The Silence Of The Lambs
Last week, the American Psychological Association announced a startling finding. Are you ready for this? Are you prepared for their finding? You are? All right then! The American Psychological Association has determined that:.. Americans …ARE STRESSED! That’s it ladies and gentlemen! American’s are stressed! Did they go to college to figure this out? Did they actually pay tuition money for such an education? Did they study hard to become so erudite? Hard to say.
Actually, they have even gone one step further in their analysis. They have further determined the CAUSE of our stress! It turns out:…it’s the election! And they have also concluded that it’s the NASTINESS of our current election that’s doing it.
Now, readers, I must take exception to the conclusions of this august intellectual body. I do not believe that it’s really the election nastiness that’s doing it. Any America can encounter more nastiness in a routine shopping trip to Walmart! Maybe MORE nastiness at the Walmart! And as far as impolite language? Well any Fast and Furious movie (or, for that matter, ANY American movie) contains WAY more in the way of non diplomatic discourse. So, no, I don’t think it’s the impolite discourse or even the nasty tone of the election that’s causing our distress. I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that it has much more to do with…can you handle this?:…SUBSTANCE!
I think that the American populace is subliminally aware that this is an important election. That there’s a lot at stake. That the direction our nation takes at this fork in the road will have consequences, serious ones. With the exception of the perhaps 30% of our population that consider themselves “progressives” (college students and “evolving” liberals) I don’t think most American’s are happy with Hillary’s plan to bring in an amazing SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND “refugees” from the hell holes of the Middle East. I don’t think anyone who isn’t a college student (read: NOT WORKING), government supported (read: NOT WORKING) or those protected from market forces (read: unionized workers, teachers or the independently wealthy) is happy with our economy. Nor is ANYone with financial savvy happy about what TWO TRILLION dollars of new taxes would do to this already struggling economy. I don’t think that any but the most privileged and sheltered are happy about the increasing amount of crime we are already seeing in our cities, and what effect further hobbling of our police forces would have. Lastly, I don’t think anyone but extreme “progressives” and, of course, jihadi sympathizers, are happy with the explosion of global jihad spreading like wildfire throughout the world.
All of these terrifying problems would be radically worsened by a Clinton presidency. These problems are so bad that’s it’s almost as if America can’t even FACE them. Better to pretend that this election is about talk and style. Decades old banter. Sophomoric sayings. Ill considered remarks. Yes, Trump is guilty as charged. Maybe even copping a feel on occasion (by the way, Clinton, Bill Clinton that is, can be SEEN on video doing just that with a comely stewardess (on YouTube) who pushes his hand away and nods in the direction of the camera of which he was not, apparently, aware!). But (and I feel like a grade school teacher saying this): THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS ELECTION IS ABOUT, PEOPLE!!
And, I believe, in their heart, MOST Americans know this. They know there are serious issues in play, and I think they are actually a bit mistrustful of the Clinton agenda. So as they are led (by our media, pundits, Hollywood stars and luminaries), like lambs to the slaughter house, they begin to have a subliminal sense of dread: Like, “maybe this election IS important! Maybe all of those problems ARE serious”. I think many Americans are feeling rumblings in the pit of their stomach. Subliminal dead, like I imagine that those poor lambs at the slaughter house might feel: “Hey, I think something’s WRONG! You know, something doesn’t SMELL right! You know, all those things they told us were so important, maybe they weren’t what’s REALLY important”. The dread then comes closer to the surface. “Maybe we’ve got this whole thing wrong! Maybe we need to get out of here! Maybe that shepherd hasn’t been fully frank with us! Maybe we should look for the door! What do you mean there’s NO door? No DOOR! I don’t like it here any more!” Then the dread bubbles over. “What can we do? What do you mean keep our mouths shut? What do you mean KEEP SILENT! There must be SOMETHING we can do. What do you mean there’s NOTHING we can do? NOTHING? NOTHING!”
Stressed indeed!