The conservative media has been talking about Nebraska state senator Machaela Cavanaugh’s hysterical way of showing her solidarity with the so-called “transgender” activists outside the Nebraska statehouse. Her version of solidarity was to say the same three sentences repeatedly, working herself from a sweet smile to a fit of frenzied anger. The video is worth watching because it highlights the madness of white, college-educated, leftist women. It’s also a pure display of Orwell’s two minutes of hate.

I’ll start with Orwell. As you may remember from your high school or college years, in 1984, Orwell describes how Winston Smith’s workplace has a daily “Two Minutes Hate,” during which employees gather to vent their anger at Emmanuel Goldstein, “the Enemy of the People.” Orwell describes how the workers begin with vague dislike for Goldstein, before lashing themselves in a fury:

There were hisses here and there among the audience.

[snip]

Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds, uncontrollable exclamations of rage were breaking out from half the people in the room.

[snip]

In its second minute the Hate rose to a frenzy. People were leaping up and down in their places and shouting at the tops of their voices in an effort to drown the maddening bleating voice that came from the screen.

[snip]

The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but, on the contrary, that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.

Mindless, lunatic rage….

Machaela Cavanaugh is a credentialed woman. According to her webpage, she “obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.”

She’s also a privileged young woman. Her father, John, also a Democrat, served in the House of Representatives in the late 1970s. Machaela now lives in Omaha’s Peony Park neighborhood, where houses sell in the mid-six figures. It’s not one of Omaha’s fanciest neighborhoods, but it’s clearly nice.

Politically, Machaela, like her dad, is a Democrat. Her webpage shows that she’s a pro-abortion fanatic. That’s what powers her engine.

What all these facts suggest is that Machaela, like so many white, college-educated, leftist women, probably suffers from cognitive dissonance: As a woman, she’s a victim; as a white person, she’s an oppressor.

Cognitive dissonance makes people crazy. And that gets me to the viral video. Machaela got her chance at the podium in the Nebraska state house while so-called “transgender” activists were protesting (violently) outside:

Troopers arrested six people at the Nebraska State Capitol building today for various offenses, including this incident caught on a security camera in which a person punched a Trooper.

No injuries to anyone involved.

Details: https://t.co/QMzTjpAt6u pic.twitter.com/6ceBTA3UGz

— Nebraska State Patrol (@NEStatePatrol) May 20, 2023

Machaela, however, found the protesters inspiring. “Trans people belong here. We need trans people. We love trans people,” she began, smiling and soft-voiced, as she quoted “what they’re saying out there.”

At this point, one might expect Machaela to explain why so-called “transgender people” belong anywhere specific (The street? The legislature? The city?), why anyone “needs” them, and why we should love them. But she didn’t. Instead, in a frenzy that would have fit perfectly into Orwell’s Oceania, Machaela repeated the three phrases over and over, stirring herself up into a mindless, screaming passion. And yes, she wasn’t saying hateful words, but the passion, clearly, came from her hatred for those who don’t agree with her.

It’s entirely possible that Machaela is mentally ill, and we’re seeing the sad spectacle of a woman decompensating right before our eyes. However, she’s not unique. This is what leftists, especially white leftist women, do: They operate from a place of pure, furious emotion.

Like my dog when he wants his dinner, they’re convinced that the more loudly they bark, the stronger their argument is. It’s amusing when my dog does it, disturbing when a legislator does it, and frightening when a mob does it.

Image: YouTube screen grab.