I see a lot of combat veterans on Twitter telling how they were once GOP and Trump supporters. For simply REALIZING THE OBVIOUS (that he's a Putin-loving douchebag) they're rewarded with thousands of followers and thanked by strangers who they once openly opposed.

1/16

What do I have in common with them, you ask?

- Grew up in red state small town
- Didn't excel in school
- Was told that sports, the military, etc. would "teach me discipline" & '"how to be a man"
- Voted GOP in my very first election upon turning 18.

2/16

As for Trump, like many others in the '80s, I bought into his bullshit as a self-promoting entrepreneur, read "Art of The Deal" and found it entertaining...so, based on all of the above how did I, a red state dumb-ass, somehow avoid becoming a Trumper?

3/16

For starters, I left my red state small town at 20 to be a musician. Was exposed to all manners of culture and people in Chicago, then Denver, then L.A., then Austin, where I lived before returning to my red state small town in 2012 to become a legal medical MJ grower.

4/16

I went from being surrounded by culture to being surrounded by pick-up trucks with chrome ball sacks dangling from the rear and confederate flags proudly waving in the breeze, driven by men who never left the red state small town.

5/16

and whose lives had been upended by layoffs and factories that opened and closed at will, with no regard for the damage they were doing to the fabric of this town.

These men, angry and worried about their situations, had no place to direct said anger and worry.

6/16

Enter the likes of Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Alex Jones and any number of tough-talking right-wing bigots who helped these men direct their anger at immigrants and minorities who had "taken their jobs".

7/16

Lo and behold, these red state small-town men were now die-hard right-wing extremists suckered time and time again into believing one crazy conspiracy theory after another simply because, thanks to the same horrible schools that produced me (a D student),

8/16

They believed what they were told and the idea of vetting it on their own didn't even enter their minds because, in Alex Jones, Glenn Beck and others, they saw themselves and felt they could trust what they were being told.

9/16

I, on the other hand, didn't believe any of the delusional bullshit...not because I'm smarter than they were, but because, just by immersing myself in the art and cultural communities of the cities in which I lived, I was exposed to gays, minorities, and cultures

10/16

that, without me even realizing it at the time, gave me a well-rounded appreciation for people other than myself (white hetero male) and their struggles. I never had to be told they were just like me because I saw it with my own eyes.

11/16

Even so, it took some time for me to see that being gay wasn't some abnormality or defect, but I never hated anyone just for being different from me.

I never blamed minorities for taking my job because the only person responsible for me losing a job was ME.

12/16

And the anger that built inside me over the years was never directed at a particular group of people, but at myself.

For better/worse, I literally kicked my own ass every day for 30 years, yet I somehow never became a Trumper or right-wing nut job.

13/16

And, near as I can tell, the only reason is because I managed to get the fuck out of my tiny small-town bubble and see how others live.

There are others who did the same and still harbor hate for those who are different or "beneath them", yet I, a perennial D student...

14/16

have always been just enough of a critical thinker to quickly see past the shiny veneers of con artists like Glenn Beck, Alex Jones, Bill O'Reilly & Donald Trump.

Sadly, those who lack the ability to vet obvious BS will always fall for right-wing loud mouths...

15/16

But I am proud to say that my red state has since turned blue and those who keep falling for the right-wing con are now the minority. Imagine that.

16/end