When we were in high school, the school experimented with something called Channel One. One of the challenges schools have across the board is what to do with extra time they have during the day. Most schools have class periods that are the same length except for lunch and maybe one other period during the day because home room or advisory is connected to it. Channel one was a way they filled the gap when we were in school. It was a group of teenagers that were covering the news of the day. The news of the day when Channel One started was the saga over the Branch Davidians.

Over the years, there has been a huge debate over who fired the first shot and who was really responsible for how this ended. Some blame the Davidians and some blame the feds. Beyond that, these cults ended the way these cults always end. Jim Jones and Jonestown ended the same way. Charles Manson’s cult ended the same way. We can’t literally say that every cult ends exactly the same way, but they usually end in disaster.

The dictionary defines a cult as “a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous.” Trumpism doesn’t fit that specific definition, but a growing number of people are considering it a cult. Are they off-base? We have seen a recent poll referenced in a number of places where more people who consider themselves Trump loyalists believe him than people from their own family, their religious leaders, or other right wing politicians. We have seen other loyalists say that they will back Trump no matter what until the day he dies.

So, how does all of this end? This is what worries me. If Jonestown ended in mass death and Waco ended in mass death then how does this all end? If it were a point of just cultists perishing then that would be one thing. We would do what we could to save our family and friends caught in the cult and let the rest of the lemmings jump off the cliff. Several agents died in the standoff in Waco. Jonestown even claimed the life of a member of Congress. It isn’t the plight of cultists that concerns me. It’s what happens to the rest of us. How many innocent victims go down when this finally ends?

We have already seen some of these isolated events go down. We have seen mass shooting events that were based on his rhetoric. We have seen a few loose nuts perish in showdowns with FBI and other agencies. The good news is that every time Trump calls for his followers to protest on his behalf it seems that fewer and fewer people show up. This is what happens in traditional cults. Members peel off when the trance breaks. As Trump gains more felony indictments, more and more members peel off. They may still vote for him, but they aren’t going to stick out their neck for him.

All it takes is one though. Who knows where the next crazy person will come from? Who knows what they will have up their sleeve or how many damage they could wreak if they are successful? Some of us could very well be collateral damage. That’s what frightens me. The trick is balancing that fear with the negative impacts of giving into it. We have to finish this thing. We can’t let the Freedom Caucus blackmail us into dropping charges. We need to finish it, but it doesn’t change my terror of what will come of it.

The NRA has been stumping for Greg Abbott pretty hard and heavy. I hear their radio spots at least a few times every day. Beto O’Rourke has an F rating according to the NRA. However, Greg Abbott has been governor for eight years. I’m still not sure why we should vote for him. The only thing he tells us is why we shouldn’t vote for Beto O’Rourke.

Terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” I don’t know why that word popped into my head just now. It must be one of those random thoughts that have nothing to do with anything.

That same dictionary defines domestic terrorism as “the committing of terrorist acts in the perpetrator’s own country against their fellow citizens.” The Patriot Act said that people are engaging in domestic terrorism is they perform an act “dangerous to human life.” So, if we follow this random tangent to it’s logical conclusion we would have to assume that people that participate in mass shooting events are domestic terrorists.

Mind you, I’m not calling the NRA a sponsor of domestic terrorism. I’m simply defining terms. The city of San Francisco has already done that. Many Americans already agree with San Francisco. However, lets walk this through. You have an organization that opposes waiting periods, background checks, and any sort of regulation of semi-automatic weapons, age limits, licensing, or carry restrictions. They support an 18 year old’s right to openly carry an AR-15 whether they have passed a background check or not.

So, there is a sizeable gap between supporting any right to own a firearm and where the NRA currently stands. According to Gallup, as of 2020 only 32 percent of Americans owned a firearm and only 44 percent lived in a household with at least one firearm. However, that is in stark contrast to the number of firearms actually in the United States. So, if there are 1.2 firearms per person, but only 32 percent of people own a firearm then that means that the average gun owner has three or more guns.

Whether the NRA are domestic terrorists, support domestic terrorism, or are indifferent to terrorism is for shock jocks to consider. One could credibly claim that the NRA serves a very small segment of society. After all, even most gun owners are in favor of waiting periods, background checks, and restricting access to certain weapons. Most support age restrictions as well. So, when one earns an F grade from the NRA what exactly does that mean? I’d say it means he is a decent and reasonable human being.