I greatly enjoyed this part:
Trump has been angrily venting about one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, ever since the trial began.
He has griped that Mr. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and veteran litigator, has not been following his instructions closely, and has been insufficiently aggressive. Mr. Trump wants him to attack witnesses, attack what the former president sees as a hostile jury pool, and attack the judge, Juan M. Merchan.
I call that a “Trumpian Slip”.
Your parent is in denial. They’re obviously not really so brain-dead not to know better than what Trump claims and the other garbage that they encounter about him online and on tv that supports him, but they believe it nonetheless because they want to. Because it supports their worldview. Because, over time, they’ve become so invested in him that to back out now would shatter their entire reality. They’re trapped.
But, as you have seen, for some, reality will slip through the cracks from time to time. The Herculean effort of maintaining such a massive, complex, and, frankly, ridiculous mountain of absurd and outrageous lies for so long is, honestly, exhausting. Nobody could be expected to even keep track of them all let alone maintain the mask 24/7/365 forever. Even Trump slips up and tells the truth when he’s blathering at his Nazi campaign rallies. Just yesterday, he admitted that he did, in fact, try to get to the Capitol on Jan 6 to attend the rally after denying it for over a year, lmao.
I think that’s true for some. In this particular case, I think they are so invested in abhorrent policy and opinions, they absolutely know those policies and opinions are vile, but pretend to believe that nonsense just so they can pretend it’s ok when some portion of conscious manages a dying breath to whisper truth to them.
Iana psychological professional, so I could be very wrong. I hope I am, in this particular case.
That’s it, basically. It’s a type of sunk cost fallacy/dilemma. And a good amount of brainwashing.
Of course, for others, they either very well know better and are just sociopathic opportunists— or they really are that stupid. It’s a very big country with a whole Lotta different types of people in it.
Yeah. It’s sad. It breaks me, almost every time they are particularly vile. Maintaining minimal contact, for reasons.
I know how you feel. I had to break contact with several family members during the 2016 elections when I learned how they really felt. There are a lot of people who I thought I knew that I can’t ever speak to again after the things I have heard them say. There’s more to it than simply their political views, but, yikes, that’s as the last straw.
I’m sorry to hear it, but that’s poison in your life. Lancing a boil is painful, but it’s the only way to start healing.
I know. It’s the maintaining that’s for reasons. I’m working on it, because every time that wound scabs over and they sense it and find an opportunity, ripping it off and rubbing dirt into it is a gleefully taken opportunity. They are unwell, probably clinical npd. They were extremely violated for about a decade, as a child and never sought help (sign of the times l suppose, insurance didn’t exist, psychological help was out of reach financially and well, the parents were the abusers), etc etc etc. at ~8 decades of life, it’s just not going to happen, unless some wild miracle happens, and I’m not counting on it. Whether I completely cut contact or not, there’s a he’ll of a mess I’ll be cleaning up, and I would suppose death after a cut may add another heaping pile of rot on top of it. But I’m currently doing all within my realistic ability to do that. Still stinks and is extremely painful, either way.
I realize I just trauma dumped a huge pile of emotional baggage on you. I almost want to delete this but want others who are in a position to cut contract to see it. Get out because it gets worse with age, not better. And layers of layers of scar tissue can become extremely painful, festering, leaking wounds.
ETA: Please accept my apologies, if this is too much.
I’ve been through it.
They’re never going to change.
Get out while you still can.
You won’t regret it.
Best of luck.
Thank you.
❤️