Many years ago, my big sister Martha told me about the time she didn’t want to take a nap. This was before I was even a glimmer in my dad’s eye, and at that moment, my dad’s biggest concern was to get her to, well, take a much-needed nap. Years later, she told me that she thought she had figured out how to trick our dad by hopping into her bed for a few seconds, and then reappearing in the living room moments later, yawning and stretching and announcing she was up from her nap. Dad naturally sent her back to bed, and Martha was mystified as to how her little stunt had not, in fact, fooled dad.

Simply put, my then-four-year-old sister had a different world view than Dad did. From her perspective as a little kid, time passing wasn’t the relevant factor in having actually taken a nap. Rather, it was the appearance of having taken a nap. Two completely different world views.

I am reminded of that little kid view of the world when I continue to be astonished by the degree of delusion that exists in folks who are supporting what passes as the Republican Party today. If you are old enough, recall the election of 1976. In that year I graduated from high school, both Apple Computers and Microsoft were incorporated, and Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford for the presidency. I’m guessing no one will be surprised to learn that I was heavily involved in that election. And in hindsight, that election represents a turning point in our politics. In 1976, both candidates agreed on the facts of the day, and offered different ideas on how to address various problems. Both Carter and Ford, for example, agreed that the unemployment rate was a bit over 7%, and differed over what the government should do about it, if anything.

Today, we see a GOP under the tight control of the MAGA crowd, which insists on having what one of their spokespersons once called “alternative facts,” which is another way of telling lies.

I remember a discussion with a MAGA friend a while back (I don’t insist on only having friends who agree with me on everything) and when I mentioned that unemployment went down under Obama, he said “no it didn’t.” But it did, you can look it up. “No,” he said, “it didn’t.” I’m not sure how to respond to that.

Recently, I saw that same frustration expressed in a Facebook post by an old friend from my days teaching at the Air Force Academy. This gentleman was in a different department and would eventually become a department head and would ultimately retire as a Brigadier General. Now, I don’t know if you’ve hung around with too many general officers (GO), but they don’t tend to be the most liberal folks around. But like most other military members, these generals and admirals usually have a strong sense of honor and a commitment to honesty. That is one reason we’ve seen several former Trump Administration officials, who were retired GO’s, come out and denounce the dishonor and dishonesty of the MAGA crowd.

Anyway, this old GO friend recently about his own frustration with today’s GOP being so reality challenged. He posted: “Quick Hump Day RNC Week Rant: we’re producing more oil than any nation at any time in history. Crime is plummeting. Inflation has moderated and is stable, near historical averages. Unemployment is low. The stock market is on fire (in a good way). Incursions are down at the border. But clearly, reliable data means nothing, and we seem to be on the verge picking a man so deplorable in EVERY aspect of his life that his own running mate thinks he’s “America’s Hitler.” We are watching Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America” play out in real time before our eyes. I’m more and more stunned every day that people I thought of as friends and reasonable people are lining up with matches at this avoidable, national dumpster fire. I’m so ashamed that I ever voted red…”

Now, if this explosion of indignity came from me, your old libtard buddy, you might write it off. But it comes from a guy with stars on his shoulders who was once a rank-and-file Republican. When I reached out to him to ask if I could quote his missive, he responded enthusiastically, and asked me to also mention that he is involved in the National Security Leaders for America, which is “a group of retired GOs working hard to defeat Trump. I’m a state coordinator [Arizona] and have done a PSA for them coming out this late summer condemning election intimidation and harassment of election officials.” Strong words from a senior military leader.

It takes a remarkable set of circumstances for a bunch of retired generals and admirals to leap into the political arena. They do so, as do I, out of a deep sense of patriotism and worry about what a second Trump presidency would mean for the future of our military and our nation.

I don’t know how we are going to fix any of our national problems if we can’t even agree on reality. For Trumpism to work, we must believe we live in a world where crime is up, not down, and where border crossings are surging, when they are actually going down also. During his own term in office, Trump insisted on using the stock market as the measure of his economic success, but today, with the markets under Biden soaring far, far beyond Trump levels, the MAGA crowd suddenly doesn’t like the market as an economic indicator anymore.

Military officers tend to be a conservative crowd, so it should at least cause you to raise an eyebrow when you see retired generals and admirals working this hard to defeat Trump and Trumpism. They understand better than most that a second Trump term represents a clear and present danger to our nation’s future and to the safety of all Americans.

The generals and admirals can agree on reality, it’s a pity that the MAGA crowd cannot.