Opinion | Yes, MAGA is weird

Tim Walz only said what everyone was thinking. 

The second-term governor of Minnesota cut through the noise, knocked off the sugar coating and said out loud what had been whispered among regular Americans for a while now: Republicans have turned weird. Especially the MAGA brand of Republicans. 

This is not a point up for debate. And deep down, underneath that red MAGA hat, you know it’s true. You know that this whole thing has gotten really, really weird. 

From ramblings about sharks and batteries to praising the “great Hannibal Lecter,” to telling people they won’t have to worry about voting anymore to praising dictators while simultaneously bashing Americans to people wearing fake bandages on their ears to a guy dressed like a shaman storming the Capitol along with thousands of other feces-smearing felons to just looking the other way on that whole paying off a porn star thing to belittling women who don’t have children … it’s weird. You’re weird. It’s all so weird. 

Walz was spot on accurate. 

Of course, this is nothing new for Alabama, where we’ve been churning out weird politicians since, basically, this place was founded. But there’s no need to go back that far. 

Let’s just start a decade ago, when Alabama’s dead-lock to be the next U.S. Senator for life, Luther Strange, traded that job for one of the dumbest and most obvious quid-pro-quo deals (allegedly) in history, when he pretended that he didn’t know anything about an investigation into former Gov. Robert Bentley – an investigation that Strange’s office was running – and accepted a senate appointment from that under-investigation-governor. 

That sent Alabama down one of the most Alabama paths in history, culminating in Bentley being brought down by the ickiest sex scandal in American history – complete with audio tapes about breast touching – and the Republican nominee to fill that senate seat, Roy Moore, losing (barely) on the heels of the second ickiest sex scandal – which featured the nightmare-inducing image of ol’ Roy in tighty-whities.  

Oh, and just because we’re Alabama, we ended it all by replacing the very capable and respected Democrat who won the seat, Doug Jones, with a bumbling football coach who thought (and probably still thinks) that the three branches of government are “the House, the Senate and the executive.” 

And if you’re thinking things have improved, well, let me just say to you: hahahahaha. 

The state’s supermajority GOP is headed by a man whose religious beliefs prevent him from obtaining state ID, so he just made up his own in order to vote. That’s a felony. But the current AG – who has preached relentlessly about election integrity – will not prosecute him, despite two different secretaries of state referring the case to the AG for prosecution. 

What I’m saying here is that I know weird. And Walz has correctly identified it within this MAGA movement. 

Every single day, it’s something more weird or strange than the last. Particularly on the days in which Trump holds a rally and ends up speaking for what feels like six hours, and then all of the Trump surrogates (which is essentially everyone in the Republican Party at this point) has to spend the next three days trying to convince everyone that Trump was either, A. Just joking about being a dictator or never voting again, B. That you didn’t really hear what you definitely heard, or C. That false thing Trump said is absolutely true because we believe it. 

Last Sunday, for example, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds spent several minutes being chopped into tiny pieces by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos because Donalds, like Trump, is apparently unaware that a person can be both Black and Indian. 

And that gets us to perhaps the weirdest, most depressing aspect of this very weird MAGA movement – the cruelty. 

For my entire life, I have been taught – and I know for a fact that others have been taught – to honor the Golden Rule. To treat others in a way in which you would want to be treated. To not belittle people. To not make fun of others. 

And then along came MAGA. 

Suddenly, it is OK to hate. It is OK to refer to large groups of people, especially immigrants, in derogatory terms. It is OK to say vile, disgusting things to anyone who holds a different opinion. 

That’s weird. And it’s not OK. 

It’s also weird that you think women shouldn’t be allowed to make medical decisions about their own bodies. It’s weird that you think equality and diversity and inclusion are threatening to you. It’s weird that you believe immigrants are hurting the country, since you are almost certainly a descendent of an immigrant. It’s weird that you think vaccinations are some sort of a government conspiracy. It’s weird that you keep believing that someone cheated Trump each time he loses. And it’s really, really weird that you’re all just OK with the felonies, the fake electors, the coup attempt, the Russian relationships, the stealing of documents and the porn star. 

Basically, what I’m saying here, as a certified expert in political weirdness, MAGA is without a doubt the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. And it’s getting weirder every day.