[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: Catholic Network for Women's Equality Fwd: America, the patient

[Catherine Walther]

This is an amazing analogy of what ails the US!
Having been in the medical field as an ICU nurse I especially appreciated
its accuracy. Catherine


Viewer Discretion Advised:
This is a long read, but I so admire his ability to use medical diagnosis
as political metaphor. After you read the first one to see how he’s
handling it you could quickly skim through the others.
Respiratory system and climate change is worth reading in its entirety and
the Conclusion for a dose of hope.




Begin forwarded message:

*From: *"Ryan McCormick, M.D." <mccormickmd at substack.com>
*Subject: **America, the patient*
*Date: *April 17, 2025 at 4:57:21 PM EDT
*To: *jankraus.art at gmail.com
*Reply-To: *"Ryan McCormick, M.D." <
reply+2o5nz3&3ha8cm&&c860616ba0ff8fb9492f7b8adc1163fb5bae60f1c18583e97a37773ee77ea22d at mg1.substack.com
>

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America, the patient
<https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=424928&post_id=161507487&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3ha8cm&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTA0MjkzODIsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE2MTUwNzQ4NywiaWF0IjoxNzQ0OTIzNDQ5LCJleHAiOjE3NDc1MTU0NDksImlzcyI6InB1Yi00MjQ5MjgiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.IZ5FNBpvpCGEgOgS5zOGCFsWeunSLxleVU7l8JnuQQI>Some
notes on diagnosis and treatment.

RYAN MCCORMICK, M.D. <https://substack.com/@mccormickmd>
APR 17
<https://substack.com/@mccormickmd>

<https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=424928&post_id=161507487&utm_source=substack&isFreemail=true&submitLike=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTA0MjkzODIsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE2MTUwNzQ4NywicmVhY3Rpb24iOiLinaQiLCJpYXQiOjE3NDQ5MjM0NDksImV4cCI6MTc0NzUxNTQ0OSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTQyNDkyOCIsInN1YiI6InJlYWN0aW9uIn0.6W6nYu2nTwne2tHy6sDdp8crhR1MSTxJRzt5rPy_EHs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-reaction&r=3ha8cm>
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READ IN APP
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I really, really, really want to get back to just writing about vital and
overlooked ideas in primary care. I keep trying to do this, and mostly
succeed. But like you I can’t stop thinking about what is going down with
the health of our nation and world. It has consumed much of my waking
attention. It has consumed much of my daily unsolicited conversations with
patients who express outrage, anxiety, and a profound kind of American
sadness. It is affecting their health and well being. *Affecting and
afflicting.* Some of my colleagues in obstetrics have shared with me that
even in the delivery room, many brand new parents are voicing soft
apologies about the state of the world to their newborns, even as they hold
them for dear life.

The human body is a marvel of interconnected systems, each harmonizing with
the others to create a functioning whole. When disease strikes, it often
manifests in patterns that help physicians diagnose and treat the
underlying pathology. Similarly, democratic governance represents a complex
political organism with interrelated systems that maintain societal health.
Might a physician, teaming up with some AI support, also diagnose patterns
of disease in the body politic? Treatments?

In recent months, the current US administration has implemented a series of
policies that have raised concerns among political observers, all Democrats
and increasingly some Republicans, constitutional scholars, new parents,
and international allies. These policies bear resemblances to various
medical conditions, providing a provocative thought experiment for
understanding their potentially damaging effects on democratic institutions
and processes.

After reading “The American Age is Over
<https://substack.com/redirect/de13f9cc-3cd6-4460-9883-d02a3c0a5feb?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>,”
a devastatingly good article by Jonathan V. Last
<https://open.substack.com/users/2185865-jonathan-v-last?utm_source=mentions>
 who writes at *The Bulwark*, I felt compelled to generate a medical riff
on his master thesis. Read it if you have not. By the way, JVL and I were
friends in high school and teammates who ran cross country. If you can
survive running a 5K cross country race in about 17 minutes and then eating
a celebratory plate of Marty’s Famous Chicken and Ribs, you can probably
survive the apocalypse. Goodspeed, and thank you John!

