Alan Zendell, May 23, 2024

Dissonance can really mess up our heads. When everything sounds off, when every voice seems to contradict every other voice, even their own, when nothing seems to make sense, we’re all in trouble. Sometimes, this occurs because an issue is extremely complex, and vying viewpoints all contain a shred of validity, the best current example being the Israeli war in Gaza.

No rational person disputes the criminality and despicable nature of Hamas militants’ attack on Israeli civilians last October 7th that precipitated all this. We all cringe at the notion of terrorists winning, but most of those same rational people won’t endlessly support a military campaign that kills more civilians than combatants. It’s a complicated mess with no clear solution that guarantees a peaceful future, despite the fact that Hamas has shown itself to be a dangerous force for evil and a tool of Iran that threatens everyone.

In the Middle East, dissonance has always been the rule, as evidenced by the fact that in the nearly eighty years since the end of World War 2, the world has not found either a consensus or the political will to implement a solution. But in our domestic politics, that is not the case. Most of the dissonance we experience is the result of deliberate actions by a rebellious minority attempting to undermine our Constitution and impose their own narrow view of how American life should be on the rest of us.

With a little over five months to go before the 2024 election, the MAGA extremists are the primary purveyors of dissonance, and that poses a great danger for our future. Ever since Kelly Ann Conway coined the phrase “alternative facts” to justify Donald Trump’s lies, America has been teetering on the edge of a rabbit hole. Is it really possible that a demonstrably obvious set of lies can result in the re-election of Donald Trump?

I believe in a world that makes rational sense, and what I see in America today is the antithesis of that. What’s worse, the rest of the world sees it too, perhaps far more clearly than we do. Does no one care that our allies are losing confidence in us? Do the people who produce dissonance for a living not realize the consequences of their actions? The loss of international stature and respect that is a clear corollary of Trump wielding power increases the risk of war, hurts us economically, and undermines our trade alliances.

Consider the incredible volume of lies Trump and his supporters have promulgated. They began decades ago when his company was sued (and punished) for racial discrimination. They continued through the eighties as Trump’s association with mobsters like John Gotte and his connections to mafia lawyer Roy Cohn were well-documented in the media. Next came the birther controversy that falsely claimed President Barrack Obama was not an American citizen. And finally, they extended and increased in both volume and seriousness beginning on the day in 2015 Trump rode his gold escalator, accusing immigrants of being rapists and murderers to launch his presidential campaign.

He has lied about the women he assaulted and the lengths he has gone to to silence them. He has championed and been responsible for stacking the Supreme Court with people who have no respect for women and who are willing to suppress the voting rights of minorities and anyone else who doesn’t take a knee to the MAGA movement. And now he openly courts insurrection as we approach the election. Somehow, with no evidence to support their claims, and mountains of evidence that invalidate them, denying the legitimacy of Joe Bidens’s victory in 2020 has become the litmus test for people wishing to be Trump’s choice for Vice President.

When Trump isn’t lying, he spouts Nazi rhetoric to stir up his ultra-right-wing base. He extends the myth that Democrats want to repeal the Second Amendment, openly supports Russia’s attempt to destroy Ukraine, and undermines the Biden administration’s attempts to resolve the problem of our southern border and fix our immigration policies.

That roar you hear growing in the background isn’t tinnitus. It’s the onrushing out-of-control train that is the dissonance created by those who would undermine our Constitution and replace democracy with a seriously mentally ill wannabe dictator. As virtually everyone who served in Trump’s cabinet or tried to work responsibly in his administration has told us, Trump is unfit for any leadership role, and he has been quite explicit about what he intends to do if he wins in November.

They all sound the same alarm: believe what Trump is saying. He intends to tear up our Constitution and create a Nazi-like dynasty from the dregs of his MAGA movement. The real dissonance in my head is that about a third of Americans cannot understand how dangerous Trump is, that he is the enemy of everything America stands for.