Copeland's Corner: April 19, 2024
It’s as though half the country has lost all sense of reason and logic.
Today, a man set himself on fire in front of the courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial will begin opening statements on Monday.
Please allow me to reiterate: A man doused himself with an accelerant, threw a handful of pamphlets in the air proclaiming various anti-government conspiracy theories, and set himself ablaze near Donald Trump’s trial.
The man, identified as 37-year-old Max Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, was eventually extinguished by what has been described as “dozens of law enforcement” personnel. Azzarello was placed in an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. Witnesses at the scene reported that they could see his arm moving as he was placed in the ambulance. In spite of that, medical personnel have reported that his burns are so severe that he isn’t expected to survive.
As I initially read this story, a scene from the Batman movie, The Dark Knight, played in my head. In the scene, a hostage video taken by Heath Ledger’s Joker shows a close-up of the villain’s clown painted face as he says, “This is how crazy Batman has made Gotham.”
The self-immolation of a man to make some kind of statement, clearly in support of the anti-government-conspiracy-theorist-in-chief, is how crazy Donald Trump has made America. It’s frightening. It’s as though half the country has lost all sense of reason and logic. Were people always this crazy? Or is it that after 8 years of MAGA insensitivity, lack of empathy, cruelty, racism, xenophobia, conspiracy theories (Democrats kidnapping and molesting children in the secret dungeon of a Washington D.C. pizza parlor, anyone?), paranoia and unadulterated cultism have given all of the people who were a little “off” permission to let it all hang out.
I can’t quite wrap my head around how one wannabe authoritarian has done so much damage to our country in such a brief period of time. I can’t fathom how we got to a place where you have two camps: one that believes in science, democracy, and the rule of law, and one that wants to burn our sacred institutions to the ground while they ingest horse de-wormer to ward off a deadly virus that’s killed hundreds of thousands of people.
How the hell did we get here?
How did we let one narcissistic megalomaniac turn us from a nation of people who at times had philosophical disagreements about political philosophy to an “us versus them” society where those who don’t fall in line with your thinking are not political rivals but sworn enemies in a blood feud?
Again, were the people most vehemently susceptible to the extremist nonsense being peddled by MAGA extremism always there? Or were they simply normal folks who were radicalized by a steady diet of right wing lies, disinformation and vitriol?
I saw a story today where a pair of pranksters went to a Trump rally and video recorded the MAGA faithful answering questions about the state of the country. One woman said that she’d vote for Vladimir Putin if she could because he’d bring back “morality” by getting rid of pronouns. A male Trumper said that he was voting for Trump in the hope that if he’s reelected, he’ll send all Democrats to the gallows. Though he couldn’t explain how, another gentleman said that Joe Biden and his cronies were trying to turn him gay.
“See how crazy Batman has made Gotham?”
All I can say is that we can’t let these lunatics take control of our nation. Vote. Get your kids to vote. Get your spouses, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to vote. Get them to vote as though their very lives depend on it because, they do.