I recently came across a quote–I’ve misplaced the source–that summed up the conundrum that keeps so many of us up at night.
Nothing mattered, in the end. Not the probable dementia, the unfathomable ignorance, the emotional incontinence; not, certainly, the shambling, hate-filled campaign, or the ludicrously unworkable anti-policies.
The candidate out on bail in four jurisdictions, the convicted fraud artist, the adjudicated rapist and serial sexual predator, the habitual bankrupt, the stooge of Vladimir Putin, the man who tried to overturn the last election and all of his creepy retinue of crooks, ideologues and lunatics: Americans took a long look at all this and said, yes please.
How did that–how could that– happen?
There are really two imponderable questions involved: one, what motivated his supporters to ignore those very obvious facts about him, plus the disaster of his first term, and return him to the Oval Office? And two, what led millions of Americans to conclude that there was no need to inconvenience themselves by going to the polls?
This blog has spent a lot of time and pixels on that first question. The superficial answer is that the Republican Party is no longer a traditional political party–it has become a White Christian Nationalist cult. The more difficult question is: why? What is it about White Christian Nationalism that is so appealing to some people that they are willing to overlook all the demonstrable deficits enumerated in that opening quotation, and support a man who lacks a single redeeming human quality? (He isn’t even one of those evil men whose despicable behaviors are covered by charm or distracting good looks–his physical appearance and personality are both repulsive.)
As regular readers of this blog know, my answer to that first question is the deep-seated racism that is America’s original–and continuing– sin. Throughout our history, far too many people have chosen to “other” those who look or pray differently. Today’s Christian Nationalism is a modern version of the attitudes that motivated and justified slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow, and periodic eruptions of anti-Semitism. Christian fundamentalism feeds the persistent misogyny that allows MAGA folks to joke about sexual assaults and dismiss the significance of predatory sexual behaviors.
There are clearly a lot of unhappy people who want to blame some “other” for their disappointments and failures–many more than we like to recognize. If there was any doubt about the immense role of racism in support for Trump, his anti-DEI rampage should have eliminated it.
But what about the second question? What failure of American life explains the significant number of people who simply didn’t bother to vote? Some of them probably didn’t want to choose between a Black woman and a clown–they shared MAGA’s biases, but detested Trump, so they opted out. Others were undoubtedly victims of the multiple vote suppression tactics employed by GOP operatives. But those two categories can’t explain the large numbers of no-shows.
Over my 21 years of teaching, I reluctantly concluded that America’s schools have failed their most important function: citizenship education. The nation’s public schools weren’t established simply to teach the three Rs–they were also, and importantly, intended to be constitutive of a public–to turn out informed citizens who understood the system they inhabited, and recognized that membership in a polity involves civic responsibilities. (Voucher programs–as I’ve noted– wage war on that civic mission of the schools, and undermine efforts to forge a united citizenry.)
For too long, too many Americans have been–civically speaking–dumb, fat and happy. They’ve accepted the benefits of living in a free society without worrying about their obligation to maintain it. They’ve ignored politics, followed favored celebrities rather than civic or political leaders, dodged such civic duties as jury duty and voting, and complained about paying their taxes–all while assuming that police and fire departments would continue to protect them, that their Social Security checks would appear on their due dates, that the National parks would be open when they wanted to visit…expectations that are currently at risk.
If there is any bright side to the Trump/Musk destruction currently being waged, it is that people are being awakened to the fact that the maintenance of a stable government and civil society requires them to be informed participants–that they are not guaranteed an effortless free and livable society, and that continued progress toward realization of the American Idea is not inevitable.
If and when enough good Americans eject the clowns, buffoons and bigots installed by our megalomaniac co-Presidents–if and when We the People regain control of our governing institutions, rebuilding civic education should be a first order of business.