So, my riff here examines the parallels between democratic decline and some
unique health problems, with the partisan bias knob turned as low as I can
genuinely manage. Instead I will focus on systemic implications for
constitutional governance and democratic health in terms of what’s actually
gone down of late.

Better to get a full scan now than an autopsy later.
<https://substack.com/redirect/55976e2c-4039-4fa8-813a-7679b79a7b55?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>

The Immune System and Deportation of Citizens and Civil Rights Violations

Let’s jump in with the news of the day. Perhaps the most alarming recent
development is the proposal to deport “homegrown” US citizens to foreign
prisons—a concept that mirrors severe autoimmune disease. In autoimmune
disorders the body's defense system loses some ability to distinguish
between self and foreign, attacking its own tissues as if they were
pathogens.

Similarly, a government targeting its citizens for removal represents a
profound failure of the state’s self-recognition mechanisms. The protective
covering of citizenship—which should shield individuals from deportation—is
being stripped away, much like how autoimmunity attacks and degrades our
own tissues. Collateral damage is great, and precision is impossible. We
are more connected to each other than many realize.

Reports indicate that legal immigrants and people with pristine
documentation have already been detained, deported, or targeted by
immigration operations, with experts warning that the actual number is
likely higher than documented cases. Once triggered many autoimmune
diseases keep amplifying, expanding, cross reacting with additional
antigens. If allowed to continue, this clandestine disappearing threatens
to erode one of democracy's most fundamental protections—the distinction
between citizen and non-citizen—potentially creating a chilling effect on
free expression and civic participation among vulnerable populations.
<https://substack.com/redirect/9fe3c3ca-9676-46ae-9e54-c642850188ab?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>

*Treatment recommendations:* Courts need to review every deportation case
and verify citizenship before anyone gets removed from the country.
Congress should hold public hearings and pass laws that explicitly forbid
deporting citizens. They can’t do that with the current majority obeisance,
and so we need some Republican help. Meanwhile, communities should build
legal rapid response networks that can quickly identify and help citizens
wrongfully caught in immigration raids.
The Nervous System and Elimination of Independent Regulatory Agencies

The administration's efforts to bring independent regulatory agencies under
direct White House control resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare but
devastating prion infection that primarily degrades the brain, but can also
destroy autonomic nervous functions. Kind of like mad cow disease.
Independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, Securities Exchange
Commission, and Federal Communications Commission were designed to
operate *with
expert independence*, much like how the autonomic nervous system regulates
vital bodily functions without conscious control.

By requiring these agencies to submit regulations for White House review
and consult on priorities, the administration has introduced a pathogenic
structure that distorts normal regulatory function. Like prions that cause
normal proteins to fold incorrectly and cluster into harmful plaques, this
policy transforms independent expertise into amateur extensions of
centralized political control informed by agendas. The neural pathways of
government, designed to operate semi-autonomously to serve the public
interest, become progressively compromised—potentially leading to
regulatory collapse, market manipulation, and erosion of consumer
protections.

*Treatment recommendations:* Congress needs to pass laws that clearly
protect regulatory agencies from White House meddling. But you can’t do
that with the current majority obeisance, and so we need some Republican
help. Agency professionals should document all political interference and
make it public. Whistleblower protections must be strengthened. Watchdog
groups should file regular information requests and lawsuits as the
executive branch improperly interferes with agency independence.
The Circulatory System and Tariffs and Trade Wars

The sweeping tariffs implemented on global trade partners—including a
baseline tariff on all imports and higher individualized tariffs on
countries with trade deficits—mirror coronary artery disease with
atherosclerotic blockages. Just as plaques narrow coronary arteries and
restrict blood flow to the heart, tariffs constrict trade pathways and
impede the flow of goods, services, and capital.

These economic obstructions affect not just international commerce but
domestic prosperity. With tariffs amounting to de facto significant tax
increases for households, American consumers feel the economic equivalent
of diminished tissue perfusion—less purchasing power and higher prices.
Trading partners have vowed retaliation, creating a cascade reaction
similar to how inflammation exacerbates arterial damage, potentially
leading to complete economic infarction in the form of recession. A
depression?

