When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
- Sinclair Lewis
I’m not going to waste time, brain cells, or column inches whining and moaning about Donald Trump’s public descent into fascism. Lord knows there are pundits being paid for that sort of thing; I’m not about to do it for nothing. No, my concern lies with a country whose public political discourse has degraded to the point where an anti-democratic blowhard who would use the Constitution as toilet paper is the leading contender for the GOP nomination.
Our collective concept of what we envision America has plummeted to a nadir where suggestions of putting Muslims into internment camps and barring all Muslims from entering the country have become actual things. Are we so frightened, ignorant, and intolerant that we’re no longer capable of factoring compassion, understanding, and tolerance into our discussions of public policy? We’re Americans; since when do we cave in to fear? Once upon a time, we saved the world from Nazism and fascism. When did we start allowing demagogues to seize control of public discourse and spreading rage, hatred, and divisiveness that we eagerly consume and approve of?
Somewhere along the way we lost our ability (and, more importantly, willingness) to demand more of those who would try to convince us that they’re fit to represent us. Someone running for President should be held to ridiculously high standards, criteria most mere mortals could never hope to meet. Anyone who believes themselves to be Presidential timbre should be ready, willing, and able to have their lives turned inside out and upside down in order that we might truly know who a candidate is and what they stand for. Instead, we’ve allowed a clown/demagogue/circus freak to set his own terms and ride his massive ego and sense of self-importance over, around, and through the media. Trump’s used his outrageousness to manipulate the media into reporting on his campaign in a manner he approves of and orchestrates.
Complain all you want- and his opponents and much of the punditocracy are doing exactly that- but this is far more about us than it ever could be about Trump. The GOP frontrunner is someone who shouldn’t be in contention to manage a Dairy Queen, much less have access to the nuclear launch codes. He’s succeeded in making the media march to his tune. Because of that, it’s become virtually impossible to have a legitimate and serious public discussion about the very real issues this country faces. Donald Trump isn’t the problem. He’s merely the most visible symptom of a Republican Party steeped in bigotry, hatred, and divisiveness…and our collective refusal to denounce them for it. House Speaker Paul Ryan can declaim all he wants about how that’s not what his party is about…but he’s merely attempting to deflect attention away from the truth that today’s GOP is ALL about bigotry, hatred, and divisiveness.
A very wise man once said that America gets exactly the quality of leadership it deserves. Evidently, that observation also applies to the media. Who knew our standards could be so abysmally low?
