“Alternative Facts” Live On

Once upon a time, there were fairy tales told to children. Some were allegorical, others were based on folklore. Frequently the tales conveyed messages to children to teach them to be safe, much as parents today might say “don’t talk to strangers” or “cross the street at the crosswalk”. Many might remember Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Hansel and Gretel. Some might also remember The Boy Who Called Wolf (attributed to Aesop’s Fables around 600 BCE) or The Pied Piper (folklore around the 14^th Century). In the first a young shepherd often tricked the townspeople and called “wolf” when there was no danger; when the wolf finally appeared and killed the sheep, his cries were no longer heeded because of his many falsehoods. In the latter, a rat catcher was hired to drive the rats from the town with his magical music; when the townspeople refused to pay him, he then lured away the children of the town. Here, failure to pay a debt triggered a severe penalty. Lies and failures to meet contractual obligations were considered unacceptable behaviors even centuries ago.

Today we are seeing the Republican Party engaging in these same types of behaviors, long condemned by society, by repeating lies and more lies each day, by engaging in false audits of elections, and breaking the contracts election officials have long held with the general population of the voting public. Some GOP Members of Congress falsely claim that there was no insurrection at the US Capitol when we all saw it happening and noted that any misdeeds were because of members of Antifa. Now that over 500 arrests have been made, many in the right-wing media have joined members of Congress in attacking the FBI as being organizers and participants in the riot. Polls have shown that most Republicans are now buying these lies, even as most of the country does not. But, what needs to be emphasized is that those elected officials who were there that day, know they are lying even as they keep on repeating those statements about friendly tourists. They heard the rioters; they saw the destruction; they smelled the tear gas; they knew they were hustled to safety by Capitol Police. Their lies need to be called out loudly and often.

The Washington Post had a lengthy article recently about the wealthy conspiracy theorists and others who are continuing to fund the “Stop the Steal” movement. The right-wing media outlet One America Network (OAN) is the one network allowed to cover the Arizona audit, its chief reporter is also helping to fund the efforts. (So much for journalistic objectivity!) The Cyber Ninjas group that is running this effort has been shown by most in the mainstream media to be a shady group that already supported the Stop the Steal efforts, had questionable experience, no actual corporate offices nor expertise in audits, yet the State Senate of Arizona has allowed this charade to continue. Even some other Republicans in the state are questioning these actions; the Department of Justice (DOJ) has warned against these counts, saying they violate federal law, so it will be seen if the DOJ steps in at some point. It still puzzles me that all of those who contest the validity of the votes being counted do not contest the votes that elected other officials, such as those for Congress or state offices. If the ballots for President were incorrect, wouldn’t those for the other offices also be suspect?  Makes no sense to me.  I guess that is real compartmentalized thinking!

This weekend I read two disturbing articles in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The one in the Post is Called “A war on Truth is raging. Not everyone recognizes we’re in it,” and is written by Lee McIntyre and Jonathan Rauch. It refers back to a conspiracy theory started in 2015 that President Obama was planning to impose martial law and seize all guns and, according to General Hayden of the CIA, was in part a message spread by Russian propagandists and conservative bloggers. This was, of course, untrue and had incorrectly characterized a military exercise in the southwest. But, they claim, once it was seen how easy it was to engage people in believing such outrageous plots it was also easy to continue such messaging.  It then becomes easier to turn Americans against believing the media, both TV and print, distrust academic institutions and scientists, and believe whatever anonymous messages they can find on the Internet that reinforce these views, once they are established. That is what allows groups such as QANON to flourish, the leaders are not only anonymous, they are also not accountable to anyone. The article claims that “Putin could only dream of creating so much cynicism, doubt, and distrust”. The authors conclude their writing with the warning that “the first step towards winning the war on truth is to accept that we are in one.”

The article in the Times is written by Adam Serwer of the Atlantic and is called “The Cruel Logic of the GOP”. He claims that current Republicans have adopted the logic that “victories of the rival party are illegitimate, wrought by fraud, coercion or by the support of ignorant voters who are not truly American.” He continues discussing the efforts to demonize any who could be identified as the “other”, by virtue of religion, race, or ethnicity. He states further that Senator Cruz is attacking the voter rights legislation as a measure that will register millions of illegal aliens to vote. Again, this is brazenly lying with no concern for the truth. He also discusses the efforts of the former president to attack votes from major eastern cities such as Philadelphia and Detroit which have large Black populations. The author decries this effort on white identity politics but indicates that it can be defeated by coalitions and a diverse constituency. However, he also notes that the Democrats had no choice but to turn to this diversity as a winning opportunity. He concludes that: “Americans will always have strong disagreements about matters such as the role of the state, the correct approach to immigration, and the place of religion in public life. But the only way to diminish the politics of cruelty is to make them less rewarding.”

I see the mid-term propaganda wars starting on several fronts.  In a replay of the earlier culture wars of the Tea Party, several themes are already emerging. In nearby Loudon County, some School Board meetings ended in disruption as issues regarding Critical Race Theory(CRT) and the rights of Trans Teens were under discussion. The Republican candidate for Governor has also engaged the discussion on CRT in his campaign, even as his TV ads try to downplay political parties and he never has an R after his name. Of course, trans teens are easy to attack as they lack a strong power structure with which to fight back. (I wish that the teacher who testified that his Christian religion does not recognize gender change would find more Christian charity.) 

As for CRT, aside from the fact that it is a course usually found in graduate schools, not elementary schools, I think this is a false issue being used to inflame racial animus. I applaud schools for trying to teach that America is not and has not been perfect, but has goals of justice and unity that we struggle together to reach.  They should teach that racism against any group is wrong. Even as I see our world changing, I appreciate our diversity; I embrace it, for we are truly closer to becoming that international mosaic than we have ever been. Montgomery County MD is now racially a majority-minority county with no single race over 50%. In 2016, one-third of the county population indicated they were born outside of the United States.

I expect that the anti-immigrant bias of the previous elections is now going to also have an anti-Black bias in the upcoming mid-terms, so be ready for lots of false propaganda, but don’t buy it. Remember, the swift-boating of John Kerry, the Benghazi hearings against Hillary Clinton, and the birther campaign against President Obama, all issues meant to inflame and all based on false premises. Do not allow these to happen again. If something sounds suspicious, check it out.

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The US is now seeing the Delta variant of the COVID virus, which was so devastating in India, spreading rapidly.  The way to stop it is to get vaccinated. New cases and deaths are continuing to be low in the US, but about 10% of the American population has already had a COVID infection, a number that is far too high already.

COVID Stats—NY Times

Total US cases: 33,592,325. New cases: 11,881. Total Deaths: 603,597. New Deaths: 308.

Total Maryland Cases: 4662,078. New Cases: 61. Total Deaths: 9,734. New Deaths: 4.

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In conclusion, Congressman Matt Gaetz (yeah him) tried to attack Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Millay on CRT. It kinda backfired – I love how this is discussed in The Roots. Millay indicated that this should be taught, racism and white rage should be understood by the military. Subsequently, the General was attacked on Fox News and called a pig; commentators called for defunding the military. Is this getting absurd or what?

No pandas today–just a link to an article about the 300 migrating elephants in China–what has the loss of their habitat done to alter their lifestyle? What does it tell us about protecting fragile environments and the animals that live there?

Remember, “alternative facts” are still lies!

‘Til next week–Peace!