Gadfly | November 4th, 2024
By Ed Raymond
Will We Ever Recover from the Trump Virus of Universal Hate?
Just a month ago, the primary doctor of 336 million U.S Americans,U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, issued an advisory on the mental health of the nation’s current parents. He cited these reasons: (1) economic factors beyond their control, (2) costs of health care, (3)costs of childcare, (4) costs of elder care, (5 costs of housing, (6) and costs of groceries. To support his advisory, he used the results of an extensive survey by the American Psychological Association in which 41% of parents said that “most days they are so stressed they cannot function,” 48% said that “most days their stress is completely overwhelming,” and 50% said that “when they are stressed, they cannot bring themselves to do anything.”
Another group, the nonpartisan More in Common, research’s political and cultural attitudes and differences. Concerned about the hate expressed in radio, TV, social media, newspapers, and political campaign literature, paraphernalia, and speeches, it surveyed Republicans and Democrats on how they viewed the other party. The survey results are relatively new and rather shocking: 86% of Republicans believe Democrats are brainwashed, 84% believe Democrats are hateful, and 71% believe Democrats are racist. Democrats don’t think Republicans are worth knowing either: 88% believe Republicans are brainwashed, 87% believe Republicans are hateful, and 89% think Republicans are racist.
For about 50 years of our lifetime between 1965 and 2015 Corky and I belonged to several large bridge clubs, some with more than a dozen tables. Politics was hardly ever the main part of discussions or conversations. One could only guess the ideology of members. I have played with male lawyers, judges, members of state legislatures and Congress, businessmen, teachers, and other ne’er-do-wells for 30 years while liberal and have never felt hatred, practiced hate, or heard accusations of brainwashing — until Donald Trump appeared on the national political scene.
I have been writing a weekly column for 32 years, burning up more than three million words equal to about 35 published books. During that time, I have been a regular on a number of local television and radio talk shows and have written articles for several state and national education journals. About the only time I have received nasty comments, letters, e-mails, and threats is during Trump time.
Supreme Court crowned King Donald and the violent spittle flies
Donald J. Trump’s entrance into national politics more than a decade ago has changed the political climate in the now Divided States of America as much as the Gulf of Mexico’s 101F temperature has changed ordinary hurricanes and tornadoes to major disasters. Trump had already started to spread his violent, vicious personal spittle long before he hired unemployed actors to praise him and clap enthusiastically as he descended on the golden escalator to throw his golden virgin hair into the presidential ring. A decade later his psychopathic malignant narcissistic spittle has turned to a deadly virus infecting and destroying civility, empathy, and love while spreading racial and ethnic hate wherever his spittle lands. To sum up, when a Black woman was asked by a MAGA follower if she could support Trump, she responded: “He’s not the kind of man I’d want to be owned by.” A perfect shot about insults, slavery, and race. Would a sane man running for president say: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.” Please check: Yes_ No_ He has a deadly debilitating case of unrestrained self-love. I wonder if he has orgasms while spouting his spittle at his rallies.
Why do 75% of American voters believe democracy is under threat?
Trump’s cruel collection of more than 30,000 lies and his daily contributions to that total is the reason, of course. His mental disabilities as described in the Manual of Mental Disabilities used by the American Psychiatric Association are listed under the criteria of the sociopath and psychopath. He is “awarded” every disability according to 27 psychiatrists and psychologists who published a book about his mental condition. Reporters and columnists from the “enemy from within” and “Fake News” put him in leading stories 24/7, so he dominates news sources plus the cesspool of internet chatter, X, conspiracies, and podcasts.
A new poll by The New York Times/ Siena College Poll, not only says 75% of American voters say democracy is under threat, half are also skeptical that self-governance is working—and 45% say the federal government does not recognize ordinary people. Trump’s poisonous vitriolic spittle is doing the job. Perhaps his cruel character started at birth-or when his parents shipped him off to get discipline at a military school-or when he was at Fred Trump’s side when he refused to rent to Blacks. How can you govern other people when you can’t govern yourself?