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If you want to understand the disastrous budget Republicans are trying to pass–and the process they’ll need to negotiate to do that–I will be doing a Zoom interview of Economics Professor Denvil Duncan from 7:00 to 8:00 tomorrow night, for the Central Indiana Indivisible chapter. You can register here.
Sadly, that awakening may be too little too late. We are an incredibly apathetic population, though elections have *always* had consequences. We have indeed become spoiled by the inevitably of ‘services,’ and blind to how our engagement matters. Agree that our education system has failed ALL Americans in this regard. *sigh*
“For too long, too many Americans have been–civically speaking–dumb, fat and happy. They’ve accepted the benefits of living in a free society without worrying about their obligation to maintain it.”
I find that comment insulting as an American; our mutual friend Bob C. had a banner behind his desk in our City office “There is no free lunch.” I didn’t need the definition explained to me as I was a hard working, responsible employee, paid all bills and taxes, maintained my property and picked up other people’s trash. I also helped family, friends and neighbors who also helped me when I needed it. I inherited my strong work ethic from my hard working parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles…Republicans all! I did NOT buy into their racism, bigotry, antisemitic world view even as a child. The slackers described in the quoted comment may be among those who sat at home on election day, which put them in the Trump supporter category by their omission. There is no explanation for those who believed Trump’s lies and supported his anti-DEI movement but they are now watching joblessness on the accelerated rise, prices beyond belief and the fact that the current president is supporting enemies world-wide and ignoring the pleas of our allies of 80 years.
An old adage, “We must all do something to justify our existence.”
Trump is running a Putin For Dummies movement through the government and aiding his ending our protection from their invasion of our private and personal information along with classified documents to enable their easy access to invade with their “Boots on our ground” which will make the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 look like recess from a school day. The FBI is returning boxes of documents Trump removed from the White House and our archives; not stating if they are returning ALL or PART or if the classified documents are also being hauled to his Mar-A-Lago bathroom.
I doubt we will ever have a full answer as to why Americans have turned on America and Americans including themselves, their children and grandchildren. This appears to me to be mass insanity; it is spreading faster than the Covid Pandemic did through this nation. I watched poll results this morning showing a RISE supporting Trump from December to this 6th week of his mass destruction.
“How did that–how could that– happen?”
Is there any private effort to help Ukraine? I’d like to contribute but aware of scams.
Public education has been failing students and parents for a very long time, but that isn’t the only sector failing Americans.
Our free press is no longer free and does not serve the public. Neither do our political parties. The recent kowtowing to Trump is more evidence piled on all the existing evidence that they are performative actors dividing Americans into two camps – a right and left wing – the red and blue pill ingesters.
American Exceptionalism has always been a joke. It’s also the reason nothing has changed in decades. If you think nothing is wrong with you, what is there to change?
The Ukrainian propaganda was so good that Zelenskyy began to believe his hype until he smashed into a wall last Friday on national TV. European “leadership” panicked, but it seems too late. Funding has been stopped for Ukraine and many on social media are speculating that Trump will announce the withdrawal of the US from NATO and bring our European troops home tonight during the SOTU address. European leaders are bantering on social media about immediately occupying the empty bases for their defense. Why would Putin want to assume all the issues facing Europe? LOL He’s not even interested in all of Ukraine. Who controls Europe?
The Techno-Fascists from Silicon Valley are an interesting breed and have been looking for an opportunity to implement a regime change operation on the US government. Out with the old and in with the new. Musk has been giving the role of CEO for United States, Inc.
