The Monsters That Are Us

It’s time to wake up from our national Twilight Zone delusion before it’s too late

A recurring nightmare has haunted me in which I am transported into an episode of the 1960s television series The Twilight Zone.

Throughout the dream, I constantly ask myself, is what I am seeing and hearing real? Or is it just a cleverly crafted Rod Serling-esque phantasm darkened by stark analogies and eerie symbols to frighten?

Perhaps even more important than whether it's real or not, how do I escape? The answer to that question is the most troublesome part of my quandary: Unlike an old black-and-white fantasy show, what I am witnessing is all too real. We as a society have meandered into another dimension, or at least a new era, where the paradigms of morality have turned into the Upside Down.

Case in point are two bizarre unfolding examples, George Santos and Solomon Peña.

Mirroring the characters of a Twilight Zone episode, Mr. Peña, a Republican candidate for a state house seat in New Mexico, recently appeared out of the dark mists of the political landscape to serve as a final warning. He is but one in a cycle that started some time ago. Together, Peña and Rep. Santos (R-NY) are not only part of that cycle but a summation of where our society is headed.