Last October, Ron, a 55-year-old construction analyst for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was furloughed for 43 days as the Trump administration took a sledgehammer to federal agencies’ budgets under the Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
“We voted for Trump, not realizing that he was going to slam as hard as he did, but it was on day one when he sat down, right after inauguration, and started signing those executive orders and just trashed us federal employees, it was a kick in the teeth,” Ron said.
“If people would just listen and research and do something other than just listen to Fox News, we may all be better off, but it’s going to take an open mind and an ability to say, ‘I made a mistake,’ because once you say you made a mistake, you can turn the ship around,” said Chrissey Kelley, 50, a stay-at-home mom.
Speaking out against MAGA cost the Kelleys relationships with friends and family members who support Trump, but in sharing their story, they hope to inspire others having doubts about the GOP.
“It’s okay to be wrong. You made a mistake, it was a bad choice, but it’s not the end of the world. We can fix it. We just got to ride it out and hold strong and support each other through it,” Ron said.
. . . Chrissey said she became a Republican as soon as she started voting.
“You were just a conservative. There was no thought behind it. You listen to Fox News, and you listen to conservative outlets, and you’re spoon-fed,” Chrissey said.
Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”
When he couldn’t find work in Detroit, he moved to Georgia. He supported Republicans because he associated them with bigger spending on defense.
Ron said he supported Trump with donations, bumper stickers and the “whole nine yards” of MAGA.
“I bought into the lie about the stolen election and all that, and I thought January 6 insurrectionists were actually patriots,” Ron said.
“I just remember being content with thinking that he was what we needed, and he was going to drain the swamp in Washington until he got into office this third term, and realizing that I was dumb as a rock, and I believed everything that I was spoon fed.”
. . . “Just watching the policies of what’s happening in our world today unfold one by one by one, I just started drawing up very different conclusions and found out that I was clueless, and most people are today, but now I’m awake and looking at it for what it is, and I cannot believe that he had my support,” Chrissey said.
“It’s lie after lie after lie.”
Ron said he now votes for Democrats, and Chrissey said she considers herself an Independent but has voted for Democrats three times now, something she “never thought in my entire life” would happen.
“The road we’re headed down now, if we don’t turn this truck around, we’re so close to going off the edge of the cliff that we need to stick together,” Ron said.
“We need to put our country back together. It might take decades, but don’t give up. We need to be vocal. Stay strong, and follow our laws and Constitution, and hold strong with our values, not the values that the MAGA claims that we have, but the values that we’ve had in the past 250 years from the founding of the country til Joe Biden’s era.”
I see a sudden turn towards socialism in his future…
So NOW he regrets it, now that it affects him. Well too late now the country is destroyed. Does he really think the next person coming in is going to give away all that power. Sure things will just go right back to normal.
Was? Nah you just jumped ship because it affected you negatively. You still dumber than a rock drooler.
100% this. If he didn’t lose his job he’d bend over backwards and take more of it.
Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”
When he couldn’t find work in Detroit, he moved to Georgia. He supported Republicans because he associated them with bigger spending on defense.
He was so upset at the Democrats for the 2008 housing crisis (Which was caused by private equity, not the government, also remind me who was the fucking president in 2008? I seem to have lost my memory on that /s) that he moved to the south and supported increased spending on the military and defence instead of checks notes FUCKING HOUSING.
Fuck this absolute twat.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. These people were inundated with powerful propaganda and influential family structures and managed to escape it. MFing these people and calling them twats isn’t going to win their hearts and minds and working people need as many allies as we can gather against a billionaire class that continues to tighten their grip.
I’m just as frustrated as you and people like them voting these ghouls into power is the reason they’re in power, but they speak some truth here and maybe they can convince some of their maga family to change course.
Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”
I lost it at that. The market fucking collapsed while Bush was president. That’s some genuine “everything I know is from watching Focks Nooz”
Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are big fans of spending on housing, not since the Red Scare of the 1950s. Investments in public goods carry a faint odor of socialism and are therefore verboten in the United States.
The (Republican-led) government did play a role in bringing about the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis: George W. Bush’s administration successfully lobbied for the abolition of regulations which had previously prevented people with insufficient credit from getting a mortgage approved.
But of course the right wing narrative held Jewish bankers at fault for inner city types defaulting on their mortgages, bankrupting Lehman Brothers et al. Not a combination of deregulation and corporate greed.
So he’s woke now?
I guess better late than never, if it sticks.
Do the type of people who are so easily fooled by Fox propaganda run back to Fox the next time the Dems do something distasteful to them like raising taxes to feed school children or trying to achieve energy independence by moving from oil to solar and wind?
“Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”” …what? How unaware does someone have to be to say something like that? The GOP took (literally) the WH and held congress for most of the years leading up to the '08 Crash. I mean, not knowing that the GOP are the ones that led us into the Great Depression (a feat they’re about to repeat) is one thing, but this moron was alive and presumably can read during the events he is describing.
