Symptomatic Nerve Gas
How to describe the American Political Process without using “bad” words. Impossible.
Broadcast on The Mike Malloy Show May 10, 2016.
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Below is an excerpt. To read the rest of the words go here: Permalink: http://www.voicesinourheads.com/2017/07/15/symptomatic-nerve-gas-2/
One of the low-key lunatics who skulked around the Seattle’s University District would set up shop on the corner of 47th and Brooklyn near the Safeway and rant to anyone within earshot about UFO’s and the CIA. He carried hand-lettered signs detailing in teeny tiny print exactly what the CIA and the UFOs were up to. Not a bad act compared to other street shouters I’ve seen. If you passed him on the street when he wasn’t “performing” he’d mutter “Symptomatic Nerve Gas.” out of the corner of his mouth like a gangster from a 1930’s Warner Brothers film.
I never stopped to ask him about Symptomatic Nerve Gas because I had learned years before to never engage with street corner crazies. They were on A Mission … while I was simply curious. Guys like that are searching for full-time converts … not dilettantes. They could get downright testy when they realized I didn’t buy into their particular brand of crazy. Don’t poke crazy bears with sticks I always say.
But the phrase, “Symptomatic Nerve Gas” has never left my memory. And it’s as good as any other reason to superficially explain why roughly 40% (or more) of the U.S. has gone mad … mad I tell you.
My father-in-law was initially a Ben Carson supporter, switched over to Cruz when Carson bailed, and now he’ll carry the Trump banner simply because Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee. That’s how his brain works. Or, rather, that’s what he does because his brain hasn’t actually worked for over 40 years.
