Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm Syndrome is defined as “feelings of trust or aggression felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.” Many of you have undoubtedly read about Stockholm Syndrome.

One of the most famous possible cases of this syndrome is Patty Hearst. Hearst, kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army, became a hunted fugitive wanted herself by authorities, for serious crimes committed. And many blame Stockholm Syndrome for what’s happened to the Republican party. That is, I believe, the wrong explanation. For most of them.

The GOP, by and large, does what they do for greed and power. I believe if Trump’s poll numbers were at 2%, the GOP might adjust accordingly. But there are a few Republicans who might suffer from a form of Stockholm Syndrome. I’m not a psychologist, and this is just my opinion. But Lindsey Graham strikes me as a likely candidate. Think about it. Graham is under fire right now for saying there would be riots in the street were Trump to be prosecuted.

Many think Trump is holding something over him. That could be, and it also could be that in Graham’s search for relevance, this is the solution he’s found. Tawdry, perhaps, but it makes sense.

Or there could be another thing at play: Stockholm Syndrome. Now Graham was not kidnapped. But I could make an argument that he was held “hostage.” Does anybody remember Trump’s initial cruelty toward all his fellow Presidential candidates? Does anyone remember him releasing Graham’s cell phone number? And somewhere along the line, Graham’s repulsion turned toward admiration.

I wrote an article on June 20 of this year about it called ‘Lindsey Graham probably shouldn’t have admitted this about Donald Trump.” In the article, I quote Graham, who, while in Nashville, Tennessee, came out and said one thing he liked about Trump is that Trump scared people. “Don’t you miss that?” he asked.

That’s a red alert. Graham, whatever his motivation, does not react normally in relationships. Most of us would run like hell from someone who inspired terror in us. Does Graham have Stockholm Syndrome? I do not know, but I do wonder. It would be nice if Graham really looked at himself and thought about his own motivations. But that might be more work than the meek Senator is capable of.