Did I Leave One Cult and Join Another?

A letter from a reader...

This reader disagreed with my take on Thomas Massie’s loss to Ed Gallrein in Kentucky, and finally closed it with this:

I always knew that stepping into the Israel debate on the Right would cause me problems. I avoided it as long as I could, trying to stay out of the discussion of the war in Gaza, as readers will remember. It would start a Civil War in the comments, so I tried to stay neutral. No, it wasn’t a genocide, yes, it’s a hard thing to see so much carnage and suffering, war is hell, etc.

But once Trump got involved and bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and then bombed the country in hopes of breaking them down to prevent their building a nuke, that’s when things got weird. And when things got weird, I had to take a side. And that side was not becoming the very thing that Trump and MAGA had been accused of being for ten years: Germany in the 1930s.

Yes, I am half-Jewish on my father’s side. I wasn’t raised with any religion, and if anything, I lean more toward Christianity at the moment. But there is no version of me that would go along with what I see happening on the Right, even knowing it will cost me dearly - with clicks and views, with subscriptions, with income.

All of that said, here is what I know right now. The gas prices ARE too high. I was going to cover that in my first travel dispatch, but I’ll mention it now. Here in Texas, where I am now, they’re down to $ 4.00 and change per gallon, which is $2.00 cheaper than in LA. This will kill Trump and MAGA in the midterms, and they’ll blame the war in Iran, and they’ll blame Israel.

So if Trump can’t refocus and turn the economy around (the window is tightening), the Series Finale of the Donald Trump show will end with his impeachment and removal from office.

Fine, I can accept that reality. What I won’t do is go along with the rising demonization and dehumanization of a whole group of people, whether that’s MAGA or now, people who support Israel. The Massie loss has torn off the scab, and the conspiracy theories are flying.

To me, that’s the cult. I left the Left because of their intolerance and hatred for half the country. The way they treated me just for dissenting was and remains terrifying. I always thought that was closer to Nazi Germany than anything I saw rising on the Right. Until now. Now, many of them have lived up to the stereotype.

That doesn’t vindicate the crazy Left, but they are forming a horseshoe:

I think they should all go out into the desert and build an isolated, Jew-free utopia where they can worship in the purest form of their faith, but I want nothing to do with them. Call me whatever you want.

I long for the old days when I had a solid income and didn’t have to worry so much about paying the bills, unlike now, when I have to worry about subscribers. That’s why my site has been free for so long. But oh well. That is the way the cookie crumbles. I still believe in Free Thinking through the Fourth Turning.

Trump has accomplished more in just one year than most presidents in my lifetime: Trump RX lowering drug prices, Trump savings to help young ones start a financial future, no tax on social security, and no tax on overtime. He’s helped end “Gender Affirming Care” and stood up for women in sports.

He closed the border and began mass deportations, which cost him in the polls and with Hispanic voters. Tariffs were an attempt to bring manufacturing back here, and they also created higher prices.

The problems we face are big, existential problems like the storm of AI, corporate monopolies, and the decline of the American worker. To keep prices low, we need cheap labor. Either we import it, or we send labor overseas, which is what Bill Clinton did to boost the economy and what the Democrats will do once they take back power. That, along with socialism and “managed decline.”

But let’s not kid ourselves. They don’t care about the economy. They’re mad about Israel, and they’re riding the wave, just like many on the Left, lying that it’s about “pedophiles and war.”

Yes, the economy has to come back for him to avoid a third impeachment. I hope and pray that MAGA can hold the line. The good side of MAGA, not the rising frothing Hitler-esque side.

I also got this letter, which I thought was a more decent way of looking at things:

There’s a good chance this is true. When his wife died, the wheels came off, and he was more susceptible to the darker forces that helped him find a scapegoat - and unfortunately, too many people are following him down that path. I won’t be one of them.