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For those of us ASTONISHED at the appeal of Trump… this is a cogent 6 minute reflection on the psychology of the Trump cult.

…but I’m afraid this doesn’t make me feel any better. The cult is half or nearly half of America, with the plutocrats and corrupt operators laughing at the credulity and ignorance of the MAGAts while they screw them over. And it’s not clear that MAGA-cult is shrinking. It may even be growing. Even if the cult itself is not growing, our acceptance of it (with a shrug, the new ‘normal’) is growing.

From the video:

1. Trump doesn’t offer policies, he offers ‘identity’. ‘Identity fusion‘ is when personal identify is fused with the identity of the leader.
2. He offers ‘revenge‘, not solutions. A big middle finger to those (groups) people have been taught to hate.
3. People crave order, and Trump promises strength. He creates crises then sells himself as the only one strong enough to fix them. He creates ‘dependency‘.
4. His followers are trapped in an information bubble. They don’t just believe his lies; they live inside them. It’s a closed loop ecosystem, called ‘epistemic closure‘. Followers no longer accept any outside information.
5. Shame is powerful. Trump supporters can’t admit they might have been (are) wrong, so they double down …just like Trump does. To turn away now would be taking on shame, admitting they were wrong and losing their community. That is terrifying to them, so they dig in deeper.
6. Trump makes his followers feel ‘seen‘. He gives them belonging and community which they crave. [Hillary got this right when she famously said he ‘lifted them up’]

Trump didn’t just seize government. He seized the minds of half of America. I don’t understand cults and conspiracy thinking, so I didn’t think such a thing was possible in America.

Trump and his MAGA cult is the price we are paying for social neglect and greed (which found its first powerful expression in Reagan) …letting a big chunk of the country fall behind for the last 50 years. It was fertile ground for an opportunist like Trump to ‘instinctively’ use it for power, ego and corruption.

And just to end this post on a light note…

I breed from Dewi Jenkins’ lines because they are ‘the best breeding lines in the world.’ At the Shabfest Continental Championships this week, Dewi’s Jock and son Clwyd Bob show what it means to be the best: they keep winning.

My best dog, Peter, is the son of Dewi’s Clwyd Bob.

A litter due on 9-July is:
Sue (daughter of Clwyd Bob, full sister to Peter)
by Ormond Mirk (Son of Jock)
A perfect 6% line breeding from two of the best dogs in the world.

Today, the University of Virginia president resigned under pressure from the Trump administration. The board of overseers of the university put ‘survival’ ahead of principle …because they felt they must. Trump adds another notch to his belt of terror and dominance. Harder for others to find the courage to resist.

This is what autocracy looks like.

Stalinist, Maoist style purges.

Extortion, threats, victimization.

Fear, helplessness.

Sycophancy and capitulation.

“Knavery and flattery are blood relations.” ~ Abe Lincoln

Resistance is the only way.

Turkey tendons sent from David in Chicago, who likes to spoil pups, near or far, are a BIG hit with the 13-week-old Gail x Max pups.

The Meg x Max pups are starting to get big and Meg’s milk is not enough. At 3-1/2 weeks they started on ground puppy kibble, scrambled egg and cooked ground beef. Max is a big dog, Meg is big for a female, and these pups look like they will be big as well. They leave the whelping box at 4 weeks old for the big world puppy kennel (and shavings rather than bedding).

I wonder WHAT will it take for America to wake up to Trump’s malfeasance and corruption? When will we stop appeasing him? When will we stop calling it ‘normal‘ or ‘Trump being Trump‘? When will we stop turning the other way, lying to ourselves and others? This is NOT normal! This is NOT democracy! And this is NOT making America great again!!

The Nippon Steel – US Steel deal is pure Trumpian corruption. And the corruption is EVERYWHERE!

It is a scary thought to think that American democracy may be as dead as John Cleese’ parrot …but it just may be.

These 4 pups delivered 5 days ago by Jazz with Pete as sire are thriving. I am very enthusiastic about this litter of pups (2F/2M) because of Pete (and Jazz).

The bond with Kate [né Tynygraig Meg] was instant. A take-anywhere, do-anything 10 month old sweetheart from Dewi, here now for 10 days. She is nonplussed, balanced and eternally happy. Unruffled by the new, noisy and frightening on her first Saturday of errands: she was 100% with me and comfortable. No worries at all. Kate doesn’t miss a beat. This is one of those pups who ‘gives herself over’ to her human, early on, declaring “I trust you.”
[Pedigree in an earlier post.]

Juneteenth 2025: Another ‘unauthorized’ mating this spring. About 2 months ago, Jazz and Peter ran off and came back 15 minutes later all smiles. I suspected, but did not administer the ‘morning after’. The result is 4 pups [2M/2F] added to my spring assortment of unauthorized, unplanned pups. These pups feel *very* healthy and went straight for the teat. Good instinct!

At least Jazz has good taste. She chose my #1 dog: Peter.

Peter is a dog every serious competitor or rancher should breed with.  He is Dewi Jenkins’s dogs with more fire and jaw-dropping style, from James McCloskey’s Nel. I have not seen Pete’s equivalent. Dewi told me himself, there is something special about the combination of his Clwyd Bob and daughters of McCloskey’s Sweep. That is exactly what Peter is.

Pete will kickstart, sharpen and augment a breeding program. He is available at stud in Vermont and in frozen breeding doses for serious breeders. This is a chance to get one of his pups.

Pups from tis litter should be smooth coated, classically marked, pricked-eared, intense and talented.

Jazz was banished to the puppy room in the barn (shared with Meg) at 4 a.m., rather than getting to have her litter inside the house. She had escaped the whelping area and ripped a down jacket of mine sitting on a chair to shreds …cries of glee while ripping and tearing at the jacket to make the down come out could be heard as I headed back from the barn. She’s lucky she was in labor or there would have been hell to pay for that one!

Go directly to Jail! Do not collect $200.

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