The Normalizing of Stupidity

Or, The Glorifying of Not Being Critical Thinkers

There are so many things to hate about our president and his enablers (basically, the entirety of the Republican party) that it’s hard to know where to start this post.

Of course there are the obvious things: the racism, the in-your-face profiteering and corruption, the misogynism, the narcissism, the incessant lying, the promotion and encouraging of hate, the bullying.

But what bothers and scares me the most as a 66-year-old is the glee with which the president and his enablers (because it far more than just the orange POS) willingly delight in lies and fooling those without critical thinking skills into believing those skills aren’t necessary. Blind acceptance (“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”) has been normalized. Stupidity is not just condoned; it is essential to their cause. And what is that cause? Pitting the middle and lower classes against each other so they can strengthen their grip on power using every dirty trick possible and continue accumulating unfathomable amounts of wealth for their personal glory.

A country that becomes more stupid is a country that will not survive in its current form. In our case, what has held for 250 years will fall. Unless things change. Get involved. Vote on Nov. 3. Before voting becomes impossible or the elections are rigged like they are in countries we used to stand against in the name of democracy (Russia, South Korea, China).

For me, for now, I grieve. I grieve for my children and future generations, whose lives have been set back by this period of retrograde I believe will be in effect until long after I’ve left the scene. I grieve for the good people who allow themselves to willingly give up their critical thinking skills to believe in our grifter/con man president.

I have no grief, only hatred, for those who do have critical thinking skills and know better, but who have hitched their wagon to the orange POS because, well, they want theirs. Screw you.

If we are to begin reversing the retrograde, it needs to start now. Even as things might appear normal to those who don’t pay attention or who want to believe, “well, it’s both parties, really, they’re all the same. It’s just politics.” Therein lies the lack of critical thinking problem.

And try telling that to the families of Alex Pretti, Renee Good and the dozens of others who’ve died at the hands of ICE, the modern-day SS that the orange POS and his enablers have funded.

And so, again, vote on Nov. 3.