Wait a minute, I hadn’t read it until now.
Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”
Who was in office when this happened, you stupid fuck? Was is a man named George W Bush? Was he a dem? I don’t appreciate the dems (they don’t do anything but perpetuate the status quo; I want socialism), but this man betrays his lack of thought with that quote.
Ron said he supported Trump with donations, bumper stickers and the “whole nine yards” of MAGA.
I always found it funny that stupid people sent money to “a rich guy” for the first campaign. Of course, his many failing businesses don’t matter after the graft of his second term. Whether he was close to insolvency or not, he’s got a lot of money now.
“I bought into the lie about the stolen election and all that, and I thought January 6 insurrectionists were actually patriots,” Ron said.
“I thought stupid, violent criminals were good people. Like the guy wearing the Auschwitz tshirt who was in a lot of media.”
realizing that I was dumb as a roc
Oh my fucking god, he said exactly the thing I said about some other right-wing assholes!
The wife:
I just started drawing up very different conclusions and found out that I was clueless, and most people are today, but now I’m awake and looking at it for what it is
No, most of us aren’t. You’re just a fucking dumbass. Others read and learn and check facts and verify what people say. I’m not clueless. There’s a lot that I don’t know, but I am not someone who just listens to a blowhard and nods my head like you did. Wait, let me put gauze on my ear to show support for some jackass who loots my country because I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. We need a ballroom!!!
Ron said he now votes for Democrats, and Chrissey said she considers herself an Independent but has voted for Democrats three times now, something she “never thought in my entire life” would happen.
Well, I’m sorry to say that the dems will disappoint and these people will return to fringe right-wing bullshit as a result. We need actual leadership and change. I voted for Bernie but he’s retiring and even he wouldn’t call out the genocide in Gaza (fuck israel). Give us people who want to upend the system to take care of people and tax billionaires, I promise they’ll get votes. Instead, Chuck Schumer will blah blah blah blah blah and Nany Pelosi will retire on a pile of money.
“One of the Greatest Wall Street Investors of All Time Announces Retirement”[0]
Who was in office when this happened, you stupid fuck? Was is a man named George W Bush? Was he a dem? I don’t appreciate the dems (they don’t do anything but perpetuate the status quo; I want socialism), but this man betrays his lack of thought with that quote.
To be fair, the response to the financial crisis happened in one of the brief times when Democrats had the presidency and a supermajority in Congress and the bailout didn’t really impact ordinary people very much. I think if they’d have gone full FDR they’d have had majorities for a long time after that, but they didn’t.
But, yeah, the rest of it is bullshit.
Yeah, yeah, it’s true. But you’re just repeating what they said and then adding “Duh!!”
I dunno, they’re agreeing to speak out, it’s not nothin’. Yes, they’ve enabled genocide and fascism but no more so than those who didn’t vote at all.
…and they’re speaking to fellow Trumpers saying “you’re not the only fools”.
I know we all want to shout “leopards ate your face!”, but this is what shifting opinions will look like.
Is the Trump administration the worst fascist ever? Their policies are very anti-ordinary people. At least most other fascists have “socialist” policies to appease the population for as long as possible. The Trump regime’s broad policy, in every sense of the word, is “fuck you, got mine.” What a baffling buffoon. But my guess is that Trumpian fascism is more rooted from American individualism; which makes Trump an outlier.
They’re speed running fascism, but they never finished reading the history on how those kinds of regimes ended.
Long live Caesar.
they never finished reading the history on how those kinds of regimes ended.
Because it is all emotions. Fascism is the rejection of reason.
Something, something doomed to repeat, something, something, doomed to watch.
Great now we’re up to what 7 defectors? Just 70 million more to go.
A kick in the teeth isn’t enough for these idiots. They need to be kicked in the balls. Repeatedly.
They kinda did by voting Republican … They just didn’t know it.
My favorite part was when he said they lost their home in the housing collapse, blamed Dems, and then voted Republican because…of spending on defence.
Defence spending doesn’t help the housing market but you do you. At least they finally woke up.
Even NOW they still can’t understand that the deregulation of banks which directly caused the 2008 collapse, was entirely Bush’s policies… if anything Obama’s bailout probably saved his home
The deregulation of the banks started under Clinton and was finished under Bush Jr. It was unfortunately not only a GOP thing.
Some observers have persuasively argued that the Glass-Steagall act, which Clinton famously repealed, was already moot by the time he repealed it, that the banking business had figured out legal workarounds for all the activities it was intended to prevent.
The point being, not to excuse Clinton or any political party, but to recognize that the creeping greed of finance isn’t something that can be blamed on one or two actors. It’s built in to the incentives, the values, the culture.
