While the January 6th committee hearings are now underway, and that is a good thing, there are some observations that come with it that we must face realistically and plan for the future accordingly. The fact of the matter is that a relatively large minority of Americans, as many as a third by most credible evidence, can be considered "extremists" in that they believe something that has been proven to be false, and they believe it strongly enough to be willing to use force to defend it.
That is an extremely dangerous place to be. It's the kind of situation that existed in Europe prior to both 20th century world wars. It's existed in the United States in the past as well, in the decades that led up to the Civil War. Extremism has embedded itself in social and cultural institutions, where it is almost impossible to eliminate or change. It only needs a tipping point or, perhaps a better analogy, a carelessly tossed cigarette into the dry tinder to ignite the flames.
The groundwork for the extremism that is causing this crisis has been laid for a long time. When Richard Nixon was caught in lies, he blamed the media for being biased. The very nature of conservativism requires withholding and suppressing information to protect itself from change, so of course, the media became a perfect scapegoat for Nixon's crimes. But the difference back then was that there were very few media outlets that were willing to depart from sound journalistic principles in order to defend him. That's one of the major differences between then and now.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
That's the motto of the Washington Post, the "nation's daily newspaper" as it is sometimes called. The extremist right considers the Post "liberal, left wing media." That's one of many errors that is made by people who hold that perspective. To say that tells me, a regular reader of both the Post and the New York Times that the individuals making that statement have never read either newspaper themselves, and have paid little attention to their contents.
Both newspapers, which are primarily on-line media outlets these days, since their online readership is massively larger than their print circulation, follow strict journalistic principles which come as close to eliminating any kind of political, social or cultural bias in their reporting. Their editorial position is a different story, but notice that I said their reporting is unbiased. I've rarely seen a reporter from the Post fail to include all of the facts and all of the perspectives relevant to a news story and if they do, its because they missed something, not because they were deliberately trying to hide it from the readers.
Reporting is kept separate from editorial and opinion sections. Both papers have editorial writers and columnists who are sympathetic to conservative perspectives, though it is true that the majority of their writers take a leftward leaning moderate to liberal approach when expressing their opinion. But the notable difference is that conspiracy theories, statements that cannot be fact-checked or verified for their accuracy, and intentional, deliberately misleading statements are not included in the editorials of the Washington Post or the New York Times. And to conservatives, who only read and watch right wing media outlets, which are really nothing more than propaganda channels, see the factual perspective of the two big dailies as biased.
Many conservatives have become far right extremists because they are in a media world that is in darkness. They are being manipulated. The driving force appears to be fear, generated by a lack of education or the failure to develop critical thinking skills, and a lack of ability to even tolerate people who don't share the same interests. And while this is purely anecdotal, in many conservatives whom I know, their fears border on the edge of paranoia, thinking that there is someone or something out there always out to "get" them. Their isolation inside a media bubble has created an "us vs them" perspective, with the "them" being an enemy who isn't entitled to the same rights because they are "unAmerican" by a hypocritical definition.
Wasn't One of the Original Purposes of a Public Education System "Democratic Equality" Leading to Better Citizenship?
American educators were able to see the connection between an educated society and the preservation of representative democracy. Most people who came to America were motivated by the personal freedom that it offered. Over time, they connected access to that freedom with abandoning the idea of a "ruling class" from European tradition and they realized that equal access to education would eliminate the social, cultural and economic inequities that perpetuated those ideas. And it succeeded.
The American Civil War played a big role in demonstrating the need for an educated electorate to prevent democracy from being distorted and captured by special interests. The result was compulsory public education by the time the United States entered World War I. And that has led to a measure of equality that strengthened the representative democracy by increasing the public's participation in it. I believe that the influence of American education stabilized representative democracy, at least for most of the post war period, even though Vietnam, until the attacks on independent media by conservatives began to take a toll. That, and the deterioration of public education, have brought us to this present darkness.
Is it Even About Democracy Anymore?
More than any other extremist propagandist in the media, Rush Limbaugh interjected idealism that runs counter to democratic values. Limbaugh took the position that people aren't capable of ruling themselves and they need a more firm, authoritarian system to make sure that the things that are "right" are done, and the things that are "wrong" are avoided. The bottom line for Limbaugh in measuring what was "right" was money, how to make it and keep as much of it as possible, avoiding giving any of it to the democratic government that will use it to pander to liberal, wrong ideas.
The right talks about patriotism and the founding fathers and democracy like they own it. But in fact, what they are advocating is not democracy, it is an autocracy in which there is a ruling class, based on ideology. And if that sounds ominous, it is. There is a mixture of ideology in there that has pulled the money interests, those who are aiming to enrich a small group of individuals by using government power, together with those who believe that America was originally destined to be a revival of white, Christian European culture, chosen by God and given the riches of an untapped North American continent as a blessing, and the Christian Dominionists and Reconstructionists who believe they are the forerunners of Christ's return and God's kingdom on earth.
