Watching Rand Paul on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, pushing a narrative about election fraud (and accusing George Stephanopoulos of contributing to fake news) just proves that there is a large section of the GOP who wallow in lies, propaganda, and tribalism. They do so because it makes it difficult for the Executive and Legislative branches to ever do the right thing (e.g., just, moral, ethical). The GOP demands loyalty, which translates into tribal lockstep talking points and votes. The GOP will even attack its own leadership if that legislator dares to speak outside of the prescribed script (as they did with Liz Cheney).
It is time for America to grow the fuck up, starting with our legislators. The radicaized segment of GOP legislators must realize that they are feeding the division in our country by repeating conspiracies and lies that have no basis in fact or face political, legal, and/or fiscal consequences. This divisiveness and tribalism has become a threat to our democratic republic.
For example, I can ask repeatedly about 9/11 and how only Building 7 also fell even though it was not hit by a plane and was not the only building in proximity. I am just an average citizen voicing an opinion. However, a public figure or media outlet disguised as news, asking that same question repeatedly, would feed into the frenzied zeal of the subset of Americans who believe the government is evil, it is out to get them, it wants to control them, and in turn only get their information from unvirifiable echo chambers. That public figure and media outlet would then have a responsibility to:
- Shut the fuck up about it until more evidence is gathered and assessed by experts.
- If they feel so strongly about the topic, lead or sponsor an investigation, let the experts make the critical assertions, and then report out the results.
- If those results differ from your original beliefs, then be an adult and admit you were wrong.
There is a sickness in our country. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian. There is nothing wrong with being White (or any other color). There is nothing wrong with being less smart than other people. There is nothing wrong with working in a blue-collar job. There is nothing wrong with identifying as a conservative.
However, there is everything wrong with identifying with fascism and Nazis. There is everything wrong with being willfully ignorant. There is everything wrong with denying facts, expert commentary, and critical assessment when it does not align with your worldview.
This is the sickness we face. There are too many media facets available online that are more than willing to feed that frenzied sickness. There are volumes of propaganda and disinformation (e.g., alternate fake studies, scientists who are for sale, Russian/Chinese disinformation farms) produced that looks (to a lay person or biased researchers) to support the conspiracy theories, lies, and disinformation. We need to label those sources for what they are: Unsubstantiated at best, Complete Falsehoods at worst. When a claim is thoroughly refuted, the lies that feed into the sickness must be censored or at least labeled as a falsehood.
Before your head explodes because I used the C word, keep in mind that censorship already exists. American television will not show nudity, nor will it allow curse words until after a certain hour (and even then, words like fuck, cunt, and so on are not allowed at all) and never on network stations.
Censorship exists because not all speech is free, nor should all speech be free. For example, someone espousing racist ideologies cloaked in quasi-scientific terminology should be immediately refuted by facts and labeled for what it is…hate speech. Child pornography is not allowable free speech, and rightfully so. Yet, so too, lies about child pornography (including unfounded claims that the opposing political party is running a child sex slave ring) should also be refuted with facts and labeled for what it is…hate speech.
Legislators must complete the second impeachment of Trump. Only the most egregious liars and foolish of the fools will say openly that Trump did not incite an insurrection. The facts of the case are all public. Trump explicitly stated before the election that if he lost it would be because of voter fraud. He did this repeatedly, in Tweets, in video statements, and at his rallies. This lie was repeated by media sources known for lying, disinformation, tribalism, and propaganda. In addition, his henchman Post Master General purposefully pushed an agenda to harm the ability of the postal service to deliever mail-in ballots.
When Trump lost in a landslide, that feeling of disillusionment felt by his supporters (that so many Americans disagree) was whipped into frenzied calls for revenge by Trump publicly. His lies were explicitly stated in Tweets, in video statements, and at his rallies. His lies were also repeated by those same media outlets.
