ABNORMAL

Sometimes life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Remember the Times Square “incident” in which “migrants” reportedly from Venezuela were seen kicking NYPD police officers? It looked "bad" and it didn’t have to happen,  no thanks to the  police looking for an excuse to beat on someone. The group of men who were not blocking anyone on the sidewalk complied with the police orders to move on, apparently because they were Hispanic and you can treat them anyway you want because they are just “vermin” who don't belong anywhere. 

One of the men in a yellow jacket is seen ready to join the rest,  pushing a carriage down the sidewalk. Suddenly without justification one of the cops grabs him and pushes him violently toward the building. It is only at that point things got out-of-hand:

 

 

The question should be why did the police act in this way; these immigrants thought they were escaping this kind of abuse in their home countries. If these people were white, they would have been ignored, and if they were black, there would be “outrage” over the police abuse that instigated the incident. 

This incident coincided with Curtis Sliwa and his “Guardian Thugs” mauling an “illegal immigrant” on camera during an interview with Sean Hannity;  Sliwa claimed out of the blue that he had been seen “shoplifting.” Turns out the man was a US citizen and was not accused of said crime—only “disorderly conduct”; yet it was Sliwa’s racist vigilantes who instigated the incident who were of course not charged with assault and false arrest.

The immigration system in the country has been broken for a long time, much longer than most people think, or know why. In 1948, the so-called “El Paso Incident”—the subject of the uncompromising “social message” film of the same year, Border Incident—occurred in which the Bracero program was briefly suspended because of alleged abuses (Mexico agreed to it because it feared losing “skilled labor” to the US), but under pressure from US agribusiness, US officials allowed thousands of undocumented workers to enter through El Paso. This action blurred the distinction between “legal” and illegal” in the minds of migrants doing the farm work, and has ever since been a source of hypocrisy in this country, with migrant workers abused by both “the system” and for “politics.”

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the term “abnormal” and what that means these days.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word abnormal as “deviating from the normal or average” or “unusual in an unwelcome or problematic way.” That begs the question of what is “abnormal” in this country today, since the line between "normal" and "abnormal" has become increasingly blurred. In the world I grew-up in (mainly the 1970s) the difference was fairly straightforward, a "simpler" time. It was characterized  by this symbol…

 

…punctuated by the best decade for popular music…

 

 

…and what most film scholars regard as the greatest decade for film, not just by American “auteurs” but also foreign filmmakers who would expand the definition of “art film” in a way never before or since attempted (Derek Jarman's Jubilee is a good place to start). 

But that doesn’t mean it was free of worries and cares; in fact the 1970s political scene brought about a crisis of confidence and conscience that perhaps for the last time saw a shared belief in moral and ethical behavior. Sure, the Vietnam War was winding down to a close, but there was the oil embargo, brazen terrorist activity (the Munich Olympics), “stagflation,” the Iran-Hostage Crisis, and the loss of manufacturing and union jobs. My mother insisted that we move to the "country" so that we could grow our own food just in case of the "collapse" predicted by the National Enquirer.

Although he never mentioned the word, Jimmy Carter’s so-called “malaise” speech was in time “heard” by many as a criticism of the public rather than the government, and people didn’t want to hear that they were to “blame.”  Thus many voters were ready for something "completely different"; they just didn't realize how "different" that would eventually become.

While many films of the Seventies tackled the question of political corruption and paranoia, politics (outside of social concerns) was mostly absent from the music scene, with punk rock, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin'" being exceptions. Music, often loaded with lots of orchestration, provided an escape, three or four minutes of imagining the world how you wished it would be, not how it was. And the "real world" wasn't much "fun."

