Insanity: To keep telling the big lie over and over again and expect the world to believe it!

by Glen Reaux

Four months after the January 6^th insurrection, America is still on the brink of destruction. Only, this time it’s not from a group of armed insurrectionists. It’s on the verge of political self-destruction at its very core. The founding fathers, in the establishment of our democracy, based it upon the belief that opposing factions or political parties would compete for the privilege to honorably govern America, not destroy her. This ideology led to the organic evolution of the “two-party” system which has been the principal component in the development of a strong constitutional democratic republic. But, with the rise of Donald Trump and typhoid fever’s first cousin, Trumpoid-fever, the Republican Party has devolved into a sociopolitical cult of Trump-ism. This disease has destabilized the American political foundation which cannot survive as a one-party system. Because of this recent phenomenon, Democrats, Liberals, and moderate Republicans unwittingly watch from the sidelines and ask, is the ”Republican Party Suicidal, Stupid, Insane or Something Else?”

Trump-ism, the sociopolitical phenomenon that is poisoning the very core of our political system is not a recent phenomenon. Germany and Italy suffered from the same disease in the thirties which led to the rise of Benito Mussolini, Adolph Hitler, and the Nazi Party. These so-called charismatic leaders including Trump share many of the same personality traits; acting impulsively, avoiding conformity to social norms and expectations, regularly engaging in lies and deception, disregard for safety, irresponsible behavior, a lack of remorse, irritability, and aggressiveness.   ⁽¹⁾ The American Psychological Association has defined a person exhibiting these traits as a “criminal psychopath.” These traits also have become the hallmarks of the political parties that each of these men led. Does this sound like Nazism, Trump-ism? Let us not continue to fall into the pop-culture trap of Trump-ism as if this is some fad that will fade into the sunset. We must call this what it really is, ⁽²⁾ a mental illness known scientifically as “antisocial personality disorder” whose sufferers we label psychopaths.

Are the Republican Party leaders Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump suicidal, stupid, or psychopaths? They have declared a man their party leader that is an unindicted co-conspirator for election crimes, currently under criminal investigations in four jurisdictions for tax and financial crimes and for election tampering in Georgia.

Traits of Psychopathic Behavior

1. Regularly engaging in lies and deception – Trump and McCarthy support “The Big Lie” (The election was stolen.)
2. Acting Impulsively – Trump and McCarthy attempted to decertify the 2020 presidential election.
3. Disregard for safety–Trump led the January 6^th Kevin McCarthy denouncing a bi-partisan commission to look into the January 6^th insurrection.
4. Irresponsible Behavior–The removal by Trump and McCarthy of Liz Cheney from party leadership for her refusal to support “The Big Lie”
5. Lack of Remorse–Trump and McCarthy’s refusal to acknowledge the deaths of people caused by the insurrection and the injuries suffered by capital police.
6. Avoiding conformity to social norms and expectations–The refusal by Trump and McCarthy to accept the peaceful transfer of power. Trump’s continued attacks on our democracy and McCarthy’s continued support of Trump and his acknowledgment of Trump as the leader of the Republican Party.

While both Trump and McCarthy exhibit psychopathic traits (Trump more so than McCarthy), we must also place the behavior of other Republican Party leaders under the microscope. The usually cool, and collected, self-proclaimed “Grim Reaper” ‘Moscow Mitch” McConnell does not exhibit these traits of mental illness. However, he is also leading the Party down a dark and fruitless political path. Despite the global broadcast of the January 6^th insurrection led by the head of the Republican Party, which was obviously planned and implemented by militant factions of Republicans, he refused to vote to convict Trump for the insurrection and attack on the Capital. With this decision, he chose a known psychopath over his oath to be a fair-and-impartial jurist, and his oath to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. The self-declared grim reaper chose a want-to-be banana republic dictator over the rule of law and our democracy.

Subsequent actions by Moscow Mitch such as his refusal to let a single Republican in the Senate vote for the American Rescue Plan and his open declarations that the Republican Party will block all legislation put forth by President Biden with no considerations are damning. Under his leadership, Republicans in the Senate have developed no policy initiatives, or fostered any reasonable compromises on Democratic legislation. The America Rescue Plan, the For the People Act, Biden’s The American Jobs Act (new infrastructure plan), and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act are all hugely popular with Democrats, Independents, and Republican voters. Despite the will of the people, Moscow Mitch has become the obstructionist on steroids. After decades as a party leader, and being one of the best political tacticians in Congress, he is looking stupid or committing political suicide.

Despite the pressure being applied by corporations on Republicans in Congress, they are still refusing to consider passing the “For the People Act.” These corporations realize that to not put pressure on the politicians that they support would lead to a consumer backlash because the bill addresses the core principle of the constitution. All Americans have the right to vote. Still “Steroid Mitch” and his party refuse to budge on guaranteeing every citizen the right to vote in free and fair elections. On the state and local levels, Republicans are passing voter suppression laws that surpass the restrictions of Jim Crow laws. Is this stupid, political suicide, or mental illness? Some of these laws will disenfranchise their own voters that in the past have relied heavily on mail-in voting.