After the attack on our capital by fascists who wanted to take over America (blatant treason), and/or take legislators AND THE VICE PRESIDENT hostage, Trump finally made a public announcement that he loved those terrorists, that they were special, and to just go home. What the actual fuck?!?!? Were these special people going to execute their hostages (had they succeeded taking any)? We do not know. What we do know is that they did kill a Capital police officer in cold blood while storming the building. It is a reasonable assumption that had the fascist terrorists reached Nancy Pelosi, Mike Pence, or any one of their other targets they would have killed them too, and posted it on social media with glee.
There is no way any adult with half a brain cannot see that the President of the United States is guilty of sedition and treason. This is even more reason to charge Trump in that second impeachment with treason to the full extent of the law, which means he should be executed as well. Every one of those treasonous terrorists who stormed the capital building should also be charged with treason and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Otherwise, we are saying that anyone who does not like the outcome of a fair election (including the sitting president) can commit treason with impunity. This is a the most dangerous precedent that we can set. Impeachment by the Senate is an imperative that is also a matter of national security.
We must also censure all politicians pushing the election fraud narrative. These legislators are trying to deny Americans their basic right to vote. They want to silence the voices of anyone who is not lockstep in agreement with them. And that is the most disgusting part of the GOP (and the people who vote for them). This mindset also led to the insurrection by fascist terrorists on 06-Jan-2021.
Our country needs unity. This does not mean we must all be in lockstep agreement on everything. No one wants to live in an America that has become "Camazotz" (1973). The beauty of America is that we can be a community while also reveling in the uniqueness of our individualism. Lockstep agreement negates critical thinking, negates opinion and perspective, negates opposing views, and eliminates all compromise. Lockstep agreement (conformity) is tyranny. The origins of the term “lockstep” is a military term for a tight style of mass marching (Harper, 2001). What happens in the military when someone “steps out of line"? They are disciplined because military strength comes from discipline, unity, and conformity. Militaries are fascist in their structure and environment. You will fall in line or you will be ostracized and/or pushed out. I understand why that is important for the military to operate. I do not understand, however, why that mindset would be a good thing for a free society.
I have spoken with people in the military. There is no denying that there is an element within the ranks who think America should require military service from all citizens, and that American rights should only be allowed for people who “serve” our country. In other words, we should have a warrior class and a peasant class, with the warrior class having more privilege than anyone else; a sentiment that is currently promoted by America’s fetishization of the military. This grotesque mindset exploded after the terrorist attack on 11-Sep-2001.
Have you noticed that the GOP constantly pushes for tremendous amounts of money to be in the defense bills? Have you noticed that anyone who says anything negative about those bills or votes against them are demonized as “not supporting our troops” or “wants the enemy to win”? But have you also noticed that any mention of cuts to those budgets are always falling on our troops and veterans? Have you noticed that the Pentagon is free to spend the lion’s share of that money on military contractors (including mercenaries) and illegal bribes to fund proxy wars?
If the GOP really cared as much about the troops and the veterans as they pretend to, we could cut those military budgets while giving more money to the troops, the veterans, and their families. How many veterans are homeless? How many people post online about how we should never have any homeless veterans? I see those sentiments all the time. My response is that we should not have any homeless people at all. The fact that we do is shameful. The fact that so many people want to only help the Warrior Class, shows how there is a segment of Americans who want to live in a totalitarian state.
We are sitting at the precipice of our democratic republic and staring into the abyss of tyranny. If Americans want to keep this country and cherish those rights that everyone yammers on about, then we must do the right thing to protect it. The 2021 election was fair and certified by each state. There was no fraud. There was no conspiracy to steal it from Trump. The people have spoken. We must move on as an American republic, where we will have different opinions but will find compromise. We must reject the calls from the radicalized GOP to drop the impeachment and resort to tribalism. Biden won the presidency fair and square. To repeat the phrase shouted at the majority of us back in 2016, “Suck it up Buttercup”, it is time to move on.
References
Harper, D. (2001). Lock-step (n.). Retrieved January 24, 2021, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/lock-step
L'Engle, M. (1973). Chapter 6: The Happy Medium. In A wrinkle in time (p. 109). New York, NY: Yearling/Bantam Doubleday Dell.
Sen. Paul Joins ABC's "This Week" - January 24, 2021 [Television broadcast]. (2021, January 24). In This Week. ABC.