I needed to vent, and after this story hit a certain length, Facebook no longer seemed like the appropriate venue. I've had some issues on my mind, and the results of the AP poll mentioned below set me off.  (Sept. 21, 2025)

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BY ANTHONY CONROY

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According to an Associated Press story, a recent poll shows Republican outlook about the nation's direction has "soured dramatically" in the wake of the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

We won't get into Kirk's death here, but the results of the poll are interesting. Without sounding partisan, if you're a Republican, especially a MAGA Republican, hasn't everything that you've wanted to happen either already happened or is currently happening?

Due to his election win, President Donald Trump and his administration have made sweeping changes and say they are acting on a mandate provided to them by voters, Constitution be damned.

 

So, if you're a Trump supporter, here are a few reasons you should be happy:

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• The most recent election — unlike the previous one — was accepted peacefully and without argument, as there was never a call by Democrats to dispute the results or push a false narrative. 
   

• Despite being indicted on more than two dozen felony charges and being found liable in a sex assault case, the president faced no criminal consequences.
   

• Despite his association and longtime friendship with a convicted pedophile and sex trafficker, the president has faced no disciplinary action or political repercussions. 
   

• Trump delivered on his promise to crack down on immigration and border crossings.
   

• To further make their point and reinforce MAGA's core mandate to stop illegal immigration and crack down on undocumented individuals already living in the U.S., MAGA leaders continue to find new and exciting ways to dehumanize migrants and their families, such as building outdoor encampments with names whimsical and alliterative names like "Alligator Alcatraz".
   

• Thanks to the views of certain TV pundits empowered by Trump's mandate, you can openly call for — and not face disciplinary action — for suggesting that homeless people be euthanized. (Of course, if you steal a baseball from a child, your life will be in ruins.)
   

• If you're a Republican living somewhere like California, Illinois, or Washington, D.C. —  specifically in a Democrat-run city — here's some good news: Trump has made the decision for you that states' rights and the will of officials — officials freely elected by their own constituents — can go ignored. He thinks your security is under threat, or so he says, and will exercise his power to deploy or threaten to deploy the National Guard troops for the purposes of protecting and watching over you.
   

• Sit back comfortably while states change voting rights in ways proven to exclude or hinder access to the electoral process.
   

• No more pretending. if you so choose, you're free to follow the Trump regime's example by accepting and tolerating hate groups, their leaders, and their ideologies without consequences or ramifications.
   

• In the administration's quest — nay, mandate — to make government more streamlined and efficient, we've seen that any department or agency can be shut down without cause or analysis. That including offices that promote — or once promoted — Western values and idealism. And here's the best part: we still haven't seen the final tally on what that supposed efficiency — not to mention unfettered access to all of our personal information — has truly cost the American people. Most importantly, don't forget that the work of indiscriminately shuttering our government and laying off thousands was executed by a handful of people with names like Elon and Big Balls.
   

• Despite having peaceful borders and zero attacks on our sovereignty by a foreign nation since like 1812, our nation's military industrial complex just keeps humming and growing. Just try not to think about this possibility: our military equipment and resources now seem more likely to be used on American soil than, say, Russian soil.
   

• Then again, you'll still have plenty of opportunity to complain and tap into your inner Karens, as those billions of dollars will not be steered toward roads, bridges, tunnels, schools, and modernization of our nation's air traffic control system. Yes, buckle your seatbelts, as we may encounter some turbulence ahead.
   

• Despite a new mass or school shooting nearly every day, there's is still no effort by the Republican Party to address gun rights, gun ownership, gun limits or anything that has "gun" in the title.
   

• Thanks to our Dear Leader's beliefs, we won't ever — that is, until the next election or the next glacier melts (depending on which happens first) — have to worry about anything related to the phrase "climate change."
   

• Thanks to the administration's ongoing effort to eliminate historical facts about the U.S. involvement in racial discrimination, slavery and genocide during our nation's formation and expansion, we can explore any museum or national park guilt free and blissfully unaware of America's sordid — shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! — past. And don't worry: Our kids will be similarly oblivious once their history books are rewritten.
   

• Of course, out in the wild, we're all potential victims of free speech. No worries, as cancel culture has given rise to the free speech police, which the Trump regime is now threatening to turn loose on any form of truth, satire, parody, comedy, writing, educated programming, broadcasting or reporting that is unflattering and uncomfortable for the adminstration. That's right, we're talking about you, Sesame Street. 
   

• Ahhh, but if you support the Great Trump Mandate, that free speech thing also works in your favor, since we now have the ability to openly and very publicly (such as during a televised news conference) shame people based on age, body shape, skin color, religion, mental illness, mental or physical disability, and physical deformity. Everyone's fair game. Except Donald Trump. Even the Ukrainian president was fashion-shamed, the victim of a White House ambush for wearing the wrong outfit.
   

• Similarly, Americans have never been more free to openly profile, demonize, insult and villify people based on nothing more than gender, ethnicity and sexual preference. Honestly, that's what freedom of speech is all about.
   

• Thanks to the Trump regime's example, you also have permission to demonize all institutions, general intelligence, the mainstream press, minorities, Democrats, and anything considered progressive or forward-looking.
   

• The administration is so uncomfortable with comparisons to Nazism, but thanks to several recent examples, you can feel free to salute like a Nazi when the moment's right, like during the inaugural parade -- twice! -- wiithout consequences or hits to your bottom line. Hell, you may even get a government contract.
   

• Which brings up another good point for MAGA's faithful: Never apologize, no matter what the misstep, misdeed, insult or egregious lie.
   

• Which brings up another Trump attribute that's worth adopting: lie. Just lie. All the time. Even when we have evidence to the contrary. Lie about your taxes, your health, your business prowess, your imaginary conversations with supporters, your imaginary conversations with your uncle, people eating cats, the number of wars you stopped, the signatures you've left in birthday cards. 
   

• Science is hard, but thanks to Trump and his appointees at the EPA and CDC, you're able to ignore science at will. That's right, no one left at either agency knows enough to tell you not not to look into the sun. Or bother corporations for pesky pollution data. Time for your child's polio vaccine? Just inject some bleach. If you're educated in Dark Ages medicine, have a supply of eye of newt, and can kowtow like a peasant, Trump has a place for you in his Cabinet.
   

• Trump's seething contempt for institutions, rules and regulations means you can show the same. So have no shame at all in delegitimizing opinions from all qualified professionals, the rule of law and legal statutes, the courts in general, mainstream media, any government institution (except the executive branch, of course), public education, the banks, the Fed, anything from a foreign nation, etc.
   

• Once you've fully embraced the Trump regime's belief that public health and access to it is a priviledge and not a right, you will be that much more willing to decimate Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. But, hey, that will free up even more money for defense spending.
   

• Your grandmother will probably lose her health benefits, but lookie here: Trump just scored himself a new ride, a $500 million, no-strings-attached jumbo jet courtesy of a foreign government.
   

• You've finally won the argument over whether a woman has a right to choose. Congratulations. Now anyone, even grade school flunkies, have a larger voice in women's healthcare than the patients, not to mention the doctors who are prevented from performing lifesaving care. (However, once the baby's out of the womb, good luck. See the Medicare and Medicaid item above.)

 

Honestly, that's a pretty long list of things a MAGA Republican should be happy about. And while many of his worst policies were planted during his first term, they're in full bloom today. And with talk of him pursuing a third term, there may be more to come.

 

I guess it all begs the question: if you're not already happy now, what will it take to make you happy? Because the price of your happiness is costing all of us.