So in retrospect, there was one thing that was “normal” about the 1970s politically: morality and ethics was far from dead, and that was proven by the Watergate case. After the release of the “smoking gun” tapes, which revealed that Richard Nixon had not only been lying for two years that he knew about the Watergate break-in, but was actively involved in covering up the crime. He found himself completely abandoned by most of his remaining supporters in Congress. Impeachment and conviction was inevitable; he was told so in a private conversation with Republican leaders, and Nixon eventually did the "right thing," releasing this letter:

 

Those were “normal” times. As in the past, crooked deals and crooked actions were quickly brought to justice. Nixon’s own VP Spiro Agnew resigned from office after being charged with tax fraud and bribery (sounds familiar, doesn’t it—I mean the charges, not the result). Politicians were once elected for the dignity and respect they brought to their responsibility both to their constituents and the country. Voters wanted orderly government, not a clown show from representatives who had no respect for their responsibilities, their constituents or even themselves.

But that changed with the onset of the 1980s. Ronald Reagan told everyone to put that “smiley face” back on while he began the process of making this country worse off than it was before by abandoning ethics and morality in politics and society forever—beginning with the secret “deal” with the Iranians not to release the hostages before the 1980 election, and later selling them weapons in the Iran-Contra scandal; this was an impeachable offense, but people were yet unwilling to put “criminal” motivations on a president whose mental health was in question even before the 1984 election, which didn’t seem to bother voters who elected him in a landslide.

Some people, like Chris Christie, think Reagan was the last “great” president. I beg to differ; that “October Surprise” when Reagan made that secret deal with the Iranians to hold the American hostages until after the election which was political corruption at its core. Reagan oversaw the continuing collapse of domestic manufacturing jobs in favor of low-wage service jobs in this country, the average unemployment rate was higher post-WWII than for any other administration that lasted at least 4 years, an EPA run by criminal flunkies of business interests, gave us Clarence Thomas, armed and funded right-wing murder regimes in Central America whose impact is still seen on the border today, was fortunate that he was regarded as near mentally-incapacitated and thus not “responsible” for Iran-Contra—which otherwise would have been an impeachable offense given its treasonous implications for selling weapons to a state-sponsor of terrorism against the US—and worst of all, his “trickle-down economics” began the unstoppable wealth gap in this country, aided by dropping the top marginal tax rate (a New Deal policy to counter the wealth gap) from 70 percent to 28 percent. Yet all people saw was this former film “star” who made them feel “good” and cracked jokes on occasion.

What we see is that in “normal” times, corruption—whether personal or political—was dealt with harshly and without question. That is no longer "normal." Thanks to Trump and his MAGAmaniacs, "normal" behavior has become something that impedes their trampling of moral and ethical behavior. and their abnormal (well, hypocritical at least) has become the new "normal." There is no "distinction" between normal and abnormal; what "normal" people consider to be "abnormal" behavior and beliefs now makes themselves "abnormal."

Today, abnormal behavior controls this country. We have people in Congress like Jim Jordan who refused to abide to a subpoena to appear before the January 6 committee, yet he blathers on about people who about people who question the subpoenas he issues just to put on show to expose his asinine personality. 

Where once people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert would be considered temperamentally and intellectually unfit for office—an embarrassment to the people they claimed to represent, they now seemingly reflect a populace that is less “patriotic” than obsessed with "grievance." Matt Gaetz and Josh Hawley have no intellectual depth, so they engage in attention-seeking sound bites that because of their stupidity makes them more dangerous. 

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott overseas a regime that is even more corrupt than Ron DeSantis’ Florida. This is a state that most people get the idea it only "works" for white people despite the fact that whites are now in a minority but benefit from gerrymandering. Did you know that Texas was a Confederate slave state, and the impetus for the  "Texas revolution" was because the white Southerners who were allowed to immigrate to the territory didn't trust the Mexican government to permit them to keep the slaves they brought there? 

All the talk is about about the “border crisis” while “behind the scenes” the state’s speaker of the House, Dade Phelan was just “censured” by his fellow Republicans “for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities." Priorities maybe if they mean temporarily sidetracking their far-right agenda, but what did he do to offend their sense of "principles? Phelan enabled the impeachment of one of the most corrupt officials (and Trump favorite) in the state’s history, Attorney General Ken Paxton. During his Senate trial, witness after witness gave damaging testimony against Paxton, yet the Republican in the state senate to a person voted for acquittal, and they took their revenge against Phelan. 

