Link: https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/2676961714/

“We voted for Trump, not realizing that he was going to slam as hard as he did, but it was on day one when he sat down, right after inauguration, and started signing those executive orders and just trashed us federal employees, it was a kick in the teeth,” Ron said.

“That point was the beginning of my turning away from MAGA.”

“If people would just listen and research and do something other than just listen to Fox News, we may all be better off, but it's going to take an open mind and an ability to say, ‘I made a mistake,’ because once you say you made a mistake, you can turn the ship around,” said Chrissey Kelley, 50, a stay-at-home mom.

Its important to have the humility to say "well i fucked up" after experiencing the direct consequences, but - its not like they can just be forgiven so easily for what they did do

Its great they want to turn the ship around - but what are they going to really do - are they gonna be in the protest, are their eyes going to take the pepper spray, the police beatings, the masked kidnappings? Are they going to sleep on cold ground with no toiletries and blankets - uncharged in a crowded warehouse jail? Are they going to put themselves in the way of the fascists to prevent the harm they so gleefully elected?

Until they do, until they make that sacrifice, their requests for forgiveness are appreciated but not resolved.

All the ex-maga need to be on the frontline and need to take the brunt of the physical damage this administration doles out to us

I thought I added this paragraph. They're doing stuff, probably not enough, but they're doing stuff.

Speaking out against MAGA cost the Kelleys relationships with friends and family members who support Trump, but in sharing their story, they hope to inspire others having doubts about the GOP.

Thanks, i tried reading the article but the paywall blocked me after the first couple paragraphs

Its great theyre trying to inspire others, but they should really inspire themselves to be more than words

Nobody wants to fight the government, the government fights dirty and brutally - it should be these repenant people exactly to volunteer and accept the brunt of the abuse they voted for.

Dont say sorry, be the person who takes a rubber bullet to the eye instead of a teenager who's parent got disappeared and who dosent know where the next meal is coming from or how rents going to get paid and has nothing left to lose. They need to take the pain, not our most vulnerable.

The messed up part, if ex-maga is at the vanguard, the fascists probably wouldnt even be that cruel to them.

Had they been lucky enough to not be affected, they would still comfortably be supporting him. These people only care once it hurts themselves. Glad they’re changing, but these should not be the conditions required.

"We could excuse the kiddie diddling, but five bucks a gallon is where we draw the line!"

Ya naw, fuck off

Conservatives like this only care when they are personally affected. Nothing has changed with them fundamentally.

For once, I'd like to see one of these people say they no longer support MAGA or anything close to that because they woke up and developed empathy for other people.

Every time it's "oh, it finally affected me from getting mine, so now I don't like it."

They didn't drastically change their values. These people are still ripe for the next grift that comes along.

stay-at-home mom.

Hey shipwrecker, less stay at home, and more freeing the death encamped. You got Nazi factories to destroy. Your “turning around” aint done.

Ah yes, as a Federal employee, why don't I vote for the party that constantly says they want to reduce the federal government, or as Bannon says, "tear down the administrative state". Wow I am surprised. What fucking morons. I really doubt whether all of a sudden they're intelligent and well informed.

If the boot's ever lifted even a little, he'll be asking for it to come back down again just you wait. Never surprising to watch idiots make the same mistakes continuously.

“In my work with the defendants (at the Nuremberg Trails 1945-1949) I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”

Quotation: Captain G. M. Gilbert, the Army psychologist assigned to watching the defendants at the Nuremberg trials

"Yes, i helped set the whole fucking block on fire, but now it's burning my house! I'm SO SOWWY!."

Like the axiom “Americans can be counted on to do the right thing once they’ve exhausted all other options”, conservatives often figure out a politician they supported was a scumbag… TOO LATE. After they’ve elected them like 5 times, then it’s “hey maaan this guy is crooked” or whatever. Bush is a great example. All of a sudden in 2008, after their rabid “you hate America! Love it or leave it! Support the troops!” crap that that went on for 7 years, it became “well I never really liked him much…”

Your generous donation will empower others to leave MAGA and tell their stories; foster reconciliation with their friends and family; and develop movement leaders to help others leave.

