Trumped II

A few weeks ago we talked about the possibility that the prevailing theory on why Donald Trump was continuing to lead all GOP candidates was NOT that the American electorate was angry at the political establishment, as the media speculates, but rather due to the possibility that a substantial part of the GOP is populated by people who subscribe to the same bigoted and ignorant beliefs espoused by The Donald. The ascendency of Ben Carson seems to support my idea. Carson, a man who is undoubtedly a gifted neuro-surgeon and religious wing nut, has expanded on Trump’s venue of social scapegoating and has consequently risen in the polls to the number two position. After a week of speculating that scientific theories are inspired by the devil (e.g. evolution and climate change), and dismissing the constitutional rights of Muslim-Americans, he has emerged as the spokesperson for the religious right of the GOP, peeling away some support from the equally bigoted, but essentially secular Trump.

How does one tell a Muslim-American soldier or Marine risking their lives in combat that they are not fit to be given all of the rights guaranteed by the constitution? Or a third generation Muslim girl saying the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school that the faith of the family makes her unfit for political office?

The GOP race at this stage makes me think that this next election is, from a social perspective, even more important than the first Obama election. It is almost as if the sight of an African-American as President has driven a substantial part of American society crazy and lanced a hatred that had been driven inward. Some of these Republicans just simply lapsed into a psychotic denial of the event and they still run around claiming President Obama is not a citizen. Others have the delusion that he is a secret Muslim and seeks to take their guns away and destroy the nation. Others channel their hate into trying to assure his failure by blocking every single initiative he proposed, even when proposing the same legislation they had supported previously.

Such irrational opposition made it very hard on us who have been disappointed in his performance on certain issues. But now the thin veneer of civility has been shattered and you can see open, unapologetic hatred being spewed and rewarded by Republicans.

Years ago I wrote about the emergence of the religious right in the GOP as the historical equivalent of the Huns at the gates of Rome, except this time they were at the gates of the Country Club. They took over the House of Representatives, and Congress has not functioned since then. This election will show how much America has degenerated.  Should these people actually be successful in their quest for the presidency we are likely to see a new American society more akin to, the worst of the Middle East. Yikes!