a mystical möbius — curating facts, ideas, text, and media to create a contemplative space.
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“Republican schizophrenia?”
Whoa! that. title. is. tough.
I offer Senator Lindsay Graham (R, S.C.) as exhibit A:
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Yikes! Graham offering mutually-exclusive messages from both Earth I and Earth II—he’s been just as Janus-like with regard to DJT‘s insurrection at the Capitol. Still, there was one point when I agreed with Graham, e.g., when he said DJT would destroy the Republican Party. It’s been a long/winding road, however, GOP destruction is now nigh.
Even David Brooks seemed to capture the schizophrenia of the MAGA–GOP in comments Friday on the PBS News Hour:
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“It’s easier to be a Republican now if you’re Marjorie Taylor Greene than if you’re Liz Cheney.” Wait! What!?!
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Recall, Liz Cheney (daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney), was elected in 2016 as the sole representative to the U.S. congress from Wyoming. Rep. Cheney is well known as a rock-ribbed conservative Republican, and she is the House Republican Conference Chair, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership. Yet SHE is vulnerable as MAGA-schizophrenia dominates Wyoming voters!
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In case Marjorie Taylor Greene is new to you, she’s a recently elected freshman representative to the U.S. Congress from Georgia. Here’s why Greene’s fitness to serve in Congress is questioned: GOP Congresswoman Blamed Wildfires on Secret Jewish Space Laser.
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It gets even worse. Greene has promoted Alex-Jones-level conspiracy theories, like spreading the morally bankrupt claim that the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings were staged political theater to bring pressure on ending 2nd amendment gun rights.
From 24hrs after the Capitol insurrection:
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House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (cover image) has rewarded her by placing her on committees including the ‘Education and Labor Committee.’ Greene denies school shootings and yet now SHE is on the Education Committee.
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“Republican schizophrenia?”
My title is provocative. Admittedly, schizophrenia forms an imaginative analogy here as it requires a ‘Mass psychogenic illness’ [MPI] mash-up to distribute the traditionally individual illness throughout the MAGA body.
We are literally down to a straight-forward binary choice for remaining DJT supporters, e.g., whether to participate in DJT‘s cult, or not.
‘Schizophrenia’ seems appropriate when Kevin McCarthy is calling for the GOP caucus to ‘unify in moving-on,’ while Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (pictured above) is leading a hatchet rally in Liz Cheney’s home state, and Greene hardly appears ready to “move on.”
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By design
The design of our political system imagines two relatively healthy political parties to create a measured yet melioristic dynamic to move stable governance forward. An apparently fatally wounded GOP is the signal that our system is in perilous territory.
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In our system, “unity” is created in what Senator John McCain called “regular order,” e.g., a collegial collaborative spirit advancing legislation through an ethos of compromise. Before any unity, though, GOP schizophrenia will first require a healing, e.g., something akin to a truth/reconciliation commission. Integrated unity begins with one set of shared facts.
“’I believe there is a huge burden now on Christian leaders, especially those who entertained the conspiracies, to lead the flock back into the truth,’ Kinzinger tweeted on January 12.” —from the article: “Betraying Your Church—And Your Party: How Representative Adam Kinzinger, an evangelical Republican, decided to vote for impeachment—and start calling out his church.“
tl;dr
It is not possible to be in an innocent alliance with terrorists!
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Bonus
Next week: No idea. Come see.
[this post approx. 775 words (3 min. read)].
a mystical möbius 