It is a well-known fact that reality has a liberal bias.
- Stephen Colbert
When I look at the public dialogue these days, it doesn’t require a Ph.D. to recognize the entrenched divisions in the body politic. While one person attempting to describe such things always runs the risk of defaulting to the overly simplistic, I do believe that there’s a very uncomplicated explanation. What is comes down to is rage vs. the desire to do better- the willingness to cast blame for all that’s perceived to be “wrong” vs. those who recognize the world is imperfect but are willing to roll their sleeves up and get to work.
Before I’m accused of being self-congratulatory, understand that I recognize I’m treading the razor’s edge of over-simplifying what’s happening in America today. That said, when I look at the right side of the ideological spectrum, what I too often see and hear is hatred, racism, divisiveness, and a desire to exclude those “not like us”- i.e., White, Conservative, straight, and Christian.
For a political movement based on personal responsibility and freedom, modern American Conservatism has fallen into a very destructive authoritarian mindset. Ronald Reagan, once the hero of Conservatives, would be a pariah in today’s Republican Party- what some would derisively call a Republican in Name Only (RINO). Reasonable Conservative voices- those who advocate for personal freedom, personal responsibility, and limited government- have been drowned out by those who view government as a means to enshrine their own narrow moral/theological agenda as the law of the land. The separation of Church and State doesn’t exist for many of these folks, for whom the Church is and by rights should be the State.
It’s interesting that so many who speak in such profound terms about the importance of personal freedom aren’t actually referring to the personal freedom of those who think, believe, live, and/or love differently. These people are viewed as “less than” and as such considered unworthy of the protections and freedoms afford to REAL Americans- heterosexual White Conservatives who love Jesus.
You cannot defeat stupid people with logic or reason.
— God (@TheGoodGodAbove) February 18, 2016
You just have to distract them with dangly keys while you go vote.
We live in an America that Conservatives have succeeded in turning into an oligarchy that has nothing to do with classical conservatism. The system has been gamed to support the interests of the wealthy. Politicians are able to choose their voters through a cynical, manipulative re-districting process known as gerrymandering. Democracy- the idea of “one man, one vote” has been turned into a largely meaningless exercise in which those with an agenda pay for the gross manipulation and propagandizing of the American Sheeple, many of whom are far more comfortable with reacting out of rage than with thinking critically.
Our political process has been turned into a circus, ruled by sound bites, “gotcha” journalism, brazen dishonesty, propaganda, and a complete absence of anything resembling integrity. Today, politicians who succeed are too often the ones not shackled by things like expectations of honesty and integrity; instead employing whatever propaganda, talking points, and/or disinformation is needed to convince voters and secure their support. It’s an environment more conducive to circus clowns than to thoughtful, rational, reasoned discussion of pressing issues. It’s far easier and less taxing (not to mention less expensive) to tell the American Sheeple who they must hate with every fiber of their being than to persuade by force of intellect and reason. Joe and Ethel Sixpack don’t want to think (yes, I realize I’m generalizing); they want to know who will reaffirm and validate their hatred, fear, and prejudice. They want to know who will stop People Not Like Them- Liberals, gays, minorities, immigrants, the poor, the unemployed, etc., ad nauseum, ad infinitum- from taking away THEIR America. Where do you think the “I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!!” meme came from? When you believe that America must by rights represent your values to the exclusion of others, you’re the target market for demagogues ready, willing, and able to manipulate your anger into rage that serves their purpose.
From where I sit, I see “Conservatives” retreating into a fact-free bubble, in which they manufacture truth on the fly when needed to suit their purpose. I hear many on the Far Right declining to put forward cogent, supportable argument, instead lazily relying on a distressingly smug arrogance which allows them to laugh off opposing ideas via ridicule and cheap personal insults. Why engage in rational debate when you can reduce someone to a stereotype, thus eliminating any need to support arguments with actual evidence? You can do this when you inhabit a world in which merely believing something to be so ipso facto renders it true and incontrovertible.
When you can honestly believe that Donald Trump is a great candidate because “he tells it like it is,” Ted Cruz to be The Chosen One, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush to be inept Conservabots, and John Kasich to be “moderate,” it’s time to turn off Fox News Channel and set out on a walkabout in the reality-based world.
‘Course, what do I know? I’m just a clueless, wooly-headed Librul (and probably a closet socialist/communist) who hates America and the baby Jesus, right?
