April 9, 2013

  • Our Mangled Discourse

                Around the time of Gabby Gifford’s near-assassination I commented on the attempts by some to make the public rethink how they interacted with people of different political leniencies. One of the more annoying targets of their ire was the use of Hitler/Nazi comparisons. They were trying to argue that both sides were equally guilty of abusing this attack, citing how Obama’s detractors label him as another Hitler while BOOsh’s detractors did the same. As I said back then, this is a false equivalency because at least most of us opposing BOOsh had some understanding of what it takes to follow in the Authoritarian footsteps of our long-deceased World War Two foe.

     

                Now, does that mean that BOOsh was going to round his adversaries up and exterminate them? No, and if he was ever going to do so it would have made sense for him to initiate such a policy at the height of his power in early 2002. However, what made BOOsh a follower in Hitler’s footsteps was his heavy reliance on highly-charged fear-based rhetoric to promote his policy proposals including an assault on numerous constitutionally-guaranteed rights as well as an unnecessary act of aggression against another country. For these reasons, BOOsh’s actions made him a fascist – a reactionary or dictatorial leader -, just like Hitler and the former German Nazi party.

     

                Also, it was the concern of many liberals - such as me - that BOOsh was setting dangerous precedents for the presidency that he stole from the people. To be honest, the fear of these precedents continues today as President Obama has only ended the use of torture while simultaneously expanding upon much of the BOOsh-style of executing the powers of that office. Having said that, it’s important to note how Obama has removed the element of fear – and thus reactionary and dictatorial governance for the most part - from the equation. Therefore, labeling Obama as another Hitler, Nazi, or Fascist does little more than convey one’s complete ignorance as to what any of those labels entail.

     

                The truth of the matter is that while the 2012 election showed that we are a nation headed in a progressive direction (since Democrats won more votes nationwide than the Repugs did), our back-and-forth discussion of the issues is so polluted that it’s a mystery how we ever manage to get anything done. When one side of the debate distrusts any set of facts not offered to them by their favorite talk-radio or cable news host, the foundation of a healthy, intellectual debate crumbles from the get-go. Of course, this not some new phenomenon in our politics, because the advent of Limbaugh-style talk-radio and Fox News about a decade or so later have made this the norm for quite some time now. Moreover, the internet – which is, on its own, an overall positive and promising aspect of modern human society – has exacerbated the problem by enabling conspiracy theorists to spread their nonsense without limit and with impunity.

     

                Don’t get me wrong, I used to dabble in some conspiracy theories. From the age of 18 until I was about 21 or 22, I was convinced that BOOsh was the Antichrist and that he was coming to put us in concentration camps ran by FEMA. What happened? Nothing, and I gradually had come to realize how ridiculous those beliefs were. Now, as I prepare to turn 28 on the 15th, I’m proud to say that I don’t believe in a single conspiracy theory.

     

                Sadly, there are many men and women who are supposed to be wiser than I – if you buy the laughable claim that wisdom comes with age – who believe in lizard people, Obama as the Antichrist, Obama as a secret Kenyan-born Communist implant, the intentional poisoning of our water, and so on. Just the other day, whilst watching CNN’s coverage of the gun control debate during my break at work, some idiotic customer walked up to me and – with a straight face, mind you – started telling me that the grieving and now-activist families of Sandy Hook’s slain were all actors and that the Newtown tragedy was a hoax meant to stir up public sentiments in favor of “taking our guns”. First of all, to everyone believing this shit; FUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOUU!! Seriously, how dare you insult the memory of those young children and the brave adults who died trying to protect them!!

     

                There are many reasons why our system is broken. One – as I have so often pointed out here – is the issue of money in our politics. The other is this unsustainable dilemma where the citizens operate and view the world through two different spheres; one dictated by the FACTS, and the other driven by conspiracy theories and fantasy. Unless we do something to fix this, not even a Constitutional Amendment to address the damage done by Citizens United and private campaign financing will get us back on the right path.

     

    Tonight’s Conclusion

     

                I’m concerned about our current situation. If ever there was an appropriate time to propose education reform as well as a reinstatement of the fairness doctrine, it is now. Then again, not even those two major approaches would fully address this problem, as we would also have to deal with the increasing threat of media “monopolies”. Either way, this nation is in danger of seeing its polity become so dysfunctional as to render it useless and disabled.

     

    Until next time…

     

    TAKE CARE