What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain
Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
Why do people believe some politicians’ lies even when they have been proven false? And why do so many of the same people peddle conspiracy theories?
Lying and conspiratorial thinking might seem to be two different problems, but they turn out to be related. I study political rhetoric and have tried to understand how populist politicians use language to develop a cult-like following, divide nations, create culture wars and instill hatred. This pattern goes back to antiquity and is seen today in leaders including former President Donald Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. These leaders are capable of using words and speeches to whip people into such an emotional tempest that they will do things like march on the seat of Congress or invade a neighboring country.
What makes this kind of speech worrying is that it is not just emotions like aggression they can manipulate; politicians can also use rhetoric to influence the public’s thoughts and beliefs, and spread lies and conspiracy theories. Those lies and conspiracy theories are stubbornly resistant to countervailing facts and can sow divisions that destabilize their own societies.
My research analyzes real speeches made by politicians past and present, including those of Trump, Orbán and Putin, using cognitive linguistics - a branch of linguistics that examines the relationship between language and the mind. What I have found is that throughout history, speeches by dictators and autocrats have one thing in common: they use dehumanizing metaphors to instill and propagate hatred of others. -snip
Originally posted by RobtardYup, yhat's spot on.
What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your BrainWhy do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
Why do people believe some politicians’ lies even when they have been proven false? And why do so many of the same people peddle conspiracy theories?
Lying and conspiratorial thinking might seem to be two different problems, but they turn out to be related. I study political rhetoric and have tried to understand how populist politicians use language to develop a cult-like following, divide nations, create culture wars and instill hatred. This pattern goes back to antiquity and is seen today in leaders including former President Donald Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. These leaders are capable of using words and speeches to whip people into such an emotional tempest that they will do things like march on the seat of Congress or invade a neighboring country.
What makes this kind of speech worrying is that it is not just emotions like aggression they can manipulate; politicians can also use rhetoric to influence the public’s thoughts and beliefs, and spread lies and conspiracy theories. Those lies and conspiracy theories are stubbornly resistant to countervailing facts and can sow divisions that destabilize their own societies.
My research analyzes real speeches made by politicians past and present, including those of Trump, Orbán and Putin, using cognitive linguistics - a branch of linguistics that examines the relationship between language and the mind. [b]What I have found is that throughout history, speeches by dictators and autocrats have one thing in common: they use dehumanizing metaphors to instill and propagate hatred of others.
-snip [/B]
Originally posted by Robtarddemonising people is a sad and easy thing to do. It shows no soul imho.
We saw it here in 2016 with Trump, his demonizing of women who had abortions and especially his attacks on Mexicans and Muslims just made him more and more popular until he won the Republican nomination. The rest is history.
Utah man suspected of threatening President Joe Biden shot and killed as FBI served warrant
An armed Utah man accused of making violent threats against President Joe Biden was shot and killed by FBI agents hours before the president landed in the state Wednesday, authorities said.
Special agents were trying to serve a warrant on the home of Craig Deleeuw Robertson in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, when the shooting happened at 6:15 a.m., the FBI said in a statement.
Robertson was armed at the time of the shooting, according to two law enforcement sources who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation.
Robertson posted online Monday that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah and he was planning to dig out a camouflage suit and begin “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle,” a post that came after months of graphic online threats against several public figures, according to court documents. Robertson referred to himself as a “MAGA Trumper,” a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, and also posted threats against top law enforcement officials overseeing court cases against Trump. -snip
Another MAGA winner goes down.
GOP Endorses Child Abuser
Originally posted by Adam_PoE
John Raymond, a Slidell pastor who was accused of taping the mouths of three students at the Christian school he oversaw and beating another child, has been formally charged with four counts of cruelty to juveniles by the 22nd Judicial District Attorney's Office.Raymond, who in addition to being pastor of New Horizon church in Slidell is also on the St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee, defended his actions last spring as being appropriate discipline for the students.
Raymond said that corporal punishment is in line with Biblical teachings and said he he was a victim of cancel culture. His attorney, Joe Long, said that Raymond will be arraigned on December 2nd, and will enter pleas of not guilty. Long said that Raymond will not take any plea agreement.
Louisiana's Republican Party has endorsed John Raymond, who is charged with four counts of criminal cruelty to juveniles, in his bid to win a state House seat in St. Tammany Parish.
Raymond, lead minister of New Horizon Church in Slidell and founder of Lakeside Christian Academy, was arrested twice in 2022 on juvenile cruelty charges related to discipline he carried out in his role as headmaster at the school.
In a May 2023 interview, Raymond said he is "completely innocent" of the charges and has been on voluntary leave of absence from the school since his arrests.
The case is pending in state court.
"MAGA Sheriff" Took Bribes for Deputy Badges
The self-described "MAGA sheriff" in Virginia has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for deputy badges, including one sold to a controversial Iraqi fixer linked to Kurdistan prime minister and accused kleptocrat Masrour Barzani.
That is according to an FBI search warrant affidavit, which reveals Virginia-based businessman Haval Dosky was swept up in a federal investigation that has upended the decade-plus tenure of Culpeper County, Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins.
Prosecutors say donors who gave generously to Jenkins' 2019 reelection campaign were rewarded by being made reserve deputies—which also gave them permission to carry a concealed weapon in all 50 U.S. states.
Pastor Beat Third Graders with Belt
Orlando police responded to a preparatory school in Orlando on Thursday following reports of a pastor "whipping" students with a belt during class.
According to a parent of one of eight students struck by the pastor at St. Mark Preparatory School, a teacher at the school pointed students out to the pastor, who then whipped them.
A group of parents outside the school on Thursday were demanding that the pastor be arrested. They said that they want the teacher held accountable for her role, as well.
I have a goal. Live in some kind of solar powered wind powered mobile home with custom made batteries as back up, power it all electrically and never have to pay rent, electric, gas, petrol (a few taxes like mot and ofc insurance and internet bills) but after that, I'm all set! May even build a greenhouse under the bed so I don't have to pay for heating!