Republicans in all levels of government no longer need the money from nor fear their former corporate masters. That’s unRepublican. Something is really rotten in Denmark when Republicans don’t fear the loss of financial support or corporate muscle. Do they fear Trump and his base that much? Is it fear of the mob or mental illness that causes a political party to declare a former president that lost an election by over seven million votes, 5 percentage points, and an electoral college landslide its leader? According to Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame, an avid proponent of Sherlock Holmes, “You must learn to govern your passions or they will be your undoing.” The Republican leadership is certainly not governing its passions. Considering these unprecedented steps taken by today’s Republican leaders, one must ask, if Republicans don’t need or fear corporate money or muscle where is the new-money coming from? Who are their new masters? What is the cost to our democracy?

Since Trump became president, madness has ruled the party. His cultish, Jim Jones persona has infected its masses of loyal Republican voters. While the Republican leadership appears to be suffering from psychopathic behavior, stupidity, and suicidal traits its loyal voters appear to have become Hilary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorable,” suffering from mass hallucinations and mental illness. According to the Mayo Clinic:

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling. These debilitating symptoms blur the line between what is real and what isn’t, making it difficult for the person to lead a typical life.

Is this today’s Republican Party? Under the leadership of Trump, McConnell, and McCarthy, the Party devolved into a schizophrenic Rome that has fallen. Nero burned Rome to the ground. Trump has done the same. Republicans no longer have a platform of policies, no longer try to appeal to independents, and are not interested in attracting people of color to grow their base. Keep in mind these factors only represent the party’s devolution. To get to the genuine answer, one must look must deeper. These outward manifestations are only the symptoms of the disease that has hollowed out the core of our American democracy and threatens our stability as a nation from now on. A disease that is much more sinister fuels the Republican Party’s craving for absolute power. In their mad quest for power without accountability to their traditional corporate backers, their constituents, and their new disregard for the rule-of-law, their ages-old operational mantra has finally been exposed; “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men…”–John Dalberg-Acton. Right now, there is only one Republican with the courage and moral sense to continue down the path of the proverbial yellow brick road to the Emerald City of Oz, Liz Cheney. And, she was recently voted out of her leadership position within the party.

In analyzing the Trump-era Republican Party fear of his base is obviously a driving factor that has contributed to the madness of Trump-ism. But fear of the base has not garnered the loyalty of “Steroid Mitch” McConnell. But there are other fears that are involved in the Republican dynamic. Fear of the changing demographics of America which will eventually lead to the loss of governmental control by old white men is powerful and plays an increasing role in the Trump madness. Trump’s ties to foreign dark money sources and Putin’s Payola election schemes have left many Republican lawmakers vulnerable to coercion and fear of exposure to these skeletons in the Republican closet. Dark money contributions from other foreign powers interfering in our elections and their Republican American oligarch counterparts ⁽⁴⁾ Timothy Melon, Charles Koch, and Sheldon Adelson have made Republican politicians independent of their former corporate masters and susceptible to criminal investigations. Fear of convictions and jail time associated with these crimes would make even the most die-hard Republicans switch loyalties from country to party. Even Steroid Mitch owes fielty to Putin’s Oligarch Oleg Deripaska. In 2019, Deripaska pumped $200 million into a Kentucky aluminum project closely affiliated with Mitch McConnell. Contributions from these and other dark money contributors have fueled Republicans in local, state, and national races and have left an indelible impact on the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary.

Under the Trump administration, the Republican White Supremacist ideology has proudly stepped out of the shadows and into the light of day. While at its core, it has become the motivation driving today’s Republican Party, the real disease that has devoured its old-school Republican values is the billions in dark money flooding into its coffers from both foreign and domestic sources made legal by the Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United versus the Federal Election Commission decision of 2010. To prove it, all you have to do is “follow the money” and you will find a direct correlation to the current Republican madness of anti-American sentiment and opposition to the rule of law. Just keep it simple. “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck”

So, when Republicans, Liberals, Independents, and the rest of the nation are forced to ask “Is the Republican Party Suicidal, Stupid, Insane or Something Else,” the answer can only be something else. That something else is the corruption of dark money. “It’s not Trump!” Or in the venerable words of Mr. Spock and Sherlock Holmes:

“Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

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Linked Sources and Documentation

1. Criminal psychopath: https://dictionary.apa.org/criminal-psychopath
2. Antisocial personality disorder: https://dictionary.apa.org/antisocial-personality-disorder
3. Schizophrenia: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354443
4. Republican Big money donors: https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors

Copyright © 2021, Glen Reaux, all rights reserved