The Inverted World of modern-day America should not be confused with the 1974 British science fiction novel of the same name where nothing is as it seems. Ours is a modern reality promoted within the minds of the juggernaut fictional world of the MAGA people where no thought or concept is too bizarre for belief.
The proponents of this MAGA Republic are at one with their messiah, who is but a shiny bauble in their otherwise dreary existence. He is the gleaming glitter-finish bass boat that carries them through the Florin/Guilder Fire Swamp of mediocrity. He provides acceptance of their racist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic underpinnings that dare not be spoken beyond winks, nods, and innuendo.
In this bizarro world, fiction becomes fact and lies become truth through repetition. Say it loud and say it often and it will become the new truth. History is only perception and can be willed into reality with the stroke of a pen or a tweet. These are the proudly under-educated who find acceptance and meaning within the mob mentality of the like-minded. They proudly wear their uniforms of American flag-themed t-shirts and red MAGA hats, colorful shorts, and carry the signs and flags of their cult.
A survey by CBS News conducted last year asked Republican voters who they trust most to tell them the truth and they overwhelmingly said Donald Trump (71%). Trump won this position of trust over family members, friends, and their clergy. That latter category of religious leaders came in at 42%. It is this fanatical following of their messianic leader that brings to mind the 914 Americans who drank the Jonestown Kool-Aid. Trump strikes such fear in so many mainstream Republicans that they follow his directions as if they were commandments from on high. For them, their very political survival is so fragile and tenuous, that they need this lunatic fringe to prevail.
Trump, like Jim Jones, Charles Manson, L. Ron Hubbard, David Koresh, and Marshall Applewhite before him, uses the us-vs.-them mentality to provide comfort and solace for his followers. None see the absurdity in following this amoral reality show star, doubling as their religious guide, along the path to righteousness. Half of them claim they didn’t know he had been convicted of sexual assault, not that such a “minor infraction” would change anything.
In another apparent contradiction, most of his followers would claim a nationalistic pride in this country as a world leader and beacon of freedom and democracy. They don’t seem to realize that his abandonment of NATO, allegiance to Vladimir Putin, and animosity toward our allies, have weakened our position in world affairs. Russia, China, and Iran are biding their time so they can take advantage of our newfound weakness. His moral compass is more of a windsock that changes direction as it suits his ego and financial investments.
As Bob Dylan wrote in 1964, The Times They Are A-Changin.’ Our news and information once came from radio, newsreels, newspapers, and later from broadcast television news all of which fact-checked and validated most of their offerings. This was deemed to be the Fourth Estate and referenced the power of the press to both report and frame political issues. Today, the Fifth Estate refers to the group of outlier viewpoints of unvetted political opinion which often promotes political views as facts. These are the bloggers and “journalists” publishing in non-mainstream outlets.
This new environment makes us vulnerable to dangerous falsehoods that may drive many to make decisions contrary to their own welfare. The motivations vary but the most dangerous among them attempt to invalidate our constitution while telling people that they are protecting our freedoms. Our feckless congressional leaders, without regard to party affiliation, have created a non-working environment that provides fodder for miscreants to promote their own agendas. These so-called leaders then become sycophants of authoritarian strongmen who will slowly destroy all that we hold dear.
I leave you with the third stanza of the previously mentioned Dylan song:
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
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