What was that about the next grift?

Neat trivia: if you go to their joint "leaving maga" testimonial page, Chrissey admits to having been an illegal migrant worker in 2001 and 2003. Went to China as a Christian missionary under the guise of "teaching English," which absolutely violated the terms of her VISA, which makes her an illegal migrant worker. Not that they'd ever see it that way. Just no self awareness...

For all their claims of ignorant innocence ("We were lied to," “I was clueless,” "It's not the end of the world," “It’s okay to be wrong”), Evangelists are always right.

We’re very upset about the mass deportation campaign, too. Speaking as a Christian, I’ve researched Christian Nationalism, and that really woke me up. These people getting picked up and deported to countries they’re not from, that’s not what a Christian stands for.

... then again, maybe there's hope for them too. They just desperately need to decentre themselves. Like this guy has:

As someone who left MAGA, a main focus for me is trying to take as much accountability for my beliefs and actions as possible. I can’t just say, “Oh, I was lied to.” It’s my fault, because I let myself become that way. [...]

Trump is not the ultimate cause of this. There are underlying issues, like poor education. People aren’t taught enough about women’s issues and minority issues, for example. And people are having trouble pulling together the bare necessities. Once that happens, it’s really easy to become angry and want to blame the system. And when you feel the system isn’t going to change, it’s easy to say, “Let’s try the lunatic. Put the bull in the china shop and let it loose.” - Jay, a former homeschooled Gamergator All-Lives-Matter incel, who seems to be actively working on becoming a better neighbour

Love it or leave it! Support the troops!

That's been going on for my entire lifetime, and likely before.

Most Americans simply don't see how bad it is because they (and their parents) have been immersed in that environment for their entire lives. It's all they know.

because they woke up and developed empathy for other people.

Getting them to admit to being "woke" is going to be a tall order.

Sometimes I like to think what strong and primary values a "perfect" (within possibility) society would have. And the main answer I come up with is empathy. Empathy first, then a strong rejection of lies, misinformation and superstition and a high value for truth and authenticity.

I remember reading about self aware psychopaths that were raised in an environment where empathy was valued more than anything. So they consciously choose prosocial behavior not out of felt empathy, but out of rational self-interest. Knowing that prosocial behavior is most beneficial framework to live in. Therefore they choose it.

I think I know some people like this. They are predisposed to steamroll people, but all they read is about how to be kind and ethical, how to take care of their staff. The have ended up being one of the kindest people I know but I can tell it's from a lot of learning and work to become that way.

Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”

Meanwhile the MAGAts are out there worshipping Charlie Kirk when he said:

I can’t stand the word empathy actually. I think empathy is a made-up, New Age term that — it does a lot of damage

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone who hates some, understands it means they "woke up".

The word has become so twisted to them I feel safe in saying "wake up" and having them never draw any similarities to "woke". But would be interested in seeing them notice that.

"Wir haben es nicht gewusst" is what the average gerry said, after exposing them to Birchenau.

Elron Musk also said

The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit. They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.

For those who don't know German or those who don't know history, that translates to "we knew nothing about it." and in this case, it is of the more hilarious because Trump said he would do exactly this.

What an interesting way to phrase this. It translated to "Did we not know" for me. I really like that translation because it asks a rhetorical question about Auschwitz. A blind eye so you can sleep at night. They probably are protesting too much as well.

Cool, if you acknowledge your that fucking stupid give up your right to vote. You have demonstrated you can't be trusted to use it intelligently, just let less stupid people make your decisions for you. Can't be any worse than the shit show you helped to create.

Who changes without personal hardship? This kind of attitude comes off as very conceited and elitist. Just be happy people can change and move on

How has Chrissey Kelley actually changed‽

Until you're personally impacted by the policies you vote for, you don't care how it impacts others. Just the state of things world-wide, unfortunately.