Like a patient who dismisses risk factors that increase the risks of heart
disease, the administration has ignored consensus economist warnings about
inflation risks and supply chain disruptions. Without intervention, this
economic hardening of the arteries threatens to trigger acute crises
through market instability, more job losses, and diminished international
competitiveness.

*Treatment recommendations:* We need to reduce ridiculous tariffs while
negotiating smarter trade agreements that address legitimate concerns
without choking off commerce. Congress should reassert its constitutional
authority over trade. You can’t do that with the current majority
obeisance, and so we need some Republican help. Businesses need to
diversify their supply chains and build more domestic capacity. Most
importantly, we need honest accounting of how tariffs affect everyday
prices—the economic equivalent of counting calories and getting regular
exercise.

The Respiratory System and Climate Change Policy Withdrawal

The withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement resembles advanced
pulmonary fibrosis, where the lungs' ability to exchange gases
progressively diminishes. Just as fibrotic lungs become increasingly rigid
and ineffective at processing oxygen, this withdrawal makes the planet even
less capable of managing carbon dioxide levels.

The global respiratory system—our atmosphere, and carbon sinks like oceans
and forests—becomes progressively damaged without cooperative protection.
Like a patient refusing oxygen therapy despite clear evidence of its
necessity, the administration has ignored overwhelming scientific consensus
on climate change intervention. This decision comes despite 2024 being
recorded as the hottest year ever, akin to a patient with respiratory
distress who continues smoking in their ICU gurney.

The deterioration accelerates as vital time passes without treatment.
Carbon continues accumulating in the atmosphere like scarring in lung
tissue, leading to cascading system failures through extreme weather
events, agricultural disruption, and coastal flooding that become
increasingly difficult to reverse.

*Treatment recommendations:* While federal policy catches its breath,
states and cities must step up with their own climate commitments.
Companies should continue reducing carbon emissions through market-based
solutions. We should maintain partnerships with countries still in the
Paris Agreement. California is the 5th largest economy in the world (behind
the US, China, Germany, and Japan), and it is led by fairly enlightened
leaders who don’t insult us with climate lies. Eventually, federal climate
engagement must resume, supported by urgent renewable energy transition,
carbon pricing, and infrastructure that helps communities adapt to climate
impacts already underway.

<https://substack.com/redirect/3a9cfe97-be61-4c52-b9c9-d4806afd7ad3?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>

Parasitic Infection and Russia-Ukraine Policy

The administration's approach to Russia and Ukraine represents a
toxoplasmosis infection of the brain, where a parasite manipulates host
behavior to serve its interests. When toxoplasmosis infects the central
nervous system, it can alter judgment and decision-making, causing the host
to engage in behaviors beneficial to the parasite's lifecycle.

Similarly, Russian influence appears to have infected US foreign policy,
manipulating it to serve Russian geopolitical interests rather than
America's own security objectives. The administration has called the
Ukrainian president a "dictator" while embracing the Russian leader,
effectively throwing US support behind Moscow and rejecting the alliance
with Kyiv cultivated by previous administrations. NATO and most of our
friends since WWII have been severely dissed or declared new enemies. Our
grandfathers didn’t fight for this bullshit. Our grandmothers didn’t pick
up tremendous slack for this kind of cowardice.

The US envoy has embraced Russian demands in peace negotiations, including
supporting Russia's claim to Ukrainian regions it illegally attempted to
annex—a position that has alarmed both lawmakers and allies. This resembles
how toxoplasmosis makes mice lose their natural fear of cats, exposing them
to predation. Just as the parasite can persist latently for years before
causing neurological damage, the full long-term effects of this policy
shift may not yet be apparent, but will fundamentally compromise Western
democratic security architecture.

