AMMDI is an open-notebook hypertext writing experiment, authored by Mike Travers aka mtraven. It's a work in progress and some parts are more polished than others. Comments welcome! More.
The thing with "Gulf of America" – presumably everybody involved knows this is stupid, including Trump. It is deliberately stupid and fake. It's the kayfabe esthetic from pro wrestling. It's obviously fake, even the rubes know its fake, that is part of the point. Everybody is in on the game of fooling themselves. The stupidity is the point.
At some point, the fake becomes real, just because there is a critical social mass of people behind it. Suddenly it’s no longer just a game, actual power is being exerted.
It then starts to transform into a cult, capable of maintaining itself because so many are invested in its fictions. The adulation of the leader changes from casual fandom to absolute devotion. A dependency is created — on the leader’s magic, his fake charisma that has magically become real. It’s an addiction of sorts. These people are not just swayed by Trumpian bullshit, they require it to keep their own schtick going, a bigger dose every day, which he gives them. They are addicted to bullshit.
Given America is the land of the con artist and the cult, it's a wonder we haven't had more fascist movements. It's such ripe soil for demagogues to cultivate an audience. We certainly had some: Lindbergh, the Silver Shirts, Father Coughlin. They never quite broke through like they have in our time.