In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
-- Nietzsche; Beyond Good and Evil
The wind was humming through the tree branches, drowning out the sound of my footsteps in the snow. Although it was a dark, starless night sky, my eyes quickly adjusted as I walked my son's dog through the field. She's about eight months old now, and growing larger, but she is still jumpy when we walk at night. We avoided the pines, where the deer nest on nights this cold.
It had been a long day, followed by a long night. I needed to take a break from the nonsense of republicans in the House of Representatives objecting to Pennsylvania's votes being counted. Almost all of them started by saying they were upset by the Trump cult's attempted insurrection, but then poured fuel on the fires of conspiracy theories that gave rise to the violence.
"Conspiracy theories" are curious things. Some are mainly accurate -- for as Watergate, Iran-Contra, and other events were conspiracies that definitely were real. More of them have a nugget of truth enclosed in paranoid projections, and still others are batshit crazy. In our nation's hiistory, when there have been periods of prolonged stress and tenion, a larger number of seemingly normal people join the fringes in believing the Alex Jones-type theories. Thus, it is no surprise that a substantial number of republicans have invested in Trump's highly paranoid conspiracy theories.
I have had numerous telephone and internet contacts since the release of the tape of Trump's unsettling conversation with leaders from Georgia. I think the number has more than doubled today. On one hand, most were expecting this style of response to the president's advocating the right-wing to join his war on America. Yet watching the attempted coup unfold on screen was upsetting for everyone.
A tree branch made the loud popping noise that tree branches are prone to making in the bitter cold, resulting in the dog scurrying to within inches from me, then standing on her hind legs to survey for potential danger. She had originally belonged to my daughter's friends, who paid a hefty price for a cute puppy. But soon, they found that hunting dogs were not bred for life in a small apartment. My boy walks her from four to eight miles per day, and her nose still allows her to sniff out mischief in every corner of our large house. Her behaviors are distinct from any other dog that I've known. She remains in her kangaroo position until I roll a snowball in front of her for a distraction. It's play time again.
Literally as I am writing this, I get a text from my doctor who has helped me deal with the serious brain injury I sustained a few years ago. "Oh my goodness, your Dr Lee interviews, chilling times! Makes Watergate seem like a parking ticket." The human brain is a complex organ. What terrible factors make Donald Trump the pathetic failure he is? Why have so many people accepted Trump as their own personal Jesus? The Lord of the Flies?
Trump's brain does not process information in the same manner as a non-sociopath's brain. Add to this, his baseline is paranoid, and he has long believed in conspiracy theories. It's true that he will purposely lie and spread false conspiracy theories when he thinks it is to his advantage. Yet he is deeply invested in paranoid conspiracy theories of the ilk that represent the most outrageously untrue type.
As noted in my first interview with Dr. Lee, a sociopath under extreme pressure may experience relatively brief psychotic breaks. We witnessed one as we listened to his Georgia phone call. It was a break from reality. A couple days later, he was back in a "safe place" at the rally for the two republican Senators. That comfortable setting brought him back to his baseline state of being a pathological liar. Next, we saw him lying to the mob that would attempt an insurrection.
Why, many wonder, would any rational person answer Trump's call for the Dragons of Eden to perform this ritual dance? Let's turn to Carl Sagan's 1977 book. In it, Sagan provides an updated version of Paul MacLean's model of the Triune brain. In the 1960s, MacLean attempted to locate Freud's id, ego, and super ego within the layers of the human brain. His belief that each of the three operated independently went out of style in the early 2000s, although looking back, I think Dick Cheney was indeed an R-complex man.
If we lean towards Sagan's understanding of the Triune brain model, however, we can identify much of the essence of Trump's being as that R-complex, also known as the "reptilian brain" or "lizard brain." It controls the ancient impulses such as "fight or flight." Hence, those members of the Trump cult who accept this president as their divine hero take on that same essence, and their behaviors aresurely rooted in Trump's impulses.
The wind begins to pick up, and the puppy dog wants to return to the house. As dark as it is, I can detect the clouds moving in the sky. Although I was never a Weatherman, I can tell which way the wind is blowing.
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