VOICE OF THE PEOPLE Watts
Gaslighting: psychological manipulation… usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem… and a dependency on the perpetrator. (Merriam-Webster) Donald Trump gave us a fine example of gaslighting in his Pennsylvania rally speech on Sept. 23, saying that he would be a “protector of women.” This is a perfect example of gaslighting. On May 9, 2023, a jury found the disgraced ex-president guilty of defamation and sexual abuse. After appeal the new jury awarded the abused woman $83.3 million on top of the $5 million originally awarded noting that Trump continued to bully and verbally attack E. Jean Carroll online. At least 18 other women have accused this “protector of women” of similar sexual misconduct. If you don’t remember the 2005 Access Hollywood videotape, you should probably watch it- but do so without the kids in the room. To fight against gaslighting, facts matter.
The crux of Trump’s refusal to break a 219-year run of “willingly and peacefully” relinquishing the office of President of the United States to the opposition was massive voter fraud. Painstaking review of the 2020 election (and more than 60 failed lawsuits to overturn the election) found fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud in six battleground states which turned out 25 million voters. 475 divided by 25,000,000 is 0.000019%. Trump’s “big lie” is a form of gaslighting.
The economy is arguably the most important political issue for many voters and is difficult to dissect because of the pandemic, but is today’s economy as dystopian as Trump would have us believe? The short answer is “no”. Data from the non-partisan Bureau of Labor Statistics agrees that the Biden-Harris administration saw the “fastest job growth at any point of any president in all of American history”. Much of that success was due to the American Rescue Plan. The stock market has hit consecutive days of record highs, which is good news for 401k portfolios. And though it might be hard to swallow, the U.S. economy is doing far better than the rest of the world.
Break the dysfunctional cycle of gaslighting.
PETER WATTS
Watertown
