Dogs and MAGA Dissonance

A Surviving Facts Blog

A friend recently gave my dogs their now favorite toy: an Orange-meister squeaker toy. I had no idea the joy I would have watching them rip the doll apart.

Now, my MAGA friends may want to declare me horribly disrespectful, misguided and vile. To this I say, “do what you must.” If MAGA are unable to see the atrocities committed by the current administration yet, then they never will. They are in until the Kool-Aid-swilling death knell.

My dogs play tug o’ war with the toy. It’s multiple squeakers wheeze like an unwelcome fart or last raspy gasp— both possible given the condition that man (not the toy) is in. Like voodoo practitioners, my dogs choose the body part to poke and chew. Similar to its likeness, it’s a tough toy, meant to survive the approximately 235 pounds per square inch (PSI) of force exerted by a dog’s jaw, about the same force of a 200-lb person standing on one square inch of your foot. Yesterday, Yeti focused on its head, which seemed particularly appropriate given the mentally compromised state he seems to be in lately.

My other dog flips him around and throws him in the air, which is likely more exercise than the real human being— who has admitted to never exercising— has ever gotten.

I am not a person who wishes anyone harm. I mostly enjoy watching my dogs have fun. But I wouldn’t be real if I didn’t say the time has come for the end of this reign of terror (Trump not my dogs). We need an end to the continual conflict between government and citizens and between believers and nonbelievers. I’m ready for tenets upon which this country was founded to be universally agreed to and upheld rather than questioned and eroded. I need these answers to help me determine what I am going to do next: make use of the citizenship connections of grandparents in Greece and the U.K. or stay in the U.S. for the long haul?

I seriously am thinking of leaving the U.S. Don’t tell me, “America is the best country.” I have traveled extensively and have seen firsthand the lives of others. Universal healthcare is not substandard. Extended parental leave is good for children and families. Reasonable university costs enable more people to seek higher eduction, which prepares them for the complex world we live in. It also leads to more social harmony and lower crime. Food quality is better. Their bread has 4 ingredients; ours has 28 or more. Their countries have abortion rights, gay rights and more equality, a contributing factor, no doubt, to their lower incidences of depression and greater happiness and social engagement. They also have better work/life balance and more worker’s rights. How interesting these companies are not fleeing to places with less taxes and fewer workers’ rights. Likewise, their CEOs do not earn 100-300 times their lowest paid employee, as we see in the U.S. Finally, they tax the wealthy at a higher rate than other income levels and far more than we tax the same wealth bracket in the U.S.

People who have never traveled outside the U.S. don’t know this. They tend to believe the misleading narrative we love to push across America. Narrow experiences lead to narrow minds. Lack of education leads to lack of questioning and curiosity. And so here we are in America today: A president who disregards the rule of law and constitution, disregards human rights and lies when he opens his mouth.

My dogs don’t know any of this while they chomp on the nightmare in chief. Being good character judges, however, I am sure they would not like his unwashed, oily, rotten make-up, butt crack essence. (I actually have a friend who is important enough in a certain agency to have been around Trump to confirm the smell issue is real). But then again, dogs love to roll in the remains of dead squirrels and other animals, so they could follow him like a hound on the trail.

Last week, I violated my own rule- don’t talk politics. I seem to disregard my own very good advice too often. I engaged in a social conversation with a group of MAGA on “what’s going on right now.” I felt a bit like one of my dogs ripping apart the unfortunate toy because I clearly was the only person in the group who hasn’t bought the dumpian narrative.

I respect the person who started the conversation. She has a right to speak her mind without fear of reprisal— just like every person on U.S. soil does. The first Amendment— Freedom of Speech— applies to all living in America whether they are full citizens or not. Can you imagine if other countries did not apply their rights to those visiting their land? We would be outraged if Americans were harmed and tortured because a country’s laws only applied to actual citizens.

Our social conversation centered on immigrants and the MAGA perception of the damage they have caused our country. I shared a new study from the far right Cato Institute (whoever thought I’d quote them?!) which says, immigrants are not big welfare users and contributed trillions to the economy. Quote “The fiscal surplus from all immigrants from 1994 to 2023 was $14.5 trillion, compared with a deficit of $48 trillion without immigrants. That means that immigrants cut deficits by nearly a third in real terms over the last three decades.” While we are on the immigrant topic, immigrants are also less likely to be criminals.

Others on the social string lamented that Prez Orange hasn’t been allowed to continue the incredible progress he has made because he is continually attacked and criticized. I can debate the progress point, but I’ll concede on the constant criticism, which seems to have plagued him his entire adult life.

Living in blue-state New Jersey, with Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill who recently won by a significant (aka huge) margin, I am surprised by the amount of MAGA-style conservatives where I live. I have a few friends and colleagues who are MAGA, usually the ones I least expect. While I have family members who refuse to interact with any MAGA, I have local business connections that lead me to leave politics at home (I write this blog at home, lol). I also am fervently supportive of the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, as long as it is not hate speech. Racist comments are hate speech, and hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. I rarely engage in political conversations because I’ve learned that people can no longer be swayed and civil political discourse has become a lost American virtue.

Perhaps because my dogs were currently throwing the aforementioned toy in the air, I decided to stay in the discussion. I disagreed with some parts of my friend’s post— the Cato Institute surprised me! But I also noted that what is happening in Minnesota violates many constitutional rights, including the right of free assembly, i.e.,protest. That could have been the end of it. But one of her male friends jumped in to disagree with me, roughly saying “only one side of righteousness exits, otherwise one is lost. Make a choice. “

What is my choice? Stick to watching dogs play with toys or have these conversations? I thought about the theories of psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, who considered himself Christian. In many of his writings, Peck warned about the risks of certainty. Peck wrote that we “are most in the dark when we are most certain.”

My male debater had no doubt. In People of the Lie, Peck describes evil people as those who cannot tolerate being wrong and are 100% certain of their rightness, often resorting to rigid belief systems to prevent doubt. To be on the side of righteousness, don’t we need to engage like my dogs with their toy— okay, maybe not that vigorously. Doubt is emotionally and psychologically healthy: it spurs the quest for learning.

While the social conversation ended, I’ve continued to think about this exchange. MAGAs are 100% certain that Democrats and liberals have destroyed our country. They believe Dems have taken over corporate America, increased wealth inequality, and allowed immigrants to flood our country to vote Democratic and take opportunities from Americans.

In a bizarre reversal, MAGAs accuse Democrats and liberals of doing what their own party has done. Research studies have disproven trickle down economics. Wealth inequality has grown with soaring CEO pay and the billionaire class. These CEOs and billionaires, with few exceptions, are conservative Republicans. Republicans love to complain about George Soros, but what about the Koch brothers, the Waltons, Peter Theil, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and so many more?

These thoughts zing through my synapses. I cannot resolve the dissonance. I decide instead to watch my dogs play. Or maybe I’ll just sleep on it like they do.

I would love to hear from you, even if, especially if, you disagree. Perhaps we can bring back the American tradition of debate. Please like and share this blog with others. Subscribe to receive it by email and go directly to the Walk the Moon website (www.walk-the-moon.com) to peruse the full collection of articles and updates. You can email me from the Walk the Moon website as well.