"You were wrong. There is something more dangerous than a humiliated man. A nasty woman."
~Ally Mayfair-Richards
American Horror Story, Cult
Donald J. Trump Booking Photo
#PO1135809
Watch the clip. It was produced in 2017. The Trump Halloween mask looks exactly like Trump's mugshot, which was taken just yesterday. Do you ever feel like you live in every season of that show? Now, don't get me wrong, I love horror, always have. I grew up on Creature Features with Bob Wilkins, on KTVU channel 2, which aired late on Saturday nights. It was a great cheesy camp. Lots of Vincent Price and Lon Chaney jr. Bella Lugosi too! I have watched horror whenever I got the chance! So when American Horror Story debuted, I fell in love with the show instantly. I have really enjoyed all their seasons to day, but so far the one that has deeply resonated with me was called, Cult. It wasn't quite about Trump specifically, but rather it served as a warning about what we can let ourselves become when we allow ourselves fixate on a single line of thought. Of turning our critical thinking over to obsessive devotion to... well... anything or anyone.
Is it a need to belong? Maybe. Is that what the "silent majority" means when they yell and attack the rest of us? Are the just wanting to belong? Maybe. I am not sure, but one thing is really clear, Donald Trump thought so, and he knew that all he needed was a foot in the door of discontent, even if that foot wore a clown shoe. The circus of the world needed a few hundred thousand court jesters, so the masses came running and the MAGA cult was born. Why not? Insurrections began in other countries for partially, you have to throw in the word "patriotism" and you have the makings of a dangerous situation. But keep in mind, Sarah Palin designed the circus tent during the 2007 election cycle, when the Tea Party Patriots was conceived. She failed, but the circus quietly continued with the help from Ted Cruz.
And a little while later the biggest clown now had the biggest big top of them all. He had a circus called MAGA otherwise know as a CULT.
And like most leaders of cults, he will not only NEVER love them. He will never satisfy their needs or wants. He will always beg them to literally bail them out, and he will always, always, demand that they do his dirty work, and most of all, he will throw them to the wolves, or perhaps sell them outright. He did that last one once before when he lied about Covid-19 to further his own agenda. He lied about all of it. People died. Nothing changed. He came as close as it gets to shooting someone on 5th Avenue, and got away with it. Charles Manson. Jim Jones. David Koresh. Marshall Applewhite, and the fictional Kai Anderson, the mentally ill leader of season 7 of American Horror Story, Cult.
From the start I identified with Ally Mayfair-Richards. She had fears and phobias. So do I. She was a democrat who cared deeply about her country. So do I. Donald Trump terrified her. And I share that too. She let her fears make her act irrationally. Paralyze her. And I pretty much did that too. When I wasn't crying, I was stomping my food in anger. I finally sought help, and today my confidence is almost back to pre-Trump levels. I am happy. I have better skills for handling things. I am exhausted from the last couple years, and really the last few months as well, but I get up, every day, and face life... with a little help from Alan, who has let me retire for a while, while I gain my footing again.
I don't know what the next couple years, leading up to the national election, will be like. I have an feeling it won't be good. Hopefully things won't turn out like it did for the town that Ally and Kai lived in. Hopefully, America will give up on Trump's drama. Hopefully, America will embrace rebuilding American ideals of community and and the use of the Golden Rule. Evil has been losing in the last few elections, so maybe the population at large will learn and grow in that.
Now, about that quote. The first episode of Cult, takes place on the night of the election, in 2016. Ally and her wife, Ivy, were holding an election party, and watching the worst unfold. Hillary was losing, and only by a little in their small town in Michigan. Her neighbor from across the street, who also just happened to be a city councilman, pointed out that if Hillary didn't claim more of the swing states, her chance of winning was over. To which Ally replies...
"No! That's bullshit.
I won't believe anything until I hear Rachel Maddow say it!"
Ironic, isn't it?
