Idiocracy or Madness?

... have we become idiots or just gone entirely mad?

The faithful few readers of this blog may remember this post from 2011: http://waynetpov.blogspot.com/2011/11/idiots-united.html, in which I reference the movie 'Idiocracy'.  The fear of my long-ago post was also that contained in the very recent LA Times story on the subject, which is that social media has amplified stupidity to an alarming level and given voice to cretins who would otherwise be powerless and ignored.

But I am beginning to think this is looking at the situation incorrectly.  I am starting to believe that some form of mass psychosis, maybe even madness, is sweeping the land.  I say this because I know many people who are most definitely not idiots who nevertheless voted for Mr. Donald Trump (all hail his excellency!)

What makes an intelligent person vote for not only the least qualified candidate ever to run for our top office, but also the most openly morally bankrupt in a generation?  How can they cast their ballots for someone who has KKK backing, support from Russia, and who proposes to install Sarah Palin in a government office (Secretary of the Interior), give high power to both Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, and who thinks it would be wise to deport 11 million immigrants (and ignore the inhumane effects).  Let's not also forget they would have to ignore his disgusting attitude towards women and his advocacy for torture as a 'useful' tool.

But somehow these intelligent people either ignored all those awful aspects of Trump, or dismissed them as something our system wouldn't permit him to actually do, or (gulp) embraced those horrid ideologies themselves.  Somehow, someway, these intelligent people made the most illogical, damaging choice they have ever made.  These smart people added their voices to those of the truly idiotic crazy-core of Trump supporters and gave him the reigns of the most powerful office and the most powerful military in the World.

I believe something akin to temporary (I hope) insanity gripped these intelligent people, leading them to a form of blindness to the truth. I hope they will snap out of it as the reality of what they've done begins to take shape.  I hope when this happens they will use their intelligence to resist the worst impulses of the person they've put in office, to the best of their abilities.  I hope they will join with the slightly more than half of the Nation that did not vote for Trump and will fight to keep our personal freedoms (and not just our right to carry guns into a Del Taco). 

Most of all I hope this return to sanity happens very soon, so we can all work together to ensure that Obamacare isn't repealed until a workable replacement is enacted. That we can figure out a humane compromise on immigration, and that women won't be left with no options but to seek back-alley abortions.