The rise and fall of civilizations from the time of antiquity seems to be a natural phenomenon that occurs on this unpredictable planet. Whether by natural disasters, wars, or decadence the ruins of great civilizations lies under the ocean, buried in the ground, or can be found above ground. In contemporary times we have seen the fall or decline of empires like the British Empire and the Soviet Union.
Without trying to sound like a prophet of doom and gloom, America the only surviving superpower is showing signs of a decline. The first sign of this decline is seen in the political system where symptoms such as blatant hypocrisy, double standards, and politicians abandoning their patriotism to embrace their party first.
America today is a country that is being weakened by a type of political cancer that is attacking the body politics. The root cause of this cancer can be likened to a mysterious syndrome that has affected the rationality of people—especially those in a position of power like the politicians. Traces of the symptoms this mysterious syndrome began to appear in the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore—remember the fiasco of the hanging chads with the Florida ballots?—since then they have progressively worsened with each successive presidential election.
In the 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John Kerry, the syndrome manifested itself in the dirty politics that became knows as "Swift boat" that undermined Kerry's electability. Then in 2008, Barack Obama in his historic campaign against John McCain, the symptoms became more pronounced, but miraculously Obama survived it to be elected president. He would continue to be exposed to it throughout his eight years in the White House and how he survived it was perhaps a miracle.
…many Americans accept or love people that have undesirable character traits that make them unfit for public office and reject or hate those with desirable traits
The most observable cases of the mysterious syndrome affecting people's rationality, to cause bad choices and decisions was more noticeable in the last three presidential elections. What is seen is that many Americans accept or love people that have undesirable character traits that make them unfit for public office and reject or hate those with desirable traits. In the biblical story of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea adjudicating the case of Jesus, he asked the crowd who he should free: "Barabbas, a convicted criminal or Jesus," the healer and spirituality teacher. The crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus. Hence the mysterious syndrome is appropriately called the Barabbas syndrome.
Two examples of examples of the Barabbas syndrome in American politics are:
1. The rejection (hatred) of Barack Obama and the acceptance (love) of Donald Trump by some—if ever there was a president with impeccable character, Barack Obama certainly qualifies for that honor. However, the Biblical quote, "A prophet has no honor in his own country," applies to him. His detractors used the tools of propaganda, conspiracy theories, and plain hatred to demonize him throughout his eight years in office. They have used the lame excuse that it his is politics why they resent him, but the truth has to do with his race. Proof of this is that the current president used birtherism to falsely claim he was born in the African country Kenya.
Barack Obama's rejection and Trump's acceptance are classic cases of the Barabbas syndrome. With Trump being president for almost a year with a dismal approval rating and looking more unpresidential he is more accepted than Obama was. It is as if he can do no wrong as his speech and actions are below the norm of presidential behavior.
Donald Trump is the quintessential Barabbas in American politics. His negative character traits are no secret as mental health experts claimed the President was “paranoid and delusional.” In October 27 psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health experts published a book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, that assessed President Trump’s mental health and in summary said what most people (except his base) already know—he is unfit to be president. Given all this, it would not be unreasonable to say that if The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were used as the criterion for a person to be a presidential candidate, Trump would have been eliminated as a candidate and never elected the 45th president of the USA.
2. The rejection of Hillary Clinton and the acceptance of Donald Trump –That Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton – a consummate professional public servant with over 40 years of service that include First Lady, a senator, and secretary of state— was another classic example of the Barabbas syndrome. No presidential candidate in the history of America has demonstrated so many negative character traits like Donald Trump. Having come to bear enormous power, those who are inclined to interpret the Bible might see him as the fulfillment of the beast marked with the numbers 666 as described in Revelation 13:11–15: "I saw the beast rising out of the earth having two horns like a lamb, spoke like a dragon, and deceives those who dwell on earth."
Using propaganda, Hillary Clinton was demonized by the Republicans and their proxy agents – the conservative news media like Fox TV news. The extent to which they tarnished her reputation and distinctive public service career effectively made her not fit to be president over Donald Trump. This is exactly what the high priests and the Jews did to Jesus that caused Barabbas to be selected for freedom over Hm.
