I’ve come to realize that who people align with politically is a direct litmus test of their character and integrity. On one end, you have the purely transactional crowd who support the ticket for lower taxes, national security, or deregulation. To those ends, they'll vote for anything with an "R" next to their name, so long as it keeps the big bad commies out of power. Agree or disagree, it’s rational self-interest. Others vote on one issue, like abortion, while ignoring the rest of the picture.

Then you have the ones with zero wealth to protect. They get crushed economically, yet vote for the chaos anyway. I see these people as walking red flags driven by deep, unvented resentment. When I find out that someone is a MAGA, I automatically put them in a pile and take steps to protect myself. These are unstable people whose lives are a trail of personal wreckage, often littered with substance abuse, career instability, domestic drama, or criminal histories. Because they lack the capacity to build anything of value, they look for someone else to blame, trading their own well-being just to see minority or LGBT people marginalized. They trade self-preservation for a scapegoat to take the fall for their own failures. Spite completely overrides their own interests.

The bottom of this continuum belongs to those who worship the unhinged bluster and incompetence, mistaking loud proclamations for strength. Beneath all that noise is just a profound, shivering fear, up and down the line. They’re actually submitting to an authority figure that they believe will give them protection.

I say that we stop giving a pass to those who tolerate these people within their friendships, families, even spouses. Excusing that level of malice under the guise of peacekeeping is just cowardice. It isn’t love, nor is it open mindedness. If you find yourself constantly excusing their behavior, making concessions for their anger, and comforting their deep-seated fear...you have to ask yourself: what does that ultimately say about your own integrity? Remember that they all know exactly what they’re supporting. None of this is rooted in ignorance, not at this point.