A Nation in Denial

Mentally healthy human beings don’t want to believe the worst about others. We would like to believe that what we see, hear, and read is at least partially true or even untrue, depending on the situation. Humans want to find a reason to forgive the mistakes, crimes, and heinous acts by others. We look for reasons; things in their past which brought out the worst in another person.

I hate to tell you the absolute truth, but in most situations, this is psychiatric bullshit.

We are all born with free thought and free choice. During our preteen and teenage years we have an opportunity to choose our friends, make decisions about what comes next, and search for the truth.

I know no one in my generation who lived lives depicted by television shows like “Ozzie and Harriet,” “Father Knows Best,” or “the Donna Reed Show.” For the most part, post WWII children grew up in dysfunctional families. PTSD, changes in family structure created during the War, new opportunities for women in society, and a new way of thinking about everything presented itself. It was what Charles Dickens wrote in the first line of “the Tale of Two Cities:” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Change does not come easy. However, it comes. How we adjust to new and confusing situations shapes our character, and offers us an opportunity to adopt principles and a moral compass by which we will live for the remainder of our lives.

I don’t want to believe that about one-half of our nation’s people are stupid, or just don’t care about anyone but themselves. This would destroy everything I believed in and even cherished about my country for almost seven decades. I choose to believe that most are in denial. They don’t want to know that the man they believed in for the last 10 years is what he is: the worst man in our nation’s history.

I am an avid reader, and in 2009, at the age of 63, I wrote my first novel. To write a book which is logical and factually accurate, a great deal of research is required, along with life experience. It is both a joyous and difficult journey, requiring hard work and sometimes enormous frustration. However, the effort involved teaches each novelists many things, mostly about people and the struggles of everyday life.

But it also teaches us reality. Evil is real, and there is no cure. Events which happen to us when we are in our formative years, and what we are taught, lead each of us in different directions.

Trump and I were born three weeks apart, he being the older one. We were born into totally different worlds. I grew up in a poor family but a family which showered me with love and guidance. My mother had the support of two loving parents, my grandfather and grandmother, brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles. Trump’s family was filled with hatred for Black Americans, and their only object of love was money.

However, we both had choices. Mine was a bit more difficult because I was mostly responsible for creating my own future. Trump had great wealth, and access to a superior education which he obviously wasted.

The rest of his life is composed of criminal actions, debauchery, admiration for despots, and a search for relevance, great wealth, and respect. None of which he ever received or deserved. Trump never did anything for anyone else and his accomplishments, without assistance from outside sources, are nil.

I have no reason to praise myself. I did what I needed to do, and in the back of my mind was the lesson, “always do the right thing.” I was required to attend church frequently, not just on Sundays.

My family was Catholic. Although I reject all organized religions today, the lessons I learned from the New Testament remain. Jesus Christ taught us many things, including kindness, compassion, understanding, and not to judge others. It is clear that although Trump claims to be a Christian, he has never been inside of any place of worship for the right reasons, nor has he opened a Bible once in his pitiful life.

The American people, in general, want to be rich. I grew up as a “child of television.” It was on whenever I was home. The wealthy were presented to us as happy, intelligent, and better educated than everyone else. Of course, none of this was true. Great wealth does not automatically make someone intelligent, nor does it guarantee ‘happiness.’ Regardless of the amount of money we have in our bank accounts, the promise of America is that we all choose our own path.

However, television is guilty of many evils, including the creation of a brainwashed electorate. I sincerely believe that political advertising should be forbidden on the “boob tube.” Every voter should make sincere efforts to learn about each candidate. Without knowing the truth about an issue, we frequently make bad choices. For example, I want you to look at the ‘real Donald Trump,’ Moscow Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and many others who would destroy my America.

None of these right-wing extremists have deniability: some voters simply refuse to see the truth.

It’s time for America to grow up and join the rest of developed nations. If we don’t move forward, we move backwards. This cannot continue if we are to survive as one people under the promises guaranteed by the Constitution.

Op-ed by James Turnage

If you follow my blog, you will be and informed American citizen