Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Being There is a 1970’s story about a simple-minded man, who rises to national prominence and is considered a genius because of misconstrued comments about gardening being cast as pearls of economic wisdom.  In the movie/novel Chance the gardener is misidentified as Chauncey Gardiner because of confusion, which fuels a plot filled with irony.  Chance is a man who has spent his entire life isolated in the mansion of a man and his only job is gardening, which is all that he knows or understands.  When the mansion owner dies, Gardiner ends up being homeless, but as luck would have it, he ends up in the mansion of a powerful man, which leads to a meeting with the president of the United States who quotes Chance in a national speech. This makes Chance famous and his very simple words are interpreted as being deeply meaningful. Ironically, the only character in the story who knows Chance is illiterate and simple minded a black maid, Louise, who, while watching Chance being interviewed on television, comments, “It’s for sure a white man’s world in America. Look here: I raised that boy since he was the size of a piss-ant. And I’ll say right now, he never learned to read and write. No, sir. Had no brains at all. Was stuffed with rice pudding between th’ ears. Shortchanged by the Lord, and dumb as a jackass. Look at him now! Yes, sir, all you’ve gotta be is white in America, to get whatever you want. Gobbledy-gook!”  I’ve often uttered the words, “Gobbledygook!” after hearing both President Biden and Vice President Harris speak.

The fictitious character of Chauncey Gardiner mirrors the real life Joe Biden, a man whose mental state is extremely questionable, but the majority of the media disguised his mental shortcomings because of their hatred for Donald Trump, and Biden was elected as president of the United States.  In less than two years Biden’s policies and executive orders have made America energy dependent, caused rampant inflation, left billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment in Afghanistan, made the border less secure, and his weakness as the leader of America most surely encouraged Putin to invade the Ukraine.  His constant gaffes which include identifying Michelle Obama as the former vice president, referring to Ukrainians as Iranians in his state of the Union speech and a real head scratcher when he said, “You can’t build a wall high enough to keep out a uh ah um a vaccine.” are excused by those who have a serious case of The Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome. It’s ironic that the House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump twice, yet, Biden is allowed to continue as president despite the harm and pain he has caused through his incompetence and confused thoughts.  Unlike Chauncey Gardiner, whose final moments in the film appear as if he is walking on water, and the final line of the film is that “Life is a state of mind,” President Biden’s flaws are on display to the entire world and each incident provides fodder for those who wish to have him removed from office, but nothing is done.  Many argue that the cure may be worse than the condition if Kamala Harris were to replace Biden as president.

Many people have pointed out a comparison between Kamala Harris and her inappropriate laughter, inane word salad, lack of preparation and embarrassing rhetoric with the character of the Joker portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.  She has held many embarrassing press conferences and interviews and her lack of knowledge combined with her cackling are an embarrassment to the nation.  Gardiner and the Joker are fictitious characters in movies; it is their purpose to be entertaining and to move stories forward with their odd and quirky behaviors.  Sadly, this is not the case with real world politicians whose decisions have an impact on all Americans. Biden and Harris may be a great resource for comedians, but they aren’t very funny to Americans who have to make the choice of whether to buy groceries or fill up their gas tanks.

The Biden administration is a microcosm of a very dysfunctional America that is plagued with mental issues at all levels of society.  It’s a situation where the inmates are attempting to run the asylum, and fantasy is embraced by those who are incapable of dealing with reality.  Emotional outbursts have replaced common sense conversations.  Woke corporations, social media and so-called educators attempt to push an agenda where scientific facts are denied, censorship is employed and anyone questioning their tactics is canceled.

America is engaged in a culture war where a national newspaper can name a biological male as a woman of the year, a biological male can win awards competing against biological females, so-called educators demand the right to talk to primary school children about sexual issues and want the right to hide information from parents of these children.  Parts of speech are now “owned” by individuals who have taken it upon themselves to create new pronouns, and many of these individuals go into full meltdown mode if someone dares to refer to them with a pronoun that they find inaccurate or displeasing.  People who refuse to accept the delusions of others are labeled as unsympathetic, disrespectful and transphobic.  History is taught not to help us learn from the past, but to create class and racial groups of the oppressed and the victimized, and Marxist philosophy dominates the minds of impressionable college students who have been indoctrinated for years at the expense of taxpayers.  Criminals are allowed to shoplift without fear of prosecution, police are vilified and criminals have streets named after them in a world that is characterized by fantasy worlds, anarchy and a university system that has replaced critical thinking with student zombies who are quick to parrot the phrases, Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE), but have no concept of the true meanings of these once honorable words.

Those who embrace identity politics would surely love the idea that “life is a state of mind” because for them, perception is reality, however, this is another delusion because reality is reality.  A person can identify as a millionaire, but if he or she only has $2.00 in his/her checking account, a check that exceeds this amount will bounce.

As America moves further and further away from harsh truthful realities and the mental states of leaders and their followers become an issue in the making of reasonable decisions that impact all Americans, it’s vital that “We the people” will not be shouted down or left out of the decision making process, especially when these issues directly impact our children.  Movies are an escape and their purpose is entertainment.  We can appreciate eccentric characters in a movie, but when these characters step into the role of making decisions, and their eccentricities impact the quality of life in America, it is imperative to examine a system that put them in these positions of power.

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