Are the crazies taking over?

In my job, I have had a lot of experience in dealing with people who have, shall we say, an alternate world view.  Many of them have found that the world does not agree with that view.  They end up in the legal system and/or the mental health system.  In many cases, those systems are one in the same. 

Lately, however, it seems that many people who would fit those qualities noted above have found their way into the political system.  My congressional representative (no, I did not vote for her) has repeatedly stated that she decided to run for office after receiving advice to run from Jesus.  Our former state representative was convicted of domestic assault after an altercation with his wife which included him having pushed or hit her with a bible.  He has insisted that he was not convicted, as there was an acquittal on one other-lesser-charge.  Our current local state representative, who has had an ownership interest in a bank which was closed down by the feds, has maintained that it was not her bank.  She adamantly maintains that evolution should not be taught in the schools, because she does not believe in it.

Nationally, we have had a vice presidential candidate who believed that she would be able to handle foreign policy issues based on having lived close to Russia.  We have congressional members who cannot control verbal outbursts which are rude, inappropriate, and against congressional rules and common courtesy.  In mental health parlance, those could be diagnosed as delusional, narcissism, and attention deficit disorder, I believe.  There are many other prime examples, but these are the ones which have come to mind.

The current disdain by the followers of these people for the “educated elite” is also crazy to me.  Why wouldn’t we want smart people running our country?  Is it really smart to have a president who you’d feel comfortable with over a beer? I just don’t understand.  Our system is on the verge of disaster. 

I do understand the disdain and disgust over the wall street bankers who seem to have their own delusions of grandeur, believing that the world owes them hundreds of millions of dollars to gouge the rest of us little folks.  But that is not because of their education, it is in spite of it.  Their souls have been sucked out of them, replaced by greed.  And, as long as the election system requires millions of dollars in order to have a chance at office, the greed factor will be part of the power and money system.

I don’t have answers.  I just don’t understand why the nuttiest people seem to find their way into positions of power in politics.  Do you have to be crazy to run for office? 

If that is the case, and I am beginning to consider that a real possibility, the crazies will soon be in total control.  Anyone crazy enough to try to stop them?

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