Some observers have persuasively argued that the Glass-Steagall act, which Clinton famously repealed, was already moot by the time he repealed it, that the banking business had figured out legal workarounds for all the activities it was intended to prevent.
So you don’t repeal it you update it to fix the holes.
I think Republicans controlled the Congress when it happened. I guess Clinton could refuse to sign it.
Obama’s bailout probably saved his home
Well… maybe but it sure did enrich the motherfuckers who created the crash in the first place.
Well, he’s at the beginning of his unlearning journey, hopefully he continues to go further.
Gas prices caused the 2008 collapse. The real estate market is what hurt the rich people, so that’s what we still hear about.
It was rich people that caused the collapse, not gas prices. Banks gave out variable interest rate loans, which are risky and predatory, to people that didn’t have the credit/income to afford houses. The banks then turned all of those variable rate home loans into housing related securities, which let investors in those programs earn interest on buying a tiny slice of the mortgages. Now the investors need the line to go up. What happens? Those variable rates on those mortgages get jacked up to make profit for the investors. Now Joe Schmoe can’t afford his mortgage, defaults on the loan, and loses his house. What happens next? All of those variable rate loans had mortgage insurance, which pays the lender when the borrower defaults on the loan/mortgage. What happens next, the collapse of entities that insured those loans. What happens next? We, the fucking tax payers bail them the fuck out. What happens next? The rich greedy assholes find a new thing required for existence to turn into a commodity to squeeze us more; like healthcare.
What exactly are you smoking?
And how old were you in 2008?
Old enough to not get a passing grade in kindergarten, one assumes.
No, they didn’t wake up.
They stuck with Trump through
- Child rape and trafficking with Epstein
- The subsequent Epstein cover up
- Felonly fruad
- Jan 6th insurrection
- Being the most drone happy president in his first term
- Unyielding loyalty to Israel
- Alienating US allies
- Destroying US international standing
- Killing countless with mass defending and killing of social services and aid
- The clusterfuck that was his handling of Covid, or lack there of
- The Epstein memorial ballroom
- The Arch De Epstein
Etc.
These people are still functionally sociopaths and fascists. They’re just upset that now its affecting their wallets.
He’s hurting the wrong people!!
I will still take 2 less Republican voters as a win.
Yeah I got pretty confused there. Wasn’t Bush president leading up to 2008 and the market crash? So it was the dems fault? Faux news has done an impressive brain rot.
Just like how Biden failed to prevent the spread of COVID in 2020.
Exactly. Though maybe one person doesn’t remember who was president throughout 2020, lol.
Small government people when the government is military spending:
I remember talking to a winger about his defense contractor job. He was raging out about “government workers” wasting “his money”, and so on. This was under Obama and he had just seen two people driving in a county truck on his way to work in the morning - he apparently seemed to think having more than one person doing that job was wasteful?
Anyway, I asked him, point blank - “but isn’t YOUR job basically a government job?”
I thought the guy was going to pop a vein waving his arms around and yelling how it was the PRIVATE SECTOR, we have to WIN CONTRACTS with the big old mean government, and etc. I remain calm and ask: yeah, but if they are private sector, who are their customers? Are they going to sell weapons to our enemies? Why do you have to get a GOVERNMENT CLEARANCE for that job by the way?
I’m sure the guy is absolutely all-in on Donvict these days and still repeating bullshit mantras about “small government”, etc. The guy had full-blown Obama Derangement Syndrome, that’s for sure…
I used to work in a pretty right wing office as a government contractor. One day a couple people were standing around complaining about the government and one of the women said “the government has never created a single job”. She was on a military base working as a government contracter. She was also in the national guard and engaged to an active duty sailor. I had to walk away at that point.
I don’t think these people know what the “govment” even is, to be honest…
They just don’t connect the dots…
The great recession started a year before Obama took office, but of course it is pinned to him.
Same as covid happened year before Biden but somehow it is Biden’s fault.
Democrats always have to cleanup the shit Republicans make and get blamed for it.
Beyond “dumb as a rock” for this. People really just take whatever the fuck was is spoonfed to them. At least he did wake up, but by a miracle IMO.
At least they finally woke up.
A stupid person is stupid whether they’re asleep or awake. These dipshits are clearly no exception.
wish idiots would stop voting for these leeches stealing tax money to enrich themselves and generally not giving a fuck about the population other than the megarich
I promise they didn’t stop believing terrible things. Don’t consider these assholes “the good ones” or the ones “that converted”. They hate people who aren’t like them. They’re probably racist (I don’t know that). They’re probably bigots against other religions (especially from Brown places). They just found out that the asshole they worshipped doesn’t give a shit about them. They didn’t become good people with positive values.
Congratulations on breaking out of the conditioning and cult, even if only recently.
You still voted for the Pedophile Party though. 3 times. Do better.
