AFFRAY

 The title is a British legal term for public fighting. It is used to describe a fight in Heathrow regarding the wearing of a MAGA hat. The hat itself was a symbol of the depth of a chasm within the American soul. It has changed America. It has cut off political discussion in private, with families and friends banning political discussion. The election, in fact, has now became more than a choice between two candidates. It has become a choice between two conflicting philosophies. 

 Will America abandon democracy, turn to authoritarianism? Will we remain true to the wishes and dreams of those who fought for it over close to three centuries.  It is a choice of and for the future. It is a decision fraught with fear, confusion, and deep veins of animosity. Its invective is rife with words of hate and intolerance, brimming with actual and planned violence, even unto Civil War, a sampling being January 6th. 

One of the worst aspects of this entire phenomenon is that hate has grown into just about uncontrollable proportions. Choose any ISM of negativity and hate. Every single one has flourished within the past decade. Both parties are guilty, implicitly and complicitly, encouraging and/or enabling its growth. Most refused to expend the energy and commitment to stamping it out. Instead, they allowed the flames to burn high and wide, to spread and no fire breaks possible. The lowest common denominators of both parties assumed leadership roles. People saw only two choices. One was to go along, for personal gain and advantage. The other was to walk away, a self-defeating choice. 

For many, many years I have been calling out against Trump and his followers, waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. I was told I had gone too far, overstated facts. But there was something about this man that set off all the warning bells.  I could see no soul within. I saw no ethics, no moral core. I saw signs of undiagnosed and/or unaddressed mental illness. I saw a man buffeted and driven by a malignant narcissism overlaid by sociopathic traits. (Recently validated in these thoughts by a consortium of very concerned mental health professionals.) His verbiage was drowning in disconnection, nonsense, words of hate and disparagement, and bathed in a soup of hate and antagonisms. It is clear to those who would see the truth, a continued decline of mental acuity, a growth of negativity and hostility, common traits of those descending into the world of dementia.     

Most shocking is the huge number of deniers and even believers. Those who know better. For reasons known and unknown, they back a man of obvious danger to America as such. Why? Perhaps people see him as more supportive of Israel even as we now know he gave Netanyahu a deadline.

It is impossible to rely on this man. It is, in fact, dangerous. Even before debilitating. effects of dementia began to be in evidence this is a man who never made a decision based on morality, but always and forever based on what is good for Donald and never mind the rest of the world. This is not a man upon whom one can lean. Certainly not with any security and confidence.  

Please go back and check his statements, his behavior, his supporters. Discard passion and use only pure thought and analysis. Weigh all very carefully. This is not a standard presidential election campaign. This is an existential choice. It is not a perfect choice nor necessarily a reassuring choice, but a choice it is. A most serious one. It's not a perfect choice. It's not necessarily a reassuring choice, but a choice it is. And most important.

Dig. Think. Vote.