THE RADICALIZATION OF DEMOCRATS

Let me begin with the bottom line - the unfortunate reality of things. Once we weaponized or politicized Covid-19, we were all screwed!

The definition of radicalization is as follows:

noun

1. the action or process of causing someone to adopt radical positions on political or social issues.

   "the radicalization of the intelligentsia led to the revolution"

I decided to asked google, What does radicalization mean in simple terms?

Radicalization refers to the gradual social process into extremism and is often applied to explain changes in ideas or behavior. A distinction exists between the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of radicalization, with the latter referring to engagement in extremist activities. Sep 7, 2020

I have noticed a disturbing increased number of former democrats aligning themselves with republican politicians. This is most pronounced by Steve Kirsch and Robert Malone. When I read Steve’s recent substack, I was appalled to hear him soliciting donations for Senator Ron Johnson’s political re-election campaign. Here’s what I immediately wrote on his substack:

So you are saying it’s okay to attempt to overthrow our democracy? You are saying it’s okay to support a person who supported Trump’s lies about a stolen election? I am horrified and shocked! Yes, he was a Covid early treatment hero but that does not excuse his inexcusable behavior. You are on the wrong side of this Steve.

Needless to say, that brought out a flurry of responses, mostly negative. I have learned my lesson the hard way that it’s best not to respond to bullies who freak out about my remarks but, given the importance of this issue, I attempted to clarify my position with a further reply:

I have not questioned the positive things he has done regarding Covid. Reread my initial comment - I called him an early treatment HERO. That does NOT excuse his efforts to undermine the transfer of power. That does not excuse his allowing the lies about the election to stand. HE KNOWS TRUMP LOST THE ELECTION. He requested a pardon. That legally defines him as believing he is guilty of a crime. NOTHING is more important than our democracy. So if a person murders someone for no honorable reason such as self protection, but he's a terrific father or person, giving money to charity etc. then it's o.k. that he killed someone? Don't you understand that our very democracy is hanging by a thread?

I know intellectually that nothing I said in my comments would breach the divide that has been created by Covid. I’m still struggling to understand, as a psychologist, how intelligent, creative and honorable men would make a decision to solicit financial support for a republican senator whose very values, outside of Covid, are diametrical to their fundamental beliefs. Most democrats believe climate change is an existential threat to the planet. Most democrats believe in women’s rights to choose what is best for her body. Most democrats believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Most democrats believe in common sense gun control. Most democrats believe in equal rights for all. Most democrats believe that immigration creates a tapestry of people who have made America the unique country that it has become. These are not universal republican values.

I posed this question to a psychologist that I’ve come to know and respect, since Covid, Diane Perlman, Ph.D. I have learned that her views about this are strikingly similar to mine, for the most part. She made one comment that has stayed with me that I’d like to explore.

We are being forced into a terrible choice of voting for the cells of our body and health of our grandchildren against foreign policy, democratic values, etc pushed down on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to survive. 

So what is Maslow’s hierarchy? Rather than go into a long drawn out explanation, I’m choosing to provide google’s more simplified response:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an individual's behavior. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

Relating this directly to Covid and Senator Johnson’s heroic actions regarding early treatment, I can conclude that the physical threat of death from a circulating virus is a profound motivator and certainly pertains to the “physiological need” to avoid death. Vaccination with an experimental gene therapy provides some risk as well, however, which can be eliminated by avoiding an EUA injection and instead, using early treatment protocols with FDA approved drugs that have decades of excellent safety records under their belts. That fits the safety needs of the hierarchy as well. So the top 2 hierarchy of needs are met by supporting the position taken by Senator Johnson. I believe it’s yet another of the hierarchy that is providing the underlying motivation to support Senator Johnson, and that is the need to belong.

I have borne witness to the devastation, humiliation and disrespect of those who worked the hardest to keep their patients alive by moving beyond the failed “standard of care” and creatively networking with other respected clinicians and researchers around the world to create highly effective early treatment protocols. Some have lost their licenses to practice medicine. Some have lost their jobs. Some have lost their reputations. Some have been harassed by their medical and licensing boards. Some have lost their long standing collegial relationships. Some have lost several or all of the above. All have lost their esteemed positions yet haven’t lost their humanity.