JD Vance’s mentor wrote this cryptic article in the Financial Times. I’m just getting into their theology where AI’s end game is to duplicate god. It’s a cult within the MAGA cult. Much more coming…
“The future demands fresh and strange ideas. New ideas might have saved the old regime, which barely acknowledged, let alone answered, our deepest questions — the causes of the 50-year slowdown in scientific and technological progress in the US, the racket of crescendoing real estate prices, and the explosion of public debt.” ~ Peter Thiel
https://www.ft.com/content/a46cb128-1f74-4621-ab0b-242a76583105
As a former public school educator, I saw how poorly some classes were conducted and how little knowledge was actually provided for the students. After pondering this debacle for a couple years, I poked around and saw a couple things that answered the question: #1 Too many sports coaches teaching civics and science classes. These men and women were good, well-intentioned people, but were way out over their skis academically. #2 The idiocy of George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program funneled money to test makers instead of to the classrooms and teachers’ salaries. The purpose? In the punishment only philosophy of NCLB, teachers unions were the target.
As one would expect from any Republican initiative, NCLB became politicized to the maximum, failed to improve anything related to student performance and knowledge base and corrupted administrators at every level to fiddle the system. The state of Texas spent $400 million per year on these high-stakes tests for absolutely no improvement in scores.
The summary and analysis are in my book, “Saving the Seed Corn …”(www.vernturner.com)
Will the Zoom session be available to stream later?
Excellent points presented today, as we watch our nation’s governance sink lower and lower into an oligarchic authoritarian mess. I would like to posit another culprit into the fray; disinformation dissemination on our ubiquitous social media. The fact that so many just-beneath-the-surface racist and misogynistic folks were awakened by the trump trumpet,- since 2015 – who were then empowered by constant blasts of lies and disinformation supporting those sordid beliefs, form the third leg of the stool that is becoming more and more disabling. Add non-stop lies – which sound like truths after so many iterations – to the racist/misogynist crowd, and the huge 33% or so of non-voters, voila, we – barely (no “mandate”, more like 1.5%, less than half of even those who did vote) elect someone with all of those “virtues” outlined in Sheila’s blog.
We understand the word ‘religion.’ Politics can be a religion. That can be a controversial statement because we generally think of the object of a religion as a supernatural being(s). In that sense, it is of the ultimate power, but when we use the term politically, we can consider different degrees of control.
We usually would not consider addressing those we have positive relationships with to ask, ‘Why do you believe that?’ in an incredulous tone. Yet we do in politics.
Some of us are ‘woke,’ which means diplomatic. Diplomats are woke, but they always have an agenda to negotiate, and they accept the role of having good relationships as the most valuable asset. MTV(Musk, Trump, and Vance + sycophants Johnson and Roberts + Putin) may be diplomatic up, but down they establish power over the relationship. They consider everyone, not themselves, as down.
My question is not about truth to power but truth to equals. Given that all politics is local, how do we diplomatically build a coalition of more voters?
I can influence a specific cohort of friends face-to-face or over social media. What is the most effective way? How would a diplomat do it? I have no power except my words.
JoAnn, I couldn’t agree with you more. When I attended Marian “College,” a half century ago, that was the only place where I learned the most about democracy, socialism, and communism, as well as social problems and the various ways we and other nations work to alleviate them. (There will always be problems as long as there are humans around). Like you, my parents and grandparents worked hard and helped out our neighbors in times of need and we’re taught that all people were children of God–like it or not. But why did I have to wait until college to learn those basic things about governments and social issues? The concepts can be taught in high school in a simplified manner. OUR OWN GOVERNMENT process can also. I remember high school government class as a boring drudge. Now, the situation is dire. But we have to get busy in every way possible to turn out people around to a better way before it truly is too late. Keep up your good work. The other Josnne
Joan @ 8:27–I’ve checked, and yes it will be.
Todd. Re. the Third quote. At least the “explosion of public debt” isn’t hard to explain. Cut taxes on the people and companies that already have the most money and leave the poorest people to pick up the tab. Gut the IRS so it can’t investigate tax fraud. Let oligarchs purchase politicians. As you often say, what could go wrong?
Thiel quote. Spell check got me again.
I don’t think MAGA would have won without the 24/7 fire hydrant of lies from Fox and even worse sources of “news.” Polls have shown that Trump supporters are woefully divorced from facts.