Zero congratulations. Fuck this turd and what he help create. This goes far beyond just America and his stupidity and utter ignorance and incompetence has affected the world.
He is the problem. Not just Trump or the GOP. These fucking idiot people who get to vote based on “feels” are the reason the whole fucking world is in this mess, not just the USA.
Has no job, struggling financially yet donates money to Trump who not only was a previous billionaire himself (was close to bankruptcy when he was running I think) but received donations from billionaires. Truely a new level of intelligence.
Negative IQ
You know, it’s great that they woke up at all, late as they are. Two less trump supporters, and if they can spread their story they might bring a few of their friends and neighbors along with them. Give them a place to vent their discontent without being shunned by “liberals” or brainwashed in maga echo chambers.
But I had to laugh at this:
Ron, who served in the military for 25 years, said the 2008 housing market crash left him “really disillusioned with the Democratic Party.”
Obama didn’t even take office until 2009. What a dumbass.
Title should read “i am dumb as a rock” instead.
I used to be dumb as a rock. I still am, but I used to be too.
Yes, I think we need to give them and others a soft landing spot where they can save at least a little face. We should help them lean into the narrative that “Trump lied and tricked his supporters into thinking he had virtuous, selfless objectives.” The more we scold them for not seeing what we’ve been screaming for over a decade, the more likely they will dig their heels in just to save face.
Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful drug.
Have you ever heard about this little thing called the civil war that they had in the US, back in like 1860ish?
They gave those guys a “soft landing” too and look how great that’s been working out for the last 170ish years…
Yeah exactly, it would be extremely counterproductive to give these people no way out
2024 was their way out, after the first term, after jan6, after sex change operations in prisons and Haitians eating cats and dogs, they knew what they were voting for. They wanted and voted for exactly this to happen, they’re just upset it’s happening to them instead of brown people.
These people should never be allowed to vote in any election ever again, they have proven time and time again to be stupid, ignorant, bitter, racist, pieces of shit, and will continue to be stupid, ignorant, bitter, racist pieces of shit for the rest of their miserable lives. Because that’s what they deserve.
Or instead of being vindictive and reinforcing the cycles that force these people to not listen to you, and to vote against your interests every time out of spite, maybe you could give them an out and let them prove their sincerity by contributing to being part of the solution rather than the problem.
Or you can just keep turning them around on their road to redemption and sending them right back to the enemy. And then wondering why the enemy still has a hold on 40% of the population…
At the same time, if they are able to just skip off into the sunset AGAIN we will be back here before long. Every. Single. Time. This shit happens, the shitty mother fuckers who wouldn’t listen to a fucking word anyone said get to destroy society, enable the deaths of millions, and then go back to doing the crossword on Sundays because we have to give them an out so we can have a society.
Fuck that. I want their faces ground on the fucking gravel. I want them to ALL know exactly how fucking moronic they are and to remember it for their entire lives.
The people responsible, meaning the people at the top of their internal hierarchies, should be held accountable and shown no mercy. Even the people who enabled it by their support should be held accountable, at least to the degree that they contributed to the problem.
But people willing to change should be given an opportunity to do so. I can’t explain how counterproductive and idiot it is to reject your enemy’s former supporters when they finally decide to turn on them. That is not how you win wars, especially when you’re the underdog.
I don’t believe for a god damn second that WE are the underdogs. We may not be in the government but there are far fewer of them than us.
I honestly don’t believe them when they say they realized they were wrong. In the vast majority of cases, they are just now being affected by their policies. They are the exact same people who voted for trump 3 times. They haven’t changed. I don’t want to walk with them. I don’t trust them.
After the civil war, did we hold anyone to account? After the Nazis were defeated, were all officers and government officials held to account? Beyond that, did we hold any of the people who supported these ghoulish regimes, through bitter war and death, to account? Or did they just fold back in and disappear like snakes in the grass, dripping poison in the ears of society until they could foment more turmoil to take advantage of and seize power. It is generational.
I refuse to allow them back into polite society with but an apology, if we are lucky, as you suggest.
I mean they only control the police, military, prisons, and intelligence agencies and infrastructure. They’ve got the corporations in their pockets and a stranglehold on taxpayer dollars, a trifecta in the executive and legislative branches, with a stacked supreme court.
But you’re right, that totally doesn’t make us the underdogs /s
You are absolutely right. But I still think that if people were slightly more motivated it would be a very one sided dispute. Motivation in the form of starvation is approaching. So I suppose we are the underdog because we are currently sleeping, but waking up.
I’m sick of sharing a planet with cave people
Typical myopic stance. “I had no idea it was bad until it started to impact me.” The complete and total lack of empathy from people is a core problem I don’t care what political side you are on. How can you be so selfish to not think about impactful others around you? Do you live on an island of one? Are your fellow citizens nothing to you?
Social media has allowed us to slip even more into a solipsist mindset.