Trump who is now at the center of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russian investigation, does not heed the saying that "If you live in a glass house you shouldn't throw stones." You would think he would be smart enough not to throw stones at Hillary Clinton. Throughout the 2016 campaign, he did this by yelling out to his campaign crowd, "Crooked Hillary," and "lock her up." Yet he never released his taxes during the campaign as prior presidential candidates did. This fueled speculation of him covering up his financial dealings in different countries.
Two possible events that will test the validity of the Barabbas syndrome are: 1) the Alabama senate race between Judge Roy Moore the Republican candidate and Democrat, Doug Jones and 2) the Special Counsel investigation of Russia election interference and the Republican effort to discredit the investigation.
The Barabbas syndrome might prevail again with Judge Roy Moore—this is another case where the Barabbas syndrome might cause the election of the former Alabama judge, Roy Moore. Recent allegations that he sexually molested a 14-year-old girl in 1974 when he was 32 years old and similar accusations from other young women during the same timeframe have left his campaign in shambles.
Initially, when the news of Roy Moore's sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl broke, some US senators and Trump to say that "if the allegations are true he should step aside." The Alabama Republicans are not fazed, however; as they have indicated they will still support Roy Moore candidacy rather than that of a Democrat. Donald Trump and the Republicans have reversed their initial reactions to Moore and are now fully supporting him.
Tomorrow Alabamians will vote to decide if Roy More should become a US Senator. If he wins the senate race then that will be strong confirmation that the Barabbas syndrome has become an epidemic disease in American politics and culture.
Special Counsel and the Russian investigation of Donald Trump—With Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigation, the hounds are getting closer to the heels of Donald Trump. His former campaign manager, Paul Manafort is in deep trouble and his former National Security Advisor has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Another sign that Mueller is getting close to Trump was the recent news that he had subpoena Trump's account in the Deutsche Bank. This is the bank that it has been reported that Russian dirty money was laundered and that provided loans to Trump.
It is not a coincidence then that Conservative media (Sean Hannity of Fox TV especially) have been trying to discredit Mueller by saying he is corrupt. Trump himself at his Pensacola rally last Friday said that the system is corrupt and is rigged. This effort then is to make Trump look innocent in the court of public opinion. If Trump gets of Mueller's Russian investigation unscathed then we know for sure that the Barabbas syndrome is a full-blown epidemic.
What makes the Barabbas syndrome possible are the erosion of ethical standards and a society that tolerates corruption and other negative behavior. Conservative news media that does not report the news objectively and instead seeks to support and defend the "Barabbases" that should have been rejected.
When Trump undermines America's established institutions (the media, the judicial system, and the intelligence agencies) and sings praises to the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin (who has a history of human rights violation), and denounces prominent American leaders that is not only unpresidential, unpatriotic, but also weakens the foundation on which America is built.
The conservative media with their blind support of Trump has made the environment more conducive to the Barabbas syndrome to thrive. It used to be that race was the one thing that divided Americans. That is no longer the case as cable TV now runs a close second. Cable TV has defined Americans political viewpoint so that one group (conservatives) fanatically accepts Fox TV opinionated and propaganda-driven message of Fox TV Talk Show and rejects that of liberal cable TV outlets.
Before the advent of cable TV when Americans received their news from the three prime networks – ABC, CBS, and NBC – the news was easier to "digest" as it was objective. Cable TV also introduced the alignment of the network to a political party. Fox TV news promoted conservative politics, MSNBC liberal politics, and CNN take in the middle ground.
Americans weaned on cable TV cannot escape the nonstop coverage of politics that inundate them with political talk shows and "recycled" political commentators airing their political opinions. Because the political alignment of the news media has divided Americans, it is easy for the Barabbas syndrome to thrive. Fox TV news more than the other cable TV stations focuses entirely on the agenda of the Republican Party with their infusion of propaganda and distortions.
To ignore the role that Fox TV news has played in American politics is a failure to understand how the media can use its influence and power in conditioning people's mind to accept everything they have been told. For this reason, the Russian interference of the election is not the complete answer as for Donald Trump's election as president. Fox TV news has contributed to Americans selecting conservative candidates who lack leadership credentials and in the case of Donald Trump should not have been elected in the first place.
The threat to America's future does not come from external sources—foreign terrorists, illegal immigrants, North Korea, or any other country—it is from Americans who have no patriotic convictions and who continue to do or allow America's democracy to be undermined. These are the people who allow the Barabbas syndrome to be established in America. This is why we see some Americans ignoring the Russian interference scandal and treating it like it's not a big deal.