Post # 639 A PEEK INTO THE NATIONAL CUCKOO NEST

Political analysts and celebrated media gurus have professionally surveyed the unprecedented actions and pronouncements of the current Republican Party and have concluded that the party is not a traditional oppositional party, in contention with the policies of the ruling Democrats. Their “incisive” and analytic insight leads them to the conclusion that the worship of Trump’s aberrational pronouncements and actions, is in fact, effectively anti-democratic. We do not disagree but would stress that the problem may be more existentially profound, fundamental, and dangerous.

That the actions of the Republican Party are “antidemocratic,” is irrefutably demonstrated, among other illustrative examples, by their failure to peaceably recognize the traditional peaceful turnover of the Presidency, that they tactically support the autocratic “Big Lie,”  that [without proof, and despite several official audits to the contrary] the election was “fraudulently stolen” as neurotically protested by Trump, that, in States where they control the legislature, Republicans promote bills, limiting, or denying the right to vote [ socially tailored to especially affect American voters of color], that they falsely slant the vote, by their congressional district gerrymandering, that they resist all legislation purposed to protect the universality of the citizen voting franchise, by their draconian approach to the  established, right of immigration and asylum, that they adhere to the historically disproven theory that the Second Amendment was intended to provide citizens with a means of action against intrusions by the the federal government, by their repressive, religiously based, limitations on women’s natural right to own her own body, that positive and compassionate, legislation, granting relief and protection to our needy citizens is un-American [viz., “socialism”], that America [falsely] was created as  “Christian Nation,”  [despite the stated laborious efforts of the Founders to avoid any reference to  “God,” in the language of the Constitution], and many more.

It is rationally elementary, that the matters cited above, are not merely “partisan,” but indeed, pose an existential threat to the very existence of democracy. Yet, taking the contemporary political and social scene in mind, we perceive that the daily demonstrated, irrational behavior of many individuals on the contemporary American scene is so “off the charts” and bizarre, as to make frighteningly applicable, a more serious, and evident, presumptive diagnosis of mental pathology. Initially, we will define some relevant terms, furnish examples, and then present our nuanced theory as to origin, or etiology.

Insanity, as referred to in this writing, may permissibly be described as mental delusions of such nature, that the relevant person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, and, additionally, may reflect such delusion in compulsive, irrational behavior. The individual, or group’s exhibition of its delusional mental beliefs in actions, in expression of such delusional thinking, is, inarguably, clear defections from reason, often in complete violation of societal norms.

Just as we chose to list various acts as ultimately threatening the institution of democracy, we would set forth several, empirically voiced, irrational delusions to in support of our theme, that, an additional, and further presumption of insanity [ fantasy as fact] is likely, if not empirically assured.

These delusional acts and fantasies include: the firm belief that Donald Trump still remains the legitimate President, his assertion and their unhesitatingly loyal support of his neurotic claim of fraud in the past election,[ despite known certifications by several independent audits, as proper and accurate, the  public recommended by Trump of his medical prescription consisting of drinking caustic bathroom cleansers to eliminate Covid, the paranoid fear that America is being invaded by “hordes” of “foreign criminals and rapists” crashing through the Mexican border, the  overall fear of the foreigner, especially of color, who will “mongrelize” our [fictional] white America, the antipathy to vaccination on the ground that it contains items usable for future government surveillance, that Jews have been engaged in an evil conspiracy, funded by George Soros, to dominate the world, that liberals are child abusers and operate a profitable child sex trade, that homosexuals and transgender people have an evil cabal to recruit young people to homosexuality, that the attack on the World Trade Center was part of an American sub- rosa conspiracy, that the Second Amendment to the Constitution was intended, by the Founders, to arm the citizen against an over-zealous federal government, that there is a sub rosa coastal liberal conspiracy, that climate warming is liberal propaganda, that Chinese Americans are responsible for Covid, since Wuhan, where  it was initially detected is in China, that the World and its fauna and flora, were created in a mere six days, in time for the Sunday Sabbath, and, similar “Mad Hatter,” delusional memes.

It requires merely a cursory reflection on any one of the above instances of irrationality, to predictably result in the reader’s accord with our themed, observation, that the cited behaviors extend significantly, and inarguably, beyond limits of  partisanship and indeed, beyond the pale of “normal”, or “healthy.” Individuals who persist in the maintenance that such irrational and delusional cognition and behavior is inspired by elemental political zeal, need to think again. This is the contemporary, National Cuckoo nest whose perch is shared, by deluded politicians and irrational private citizens. It is indeed, frighteningly conceivable, that  American society may have, by degrees, witnessed the further descent of our cohort of previously described, ignorant, “underbelly” citizens to the advanced realm of the pathological.  How did such a retrograde descent happen, and what, conceivably, can be done about it? First its origin.

We recently viewed on Netflix, a reprise of the movie, “The Manchurian Candidate.” In the fictional movie, certain designated individuals had been unknowingly implanted, subcutaneously, with devices that would irresistibly cause the implanted person, upon receipt of an externally pre-programmed cue, to mandatorily, perform a preconceived act.  We certainly do not maintain that any of the described, aberrant individuals, literally had such implants. However, it is our proposition that the individuals qualifying for permanent residence in the select American cuckoo nest, always had the innate and undisclosed potential to think and act in a pathological fashion; which, it appears, eternally required an adequate stimulus for its activation. It is our theory that the catalyst of Trump’s serially delusional and neurotic public behavior, served as such an encouraging signal that it dynamically released an underground reserve of repressed irrationality; stated in an unaesthetic, populist analogy, the hidden “cockroaches came out of the woodwork” to activate their repressed incoherence. We would imagine that only such a singularly irreverent, model of confident, egotistical lunacy, like Trump, could have empirically triggered the robotic compliance evinced by the violent and pathological response, manifested by the Capitol Building insurrection, January 6, 2021.

Based upon the optimistic view that the observed phenomenon can be ameliorated or at least, kept to a minimum, avoiding it’s metabolizing into a fatal impediment to the existence and operation of our democratic republic, we have a few conjectural, [predictably, non-exclusive] but possibly alleviating suggestions:

1. The accepted resignation that our Nation, eternally, contains portions of the population that are inadequately educated, poorly informed and vulnerable to the reductive influence of tactically manipulative and self-interested demagogues.
2. The objective, professional, non-partisan, psychological and educational vetting of all candidates for significant public office; additionally, for the police, and prospective gun owners.
3. The inclusion in core university programs,  sociological and psychological study of the Nation’s under-educated, poorly informed, discontented, citizenry, inclusive of methods and techniques for useful consciousness-raising, aimed at enrichment of their lifestyle.
4. Increasing the length of mandatory primary education and offering advanced study at no tuition.
5. Granting needed benefits such as tuition assistance, college credits for university students, or tax benefits to post or non-college attendant citizens, for their service in the instruction and education, of willing citizens, of America’s “underbelly” population.
6. Governmental free educational programs on television, and in after-school, church or town hall venues, on subjects such as civics, political science and American history.
7. Programmed, free classes, and library service, delivered by bus to remote areas.
8. Available, easily accessible clinical health and psychological services.

The reader may have additional, perhaps better, ameliorative recommendations. The salient point, however, is that our Nation has eternally, been in the clear and present danger of an ignorant, amorphous mob, capable, upon the receipt of an appropriate stimulus [as in the fiction, “The Manchurian Candidate”], or by way of a demagogic autocrat, to unify and arouse it, in the name of a false, convincing, and delusional mantra, to threaten our unique and remarkable American Democracy.

-p.