The 34 Percent Solution

Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.

~Bruce Springsteen

The title of today’s post was inspired by Nicholas Meyer’s novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, presented in the form of a dialogue between the storied detective and Sigmund Freud who was enlisted by Dr. Watson and Holmes’ brother Wycroft in hopes of curing Sherlock’s cocaine addiction. In 1976, Herbert Ross directed a successful film adaptation of the same name starring Nicol Williamson as Holmes and Alan Arkin as Freud.

Much of the dialogue explores Holmes’ inability to come to grips with a tragic childhood experience and how that contributed to his obsessive pursuit of Dr. Moriarty, his many eccentricities and his cocaine habit. Freud never fully confronts Holmes, “believing that he would not accept them, and that it would needlessly complicate his recovery.” (Wikipedia)

As always, this entry was triggered by the synchronistic intersection of three experiences over the past weekend. Two involved Facebook exchanges in which my posts or comments on others’ posts generated a reply. The third was a headline on The Drudge Report, “President’s Day: Trump Approval 34%.” The latter confirmed something I have argued for months and addressed in a January 22 article “CRACKing the Code,” suggesting that allegiance to Donald Trump was more like an addiction than membership in a cult. If so, addicts were unlikely to be cured before November’s mid-term elections. Fortunately, however, I suggested the percentage of addicts was probably 35 percent. Considering all the indefensible actions and outrageous behavior exhibited by Trump in 2026 alone, these latest polls show that his loyal base is comprised solely of those Trump addicts who cannot break their habit. The good news, of course, is that you do not win elections with 34 percent of the vote.

Which brings me to the two Facebook exchanges. The first was in response to the following February 14 post which memorialized Trump’s unconstitutional threat to impose, by executive order, ID requirements to vote with or without congressional approval.

It generated a comment from an individual I did not recognize. For purposes of this discussion I will refer to him only by his initials.

KW: Who is going to replace him? You aren’t going to get very many disillusioned Republicans to vote for a Democrat.


ME: You don’t need many. FL-4 is less RED than most people realize. The Cook Report rates our district as R+5, which means all things being equal a Republican has just a five point advantage. Aaron has won by greater margins because we have not had a candidate with the organization and resources to challenge him. This year we do in Michael Kirwan. Combined with the increasing disapproval of Trump and the Project 2025 agenda among independents and young voters, the prospects are quite good that Aaron could lose. I hope you join us in this effort. [NOTE: The first time I met Michael Kirwan, he made the same argument using the Cook Report data.]


KW: I think a moderate Democrat would have a better chance. There is no candidate for a libertarian to vote for with a clean conscience. From my POV it feels like Democrats try to find candidates who are even worse than the Republicans.


ME: I think you’ll find Michael is that center/left candidate. Take a look at Vote Kirwan.


KW: That’s actually pretty reasonable.

Besides KW’s mention of libertarians, I have no idea of his party affiliation or how he voted in any previous election. What I did realize was, if he was ever a Trump/Bean addict, he was now in recovery and by taking a few minutes to chat with him, moved him from the skeptic column into the open to reasonable argument column.

The second Facebook exchange represents the other side of the coin. This time it involved my response to a post in which Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) lauded Trump for signing the Improper Payments to Deceased People Act who claimed, “Taxpayers wills save billions of dollars:” Kennedy sponsored the bill in response to Elon Musk’s now-debunked numbers about the magnitude of the problem. The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimated the savings might total $60 million/year. Assuming this is true, it will take 16.7 years to recover each billion dollars.

The heart of the bill is a provision which authorizes SSA to permanently share information with the Treasury Department, something it was not prohibited from doing under current law. For once, the administration had a minor issue that Trump could easily resolve with a presidential executive order. But why simply solve a problem when the MAGA-verse can make a mountain out of a mole hill. For purposes of the following exchange, I will again refer to the other individuals only by their initials.

ME: Another MAGA solution to a problem that didn’t exist.

PG: Oh Really?!! You believe that Jasmine Crockett stealing the last 20 years social security for her DEAD grandmother ISN’T A PROBLEM. And she’s not the only one. It’s a matter of public record!!!!!!!

FM: Allergic to facts? Must be a Democrat!!

ME: The original story [about Crockett] was first published on a website clearly labeled as satire. You can find the non-allergenic facts at https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jasmine-crockett-grandmother-checks/.

Neither PG or FM responded, nor do I expect they will. It is almost impossible to reach an addict when he or she is in denial. Sadly, their blind faith in everything that Trump and his propaganda machine spits out can be more serious than merely spreading lies. They are the 34 percent for who, much like Sherlock Holmes, have no friends or family they trust who are willing to confront them with the fundamental issues that contribute to their Trump/MAGA habit. There is no solution except letting them come to the self-realization that they, like Pogo, have met the enemy and it is themselves. Hopefully, that time will come before Springsteen’s prophecy comes true. Their blind allegiance will kill them, if not their bodies, their souls.

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: Robert Duvall, who passed away this morning at age 95, played Dr. Watson in the forementioned “Seven-Per-Cent Solution.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP