January 6, 2023—Supreme Irony and Even Greater Danger
Attend ‘Ask Dr. Lee about Societal Mental Health’ this Afternoon!
The anniversary day started with Democrats largely alone on the Capitol steps memorializing January 6th, now two years ago, and then with a Democratic White House ceremony conferring heroism awards to those who thwarted the attempted coup.
The day ended with Republicans tremendously empowering their “Freedom Caucus,” comprised of Trump-supporting election and Constitution deniers, and finally elevating to speakership a man who had raced to Mar-a-Lago for smiling photographs with Plotter-in-Chief of the Coup Donald Trump just weeks after the failed coup.
Adding to the irony was the new speaker publicly letting it be known that it was calls from Trump to “Freedom Caucus” holdouts that put him in his new position. Adding to the irony as well was that the last time the election of a speaker was so contentious, divisive, and pregnant with impending disaster was just before the Civil War in 1859.
Fragmentation is a first sign of deterioration in mental health. Currently, the plotter-in-chief of the coup attempt remains at large. The political, socioeconomic, and cultural divides in the country are greater than ever. The critical issues facing these “Dis-United” States of America are not being seriously addressed, but we can no longer explain what is occurring in a superficial, piecemeal fashion. Mental health underlies all human affairs—indeed, nothing can happen without it—and at a time of global breakdown in mental health, we must finally bring an educated understanding to it all, before it is too late.
Announcement:
Dr. Bandy X. Lee will be holding her first session of “Ask Dr. Lee about Societal Mental Health” this afternoon at 3 p.m. EST/12 noon PST on Zoom. Please subscribe to receive further announcements one hour before the session. Thank you!
Dr. Lee is a forensic psychiatrist, social psychiatrist, and expert on violence who has applied her mental health knowledge to advise criminal courts, civil courts, governments, and international bodies for 25 years. For the last seven years, she has endeavored to educate the American public about our race toward violence and how we can prevent it.