INSANE

Webster offers that insanity is defined as mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Some causes: severe psychological trauma suffered as a child, such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; an important early loss, such as loss of a parent; neglect; or poor ability to relate to others.
Gosh, could insanity possibly be behind the curtains of the daily Presidential parade across the stages—”photo opportunities”—for media to capture and display for all to see? Is this the behavior—the character, the personality and mentality—we want to have “show-up” in the kids and grandkids? Is this person qualified to be President of the United States? There is anger, arrogance, attachment, jealousy, envy and delusion; and underneath each is fear. And, in his tribal base, the Donald Trump party, one notes human needs for safety, recognition, security, loyalty, admiration and allegiance to the chief.
A few of the words media has used to describe this chief are angry, mean, liar, racist, insults, exaggerates, provokes, ignorant, attached to Self, psychotic, spins, deceptions, puts out what he receives back, jealous, envious, disparaging, name calling, sexist, misogynist, sarcastic, game player, tantrums, childish, circus ring-leader, deflector, flypaper for attention, egotistic, narcissist, attention wanting, divisive, polarizing, tribal, identity seeker, loud, rude, outrageous, phony, blames, refuses to accept responsibility, confrontational, weak, cantankerous, badgering, threatening, law breaking, like gum on the bottom of a shoe, dictator, deconstructs constitutional, legal, government and political norms, selfish, demagogue, cruel, short-sighted, repulsive, loathed, moral failure, criminal, corrupt, hate flinger, celebrity and right, wrong, should, and ought for you, not me.
Thoughts then wander to the Access Hollywood Tape, 12 women with sexual harassment claims, pay-offs to Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougal; southern border immigration disasters; Mueller Report (Russian interference in 2016 election; obstruction of justice; Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Carter Page and Michael Flynn in prison); impeachment fiasco, quid pro quo with Ukraine; COVID-19 pandemic leadership and management is an absolute chaotic disaster costing American lives; recent disastrous leadership and management of racism demonstrations in the country, to include use of Federal forces to push peaceful protestors away to permit him to have a personal photo opportunity holding a  Bible upside down; indiscriminate, self-serving sales of weapons to Saudis; and ignoring racial injustice opportunities and challenges by refusal to embrace long overdue police reform, removal of Confederate artifacts that remind of slavery and change of Confederate commander names of 10 military bases—these gentlemen were folks who fought against the United States and represent subjugation of an entire people and the failure to protect the rights of all.
Moreover, we are witness to a Commander-in-Chief who chooses not to champion those in uniform and respect the core values of the military: 1) does not set a good example; 2) lies to self-serve; 3) dismissed as headaches the blast exposure soldiers received from a 2020 Iranian missile attack; 4) in three plus years he has made only three visits to soldiers in war zones; 5) has referred to military leaders as “dopes and babies” when being briefed about the value of allies and overseas commitments; 6) reversed punishments or convictions for troops accused or convicted of war crimes; 7) has excoriated soldiers who have irritated him: Senator John McCain, a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years; Defense Secretary James Mattis: “…the world’s most over-rated general…”; and combat-wounded Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was “very insubordinate” and fired from the White House for testifying at Donald Trump’s impeachment. Donald Trump is an embarrassment to America.
Greed, sex and the passion for power and control can overwhelm and addict. Consumption can keep us distracted, busy, distant, and numb! Consequently, we take no time to feel. A Buddhist mantra offers, “May all sentient beings be free from the root of suffering.” The root is quite simply thirst, or desire, for more. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, could this be the strategy behind re-opening American businesses? Distracted, busy, distant, and numb to preclude the necessity for staying at home and facing silent self alone and accepting and feeling that Donald Trump is a victim of the Peter Principle: the job he has is beyond his level of competence. Glennon Doyle, Untamed, offers a nice reflective question: “Who was I before the world told me who to be?” Morris Pearl contends,
So if you must, be selfish. Be selfish in recognizing that your life, your success, your worth is inseparable from those of your neighbors. I want to-need to-live in a country where all of the people are able to feel safe and make a living and pay their bills every month and save for their retirement and send their kids to college. I need to live in a country where all the people feel confident that their votes count and that their leaders reflect their values. If we do not have that, no amount of security is going to make it possible for my children and grandchildren to grow up with the opportunities that I had when I grew up. (Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, USA Today, 6-23-2020, 7A)
Folks, whether Democrat or Republican, we need to evolve our culture, not deconstruct it! America needs to unify and to learn to transcend and include others and move self-awareness beyond the personal. This requires truth, facts and social action that are manifested by leaders who earn power through meaningful, positive influence and inspired leadership to create leading edge cultural and policy needs. We need leaders with crystal clear clarity, integrity and penetrating intelligence, equanimity, a sense of human equality, discriminating awareness, efficiency and effectiveness and relaxed awareness. We can actively support political candidates who offer intelligent management and leadership of the pandemic, demilitarizing the police and redistributing funds to community programs and alternatives to policing. We can actively withhold support for incumbents who continue to approve budgets that have bloated policing budgets. We can invest in Black owned businesses and we can support any number of causes now and in the future, including Black Lives Matter, Equal Justice Initiative, Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, White People 4 Black Lives, Color of Change, Equal Justice Initiative, entities that support minority entrepreneurs and many, many more that address systemic racism and unjust issues that we have helped propagate. Donald Trump is in denial, wants to rule us and keep us political party sorted. He does not need four more years! He needs an integral therapist. Do not vote for Donald Trump and members of the Donald Trump Republican party. If you are Republican and respect the core values of the Republican party, either vote for Joe Biden, write in a candidate, or simply do not vote. We need sanity, not insanity!