Sometimes I wonder why I vote. Gerrymandering and the electoral college have made my vote almost meaningless.
I think it was Dubya’s Sec of Education whose mantra was “if it isn’t tested, it won’t get taught.”
get on the phone, call ur so called rep, and blast his attempt to stroke trump/vance about Ukraine. its obvious its about money,and lining others pockets over Ukraines wealth. this move by the WH to hold defense weapons when all was granted in a prior deal. this is life and death bing made by the rich. putin should not be allowed another foot in the worlds affairs. the WH is seeking to get putins country back into the free world of trade via the WH. it is obvious that all this amounts too is lining the pockets of the rich,over the lives of Ukraine. we as Americans,and many here, lived thru wars and the costs. never in our history did we pander to the rich,over lives. we have now become,thru media,and the present WH some sort if greed infested nation willing to distroy a democratic nation for self enrichment. boy we really screwed up this one..
I’m one who doesn’t think the lack of participation in our civic life is new. The problem is that it’s growing. Our two party system had a lot to do with the last election.
It’s amazing that neither party seemed to care about anything outside of those “critical swing states”. Take a lesson from Harry Truman. When nobody thought he could win, he did a whistle stop tour, just like FDR did when it looked like he wouldn’t win. If you’re seen in every state you can really make an impression on the citizens. Give access to local press. That’s how you reach people who aren’t paying attention. Be where they are. I know that trains aren’t available in many places, but planes are so much faster here in America. It wouldn’t be hard considering that you can start anytime after November 2026.
Robert Reich and I can dream…
“Tonight, Trump will address both chambers of Congress. He has taken over the brains and intestines of Republican lawmakers, who will applaud his stream of lies.
Democrats will do — what? Sit on their hands? Applaud a few insipid things?
Ideally, Democrats should boycott the whole event. Even sitting in the well of the House as if this were just another president addressing just another Congress legitimizes Trump’s coup.
Democrats should not signal to a nationally televised audience that what we’re living through is normal.
If Democratic lawmakers feel they must be there, then make good and loud trouble. Disrupt Trump’s speech. Arrive in Revolutionary War costumes and hold signs proclaiming America is not a monarchy. Wave American flags and copies of the Constitution.
Every time he utters the word “tariff,” hold up a sign that says “It’s a tax.”
When Trump lies — about Ukraine, about DOGE, about immigration, about the tariffs he’s just put into effect, about his plan for robbing working people to give another huge tax cut to the rich — boo loudly. Hold up a “lie meter” for the cameras.
Then walk out en masse.”
Just an FYI, I’ve continued to skip Todd’s, Ian’s and Gail’s comments that cheer on IQ45. I read your posts Professor. I wish you could block those people. They are completely and totally insane in their thinking. But, it’s a free country for now, so might as well let them show exactly who they are to the rest of us. Between you and HCR, I’m able to function as a human but those people…are full of hate and misery and I want no part of it.
Racism and misogyny, that old recipe for domination, combined with religious justification have once again become the prevalent norm, not just in the U.S., but in so many other countries in the world.
I remember HS government class considerably enlivened when the Kennedy/Nixon debates were televised. We had a semester of engagement surrounded by a droning, boring, recitation of the structure of government with no connection to our daily lives.
Increased mobility, the death of local news political reporting, the constant flood of “entertainment”, so reminiscent of the ancient Roman circuses, the cynicism born of Vietnam, Watergate, the Saving & Loan crisis, Love Canal, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Madoff, Epstein and all of the too numerous to mention examples of criminal activity and moral corruption have been the death by a thousand cuts to voter participation. Combine all of that with gerrymander and voter suppression and you had the answer to why so many opt out.
My vote means almost nothing at the state level in Indiana, is challenging even at the local level due to the lack of competition for most offices in the city/county. If the SAVE Act becomes law, my vote will likely never be cast due to the mismatch of my birth certificate and my current ID.