We got an up-close look at this in the insurrectionist mob that invaded the Capitol on January 6th. One of the images that specifically got my attention was a banner with a Confederate flag and a Christian flag being used as a weapon to jab a police officer. That mob is just a small sample of the work that right wing media has been doing for several decades,
Free Speech Turned Against Democracy
So how is political poison like this neutralized under constitutionally guaranteed free speech?
This won't happen overnight. It is now as embedded in the far right as any political ideology has ever been in this country, going back to its early days, with the possible exception of the period prior to the Civil War, and then Reconstruction. It's political opponents have been very patient, though there have been incidents which have flared up into violence, flash points which illustrate exactly why the time has come to wake up before there is another civil war.
Free speech is a cherished core value of American democracy. And it cannot be abused or sacrificed. We just have to learn how to use it effectively to defeat what is an obvious attempt to subvert American values. I don't believe America has run its course yet. This won't be easy, but it's not insurmountable.
We need to recognize that the injection of far right political ideology has its limits, and is waning. It reached its high point in getting Trump in the White House for four years. That, in turn, motivated the largest turnout of Democratic party votes in American history, over 80 million, from virtually every Democratic party constituency, and most independents, to get him out. So the first step is to gather the strength of the ballot box again, in 2022, and put an exclamation point on 2020.
It's Been Gift Wrapped Already--Make it Work!
Is that so unrealistic? It has to be done, and opinions about who is in the White House don't matter, though the President we have is politically the best suited to carry out what needs to be done and that's why 80 million of us elected him in the first place. Uniting the country has to be done under the rules and principles of its democratic constitutional government, and with the minority party playing the obstructionist card, holding the majority in Congress, getting the Senate past the filibuster obstacle and negotiating from a position of strength is the only language obstructionism understands.
I hear the wailing, the despair, the rhetoric. "It would take a miracle. The party in power in the White House always loses the mid-terms." But Democrats have had a lot of help. Putin showed his true colors and attacked Ukraine. There's definitely a way to stir up some angry voters, in spite of gas prices and inflation by sticking some labels on that and plastering photographs of a smiling Trump with his left arm around a smiling Putin. This is an issue which has the support of well over 60% of the American people, so use it.
Over 60% of the American people are against, against, seeing Roe v, Wade overturned. At this point, I don't care who leaked Alito's papers (I'm convinced Ginny Thomas was responsible) that news lit a fire under a significant segment of otherwise sleepy voters. Getting 60% support on a political issue these days is rare indeed, and yet here we are.
In Uvalde, Texas, the logical progression of unbridled and out-of-control irresponsibility of a distorted perspective of second amendment rights led to the brutal, bloody massacre of nineteen children and two teachers, and the wounding of a dozen others, in an elementary school in a small town in rural South Texas, where things like that aren't supposed to happen. Most of the bodies were mangled beyond recognition. This is a direct result of legislation that is pushed by the far right and promoted by their propagandists. Any objection to this becoming a political issue was nullified by the governor of Texas, who said, "it could have been worse," in his initial press conference. How could it possibly have been worse?
Support for increased regulation of gun ownership, especially limiting calibre and number of weapons that can be owned by one person, runs upwards of 80% of the electorate. Eighty percent.
And I could write a book about what can be gained from the January 6th hearings. I know that there are a lot of Democrats who are throwing wet blankets on this, but at this point, any wedge for an advantage is a gift. The whining and complaining of the right should be ignored and the focus maintained on the facts. Gain all of the ground here that can be gained, there will be a lot of members of Congress who get called out in this and their Democratic opponents should get all the help necessary to keep this up front through the election cycle.
Who is going to step up and take these wonderful gifts that are already significant advantages for Democrats among marginal Republicans and independents, and use them to motivate the 80 million voters who cast a ballot for President Biden in 2020 to go back and give him the tools he needs to finis the job?
Haven't we been accused of promoting the "cancel culture"? Why can't we turn that effort toward the sponsors of Fox News, Breitbart, USA Radio, Newsmax and other right wing propagandists?
This is one way I have of doing my part. I was trained in Journalism in college, but I'm a blogger and I fall into the "editorial" category, not the news reporting category. As you can see, I have a lot to say and I make a lot of relevant connections. I'm not one to sit on the couch watching cable news, clicking my tongue at how bad the world is and I'm not letting this go. Share this around, improve on it if you want, use it to prove points or to make conservatives angry. I'm up for the debate. I have the facts on my side and they can't clap their hands over their ears and pretent they can't hear me.
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