The need to belong is a powerful one. The loss of one’s tribe is a devastating loss. Finding a lifeline to another group represents a powerful draw to those who suffered such emotional pain and trauma from their existing “tribe”. They have finally found a group where they can regain their valued position as men/women of science. Enter Senator Johnson. He provided a respected platform, two Senate hearings, for several physicians to reveal to the world that early treatment can save countless lives. Unfortunately, no senate democrats attended nor did mainstream media (MSM) report on this. In fact, the YouTube video of the actual hearing was censored. Let me repeat that. A United States Senate hearing was removed from view because it was voicing opposing scientific information from the pharma approved narrative.

One of the unfortunate consequences of this type of censorship by MSM prevented this critical medical information from getting to the pubic in the form of informed consent. The only option was to share it on right wing media, such as Fox News. That fed right into the hands of MSM by being able to define these physicians as right wing fanatics, hoping to disqualify their scientific findings and expert medical opinions. Their options were to remain silent and let countless people die due their silence or share the science on republican platforms. Now that’s a catch 22 no one would want to contemplate.

I remember during the early years of Trump, Bill Maher would encourage democratic politicians to go on Fox News. He believed it was critical to speak to the Fox News viewers and provide them with the democratic truths that they had not previously been witness to. I remember Pete Buttegieg, among others, took him up on that suggestion. The difference is that no one questioned the integrity of Mayor Pete. No one said he must be a republican because he appeared on Fox News. They understood that he was attempting to speak with the people who hadn’t had the advantage of hearing him on CNN or MSNBC. That certainly isn’t what happened to the early treatment advocates. They were branded and threatened. MSM had successfully maligned them to all the card carrying democrats. The sides were drawn and the battle for science was lost. With billions of people around the globe being victimized by ineffective and dangerous injections that neither prevent infection, transmission, hospitalization or death (after a brief window of efficacy which needs boosting every few months to keep up), Big Pharma has won by still being able to fill their pockets with billions, despite the above.

Dr. Perlman offers yet another explanation for the position that we’re finding ourselves in that I believe requires further scrutiny:

Conflict can be successfully incited through the process of  mystification, explained by R.D. Laing as a “plausible misrepresentation" of reality.  “By representing forms of exploitation as forms of benevolence, the exploiters bemuse the exploited into feeling at one with their exploiters, or into feeling gratitude for what (unrealized by them) is their exploitation, and, not least, into feeling bad or mad even to think of rebellion.”

Mystification maintains stereotyped roles and power relationships. It induces confusion, using false constructions to mask what a conflict is actually about. People may not feel confused. They often feel absolutely certain about their position.

Laing concluded that, “before enlightened action can be taken, the issues have to be demystified.”

Where do we go from here? Each day we’re seeing that the most heavily vaccinated countries and regions have the most Covid infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Each day we’re seeing side effects from the injections. Each day we’re seeing evidence of new variants that are being created by the failure to gain natural immunity.

There is one thing that I’m currently grateful for. It appears that young parents have taken a step back. The MSM’s false reports of eager parents lining up to inject their babies and toddlers hasn’t come to pass. Less than 1% of potential little ones who recently became eligible for vaccination have been vaccinated. Do you remember the conclusion of a member of the committee that evaluated the safety of childhood vaccines with an EUA? Although I’ve not found the actual quotation again, what follows is my paraphrase of what this member clearly expressed - We won’t know the safety of these products until we vaccinate the children. Was I the only one shocked by that statement? Is there any more profound example of the capture of our MSM by the pharmaceutical industry than their failure to even comment about that statement?

If you’re a democrat reading this post, please let me know your thoughts. I hope you will consider sharing this with your friends. We must alert the democrats of the threat that we are facing. Until we can deal directly with the conflicts of interest that have poisoned our regulatory agencies, nothing will change. If the Congress turns republican, they will not change that reality. We must remove from office the criminals who have been put in charge of our health and welfare agencies. Until that happens, nothing will change. If we have to endure another Trump era of politics, we will no longer be a democracy. How many more of our long standing values will we lose by this illegitimate Supreme Court? The answer lies in your vote. Can we really allow those in Congress who refused to vote for the certification of the election, which was essential to the peaceful transfer of power, to remain in elected office? I hope you understand all that is at stake! I don’t know about you but I can hardly sleep at night.