*Treatment recommendations:* Congress must pass bipartisan legislation
requiring transparency in negotiations and preventing recognition of
territories seized through illegal invasion. You can’t do that with the
current majority obeisance, and so we need some Republican help.
Intelligence agencies need better procedures to detect and counteract
foreign influence in policymaking. Instead we have lowered our cyber
security defenses. We should strengthen NATO alliances as a protective
barrier against further democratic erosion. Civil society organizations
should continue supporting Ukrainian sovereignty even when official policy
wavers.
Neurological Degeneration and University Conflicts and Academic Freedom

The administration's targeting of elite universities resembles early-onset
dementia, where higher cognitive functions are systematically degraded.
Universities represent the brain's centers for advanced processing, complex
problem-solving, and knowledge preservation—functions compromised in
neurodegenerative conditions. To use a football analogy, trying to sack
Harvard University is like an offensive lineman turning around and dragging
down his own elite quarterback.  *You’re going the wrong way.*

The assault on academic freedom, diversity initiatives, and intellectual
exploration parallels the loss of neural connectivity seen in cognitive
decline. Just as dementia often begins with attacks on specific brain
regions before spreading more widely, the targeting of particular
institutions foreshadows broader deterioration across the educational
ecosystem.

The political motivation behind defunding and attacking these institutions
mirrors how certain toxins specifically accumulate in the brain's most
sophisticated regions, leaving more primitive functions intact while
impairing complex reasoning, moral judgment, and future planning. Sure,
universities might be able to limp along after billions of dollars are
suddenly withheld, but the real cost to their missions and excellence will
be nothing short of tragic. The silencing of dissenting voices in academia
represents a form of cognitive atrophy, where the nation's capacity for
critical thinking and evidence-based policy formulation progressively
deteriorates.

*Treatment recommendations:* Universities need alternative funding sources
to maintain independence when government support becomes politicized.
Anyone have a couple hundred billion dollars? State legislatures should
pass laws protecting academic freedom. Courts must strike down
unconstitutional restrictions on academic speech and research. Universities
should strengthen tenure protections and stand firm against political
pressure. Public education campaigns should remind citizens why independent
universities matter to democracy.

The joy of March Madness has so quickly become the dreadfulness of April
Atrophy.
Metabolic Disorders and Presidential Monetization and Conflicts of Interest

The use of the presidency for personal enrichment through ventures like
cryptocurrency/memecoin promotion and alleged market manipulation resembles
metabolic syndrome, where normal energy processing becomes distorted toward
harmful accumulation. In metabolic syndrome, the body develops insulin
resistance, causing glucose to be improperly stored instead of fueling
necessary functions.

Similarly, the constitutional channels designed to direct presidential
power toward public benefit are being redirected toward private gain. The
presidency becomes insulin-resistant to its proper constitutional role,
failing to respond appropriately to its fundamental purpose. Like how
metabolic disorders cause vital resources to be diverted into fat storage
rather than cellular energy production, this exploitation of office diverts
public trust and resources into private accounts rather than civic benefit.

Both conditions tend to worsen over time, creating increasingly
difficult-to-reverse patterns of dysfunction that ultimately compromise
system viability. The presidency's engagement in shameless profiteering
while in office has introduced conflicts of interest that corrupt
decision-making, just as insulin resistance disrupts the body's proper use
of energy. And if Medicaid is cut as planned in the upcoming budget for
billionaires, you will see entire hospital systems near you collapse.

*Treatment recommendations:* Mounjaro? Congress should pass stronger
conflict-of-interest laws that explicitly forbid presidents from running
businesses while in office. You can’t do that with the current majority
obeisance, and so we need some Republican help. Oversight committees need
to regularly investigate potential conflicts. Independent ethics watchdogs
must continuously monitor presidential finances. Ultimately, we need
constitutional amendments requiring blind trusts and establishing clear
anti-corruption provisions that prevent presidents from using their office
for personal gain.
More Autoimmune Disorders and Marginalized Group Targeting

The administration's executive orders targeting transgender Americans
mirror lupus, where the immune system produces antibodies attacking the
body's own tissues. Day-one policies recognizing only "two immutable sexes"
and rescinding LGBTQ+ protections function like auto-antibodies that treat
natural components of the self as foreign threats.

This represents a striking misdirection of resources. Despite non-binary
people comprising less than 0.5% of the population, anti-transgender
campaign spending reached a staggering $215 million by Republican candidates
<https://substack.com/redirect/a04039d6-548d-48aa-aa78-2c8fcc21cddf?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>
, *far more than any other single issue* —resources diverted from genuine
national challenges and constructive debate. Like lupus, which exhausts
immune resources attacking harmless cells while ignoring actual pathogens,
this culture war consumes disproportionate political attention.

