Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
I went to the dentist last week. A tender spot had developed on one of my molars, and I was overdue for a cleaning anyway. I’d been putting it off for a while. Like a lot of people, I don’t really like going to the dentist, but it was drilled into me from early childhood that dental hygiene is very important. My dentist is a very nice man and good at what he does—and I know going to him is good for me, but I still dread those visits. Of course, it was fine. Everything turned out well.
I also put off emission testing, going to the gym, taking out the garbage, paying the bills, cleaning the bathroom, and getting up in the morning. I wouldn’t say any of these activities are painful or even difficult. They’re just dreary. But I also do tend to avoid uncomfortable activities like visiting a friend in the hospital or helping somebody move, even though I know these are good and generous things to do.
Of course, procrastination can result in more serious consequences. Ignoring the clunking in your transmission can mean serious results down the road. Not getting too worried about the strange smell coming from the basement can mean an expensive visit from the plumber later. Putting off a visit to the doctor when you’re coughing up blood can result in a visit to the cancer ward—and worse.
In a recent New York Times/Siena Poll, a majority of American voters have cited the economy, inflation, and crime as their top concerns in this election cycle. According to a Times analysis of this poll, seventy-one percent of all voters believe our democracy is at risk, but only seven percent of those polled named it as the most important issue facing our country. According to the article, depending on the voter’s affiliations, the nature of these threats to democracy takes radically different forms. Apparently, a majority of those polled perceive the other party as the greatest threat to democracy. Republicans specifically cite President Biden and the mainstream media as dangers while Democrats cite Donald Trump and The Supreme Court as perceived major threats.
Despite assertions that by the likes of Senator Ron Johnson that the January 6th attack on the Capitol was not “an armed insurrection” (CNN), videos of the riot, sworn testimony from rioters, as well as evidence of a coordinated attack would seem to contradict him. This is—or should be—the undisputed greatest threat to our democracy. And this is a can we cannot afford to kick down the road.
The January 6th House Committee has shown beyond most measures of what used to be “reasonable” doubt that not only was there a deadly uprising against the United States government which attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, but that it was conceived, planned, and executed with the assistance and approval of then-president Donald J. Trump. You can see it all here: The Select Committee to Investigate the January6th Attack on the US Capitol Website.
There are those who call the January 6th investigation a witch hunt or a political grandstanding. In point of fact, evidence pointing to a criminal conspiracy has been gathered legally, logically, and methodically—and the evidence points toward the White House. Members of the ex-president’s own staff have stepped forward to testify that Donald Trump deliberately brought the protestors to Washington (knowing full well that some of them were armed), fired them up during a speech, and then pointed the angry mob toward the Capitol for the express purpose of stopping the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
This was proven with time-tested methodologies of criminal justice, science, the law, and logic, the same methodologies that we used to investigate and prosecute crimes, to create life-saving medicines (including vaccines), to send a man to the moon (yes, that really happened), and to be able to circumnavigate the globe without falling off the edge (yes, Virginia, the Earth is round). This stuff works. These are also the same methodologies used by the mainstream media to verify that the stories they print and air are true and legitimate.
Whatever our political beliefs, we cannot turn our back on logic, science, and the pursuit of truth. There has been a tsunami of disinformation flooding our discourse—some of it without even the thinnest shreds of evidence to support it. Donald Trump’s assertion that the 2020 presidential election was somehow stolen from him through fraudulent voting practices has been disproven time and again. According to Forbes, the state of Arizona, after a series of recounts, hired an independent firm to perform an audit, which not only failed to turn up any bad ballots, but instead widened the margin of victory by President Biden. Other states also performed recounts. Over sixty lawsuits were filed by the Trump team alleging voter fraud. Nothing turned up. Yet the lie lives on.
Demagoguery, propaganda, and fanaticism are carrying the day. Those who believe that the election was stolen, that Antifa led the attack on the Capitol, or that Democrats kidnap children to drink their blood are not only wrong, but they deluded. At one time, they—along with the anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers—would have been called crackpots and completely ignored. Today, however, these people who believe in wild conspiracies, outright lies, and leaders who care about nothing except their own ambition make up a significant portion of the voting base. They might win.
This has been going on for a while. We saw the beginnings of it with the establishment of Fox News and the rise of the Tea Party. We sat back and watched as a demagogue rose up and captured the imagination of an alienated and angry part of the American middle-class. And we watched as lies, dishonesty, and outlandish conspiracy theories began to outpace the truth.
We waited, hoping this idiocy would simply go away. It hasn’t and now this lunacy constitutes the greatest threat to our democracy. It may just be too late to recover from the demagogues, rich donors, and radical extremists who have sought to—and are succeeding at—transforming our country into their private fiefdom.
Yes, inflation is a serious problem, as is crime and immigration, but they are not the most serious problem. Without a functioning democracy, we—as a people—will lose the power to solve these problems, to choose our country’s path. Our voices will no longer matter. We can’t ignore it anymore. No more procrastination. We have to take action. Vote. Vote for reason, logic, and the scientific method. Vote for what we know to be the truth.
Sources
- https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/politics/ron-johnson-january-6-flag-poles
- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/18/upshot/times-siena-poll-registered-voters-crosstabs.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/us/politics/midterm-election-voters-democracy-poll.html
- https://january6th.house.gov/legislation/hearings
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/09/24/arizona-audit-cost-trump-supporters-nearly-6-million-only-to-assert-biden-won-by-even-more/?sh=25a4c1f32410
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/04/fact-check-roundup-many-false-narratives-jan-6-insurrection/9052900002/