by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
A common theme within my center-Left echo chamber is how “dumb” MAGA Republicans are. And, yet, this totally misses the point of what’s really going on. MAGA isn’t dumb — it’s craven. There’s a big, big difference. Now, I’m not saying all the obviously very dumb things that MAGA Republicans say online and elsewhere aren’t dumb — a big chunk of it is — but there’s also a lot of cravenness to it as well.
Usually, this cravenness comes from intentionally conflating ideas in such a way that they either muddle what is trying to be said or they mislead people into thinking things that aren’t true.
But center-Left people on Twitter seem determined to miss how craven most MAGA Republicans are. They refer to MAGA as dumb so much that it’s become trite and cliché, at least in my mind.
MAGA knows what they’re doing when they say dumb things, or conflate ideas to be misleading. And, in some cases, it’s all just a big troll. They know that if they come across as dumb and provocative that their ideas will be amplified by clueless center-Left people on Twitter.
Or, put another way, I think we’re underestimating MAGA. We’re careening towards a very, very dark fate. What exactly that fate is, I don’t know. But we need to sit up and take notice that things are going to come to a head pretty soon and what that will look like is anyone’s guess.
But to dismiss MAGA as “dumb” is doing the anti-fascist movement no help.
