Before we go any further, here’s something most people don’t know.
MAGA, Make America Great Again, didn’t start with Donald Trump. Ronald Reagan used the phrase “Let’s Make America Great Again” in his 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter. It appeared on buttons, posters, and in speeches. Bill Clinton used a version of it in 1992. It was, at one point, genuinely inspiring, a call to something better, not a permission slip for something worse.
It took Donald Trump to turn it into a pun. A sick joke. Like only Donny could do.
So let’s play with the letters, since we’re apparently stuck with them:
The Dark Version — what MAGA actually delivered:
MAGA – Make America Grift Again
MAGA – Make America Gullible Again
MAFA – Make America Fear Again (or Fart Again, if you watched Trump leap from the Oil Barons conference and rush to the window)
MADA – Make America Divided Again
MAHA – Make America Hate Again
MARA – Make America Rage Again
MASA – Make America Stupid Again
MABA – Make America Broke Again
MAWA – Make America Weak Again
MAIA – Make America Ignorant Again
MAPA – Make America Paranoid Again
MALA – Make America Laughable Again
MAOA – Make America Obnoxious Again
It’s sad to watch something that started out inspiring curdle into a joke, and then watch that joke poison an entire political party. MAGA and the Republican Party are not the same thing. But what do you do when powerful people claim the brand, hijack the name, and disenfranchise millions in the process? What do you do when the people on the hill collecting $175,000 a year in what amounts to a paid vacation have traded their constituents for their own greed and insecurities?
The RINOs are the true Republicans. Not the posers. Not the ones who poisoned the hopes of so many for so little.
It’s still only four letters. And if we’re going to be stuck with four letters, let’s see what happens when we throw out the G and try again:
The Hopeful Version — what we could actually build:
MARA – Make America Rational Again
MASA – Make America Sane Again
MAHA – Make America Humble Again
MAJA – Make America Joyful Again
MAWA – Make America Weird Again (in a fun way)
MAVA – Make America Vibrant Again
MAEA – Make America Excellent Again
MAYA – Make America Youthful Again
MATA – Make America Trumpless Again (well, I can hope)
I’m writing this because I hate slogans. I think they’re traps. Tools for lying to people efficiently. But we seem to be stuck with them, so this is both a warning and a suggestion.
If you see someone in a red baseball cap with four letters on it, my first suggestion is to walk away. Or politely tell them to take the stupid hat off. That goes for the purple cap I show on Elephants Ink Room too. It’s a gimmick. They’re all gimmicks. And if a hat color is all it takes to get your vote, heaven help us.
I’m placing my money on the belief that the American voter is ready to face actual issues. Ready to turn their backs on slogans and false promises.
But if you need evidence of how poorly the real MAGA is doing, here’s a little experiment. Go to X, formerly Twitter, now Elon’s personal propaganda machine. Find any “Trump is my savior” post. See all those accounts praising the mighty pumpkin? Click on one of their avatars, then click the three dots, the one on the left.
Surprise.
That hottie is a bot. Running from a server in Pakistan, Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe. The praise is robot code. The followers are purchased fiction. And every fake account is making Elon a fortune while making Trump look beloved.
That’s how well the slogan is actually working.
I am not here to insult anyone. I am genuinely trying to get someone, anyone, to understand that the Democrats are not automatically the answer either. I do not want anyone walking into the Oval Office with the same unbridled, assumed power Trump believes he has and the Roberts Court has foolishly led him to think he deserves. The reins need to be pulled in while we still have hands on them.
Don’t get fooled by four letters again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
It’s Now or Never
Before we go any further, here’s something most people don’t know.
MAGA, Make America Great Again, didn’t start with Donald Trump. Ronald Reagan used the phrase “Let’s Make America Great Again” in his 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter. It appeared on buttons, posters, and in speeches. Bill Clinton used a version of it in 1992. It was, at one point, genuinely inspiring, a call to something better, not a permission slip for something worse.
It took Donald Trump to turn it into a pun. A sick joke. Like only Donny could do.
So let’s play with the letters, since we’re apparently stuck with them:
The Dark Version — what MAGA actually delivered:
MAGA – Make America Grift Again
MAGA – Make America Gullible Again
MAFA – Make America Fear Again (or Fart Again, if you watched Trump leap from the Oil Barons conference and rush to the window)
MADA – Make America Divided Again
MAHA – Make America Hate Again
MARA – Make America Rage Again
MASA – Make America Stupid Again
MABA – Make America Broke Again
MAWA – Make America Weak Again
MAIA – Make America Ignorant Again
MAPA – Make America Paranoid Again
MALA – Make America Laughable Again
MAOA – Make America Obnoxious Again
It’s sad to watch something that started out inspiring curdle into a joke, and then watch that joke poison an entire political party. MAGA and the Republican Party are not the same thing. But what do you do when powerful people claim the brand, hijack the name, and disenfranchise millions in the process? What do you do when the people on the hill collecting $175,000 a year in what amounts to a paid vacation have traded their constituents for their own greed and insecurities?
The RINOs are the true Republicans. Not the posers. Not the ones who poisoned the hopes of so many for so little.
It’s still only four letters. And if we’re going to be stuck with four letters, let’s see what happens when we throw out the G and try again:
The Hopeful Version — what we could actually build:
MARA – Make America Rational Again
MASA – Make America Sane Again
MAHA – Make America Humble Again
MAJA – Make America Joyful Again
MAWA – Make America Weird Again (in a fun way)
MAVA – Make America Vibrant Again
MAEA – Make America Excellent Again
MAYA – Make America Youthful Again
MATA – Make America Trumpless Again (well, I can hope)
I’m writing this because I hate slogans. I think they’re traps. Tools for lying to people efficiently. But we seem to be stuck with them, so this is both a warning and a suggestion.
If you see someone in a red baseball cap with four letters on it, my first suggestion is to walk away. Or politely tell them to take the stupid hat off. That goes for the purple cap I show on Elephants Ink Room too. It’s a gimmick. They’re all gimmicks. And if a hat color is all it takes to get your vote, heaven help us.
I’m placing my money on the belief that the American voter is ready to face actual issues. Ready to turn their backs on slogans and false promises.
But if you need evidence of how poorly the real MAGA is doing, here’s a little experiment. Go to X, formerly Twitter, now Elon’s personal propaganda machine. Find any “Trump is my savior” post. See all those accounts praising the mighty pumpkin? Click on one of their avatars, then click the three dots, the one on the left.
Surprise.
That hottie is a bot. Running from a server in Pakistan, Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe. The praise is robot code. The followers are purchased fiction. And every fake account is making Elon a fortune while making Trump look beloved.
That’s how well the slogan is actually working.
I am not here to insult anyone. I am genuinely trying to get someone, anyone, to understand that the Democrats are not automatically the answer either. I do not want anyone walking into the Oval Office with the same unbridled, assumed power Trump believes he has and the Roberts Court has foolishly led him to think he deserves. The reins need to be pulled in while we still have hands on them.
Don’t get fooled by four letters again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
In the words of the one and only true King —
It’s Now or Never.
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