This commentary is by Jeanine Carr, a retired professor of nursing who lives in Huntington.
I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would become a conspiracy theorist but, lo and behold, I think that I have become one. I believe that many (not all, mind you) Republicans have been injected with a mind-altering drug that has caused behavior that is so outrageous that it boggles my mind.
This theory is validated on a daily basis by the utterances of the affected individuals that we read about and see on the news. This drug, whatever it is, results in outrageous claims, bizarre stories, name-calling and outright lies. In some cases, the drug seems to result in an inability to utter a coherent sentence.
Case in point, Donald Trump spoke at a rally recently in which he stated that George H.W. Bush took classified documents with him when he left office and stored them at a bowling alley and a Chinese restaurant in Texas. What? Really? I wonder what George H.W. Bush thinks about this.
I am not sure how many people read about the debate between Herschel Walker and Rev. Warnock in Georgia. Many of Walker’s statements simply did not make sense. Is this the kind of person that we want working for the benefit of the American people in Washington? I hope that the people of Georgia wake up and see the light before Nov. 8.
Then we have the politicians like Kevin McCarthy, Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, who say one thing one day and then an entirely different thing on another day. It makes it very difficult to determine truth from fiction.
And what about Ted Cruz, who heard Trump insult his wife during the 2016 primary, and then they became best buddies? I just don’t get it.
And then there is Marjorie Taylor-Greene. I don’t even know where to begin in terms of characterizing her. She has suggested that the Las Vegas shooting was staged by leftists, espouses a Christian government, and wants to impeach President Biden and Merrick Garland. All the while, she supports a former president who paid off a porn star, is being sued for rape, incited the insurrection, did not pay years of federal income tax, lied about the value of his properties to secure loans, and removed classified documents from the White House when he left office because, as he said: “They are mine.” And did you know that she has had conversation with Trump about possibly being his running mate in 2024?
I know that not everyone agrees with me politically and I accept that. I also believe that there are many good, decent Republicans who have our best interests at heart. I know that the Democrats are not perfect and I don’t always agree with their policies and solutions to our problems. But I don’t hear the same vitriol and name-calling coming out of the mouths of Democrats as I hear from some of the Republicans who are seeking power or who are in power.
While others may not agree with me politically, I would be willing to bet that the majority of people are as worried as I am about the state of affairs in our country. While some historians have said that what is going on currently in the country is not unprecedented, for those of us living during this time, it feels unprecedented indeed.
I also suspect that many feel the frustration that I feel about the incivility and rancor that is permeating our politics. I have come to the conclusion that we are not only in a fight for democracy. We are in a fight for the preservation of humanity.
