.
Levitt added that Californians “should be confident that the election process will be safe and secure on the back end.”
County governments conduct elections in the state. Meanwhile, the California Secretary of State’s Office oversees and certifies those elections.
Sam Mahood, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office, explained in an email how the state’s safeguards work to prevent double voting.
If voters want to fill out a ballot at a polling place, Mahood said election officials recommend they bring their vote-by-mail ballot with them to "surrender" it at the polls, which essentially means they will exchange it for a live ballot at the polling location and officials will cancel out their vote-by-mail ballot.
Those who don’t bring their vote-by-mail ballots will receive a provisional ballot. Mahood said that document “is then processed by elections officials after polling place and vote-by-mail ballots have been processed and counted.”
“Provisional ballots are carefully checked to ensure that the voter is registered and did not cast a ballot elsewhere,” he said.
Finally, some counties have adopted a new vote center model. At those locations, poll workers can check electronic pollbooks to determine in real time whether a voter has cast a ballot elsewhere, Mahood said.
If those individuals have not voted, poll workers can print out regular, live ballots onsite for voters who forget their mail-in ballot and simultaneously cancel the individual’s mail-in ballot so that it can’t be used for double voting.
Given the changes to the voting process, Levitt of Loyola Law School advised Californians to get ready for the election now.
“Voting may be a little different this fall than some voters are used to, because of the pandemic,” he wrote. “That means it’s best for voters to make a plan – nothing complicated, just three easy steps: check your registration, decide whether they want to vote by mail or vote in-person (both will be options in most of the state), and don’t wait for November 3 -- vote early if you can, to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
Source List
President Trump, campaign speech in North Carolina, Sept. 2, 2020
Justin Levitt, professor, Loyola Law School, email interview Sept. 3, 2020
Sam Mahood, spokesman, California Secretary of State’s Office, email exchange, Sept. 3, 2020
PolitiFact, Trump’s bad advice on going to polls to verify if your mail ballot was counted, Sept. 3, 2020.
The New York Times, Trump Encourages People in North Carolina to Vote Twice, Which Is Illegal, Sept. 2, 2020
Washington Post, Trump tries to clarify suggestion that voters cast ballots twice, which if done intentionally is illegal, Sept. 3, 2020
California Elections Code 18560, accessed Sept. 3, 2020
U.S Code Title 52, accessed Sept. 3, 2020
end of quote
And so what does this remind me of ? The Branch Davidians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Davidians
Quote
Branch Davidians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Branch DavidiansBranch Davidian flag
FounderBenjamin RodenRegions with significant populationsTexas (United States)Branch DavidianMount Carmel12
- Elk, Texas[1]
- Mount Carmel, Texas, U.S.
LanguagesEnglishSplit from the Shepherd's Rod/DavidiansPart of a series onAdventismWilliam Miller
The Branch Davidians (or the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists) are a religious sect which was founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They are an offshoot of the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, established by Victor Houteff in 1935.
Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant and a Seventh-day Adventist, wrote a series of tracts which were titled the "Shepherd's Rod." The tracts called for the reform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1935, after his ideas were rejected by Adventist leaders, Houteff and his followers settled on a tract of land on the western outskirts of Waco, Texas, where they built a compound called the Mount Carmel Center and began preparing for the Second Coming. After Houteff's death in 1955, his wife Florence became the leader of the Davidians. That same year, Roden, a former follower of Houteff who called himself "the Branch" (Isaiah 11:1), called for Davidians to come to Mount Carmel Center to hear his message. This was the beginning of the group that would be popularly known as the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists.
In 1957, Florence Houteff sold the old Mount Carmel Center and purchased 941 acres near Elk, Texas, thirteen miles northeast of Waco, naming the property New Mount Carmel Center. After the failure of Florence's prophecy of apocalyptic events on or near April 22, 1959, she dissolved the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists in 1962 and sold all but 77.86 acres of the New Mount Carmel property. Roden took possession of New Mount Carmel in 1962 and began his efforts to purchase the remaining 77.86 acres. On February 27, 1973, New Mount Carmel was sold to "Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden, and [their son] George Roden, Trustees for the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists."[2] From this point on, the property was simply known as Mount Carmel. Upon the death of Roden in 1978, his wife Lois became the next Branch Davidian prophet at the compound.[3]
In 1981, a young man named Vernon Howell, later known as David Koresh, came to Mount Carmel and studied biblical prophecy under Lois Roden. By 1984 the core group of Branch Davidians shifted their allegiance from Lois' son George to Koresh.[4]
The Branch Davidians are most associated with the Waco siege of 1993, a 51-day standoff between members of the sect and federal agents. The conflict ended when Mount Carmel was destroyed in a fire. Ten people were killed during the initial raid by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents on February 28, 1993, and 76 Branch Davidians of all ages died in the fire that was the culmination of an FBI tank and CS gas assault on April 19, 1993.[5]
end of quote
So again, where is the outrage ? We have 35% of the US population in the CULT of Trump with CULT leader Trump IN THE OPEN announcing his wish for FELONY VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL LAW, and with a nearly one to one identification with the behavior of the Branch Davidians, and again, PUNDITS in Washington DC are busy normalizing the deadliest, and largest CULT in US and likely World history, namely the GOP Under Chairman TRUMP
Andrew Beckwith, PhD