"...It becomes politics."
This is a piece I wrote for the Johns Hopkins newsletter. I plan on submitting it tonight. I'm looking for feedback concerning the facts [not opinions] contained within, as well as any grammatical errors. Thanks!
"If you repeat a lie often enough..."
"...It becomes politics."
In April of 2008, while the presidential election season was already in full swing, a surprising poll figure was released by the Pew Research Center: 10% of Americans believed that candidate Barack Obama was Muslim, with a full third of respondents admitting to not knowing his religious beliefs at all. Among conservative Republicans, 16% stated that the president was of Muslim faith. Disregarding the absurdity of this figure coinciding with another ‘scandal’ being pushed by conservative candidates – that involving Obama’s Christian preacher – this is a frighteningly high figure when the man had stated his beliefs outright on multiple occasions.
Fast forward to 2010. With a year and a half since the inauguration of Imam Hussein Obama, Time magazine releases a new figure: 46% of self-identified Republicans believe their president is a Muslim. Add this to the fact that 41% of Republicans don’t even believe their president was born in this country, and one starts to wonder where these people are getting their information.
This disregard for reality is not an anomaly in the American right; it is quickly becoming the norm. We saw it under the Bush administration with the Iraq War when every major government official repeated the lie about weapons of mass destruction until it became dangerous to even question it (just ask Valerie Plame). We saw it during election season 2004 and 2006 when the GOP convinced their voters that Democrats wanted terrorism to succeed. We saw it again in election season 2008 with the accusations of treason, terrorism, socialism, Marxism, the birther movement, and every goddamned thing that ever left Sarah Palin’s mouth.
The technique is simple: you never actually have to say, "President Obama is a Muslim" or, "The President wants to destroy capitalism". You merely need Rush Limbaugh or Michelle Bachmann to raise the question. You just need Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin to make the suggestion that Obama could be trying to kill your Down Syndrome baby, and you’ve given GOP protesters all the ammo they need to mutilate the English language all over their posters and picket signs.
It’s not about making the statement – it’s about raising the question. And once the idea takes hold, it spreads like wildfire.
I’m sure no one is a stranger to the death panel nonsense that Palin started on her Facebook pulpit (it’s the only podium she has left after she quit her job as governor for reasons even she couldn’t explain). The lie took hold and became the norm at town hall riots – I’m reluctant to call them "meetings" – all across the country.
But instead of being brushed aside as the perversion of reality that it was, the lie spread so quickly that the health care provision that inspired it was actually removed from the bill, despite the fact that it represented a type of care already approved by the GOP just a few years earlier and offered to RNC employees through their health plans.
Couple that with the repeated lie that America has the best health insurance in the world, and you ended up with a watered down health care bill that seemed to be written more for the private companies it was trying to regulate than for the people whose lives it was looking to save.
It is now 2010, and the discourse is no different. The NYC ‘mosque’ (read: community center with a Muslim prayer space) is all the rage these days, as GOP candidates further the notion that this might be a terrorist recruiting center that could be funded by terror money and there may be a chance it represents a monument to victory. I’m just sayin’.
Even the sciences aren’t safe from political ‘debate’. In New Hamsphire, every GOP senate candidate is a global warming denier. In New Mexico – despite multiple forecasts of impending drought in the state – all GOP gubernatorial candidates are global warming deniers. While the rest of the civilized world struggles to find a solution to the impending climate crisis, scientists in the United States still struggle to convince the populace that the problem even exists.
But as we've all seen, you don't need to make the statement - just plant the seed. Of course Michelle Obama isn’t trying to force the country’s children to only eat what she deems suitable. But raise the question, and the damage is done. Obviously the Nuclear Security Summit logo wasn’t designed to reflect Obama’s Muslim faith. But make the suggestion, and the damage is done. And you’d have to be insane to think that Obama’s healthcare logo really looks like a Nazi swastika. But photoshop the images together – and you get the point.
So who do we blame for the banner of misinformation that flies proudly above the GOP? No one would hesitate to point fingers at the people who start the lies – the Palins and Bachmanns and Limbaughs of politics and punditry. But where is the responsible leadership?
Michael Steele, punching bag for his own party, is one apology away from literally kissing Rush Limbaugh’s ass. Newt Gingrich, a strong GOP contender for the 2012 presidential election, doesn’t hesitate to repeat the lies surrounding the Muslim community center. Even John McCain, once touted as a moderate conservative, was reluctant to dismiss every factually devoid rumor that came his way in 2008.
And even more absurd than the lies peddled by the political right is the complete disinterest in countering them from the left. As President Obama’s approval rating holds steady even after multiple political victories, all Democrats can do is roll their eyes while the demagoguery takes hold. Left leaning voters express a continued lack of interest in politics, with 62% of conservatives expressing ‘a lot’ of interest in the upcoming election and only 41% of liberals and moderates expressing similar concern.
I’m happy to see the citizens of this country get involved in politics, and I’m especially happy to see that the party out of power continues to fight for their beliefs. But where are they getting these ridiculous ideas? And why aren’t their leaders and politicians willing to fight for the truth?
For too long have conservative politicians stood idly while their constituents confessed belief in lies and nonsense in ever increasing numbers.
President Obama is a Christian. He is an American citizen and was born in the United States. Global climate change is real. Evolution is real. 9/11 was caused by a group of religious radicals, and the proposed NYC community center is not associated with their ideals. These are facts. These are not my opinions or weak conjectures that are up for debate.
And if our discourse does not immediately change to reflect an interest in the facts surrounding this country’s politics, we will see dangerous electoral results this November. For all we know, we may or may not be left deciding between Democrats and fascist Nazi sympathizers. Or something. I’m just sayin’.