A form of mental illness?

When someone continually refuses to accept reality – and prefers to live in a fantasy world of their own creation, no matter how often that world is proven false, they have a serious problem. When they become violent in defense of their fantasy, we as a society have a problem.  

The past couple of weeks have made me rethink something I’ve only said as a joke for years: being a radical progressive liberal may be a form of mental illness. 

Now I certainly don’t mean to make light of people suffering with devastating mental issues that require medical treatment. I’ve had friends and co-workers with bipolar disorders as well as friends whose parents were clinically schizophrenic, which made their lives a living Hell. I have enormous sympathy for them and what they've gone through, and in many cases still have to endure.

Serious mental illness is not a joking matter.

But for the life of me, I can’t find another explanation for the actions of so many on the left – and even prominent Democrat politicians – in recent weeks.

It was clear by 2AM in the morning following the close of polls that Hillary lost to Donald Trump. She simply didn’t win enough states and their Electoral College votes. Her “blue wall” evaporated and one by one the states she and her supporters thought she had in the bag went to Trump. She won big majorities of the popular vote in California and New York – as expected – but that wasn’t enough, or even relevant, given the states she lost elsewhere.

And it wasn’t just her.  Republicans held onto the House and Senate, plus increased the number of governorships and control of state legislatures to historic levels. 

But her supporters – as well as others opposed to Trump – refused to accept reality.

Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, launched a costly campaign to force recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania based on an unfounded charge of Russian hacking of voting machines. Why?  Nobody is really sure, since there was no evidence of any hacking of voting machines anywhere and state voting officials said there was no evidence of voter fraud, either. 

Clinton campaign staffers supported the recount effort, nonetheless, even though they knew full well the recounts would change nothing.     

Predictably, the recounts failed. 

Then the radical left started a campaign to convince Electoral College Electors to change their votes. This, despite the fact that Electors are selected by Party loyalists – which would mean the Republican Electors were selected because they pledged to support the Republican candidate – Donald Trump, in this case. The probability of switching enough Trump Electors was between slim and none. 

But that didn’t stop an onslaught of letters, threats, a Hollywood celebrity video, and even personalized videos from Martin Sheen sent to some Electors urging them to change their votes.

Some Republican Electors reported receiving tens of thousands of emails and letters. In the end, that failed as well. Only two Republican Electors didn’t cast their ballots for Trump; more Democrat Electors defected from Hillary than that. Democrat Electors in Washington State, carried by Hillary in the general election, cast three votes for Colin Powell and one vote for Faith Spotted Owl instead of for Hillary.

Still the left keeps fighting on. I guess they hope the Republican-majority Congress will not certify the results of the election. I keep seeing items that Joe Biden will be presiding over the certification, as if Plugs McKenzie can somehow stop the inevitable. 

Not going to happen. 

I’m starting to see more articles online that the next phase of opposition will be a series of lawsuits compelling Trump to divest all his holdings or be impeached on the grounds of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Or the start of impeachment proceedings for “treason” because he wants better relations with Russia.

Seriously?  The guy hasn’t even taken office yet. 

I think this is insane. I’m starting to believe that there’s been an outbreak of mass hysteria on the left, and signs of group insanity as well.  Trump hasn’t done a single thing as President so far because – news flash – he isn’t the President until he’s inaugurated on January 20. And the left is already planning for his impeachment before he takes office? 

Forget for a moment that the ravings are coming from people who clearly don’t understand the Constitution, the purpose and function of the Electoral College, the rule of law, or the orderly and peaceful transition of one administration to another that’s been the hallmark of our American political system for centuries.   

Instead, consider what they really want – to overturn, by threats and intimidation, a completely legal and fair election won entirely by the established rules.

That’s what’s really frightening. They don’t see anything wrong in any of this. They refuse to give up their fantasy that somehow Clinton actually won but was unfairly denied the Presidency because of the Russians, James Comey, racism, sexism, a centuries’ old antiquated artifact created by dead white males, or something else.

Clinton didn’t win. Trump did.  He did it by winning more Electoral College votes. That’s how the game is played, and has been for over 200 years. And once again the Electoral College did what it was intended to do – ensure that a few highly populated states didn’t determine every election. 

We live in the United States of America; not the United States of California and New York, and for all the obvious reasons. All the states matter.         

The left also can’t comprehend that the unreasoning hatred and bigotry – and often violence – they exhibit toward anyone who voted for Trump, or even now accepts the outcome of the election however grudgingly, are the very same traits they said they despised in Trump supporters.  

The very same traits their chosen candidate – Hillary – disparaged as belonging to Trump’s “basket of deplorables.”  They don’t recognize these in themselves. 

I’m not sure where this all ends. I’m fairly certain that the longer the radicals on the left keep pursuing their same course, the more they’ll convince other Americans how off-kilter and out-of-touch the whole progressive movement is.  If they step up the vehemence and violence even more, as many in their camp have promised, they’ll face an even greater political backlash in elections to come.

They’ll be relegated to being no more than a lunatic fringe.

And I chose those words carefully.