Liberalism is a disease. It is an affliction that doesn’t happen by chance, it is the direct result of indoctrination via academia or some other external influence, generally in our youth. The good news is that much like some physical diseases such as asthma, we can simply outgrow it as we age. Thus we tend to see many younger liberals finally see the light and convert to conservatism later in life. Unfortunately, the bad news is that irreparable damage may have already occurred to our rights and the American way of life along the way.
I ask the question in the title of this post not out of curiosity for I have actually witnessed this phenomenon. Yes, it’s true! Well, sort of.
What I witnessed was not an induced stroke. It was a stroke that happened to a brother-in-law of mine due to years of heavy drug use. So in a way, it was induced, just not proactively as a cure for liberalism.
However, that’s just what the result seems to have been. My brother-in-law, let’s call him Lefty for purposes of this story, was a died-in-the-wool democrat for the many years I have known him. A union worker in the sheet metal trades, he was also a union steward. Lefty fit the standard description of a liberal democrat.
His American made cars always had some sort of barrage of bumper stickers promoting “buy union” or “buy American” alongside whatever democrat candidates were running for office. Of course, he’s been an advocate of all things Obama and refuses to watch Fox News. Needless to say, politics were avoided at all family functions as much as possible in order to avoid resurrecting the Hatfield-McCoy type of family division.
We also had to stick to the standard Ford-Chevy battles we here in the midwest have had ingrained in us for many a decade. Should you try to convince Lefty that the most American made car you can buy is a Toyota, he would launch into a tirade that I’m surprised never induced a stroke on the spot.
At any rate, Lefty suffered a heart attack some years ago that left his heart functioning at only 15% of its capacity. I didn’t believe anyone could survive such an event, but he did. He never worked again as he never fully recovered and remains today on long-term disability. Fortunately for Lefty, the union benefits package is substantial and he has managed to get along OK with relatively inexpensive drug costs and the like.
Some in the family speculate that Lefty returned to dabbling in drug use. To this day, I still don’t know if this is true, however, he had a stroke some 6 months ago which really surprised everyone as we thought he had put all of his health issues behind him.
This brings us to the amazing transformation. Lefty has recovered for the most part from the stroke. The doctors tell us it’s an on-going process due to the fact that he is rewiring his brain. He actually has an improved long-term memory now recalling things he had long forgotten. His short-term memory is not good at all. He has some problems with his peripheral vision but just last week was able to pass the test and resume driving.
By far the most astonishing change has been his politics. He is no longer a liberal. He’s like a little kid that just discovered some secret that no one else knows and can’t wait to tell everyone. Gone are all the bumper stickers. Now, he’ll never drive a Toyota, but that’s OK by me. We can now discuss such a wide variety of topics that were always off-limits before. He hasn’t seen the light on everything yet, but he’s well on his way.
Scientists tell us that the right part of the brain controls speech and emotions and the left side controls movement and logic. Clearly, that doesn’t equate to politics as the left is all based upon emotion and the right utilizes critical thinking. However, in the case of Lefty, the evidence shows that the brain can actually rewire itself and correct this small oversight the Good Lord apparently never saw coming.
Now, I would never want the liability to suggest that we should encourage all liberals to head down to their local pharmacy and see if they can purchase just such an inducement drug, but if they should happen to take it upon themselves to do so…well, you get the idea. Hey, you never know, it may even be covered under Obamacare!
Spellchek 