Rajneeshpuram: A Microcosm of Today’s Democrats?

For those who have not yet watched the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country, it is a must-see. The story of cult leader (AKA the "sex-guru") Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's takeover of a small town in Wasco County, Oregon in the early 1980s provides a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the cult, and, in particular, the quest of Rajneesh's number one, Ma Anand Sheela, to retain power. Rajneesh's ability to hypnotize his lost followers coupled with Sheela's evil doings in order to retain and expand her growing empire resonate with those of us who believe that Barack Obama and the Democrats utilized similar tactics in order to attain and maintain their control. One cannot help but watch the documentary and consider that Rajneesh and Sheela were the king and queen of community organizers of their time. Today's liberals, like Rajneesh's followers, are desperately seeking someone to take care of them. Obama's ridiculous "The Life of Julia" video epitomized the way in which liberals believe that the government should take care of its citizenry from cradle to grave. They lack the ability to think on their own and turn to cult-like figures (Obama had his own gurus in Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan before taking on that role for half of the country) and mainstream and social media to feed their voracious appetites for endorphins.

For Rajneeshees, wild and crazy orgies and sex with anyone and everyone filled their emotional and physical needs. Intellectual endeavors were nonexistent. One of the reasons David Koresh's Branch Davidians (the subject of a well done Paramount documentary, Waco, available on Amazon Prime video) grew to barely 150 members, while the Rajneeshees attracted nearly 10,000 to Oregon, reflected the difference between cults promoting abstinence versus orgies. Many liberals today lack the ability to think on their own. They ingest hours upon hours of CNN and MSNBC hosts spewing out lie after lie, and the brainwashing draws them farther and farther in. It feels good to be a part of the Trump Derangement cult. You belong to a group in which you are accepted, and the initiation fee is only to leave your common sense and morality at the door. While the Rajneeshees were part of a cult of love, the Trump Derangement cult, and the Democrats more broadly, provide a home for resisters (to a duly elected government) and haters. What struck me in the first episode of Wild Wild Country was that Rajneesh appears to be the father of many of liberals' current obsessions. For instance, he and Sheela were seemingly the original multiculturalists as well as the founders of the concept of becoming "woke." "The Awaken Man will be the New Man. He will not be Christian. He will not be Hindu. He will not be Indian. He will not be German. He will not be English. He will be simply an awakened being," states Rajneesh. Sheela elaborates, "A new man that lives in harmony with one another, lives in harmony with nature; where all nationalities, all colors, all religions sit together." I was waiting for kumbaya or a session of the United Nations General Assembly to break out. In a sense, it did as the documentary shares film clips of Rajneesh surrounded by his "stoned" apostles swaying and shaking and singing and dancing in between their orgies.

Screen grab from Wild, Wild Country. Similarly, Rajneeshees were the first to need safe spaces to protect themselves from reality. Rajneesh specifically states, "You have to be given a safe place from where you can work; a place where ordinary things, taboos, inhibitions are put aside." He never mentions what that "work" is and why reality has to be escaped in order to function in his world. But it is clear that he and his disciples are living in a dream world. Unfortunately, the safe spaces being provided to snowflakes on college campuses, in their workplaces, and elsewhere for their delicate psyches to survive the traumas of daily life are now a reality in America, thanks to liberals seeking control of every aspect of the citizenry's lives. Rajneesh continues, "And this is only the beginning. Many, many more are going to come. They are on the way. The others who will come, the coming of millions more. Hence your responsibility is great because you will be preparing the way." It seems that the Democrats took the sex guru literally as they take to the streets to demand the abolishment of ICE, open borders, sanctuary cities, and unlimited immigration. The Rajneeshees imported homeless people from all over the country, bussing them in in order to register them to vote and further their political ambitions by winning county elections. The Democrats took a page from Rajneesh's playbook and import illegals from Latin America and Muslim refugees, opening our borders in order, eventually (after the inevitable amnesty), to register them all to vote and so to further their political ambitions. "San Francisco, always a leader in the 'woke' politics of the progressive left," is not even interested in waiting for Congress to grant amnesty as it begins registering non-citizens for voting in local elections. Sheela also arguably represents the Deep State today. In some ways, she utilized the U.S. Constitution and our laws in order to expand her power, just as Obama discovered that he too could use his phone and his pen to sidestep constitutional limitations. Both Sheela and Obama went beyond legal limits in order to ensure their control over their subjects. Sheela used wiretapping, amassed an arsenal, and had a staff of individuals with whom she used paranoia and control as motivators. Obama used the entire Executive Branch to achieve his goals of minimizing dissent and gaining control of the populace. His arsenal, including the FBI, CIA, DOJ, IRS, NSA, CFPB, and FCC, and a host of other administrative agencies, was utilized to invade the privacy of Americans and shut down conservative speech. Both Sheela and Obama embedded supporters throughout their networks in order to ensure continued domination. Similarly, both Sheela and the Democrats use physical and psychological threats to intimidate their enemies. The tactics used by the Rajneeshees to take over the small Oregon town are redolent of Maxine Waters, who advised her followers, "If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." Perhaps Waters took a page from Obama, who ordered his subjects to "get in [their opponents'] face," but she could easily have learned from the Rajneeshees, who intimidated the residents of Antelope, Oregon into leaving their homes. It is clear that these disdainful Democrats prefer that Republicans leave the country as well. Sheela and Democrats also believe they are above the law. In the end, Sheela did not exhibit empathy for the victims of her actions or remorse for her sins. She still believes she should have been able to use our laws in order to attain her "virtuous" goals. Her monstrous actions were only diminished by her complete and total arrogance. Similarly, Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, Schiff, Schumer, Brennan, Rhodes, Power, Jarrett, Rice, Reid, and the rest of the Democrats who believed they were above the law continue to this day to arrogantly undermine the current administration as they are unwilling to accept that their days of power are over for now, and they insist that a restoration of rightful authority (to the left) has to occur soon. The Deep State still lives. And while the Trump administration is attempting to disassemble the infrastructure built by his predecessor, the unending condescension, arrogance, and greed that pervaded the Obama administration continue today, just as Sheela's self-righteousness pervaded Wild Wild Country. As with most cults, there is no clarity for non-members to understand the appeal. It is unclear what Rajneesh's real gift was that attracted his followers, nor is it clear what Obama-supporters really saw in him. Rajneesh attracted many followers in other countries as well; there are lost people everywhere. Obama also was loved abroad, maybe even more than by his followers in the United States. Hope and change, peace and love – both are dreams, not practical political and cultural realities. Cult leaders prey on the weak, and while those interviewed for the documentary continue to praise Rajneesh to this day, they are pathetic losers to the rest of us. If multiculturalism and safe spaces were his legacy, it is clear that he was a failure just as Obama will be viewed as such when history looks back on his years in office and sees a disappearing legacy. Obama, too, had no real message to impart. His gift was his way with words and his ability to prey on the weak – those who dream big but who know little about the real world; those who desperately want to belong and do not understand who they are joining or the quixotic nature of their cult leaders' compelling promises turned empty lies. A special thanks to AT chief political correspondent and friend Richard Baehr for his input on this article.