...commentary like this is rather blithely ignorant that the people scaring them now, have been around since 1776. And have been on somebody's radar screen (the FBI and the KKK; the SPLC) for a long time.Important essay by @michikokakutani about the sources of and evidence of the decline in our public discourse, politics, & civics. If you are not worried, you should be, as the fabric of American democracy is being rent (as in torn). https://t.co/x7xCLSHpXx— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) December 28, 2019
And when these fringe groups fade from public notice again after Trump loses in 2020, so will commentary like this, which so boldly predicts a future that is not coming. They will go back to pronouncing how the earth is flat and trade is the salvation of civilization, and racism is no more.
We have a name for "fair weather patriots." We need one for pundits who think the world is only the part they live in or read about in the NYT.
Besides, I'm old enough to remember that, before he was canonized in death as a secular American saint, Dr. King was a dangerous "agitator" deserving of the disdain of all who represented a "decline in our public discourse, politics, and civics." One has only to read his famous letter from Birmingham jail to see he was taken that way in his lifetime. From a jail cell, an accused criminal, he writes to justify his "direct action" that so many whites saw as uncivil and even damaging to the national fabric. There was just as much hand-wringing then, fearful of a future which is now our past.
Anti-semitism is on the rise, and we are right to oppose it. We would be wrong to fear it meant we were one step away from Nazi Germany, however. Fear will paralyze us. Opposition to evil that is here now, is what will move us to actionA reminder that studies have shown the number of anti-Semitic incidents and crimes has been rising rapidly after years of decline https://t.co/8zRiTv59Qp— Adriana Lacy 🦅 (@Adriana_Lacy) December 29, 2019
I think the difference now is that what used to be fringe is embraced by a large portion of conservatives, including elected officials. They are longer pandering to the fringe groups, they are the fringe groups. The president is retweeting and boosting conspiracy theories, as are Republican officials all the way down to the base voter. Trump is merely the symptom, he rode and amplifies a wave that already existed, and will exist even after he is gone in 1 or 5 years. The left has for the most part kept the fringe to the fringe. What ever you think of Pelosi and Schumer, they and none of their fellow Dem leadership are trading in conspiracy theories. Even AOC, isn't promoting fringe conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteI do think defeating Trump takes some heat out of the movement and gives an opening for less extreme conservatives to exert influence, but the core base will be looking for a new standard bearer and there will be ambitious politicians eager to take on the role. There is too much conservative infrastructure and money to let this go away anytime soon.
So we make it go away, starting in 2020.
DeleteTotally agree, hard work but it must get done. (Now let me find a job first...)
ReplyDeleteYou work on a job. We got this.
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