The real reason these MAGA loons are so out of control

Attention Palmer Report readers: sign up for our free mailing list here
-----
Note from Bill Palmer: if each of you reading this can kick in $10 or $25, it'll help keep Palmer Report firing on all cylinders at this crucial time in our nation's history: Donate now


Here’s an interesting question, and it concerns MAGA. Their behavior is getting more and more out of control. Many seem only to be fueled by anger and “owning the libs.”

They deny science. They take animal dewormers. They fall in line as the soulless corporate voices lecture from their television screens, telling them what to do. Naked ignorance runs rampant, and so does fury. The dark shadows of fury were unleashed for all to see on January Sixth.

So, my question is this: Were the insurrectionists ALWAYS sociopaths, or did the former guy bring it out in them? I say the former. Many have argued against that and said if the former guy had never become President, these people would have been fine. I respectfully disagree.

Hate and violence can stay in check for years. Mountains of rage can remain untouched and quiet until something — or someone –brings that mountain down, and then it can shatter like a giant volcano.

I do not believe most people wake up one day and become wicked. I think specific forces and events just bring that wickedness out.

But some would argue that the insurrectionists are not even sociopaths. Sociopaths, one could argue, cannot feel anything. Can one REALLY say the insurrectionists do not feel? Can one really just put blanket labels on people like that?

It’s a fascinating question, and since I am not a psychologist, I cannot address it with any certainty. The American Psychiatric Association prefers to use the term: “antisocial personality disorder.”

They also say that the number of people with this disorder can range from 0.2 percent to 3.3 percent. That is a whole lot of people.

I cannot say with certainty that every signal MAGA is a sociopath. But many do fit certain features, especially:
“pervasive patterns of disregard for, and violation of the rights of others.”

One would need to do research to see if these patterns manifested themselves in the childhood of the insurrectionists.

But I can say with certainty that the blatant disregard MAGA shows for all human decency and the cruelty they engage in make me wonder. And with the resurgence of COVID in many places and new variants mutating regularly, we would do well to take MAGA seriously as an ongoing threat to our health and well-being.

Attention Palmer Report readers: sign up for our free mailing list here
-----
Note from Bill Palmer: if each of you reading this can kick in $10 or $25, it'll help keep Palmer Report firing on all cylinders at this crucial time in our nation's history: Donate now