Events of January 6th were a long time coming. Polarization of the last four years goes well beyond politics.
Former White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelley described Trump as a deeply flawed human being.
In the 2016 primaries, Trump’s treatment of fellow Republicans was repulsive; yet Americans reveled in it. How character can be subordinated to one’s favored policies and overrule rational thinking remains a puzzle.
The media has alluded to Trump’s immaturity – the need for an “adult in the room,” “putting on big-boy pants.” As a narcissist, he is a psychological infant; he’s never grown up. This is blatantly obvious. America’s greatest challenge is the inability to distinguish between reality and one’s selected version of it (and recover from it).
One reason for conspiracy theories is antagonism toward authoritative sources of information. If you are biased against commercial newscasting and absorb views elsewhere that align with your own, you abandon objectivity. If that mindset is inundated with conspiratorial lies year after year, you lose the ability to distinguish reality from the rantings of a deeply flawed individual.
Trump has studied and implemented the speeches of Adolf Hitler. The “Proud Boys” are Hitler’s “Brown Shirts,” expressing willingness to assassinate congressional leaders. If a republic form of government is desired, we cannot abide authoritarian subversion of the rule of law and constitutional democracy.
Most grievous is violation of his oath to support the Constitution. Application of Amendment XIV, Section 3 should enable recognition of the problem and promote national healing.
Gordon ClouserDurango