I did know about local participation as my mom was a regular election worker (R) for decades. I learned about local politics through membership in the PTO, Planning Committee, and School Board elections, followed by the family members’ campaigns for public office and my own participation as a voter/election worker over the last 40 years. Going to town halls, meet and greets with candidates and officeholders where the concerns of citizens were shown and discussed have been instructive and revealing. The reveal is often the realization of how much I don’t know about how things work, officially and otherwise.
I fear for our country and its most vulnerable citizens in ways unimaginable just months ago. I have to try to resist in any way available. The alternative is self-interest, cowardice and complicity. I won’t stop resisting.
How is AgingGirls’ closed mind any different than the closed minds of the right wingers that we discuss daily on this blog?
How can I make intelligent decisions without considering all possibilities and angles?
If I turn on MSNBC or CNN at 8 a.m. and listen to them all day, how is that different from listening to Fox or Newsmax?
It’s easy to surround myself with an echo chamber, but I won’t learn much. How will I ever know I’m wrong?
Our educational system should teach us to be lifelong learners. Many of my high school classmates are the same people they were 40+ years ago. What a dreadful existence.
Modern Monetary Theory believes that, unlike private enterprises, which range from individuals to families to corporations, debt is not a limitation on the public.
The government aims to manage natural, human, intellectual, infrastructure, and philosophical resources to maximise a country’s position relative to other countries. Debt is a tool to do that, but it never has to be repaid, so as long as the country runs at maximum economic circulation of currency, all is well.
All was well here. We were the safest, most comfortable humans ever. The only possibility better than that is called continuous progress and improvement.
Come on, Trump campaigned nonstop for 5 years.
Tell a lie often enough & at least a little of it makes you question a possible reality.
And just buying whatever your political party’s preference is selling, NO longer is working. Most of us have been busy taking care of our personal life’s.
And in general, trusting OUR politicians to make choices for us.
SORRY, most of them work to keep their job, keep the party in power. NOT looking at the issues & using their brains to actually see what may be best for All Americans.
This (my way or the highway) stuff stinks.
I disagree with Sheila on very few issues, and those disagreements are mainly small. Here is an area of disagreement. I feel a the Biden foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel, was a significant problem for young progressives, and acted as vote suppression. I don’t think it was the biggest voter suppression factor, but I am convinced it was a significant one (where I use “significant” in a statistical sense).
Unfortunately, Kamala had multiple chances to counter this issue, but she chose to align with Biden every time. This hurt her.
I will concur on John H’s statement, but with a twist with which he might or might not agree.
Going back to the Nixon day’s, supporters of Gene McCarthy stayed home rather than vote against Nixon by casting a ballot for Humphrey (a man who was for civil rights before it was “cool”). They were against the war and got the bombing of Cambodia instead.
Muslims in Michigan (and elsewhere, I presume), acted with the same childish pout, denying their vote to “unresponsive” Democrats, thus allowing President Muslim Ban to return to office.
To lies, distortions, bigotry, and misogyny, we must add childish emotional reactions. Harris might have listened; Trump would sooner admit that he lost to Biden than listen to their complaints.
FYI, Todd: I don’t have time to watch or listen to “news” media all day. I turn on the radio and listen to WTTS from Indy. It’s a wonderful station of adult music from every decade I’ve lived. I’m informed because I sometimes read your comments and think: that guy is crazy. You spend some much time on this blog, how do you have time for your own media (because if I recall, you have your own blog). Right? Have a seat. Take a chill and I’ll continue to ignore your comments when I’m not addressed in them. Bye.
Yes, much blame can be laid at the feet of Faux News, and ilk, but people look for “feeding” from such sources.
JoAnn, there is no reason too take offense with that comment. It said “…too many Americans,” not “so many JoAnns” and it is accurate.