Current implementation of ideology has stripped transgender citizens'
ability to obtain accurate passports, threatened healthcare funding, and
erased their existence from federal websites. Like lupus attacking multiple
organ systems—kidneys, heart, lungs, brain—these policies systematically
undermine every aspect of transgender Americans' lives. The characteristic
"butterfly rash" of lupus finds its parallel in visible culture war
manifestations that signal deeper democratic inflammation. And just as
lupus eventually spreads beyond initial targets, these attacks now threaten
broader civil liberties and academic freedom—an inflammatory cascade
weakening our entire democratic system under the pretense of protection.
Republican, Democratic, and independent women
<https://substack.com/redirect/69b6a4b3-9385-47bf-8342-cf8c5900dc82?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>—your
ability to vote is next.

*Treatment recommendations:* Courts must block discriminatory executive
orders while states enact their own civil rights protections. Healthcare
providers should maintain treatment protocols based on medical consensus
rather than political pressure. Community support networks can help
affected individuals weather the storm. The long-term cure requires
comprehensive anti-discrimination laws that protect all citizens from
government-sponsored hostility. Beneath fair policy debates and cultural
divisions lies a simple truth: transgender individuals deserve the same
dignity, respect, and fundamental rights afforded to all human beings in a
just society.

<https://substack.com/redirect/ea97c2d7-87fe-4127-9e99-89c44e368e4e?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>

Conclusion

These medical analogies collectively present a systemic view of democratic
decline, where multiple "organ systems" of government experience
simultaneous distress. Like complex medical syndromes involving the
interaction of multiple pathophysiologies, these policy directions create
mutually reinforcing cycles of deterioration. The prognosis without
intervention is concerning. Autoimmunity, parasitic manipulation,
respiratory failure, circulatory stenoses, and metabolic dysfunction
collectively threaten systemic collapse if left untreated.

Yet the human body possesses remarkable resilience and capacity for
recovery when properly treated. Similarly, American democracy has weathered
serious challenges throughout its history. The Civil War followed by the
Reconstruction. The Gilded Age followed by the Progressive Era. Watergate
followed by institutional guardrails and accountability reforms. And
perhaps the most similar moment to the one we find ourselves presently
enduring—McCarthy’s homegrown fascism followed by Constitutional resilience
and civic awakening. In the 1950’s American institutions and the public
ultimately rejected authoritarian extremism
<https://substack.com/redirect/247a298c-c116-4fe9-acc5-5891b01b1477?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>
 by reasserting constitutional protections, with courts defending civil
liberties, the Senate checking its own member's abuses, and citizens
ultimately recognizing and rejecting dangerous demagoguery.  *Together* we
must address both acute crises and chronic dysfunction collaboratively,
creatively, and with that stubborn Northstar of hope.

As a humble family doc I believe democratic health can be restored through
homemade, evidence-based remedies: robust judicial review with courageous
lawyers and judges, restored bipartisan congressional oversight, civil
society mobilization (that’s us), not obeying in advance, free press
freedom with continued missions of scrutiny and truth telling, and
ultimately, the electoral process. May we especially fight to preserve this
last one alongside Washington, Hamilton, and Adams.

Most democracies sliding into authoritarianism take years if not decades to
recover. As I remind my patients when confronted with grave illness,
profound grief, or devastating events — it’s ok to take this day by day,
hour by hour, minute by minute.
Breath by breath, if we have to.
<https://substack.com/redirect/20bb43d7-0df6-4954-9375-a4094eebd073?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>

*Examined
<https://substack.com/redirect/20bb43d7-0df6-4954-9375-a4094eebd073?j=eyJ1IjoiM2hhOGNtIn0.RjY6I78nLuyqpZUp7UCnxB6GTGesMe_eJ7GR0j8MTJg>*
 presents vital and overlooked ideas in health, medicine, and wellbeing. My
mission writing this letter is to stretch a capacity to communicate beyond
what is possible during packed primary care visits. Feel free to share this
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