This post was prompted by Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where she gave us the word “cognitive” and a limit of 59 words to write about it.
What came to mind when I saw the word “cognitive” in her prompt, was cognitive dissonance, and I could not write about it in only 59 words. So I responded to her prompt in this 59 word post as an introduction to what I’ve written below.
What exactly is cognitive dissonance? Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person’s behavior and beliefs do not jibe. I have pretty much stopped writing political posts lately because, despite my keen interest in American politics today, I get angry, frustrated, and depressed when I do attempt to write such posts. So despite my desire to write posts about the almost unfathomable insanity and hypocrisy of Republican politics on the right, and the inability of the Democrats on the left to get half of the electorate to see that insanity and hypocrisy, I choose, for my own mental health and well being, not to.
Let me give you just three very recent examples of what’s causing my cognitive dissonance. First, I am appalled that a far-right federal judge in Texas has suspend the FDA’s two-decade-old approval of a medical abortion drug, Mifepristone. How can one individual, a Trump-appointed federal judge, of course, have the ability to unilaterally ban a drug that was approved by the FDA and been safely used by women for the past two decades?
Second, I am disgusted that in Tennessee, where three Democratic lawmakers took to the floor of the Republican-controlled Tennessee House chamber last week to rally for stricter gun control in the wake of the latest school shooting in that state, the GOP majority voted to expel two duly elected members of that chamber, both of whom are Black, while falling one vote short of ousting a third lawmaker, who is White. Does this mean that members of one political party can legally remove members of the opposition party, who were democratically elected to office by the people in their districts, just because they hold a different political position? Where is the Justice Department on this matter?
Finally, I am angered that a Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, has accepted luxury gifts from a prominent Republican donor for more than 20 years without disclosing them, possibly violating a law that requires justices, judges and members of Congress to disclose most gifts. How does this far-right Supreme Court justice rationalize doing something not only unethical but illegal and not expect repercussions? But will there be any? Don’t hold your breath.
Okay. I said three examples, and while I could go on about many more such example (e.g., Ron DeSantis, Florida, Donald Trump), I’m a man of my word and I’ll stop here.
This, That, and the Other 