It is my belief that those who see themselves as White Christian Nationalists put their misguided faith in their god-thing over their faith, or valuing of, the Constitution. I think that they se the situation as “With (our WHITE) God running things, what can go wrong?” And, their fantasy is that it would be “Our” god running things, because, of course, all the other supposed ones are not real!
Todd, The short answer is, no one controls Europe. Otherwise, Ursula von der Leyen, Präsident of the European Union, is in charge
Before the election I shared one of your blog posts with my cousin’s widow. Her response was scathing. My response to her? I had to reach deep down into a shared history. She and our cousin left the US for him to do his US Army service after finishing at the University of Mississippi, where they both graduated in 1960. The spent 4 years in Germany, and as both played bridge(since that was one of the things their sororities and fraternities considered important) and were frequently asked to play with the commanding general. They played with a chaplain who was a large black man who wore a red ring. Given the lack of education in MS, it came as quite a shock when the Catholics kissed his ring. So, her education actually benefited from the exposure to high command. (And yes, she laughed about having to ask one of the wives why they kissed the ring of that black man). They returned home in the middle of the civil rights era- not having a clue about what was going on in the US, exactly. They attended the annual Mississippi State/University of Mississippi game. It was the game where governor Ross Barnett gave an address to the assembled, and his speech was not different from Wallace’s in AL. In the late 70’s they moved to my hometown. I heard lots of stories, she told of being appalled at the behavior of her fellow alumni at that game. To quote her “What the hell happened to the good people of Mississippi?”
Needless to say, I used that very story in reply to her— I’ve been asking WTF is wrong with these people for over 40 years, and there’s no real answer outside of the racism- but in addition I’ve noticed that even the educated white women are misogynists. They now want and believe that this country belongs in the 1950’s if not the 1850’s. And they are working hard to impose the norms of that backward society on the rest of us.
The issue is quite simple from my world, white men are terrified of being treated as they have treated all others, especially someone like myself, a lesbian who has been out and public since I was in my 20’s, at the age of 64? This BS has been here forever and will continue so long as they live. Covid didn’t take out enough of the racists and misogynists. Those who never ever left the country south of their birth will die racists. And they get offended when you point out exactly how the behavior and talking points are racist. My father had a stroke about 5 years ago. His hospitalist MD was a lovely black woman sho took time to explain everything to them. I returned home before he was released from the hospital.
His wife, sent out a text message and I quote;
“Thanks for letting me be here through the night and seeing nurse early this morning. Heart is now in rhythm. Held off heart med for that reason. Next will decide med level. Heart is low so doctor will be in to talk about med level. Michelle Obama might come in this a m maybe instead of later. Gayle had a terrific night!!!! Lights out early. Didn’t get up at night. Not one time. It was 8:00 before there was a peep out of him. Praises go to God as we have happy hearts”
Now if y’all don’t understand how calling that dedicated MD, who had to work three times harder than any white man to even get into med school, “Michelle Obama” is misogynistic and racist? There’s just no hope for any of them. And naturally she was offended when I replied.
“Her name is Dr. Walker, she is a Medical Doctor with a specialty degree in addition to her Medical school diploma. Please stop disrespecting the accomplishments of another woman by calling her by someone else’s name. The fact the Dr. Walker is a beautiful young engaging black woman of substance should most assuredly place her outside of the range of women one would be so obviously racist toward. It’s the 21st century. …”
She was offended and literally used the word “scolding”. She deserved a beat down. Good thing I was in AZ when I received her BS.
If y’all don’t know any southerners who have never left their home state or lived anywhere but their home state? (Except for military service)
Consider yourself fortunate. Those of us who left learned a hell of a lot about the world outside of the confederacy. They want the world where they owned people again, another of dad’s first cousins literally said “Everyone should own 2 or 3”. That was in 1997. His son and daughter continue the teachings of their father to their offspring.
It’s disgusting, but that’s where we are- Muskrat will continue the economic slavery policies of the former republican party. This country thrives on that economic slavery- so how damn much have we really changed?