I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick and tired of what I’m seeing on the editorial pages and commentaries as we get ever closer to an election which might well plunge the country into chaos — even if by some miracle voters soundly reject Republicans everywhere. What is infuriating is that only now are certain pundits starting to get really concerned that this might be it, might be lights out for democracy in America. They’re not laughing it off any more.
Only now are they taking notice that Republicans are going all out to make sure that free and fair elections will not happen, not if it means they can be defeated at the ballot box. The GOP are openly saying any election they don’t win is fraudulent, that the machines are rigged, that election officials can’t be trusted, and so on.
Only now are the pundits taking notice that GOP campaigns are built around lies, slander, and fear-mongering, that the threat of violence is becoming explicit. Only now are they recognizing that Republicans aren’t offering real solutions, just blame-casting and promises of punishment.
Only now are they starting to realize that Republicans have an agenda to wreck the global economy with a U.S. budget default in order to take hostage Social Security and Medicare. Only now are they starting to realize that everything is up for grabs — no rights are safe.
Only now are they starting to connect the dots with where the money is coming from to fund all of this, the de facto oligarchy and the determined theocrats in unholy alliance — just barely.
If January 6 wasn’t enough to convince them something was wrong, the rush of Republicans to embrace it after the fact along with the Big Lie should have been a clue. Even now, their cruel jokes about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the lies about it — have Republicans no decency? Does the question even need to be asked about the “very fine people?” They thought “Let’s go Brandon” was hilarious. I wonder how funny the GOP jokers would find it if they started getting hammers in the mail with their names on them?
Yeah, it’s not surprising they’d think hammers are funny. This is the future they’d bring us.
Where have the pundits been all these years? The conservative ones have been useless since forever, but the others?
Did the outright racism on display against Obama not trigger any sense of alarm? Did the endless demonization of Hillary Clinton with sham hearings not raise any concerns? (Consider that a rehearsal for what’s to come with a GOP House.) Do they never watch Fox News or listen to talk radio? How is it they only seen to venture into diners in the midwest to get the ‘real’ story?
Did they learn nothing from the George W. Bush years, the war of choice, the NeoCons and their plan for a New American Century? (Was Osama bin Laden right when he thought the 911 attacks would drive America over the brink?) Did they even notice when the GOP looted the Clinton budget surplus for tax cuts for the rich — followed by trillions in new debt for wars in the Middle East?
Did the endless Great Penis Hunt of the Clinton years do nothing but amuse them? (How trivial a blow job in the Oval Office looks these days, after seeing a President impeached for colluding with Russia, and impeached for inciting an insurrection to overturn the election.) Did they learn nothing from the way Clinton’s efforts to head off terror attacks were portrayed as wagging the dog?
Do I really need to go on, what with the conduct of Bush the Elder and his pardons, or the crimes of the Reagan years? Nixon? Newt Gingrich?
The ones I really have an issue with are the ones who are starting to sound the alarm — but then they have to add that the crisis we’re facing is partially or even entirely the fault of the Democrats, for being too ambitious, elitist, partisan, woke, extremist, uncivil, etc.
Planarians have more self awareness; so do slime molds.
The only comfort to be had is that after Tuesday all of the attack ads will disappear from the airwaves.
The lies, threats, and violence will continue — especially as Republicans have made it an article of faith that they can never accept the results of any election they don’t win. So, what will the pundit class do then?
UPDATE:
I should be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most damaging elements of the way the media has approached this situation: the holding back of critical information until it can be packaged into a book deal.
We’ve also seen the way the press follows narratives. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was widely reported by the press as a total fiasco for the Biden Administration, while glossing over the larger context: the conditions had been largely set by the Trump Aministration, the Afghan Government proved to be a hollow sham that collapsed far faster than anyone had predicted, and the military did a remarkable job with the limited time and resources it had available.
Could it have been done better? Of course — but it’s an easier story to sell as a disaster. Imagine if the media had covered the evacuation from Dunkirk the way they covered the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Several commenters have suggested specific examples would be helpful. I figured this rant was long enough without throwing in chapter and verse on all the atrocities.
I’ll give one example. The NY Times editorial board, with the vote coming up tomorrow, only today discusses What’s at Stake in These Elections. They could have run this at any time within the last six months or even earlier while hardly changing a thing in it. After a lengthy list of the things the GOP is doing that threaten this election and democracy, they have to throw in this:
...Indeed, voters have good reason to look at the current moment and wonder whether the Biden administration and congressional Democrats are doing enough to meet it. High inflation is making it harder for Americans to afford what they need and want. Overall crime has risen, causing people to fear for their safety. The federal government is struggling to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and America’s increasingly tense relations with China are undermining global peace and prosperity.
And this:
...Democrats have largely failed to connect with voters’ concerns about inflation and public safety during this campaign season. They have struggled to communicate their tangible achievements, including a big boost in funding for local law enforcement and bipartisan gun safety legislation, a historic federal investment in developing clean and low-cost sources of energy to confront climate change and the cost of living, and a breakthrough measure to bring down the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients.
Funny thing, but reporting those kinds of accomplishments don’t seem to be as ‘newsworthy’ for the press as the antics of narcissistic billionaires or the marital problems of a fading superstar quarterback.
The rest of the editorial lays out in some detail just what the consequences of GOP rule will be. This reflex “fair and balanced” criticism of Democrats under the circumstances is a bit like criticizing a fire department for not doing a better job putting out a fire while under constant harassment, and for not putting enough effort into promoting themselves to the community — because they’re, you know, ACTUALLY TRYING TO DEAL WITH THE FIRE!
Meanwhile arsonists are running around the entire town with gasoline and lit matches. But that’s what they’ve been doing for years, so it’s not newsworthy. Until they show up at the address of the people reporting the ‘news’.