Only Fascists Circle the Wagons

an AWFL understanding of human nature

A theme you can see all over social media and the news: Trump has been indicted a bunch of times, but his people are still supporting him. See, they really are a stupid cult!

And this related argument, endorsed by America’s Dumbest Professor™:

The Republicans are still standing with Trump, which is “authoritarian dynamics 101.” Fascists stand by their leader figure no matter what.

In personal interactions, one of the things I say all the time about the instincts of wokester activists is, “I wonder if she’s ever met any human beings.” The absence of basic social instinct is striking; a certain model of AWFL culture warrior is constantly engaged in misdirected mindreading that displays a bizarre and often Cluster B understanding of basic human behavior.

So. A thought experiment: If, in 2008, as Barack Obama was closing in on victory in the presidential race, he’d suddenly been mass-indicted by a long series of exclusively Republican prosecutors, would Democrats have abandoned him? “Oh, that’s it for me, if Obama has been indicted, I have to support someone else!” Or would the indictment of a popular Democratic politician by a bunch of Republicans have resulted in an immediate explosion of furious, redoubled support? This is the easiest question anyone has ever asked, by the way.

What human behavior is more basic and obvious than standing by our guy against an attack by the other side? People on the right do this. So do people on the left. Anarchists. Accountants. Pilots. Marmots and zebras. Everybody does this everywhere, in all normal social contexts.

If the best hitter on your corporate softball team was accused of cheating by the corporate softball team that beat you for last year’s regional championship title, right before this year’s league championship game, would you support your guy, or support the other team? You’re a sergeant in A Co., out at a bar with some other bros from A Co., and some dude from B Co. dances with somebody’s girlfriend, and everybody squares off to fight. Who are you fighting with, and who you fighting against? This is the most obvious thing in the entire world.

Like red ties at a presidential debate, we’re watching as socially blind “experts” take a normal human behavior and construe it as a shocking deviation from social norms. Why aren’t Trump voters standing with Fani Willis, asks important political expert. People who don’t know anything about anything are shocked and appalled that the arrest of Donald Trump is producing its completely obvious result. But…you’re supposed to…not like him anymore? And we can say all of this without even getting into the strength or weakness of the ludicrous indictments, so.

As with 98% of politics and media, it’s tedious to watch.