Brainwashed

 "Charlie Kirk (Raymond Shaw) is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." This quote paraphrases a line from The Manchurian Candidate where brainwashed soldiers had been programmed to praise a man unworthy of accolades. The cannonization of the new saint of the MAGA faithful is another lie elevated to become established doctrine within the church of Trump. Not since Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple have we seen the Kool-Aid guzzled with such enthusiasm.

The term “The Manchurian Candidate” has entered everyday speech as shorthand for a brainwashed sleeper, a subject who has been hypnotized and instructed to act when his controllers pull the psychological trigger. It would seem that we have a prime example in the politics of our current era. While The Manchurian Candidate was satire and a political horror film that dealt with McCarthyism and a search for "commies," the film has relevance even today. Many within the MAGA cult rely on words and ideas spoonfed to them by their "handlers."