Paxton is so shady that he was seen on video surveillance in the very courthouse he was being  charged with securities fraud stealing an expensive pen belonging to someone else at the metal detector station:

 

 

Yet despite this white Texans continue to show their own moral and ethical corruption by voting him in office three times. This year Paxton still faces multiple trials on those federal criminal charges including  bribery.

Republican abnormality may seem a “clown show” to some, but it is far from "amusing." Marjorie Taylor Greene—who was recently “removed” from a restaurant for drunkenness—says she “speaks” for Americans, but I’d say 90 percent of Americans disagree with her assessment. She may speak for your typical trailer trash type in her own district…

 

…but most people with some sense of decency do not act in this way:

 

 

There are a lot of abnormal people in Congress, with MTG just the loudest and most obnoxious type. The fact that people vote for her merely because she is “different” displays how abnormality has become the new “normal” for many people, principally white people with a “grievance.” Mike King, a professor of criminal justice, called this “white socio-political hegemony through challenging efforts to materially address racial inequality, supporting investment in policing, prisons and military, and perpetuating a narrative of anti-white racial oppression.” For the anti-intellectual, the thought process doesn’t go far beyond such sentiments:

 

This is all plainly hypocritical to those familiar with reality; these people live in their own lily-white world and they want to keep it that way; “genocide” to them simply means they are running out of places to escape to without seeing one of “them” and being forced to interact with “them” on a human level. But they put their blame on the wrong people. They actually think that Trump’s 2017 tax cut for the rich was supposed to help them? Oh sure, he and the Republicans tried to fake them out by reducing their tax withholdings on their paychecks; the result of course was that for the “benefit” of saving a few dollars a week that were hardly noticed, they see their tax refunds cut in half.

Of course you have people like Greene and Abbott talking of “secession.” What if all those states controlled by far-right Republicans became “independent” and were no longer part of the Union? In those states the most vulnerable people to the oppression of white “grievance” would no longer be protected by federal civil rights laws. But hold on: those most "needy"—and by the numbers the majority are white—would no longer be protected by federal social safety net and medical care programs. They would be even more under threat from low income and low services that their representatives have told them for decades is "good."

Unfortunately, things seem to be getting more “abnormal” by the minute. The U.S. Senate was once a bastion of “reasonableness,” but Trump’s influence has destroyed that in the wake of only four Republicans voting to advance the “bi-partisan” border bill for floor debate. The hypocrisy of course is that the bill is bad for immigrant rights and doesn’t even address DACA after a far-right Texas judge with an anti-immigrant agenda has once again deemed the program “illegal” which the far-right 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals will likely uphold. Most recipients of the program have been on it for 12 years; if you think they should go “home” now, then you’ve already checked your humanity at the door. I just wish you’d stay outside.

None of this means anything to all but four Republicans in the Senate, just ask Lindsey Graham. I mean really, if Mike Johnson is a spineless coward, Graham at least gave him an “example” to follow without his “credibility” suffering unduly—because, you know, having “principles” and sticking to them is not something to be respected. 

But we all know about Graham and unprincipled idiots like Ted Cruz. What we now find coming out of the woodwork is people like J.D. Vance, the self-styled Ohio “hillbilly” whose claim to fame was his rags-to-richs “memoir” Hillbilly Elegy, which is in fact a political tract full of far-right dog-whistles and diatribes aimed straight for the white nationalist ear.

It was enough to get Vance elected as a spokesperson for aggrieved white people, and he has gone forward with ever more absurd election conspiracies, claims that we are in a “post-democracy” period where “the people” want an “authoritarian” government, and that if the Supreme Court interferes with this “interpretation” of the Constitution, then people of the ilk of Trump have a right to ignore their rulings. This may well be where this country is headed if people don’t get their heads on straight and recognize the danger.

