I swore off the internet last week, after barely sleeping for three nights. Then along came PussyGate, and I couldn’t resist. I spent most of Saturday in delighted schadenfreude, as dozens of high-ranking Republican rats abandoned the sinking ship. But on Sunday morning, still eating up the stories on the internet, I read about other horrible things that Donald Trump has done, how he has cheated and lied and scammed his way into power. Suddenly there was no delight. Schadenfreude turned to horror as I thought, “How could this evil man get so far? I believed that the human race—especially those living in the most powerful democracy in the world—was better than that.” I was very disturbed, and decided to take another “information vacation.”
Later, while doing the dishes, I realized that, really, we are all monkeys on this bus. About the only thing distinguishing us from the “lower” animals is our large frontal cortex, which gifts us with the power to use reason and logic. One has to be trained to use that part of the brain. Donald Trump and his basket of deplorables were never so trained.
Zephyr, my otherwise sweet little kitty, is very xenophobic. My husband and I are trying to introduce a new cat, Miss Priss, into our household, but Zephyr will have none of it. She hisses, growls and spits every time she catches sight of Miss Priss. The latter cat usually ignores it, but sometimes gets irritated enough to respond in kind. We try to defuse these situations by petting both cats, encouraging them to calm down, and giving them treats. Because they are cats, dammit. They don’t have much of a frontal cortex, and they can’t reason their way around their fear-of-other instincts.
All I can say is that I hope most human voters are able to use their frontal cortex when they hit the polls on November 8.