Quite frankly, the enemies of the United States such as Russia, China, and Iran and even terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda are collectively laughing their asses off at the circus going on with the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives which is unable to coalesce around a leader. They can just sit back and watch the MAGA virus spread slowly throughout the government causing chaos, disruption, and paralysis.
If one were to view the United States as a single body, the Executive Branch, i.e., the White House, would be the brain, the Congress would be the heart since it provides the resources for everything else, and the Judicial branch would be our conscience, i.e., the little voice on our collective shoulders to tell us what is right and wrong. In a healthy body, all those functions act in unison with the objective of living a happy, healthy life. We all know the healthier we are, the more we can help those around us and those who depend upon us.
There have been times throughout the country’s history when the United States has suffered from various illnesses, some of which were almost fatal. The Civil War is the first to come to mind. The divisive virus of slavery swept through the body and caused severe problems that almost resulted in the death of the Union. Fortunately, an antidote in the form of a courageous president, Abraham Lincoln, and a tough Yankee army fought back against the virus and saved the United States.
More recently, ever since the advent of FDR’s New Deal, there have been occasional periods when the country caught a cold and wasn’t 100 percent healthy. However, when Trump was elected president, it unleashed the MAGA virus which has been ravaging the body politic in the United States ever since. The White House under Trump (‘the brain’) was in a state of constant chaos. I have read several books on Trump, and it was almost like the White House had taken LSD. The ‘brain’ was seriously infected with the MAGA virus. In 2020, a massive dose of voter turnout was able to rid the White House of the MAGA virus.
In addition to the MAGA virus affecting the brain of the United States, several people in both branches of Congress were infected with the virus. The symptoms of those in Congress infected with this virus are an increased desire to disrupt normal functions of the government, an increased tolerance for divisiveness and violence, a desire to stage political theater with the hope of getting airtime on Fox News, an abnormal fear of cooperating with Democrats, and an overwhelming drive to push personal agendas regardless of whether they will be beneficial to the body politic or not. This MAGA virus, like COVID, continually mutates and seems to be very resistant to normal vaccines like facts and data.
In the Senate, Senator Tommy Tuberville is clearly very sick with the MAGA virus. He is a one man show and responsible for holding up the Senate confirmations of over 300 military promotions. This action could only be taken by someone who is seriously infected with the MAGA virus and a prime example of how the infection causes an increased desire to paralyze parts of the body for personal reasons, regardless of the adverse impacts on the health of the body as a whole.
The Republican MAGA-infected members of the House continue to be an embarrassment to the United States and are preventing the government from fulfilling its most basic functions. Normally, when someone is sick, there is a certain amount of empathy forthcoming. However, in the case of these Congressman, they willingly allowed themselves to catch the virus. It’s kind of like the people who had ‘COVID parties’ during the pandemic to just ‘catch it and get it over with.’ It was difficult to understand that lunacy then and it’s difficult to understand how seemingly normal, intelligent people can allow themselves to be infected with the MAGA virus when the adverse consequences on the health of democracy are clearly demonstrable.
This sickness that is sweeping through the Republican Party comes at a time of huge challenges such as the wars in Ukraine and Israel, the increasing influence and belligerence of China, unacceptable inflation and a host of other issues that need to be addressed. The MAGA virus is clearly an insidious thing, and one wonders if, how and when the country will be able to recover. Particularly now that it is spreading, seemingly unchecked throughout the country.
One of the more interesting things about the MAGA virus is the way it spreads. Most viruses spread via aerosol or physical contact. The MAGA virus, however, spreads though the media airwaves. Fox News and other right wing media outlets are active spreaders of the disease. This is why it is so insidious. These outlets lead people to believe they are providing them ‘news’ that is good for them but, in fact, they are infecting them with the MAGA virus which causes them to believe conspiracy theories, act irrationally, and believe, incorrectly, that they are patriots.
The United States which for years was deemed the leader of the free world and held as an example of democracy at work, is becoming a case study in how to kill a democracy through the propagation of a political virus such as the MAGA virus. One can only hope that in the 2024 election cycle, a huge dose of voter sanity will be sufficient to at least mitigate this virus for a while. If that does not happen, this country will be chronically ill for the foreseeable future.
