2016 July 6^th

Why is paranoia rampant in our species? Is that begging the question? Not really, because it is obvious that humans are inclined to be suspicious of “the other.” It doesn’t matter what the other has done, it is surely a violation of the law, or of ethical standards of behavior, or of decency, or of good judgment…take your pick.

The Trump campaign is not known for its veracity; consider the bit about Ted Cruz’ dad being involved with the Kennedy assassination.  They came out recently with a little visual showing Secretary Clinton against a background of hundred dollar bills. So far so good, but then a few uncomplimentary words were scrawled on a red Star of David right next to her picture.

That sure got everyone’s attention and the star was quickly replaced by a simple red circle. Too late, too late; the ACLU, the Anti-Defamation league and assorted other watchdog groups, including the Clinton campaign were condemning this outrageous anti-Semitic ad.

Of course the ad was a blunder. The lame defense offered by the Trump campaign’s Paul Manafort, was that this star was not the Star of David at all but was a sheriff’s star. That just didn’t work; if it was so innocent why remove it so quickly?

The notion that Donald Trump is anti- Semitic is absolutely ridiculous! His daughter, on whom he dotes, is married to Jared Kushner, a very observant Jew and she would never have married him without her father’s approval. Kushner has also become an important advisor to Donald Trump, so, on balance this Star of David issue was simply a slip-up by some underling.

Trump has not bothered to reject the support of neo-Nazi hate groups, and other associations of people who think likewise, so there is credibility for those suspicious of Trump’s motives. 

The Attorney General, Loretta Lynch’s plane was on the tarmac and so was President Clinton’s plane. They obviously know each other, and given the blistering 108 degree heat in Phoenix, their conversation moved to the cabin of the Attorney General’s plane.  Bad move because Hillary Clinton’s emails were, as they spoke, being examined by the FBI, which the Attorney General supervises, for any evidence of wrongdoing that could lead to an indictment or to an arrest.

The result of the meeting was predictable: Right wing commentators were sure that this meeting was evidence that the fix was in, that the former President was using this meeting to pressure the Attorney General to let up on efforts to investigate Hillary Clinton’s emails. They were unable to accept the idea that these two grandparents could spend more than half an hour talking about their grandchildren. Something shady was going on. Why not? Hadn’t Clinton been skirting the rules with her in-home server?

In both the Trump, Star of David issue, and the tarmac meeting between the Attorney general and the former President, the suspicious folks were not inclined to be charitable. They knew the prior behavior of both principles and that made it easy to believe the worst and that’s just what they did. We are a species inclined to paranoia; once so inclined, it doesn’t take much of a shove to get there.