Who votes for someone like Vance? New York Magazine notes that he won a primary that was a “race to the bottom” among competing Republicans eager to get the endorsement of Trump. Vance once disparaged Trump; now he sounds like a guy eager to join Greene to start an insurrection himself if Trump isn’t reelected, the Constitution and the courts be damned: "In case you still harbored the faintest hope that the party has some moral red line, its unquestioning affirmation of Vance ought to dispel it.” And that of course goes for the people who elected him; Ohio, like Indiana and western Pennsylvania, is full of far-right “Butternut” voters whose origins are from neighboring Southern states.

Vance is fancied in some quarters to be an “intellectual,” but New York points out that his ideas are nothing but empty slogans and generalities that have become increasingly chaotic. As we saw on his appearance on ABC News with George Stephanopoulos, justifying anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional actions are becoming increasingly “acceptable” in many quarters, and people need to wake up to this. A piece in Vanity Fair on the “new right” by James Pogue seems completely befuddled by the danger politicians like Vance pose, allowing him to declare unhindered by comment this:

We are in a late republican period,” Vance said later, evoking the common New Right view of America as Rome awaiting its Caesar. “If we’re going to push back against it, we’re going to have to get pretty wild, and pretty far out there, and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with.

Of course Julius Caesar overthrew the “republic” which had already been succumbing to rule of dictators in the form of consuls who controlled large armies to enforce their authority, as well as controlling the “mob” with “bread and circuses.” Like Republicans in Congress, Roman senators proved themselves incapable of governance and willingly handed over power from the consuls to the imperators. They still remained as figureheads as a sort of “nobility” paid to do nothing or simply be a rubberstamp Reichstag.  Why should they do anything else? Trump’s people are going to be running things anyways:

I think Trump is going to run again in 2024. I think that what Trump should do, if I was giving him one piece of advice: Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.

Considering the fact that a lot of blacks are in government jobs, they should think twice about staying home for this election. And that is not all, confirming what he told Stephanopoulos:

And when the courts stop you,” he went on, “stand before the country, and say —” he quoted Andrew Jackson, giving a challenge to the entire constitutional order — “the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.”

No one should find it “amusing” when these far-right fanatics talk about “the country”; they are not in fact doing that, they are talking about themselves. They talk to far fewer people than they believe; the problem is that many voters simply don’t think about what they are doing. People vote for Greene, Vance and Trump because they are more “like themselves.” What exactly does that mean? Only sociopaths vote for a sociopath. Vance goes on:

What changed my mind about Donald Trump more than anything is that I saw the corruption in our institutions. A lot of what this campaign is about — and a lot of my own thinking about politics is about — is that our institutions are corrupt. We have to replace the people who run them. Some of those institutions we have to destroy.

Corrupt people make corrupt institutions, and Trump is the single most corrupt individual ever to hold the office of the presidency. Corruption is in his blood; Nixon did corrupt things he knew to be unlawful and he eventually accepted his responsibility for it. But Trump is simply a corrupt individual for whom doing corrupt things is the “normal” way of doing things. He doesn’t think in terms of “ethics” or “morality.” When people like Vance talk about “corruption,” they are merely talking about people who stand in the way of authoritarianism and their” “own people” being corrupt.

This is the new “normal” in this country. It wasn’t that long ago that it would have been called abnormal, but the blurring of the lines has been in germination since at least the Reagan administration. 

I recall when I was in the Army during that time there was a radio broadcast celebrating Black History Month; a white soldier who I knew to be racially insensitive said with just me to hear it “How come there is no ‘White Month?’” To a point I can understand this “grievance”; as one of those “vermin,” that “black national anthem” sung during the Super Bowl wasn’t about lifting my voice but keeping it silent, while gender activists don’t “speak” to me other than promoting negative stereotypes to keep me beaten down. 

But I know self- serving hypocrisy when I hear it: “Because every other month is ‘White Month,’” I responded. That shut the guy up; but today, such hypocrisy is “the truth.”

"Abnormal” thus defines the current state of affairs. It has become our "reality."