Trump is a psychotic narcissist who has brought trash talk to politics and has created a garbage dump of cruel language. There is trash talk in some sports, but usually it is not cruel. There is challenge and humor in trash sports talk at the same time. In Trumpian politics there is nothing but cruelty. Trump is a sexual predator who defames women by grabbing pussies, calling them “Horseface,” “Miss Piggy,” birdbrains, crazy-nasty-horrible lunatics, and many other trashy names. In his campaign against Vice-President Kamala Harris, he has called her “bitch,” “a monster,” “so f-----g bad,” “totally unlikeable,” “real garbage,” “trash,” “trashy,” “low IQ,” “dumb,” “stupid,” and worse. Trump has described her performing sex acts and suggested she would perform them on world leaders. He is a very sick and disgusting psychopath. The party apparatus is using the ugly vulgar phrase “Say No to the Hoe,” the reference to prostitutes. MAGA parents are putting the $25 T-shirts on teenaged daughters. That’s no class at all. They should be arrested for corrupting the morals of a minor. Name me another American president who would have done this to a political opponent—or another who would have tossed paper towels to Puerto Ricans drowning in a hurricane.
The NYT poll, involving 260,000 calls to 80,000 voters, concluded the reasons for the eroding faith in the nearly 250-year-old American system of government: (1)Trump’s violent capitol riot-insurrection to overturn the 2020 presidential election, (2) Trump’s 34 criminal felony convictions covering various activities such as trying to hide Stormy sex, fraudulent business practices, and crazy estimates of property values, and (3) Trump’s continued “Stop the Steal” insistence that the entire voting process is rigged. And then we had the ugly picture of the former president of the former Trump University who couldn’t keep his mouth shut so he was convicted by juries twice for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll once and defaming her twice! Only a socio-psychopath could accomplish that twice.
There isn’t a bank in New York that will loan Donald the price of a McDonald’s burger, but for some illogical reason he thought filling Madison Square Garden with MAGA cult members would boost his campaign because he is a New York City boy. Well, he not only shot himself in the foot, Trump fired bullets into his ass and virus-plagued brain. His “team” not only called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” they mocked Hispanics for not using contraceptives, called Jews cheap, Palestinians rock-throwers, and then asked a Black in the audience if he loved watermelons. Other MAGAers called Harris a prostitute with “pimp handlers,” and added she was also the Antichrist. Is that the first time a woman has been named to the Trinity? At “The Garden,” Trumplicans, who once as Republicans called themselves the “family values party,” sure taught their children Triple XXX stuff, porn, and sex orgies by telling oral sex jokes about Harris, that she was a prostitute, by speakers flipping their middle finger while blasting Democrats with “Trump is the greatest f-----g president in the world.”, and then going into detail about the sexual habits of Latinos.
A reporter described the scene as a “cornucopia of crudeness.” You can add another word from me: “crud.” The MAGA crowd cheered the F-Bombs, S-Bombs, and other “dirty talk” bombs. Sid Rosenberg, a conservative radio host, set the tone for the “family show” with these lines about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats: “What a sick son-of-a-bitch! The whole f-----g party, a bunch of degenerates, lowlives, Jew haters and lowlives. Every one of them.” The “entertainers” and “speakers” would certainly make up an interesting adult section of a human zoo. For some reason, Trump did a lot of swearing and cursing (according to a reporter, at least 1,787 times in 2024!), he did not refer to Harris as “a shit vice-resident” as he has done at other rallies. Trump called the four-hour rally a “lovefest,” the same term he used for the violent riot-insurrection 0n January 6, 2021. That love fest injured 140 law enforcement people and shortly after five died from injuries or suicide. He has 26 women suing him for sexual abuse or sexual harassment “love fests.” I wonder if all 26 would agree to a joint trial. It could be held in Madison Square Garden, tickets could be sold daily, and the profit from tickets and broadcasting rights could be used to house some of the 650,000 homeless we have each day. The women could also share in the proceeds.
American political hate can take place anywhere in the world. Last week two women boarded a flight to Austin, Texas from Heathrow Airport near London. One was in her 40s, the other in her 60s. They did not know each other, but one was wearing a red $55 MAGA cap. The other insisted that she take it off. The woman refused—and they threw punches at one another. They caused such a violent disturbance on the plane, British police were called, the women removed, and both were charged with “affray.” In England and Wales, affray is a criminal charge which means using or threatening unlawful violence towards another person in a way that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety. It took more than two hours for the fight, removal, and the arrests. The pilot refused to take off immediately after the fight because he said: “I don’t want any battles at 30,000 feet.” Airline officials said it was the first time a flight had been delayed because of a baseball cap.
A few lines from “The Headless Horseman Rides” jumped out at me while tramping through Trumpistan:
“Prepare yourselves, the bells have tolled.
Shelter your weak, your young and your old.
Each of you will pay the final sum.
Cry for mercy. The reckoning has come!”
Let us hope that on November 5 a headless psychopath never gets near a nuclear button again.
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