The Symptoms and the Problem

If you've been following this blog very long, you have a pretty good idea of where I stand politically. You know that I absolutely detest Der Furor and all of his hateful enablers and supporters. You know that I despise brainless and hypocritical figures like Louis Gohmert, Mo Brooks, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Madison Cawthorne, Rudy Giuliani, Matt Gaetz, Devin Nunes, and ... well ... the list goes on and on and you probably don't have the time or desire to get your blood pressure up reading it.

Yes, I utterly detest all of these people. But they're really not the problem. They're the symptom of the problem. And the problem is that the America we thought we knew doesn't exist.

Underneath the relatively placid surface of the America I grew up in, the America I love, the America I served for 23 years as an Air Force officer, ugly things were bubbling and churning. But the structure of our society and our shared belief in the American ideal tended to keep those ugly things in check. But over time a few things came together to turn over the rocks of our common consensus and let the ugly things out.

One was the Vietnam War, which was wildly unpopular and which showed us that the government we trusted (well, most of us, anyhow) was willing and able to lie to us.

Another was the rise of the Internet, which allowed instant communication and the immediate, widespread sharing of unfiltered information. It gave the most ludicrous of ideas an audience that wasn't bothered by pesky things like accuracy and truth.

A third was the introduction and proliferation of camera-equipped smartphones, that allowed ordinary people to capture on video (and disseminate uncensored on the Internet) the ugly things that were not being reported by the major news networks - in particular the casual cruelty of some police officers toward minorities.

The rise of specialized news networks was another. The general homogeneity of the news as presented by the traditional networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and newcomers like CNN - which contributed to a shared reality and world view most Americans understood and accepted - was undermined by new networks like Fox News and OANN that offered not only a different perspective, but a completely different and often totally unhinged reality based on anger and grievance rather than evidence and perspective.

The next one was the election of Der Furor as president in 2016. A majority of Americans, fired up in large part by the first five items on this list, voted for an odious, narcissistic, bombastic, openly racist buffoon who convinced them that he alone understood their anger and resentments and could restore the America of their fevered dreams. He was an utterly unqualified president who trampled over every line of honor, decency, and competence while ruining our standing in the world, and whose rhetoric told the angry mob not only that it was all right to hate, but that it was the truly American thing to do.

And the last one was Der Furor's loud and angry refusal to acknowledge his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. This refusal - supported by not the least shred of evidence - has undermined faith in our system of voting, and of our government in general. The fact that a great many Americans still send this odious creature money and show up at his rallies to sing his praises is a sad commentary on the state of our education, our politics, and our society.

So, Dear Friends, the problem isn't the loons in Congress  ... it's us. We just see it now because the worst of us believe they've been empowered by a failed former president. They wave their Confederate flags next to the American flags and gaudy Der Furor vanity flags on their pickup trucks, send their hard-earned dollars to a fake billionaire with a string of bankruptcies, go to church and mouth the words, yet believe that God sent them a savior who has openly violated every one of the Ten Commandments, and hate their neighbors because they need someone to blame for their own problems and shortcomings. 

I don't know where we go from here, but I don't see any evidence that the tsunami of anger, intolerance, and resentment that's been unleashed is going to go away any time soon. I hope that better people will prevail, but I wonder what sort of America we are leaving for my grandchildren.

Have a good day. More thoughts later, after I calm down.

Bilbo