Tag: writing

Trump As A Mass Delusion by Art Smukler, MD, author & psychiatrist 

by artsmuklermd, posted in Writing

Why in the world would anyone in their right mind support a convicted sex offender, known serial liar, thief, and malignant narcissist? 

I was reading Michael Lewis’ latest book Going Infinite about Sam Bankman-Fried who as a young child was shocked that kids believed in Santa Claus and similarly adults believed in God. It made no sense to him that mass delusions were so common. 

That got me thinking about democracy’s arch-enemy, Trump. The trumpers (small t on purpose) are deluded. They actually believe that this charlatan will save them and the country. Some followers say it’s because he’s pro-Israel, others because he’s anti-abortion, others because he wouldn’t act against gun control, some even see him as the next rising of Christ, or they identify with rich self-centered bullies…

But the main thing that holds them all together is that they are in love with him. It’s like the delusion that occurs when you first fall in love. There’s no flaw to be found in your new amour. 

But wait. Why then do 50% of all marriages end in divorce? Why? Because the delusion disintegrates. Eventually sanity reigns. 

Maybe when Trump is behind bars half the country will finally wake up? 

Maybe they won’t?

If we don’t speak out, nothing will change!

Don’t passively watch as our frightened Republican officials publicly support this man and privately condemn him.

Art

#Trump, #MichaelLewis, #Bankman-Fried, #delusions

PAYBACK AIR FORCE STYLE – PART 2, Major Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Writing

Part 1 was published yesterday, 12/28/23

Since Forbes was a relatively small base, there were only ten physicians assigned to care for all the personnel – soldiers, wives, and kids. Every tenth night it was my turn to work in the ER.

One evening, a few months after my experience with Capt. Daniels, I was treating a ten-year-old boy for a sore throat, when Corporal Lewis, my medical corpsman, came into the treatment room with a confused look on his face.

“What’s going on, Corporal?”

“There’s a Capt. Daniels in the waiting room. When he came in, he saw your name on the board, and said, “What the fuck! Is there another doctor on call?”

“You can come back tomorrow, I said. He showed me his hand. He has a six-inch laceration that can’t wait. Definitely needs suturing.”

I smiled.

“What?”

“Tell you later. Please put him in the other treatment room and prep him.”

Five minutes later I entered the treatment room, and Daniels could hardly look at me. “Hi, Capt. Daniels,” I said, with a smile. “What happened?”

“I was doing some woodworking at home. Cut myself.”

I looked at the cut and nodded. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”

I whispered to Corporal Lewis to get me a few things. He came back in the room with an eight-inch suturing needle, big enough to sew up an elephant, and a saw used to perform amputations.

He placed them on the table next to Daniels, stifled a grin and faced away.

“What the fuck! What’s that shit for? Doc! What are you doing?”

“It won’t hurt. It’s best that I do this without anesthesia. It’ll heal better.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind. Doc, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. Please. This isn’t right!”

For twenty seconds I kept a straight face and then burst out laughing.

Daniels stared at me, trying to fathom what this was all about.

I walked over, patted him on the back, and told him to relax. I took a tiny suture needle out of the drawer, drew up some lidocaine, numbed the area, and carefully sutured his laceration.

When I was done, he gave me a hug. “We good now, doc?”

I smiled. “We’re good, captain.”

Have a wonderful holiday! Enjoy a good read.

#Airforce, #Vietnamwar, #humor, #airforcepsychiatrist, #mysterynovels