Whadoo we want? Not Trump! When do we want it? Now!/Image: Licensed Adobe stock, michaelheim.
Greetings, Alt-reading lovers!
Look at you! You haven’t left the library in days–again! Were you comfortable surrounded by opening books huddled under nothing but a chenille throw? The smell of books, old and new, is rather intoxicating, yes. It’s just always heartening to see a right-winger so interested in books. Especially because most of our fellow Alt-humans favor getting their news from Fox News, which is simply a Trump/far-right propaganda mouthpiece. And now, it’s not the same as the Mainstream Media (MSM) or the openly liberal media. They still fact-check and correct themselves if wrong, They don’t take a Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Ca) approach to presenting the news, cherry-picking facts, intentionally failing to provide context, and severely manipulating facts to serve an agenda. It’s also nice to see you reading in here, Spread Your Right Wings (SYRW) reader, because too many Alt-ers are getting their news from social media or other questionable online sources, ones that are inherently untrustworthy. We are trying to institute a campaign to encourage our readers to become critical consumers of news media, but it will take a while.
Aah! We see you selected an old classic, Democracy In Peril: Seven Challenges to America’s Future by William E. Hudson. It was published in 1996, when the Tea Party Movement was just beginning to, metaphorically speaking, prepare crates of tea to toss overboard on ships in Boston Harbor. Now we’re living in the Trump Era, which many say is a direct descendant, with consistent throughlines since, the Tea Party Movement.
Four the Love of the United States of America.
This lovely text provides a convenient model of comparison for the iterations of U.S. democracy–Protective (goal: to protect liberties), Developmental (goal: to nurture citizenship), Pluralist (goal: to protect and promote diversity), Participatory (goal: to foster participation). The four models, Hudson says, share fundamental commonalities: “First, all models assume that democracy means popular rule; that is, government based on popular sovereignty (as opposed to, say, the divine right of kings)…Second, all models assume political equality. None questions the fact that democracy requires all citizens to possess equal political rights…Third, all assume the need for political liberty [in which] people feel free to express themselves and act to try to influence government”
Let’s cut to the chase already, SRYRW readers, shall we?
The Don Jon Con Job
President The Donald to tell us he wants to Make America Great Again…but does he? Now, clearly, we can’t act in spite of the knowledge we will come to by asking that question below, we Alt-righters and Trump supporters, because nothing the Prez does, as horrible as it gets, seems to waiver our inexplicable devotion to him. But it bears noting how His Orangeness is faring in ensuring these aspects of democracy are upheld, tended to, and promoted. (That being said, Trump’s center-right stance on guns may be intolerable to the Right Wing Nut Jobs [RWNJ] who make up much of his devoted base, so perhaps it’ll turn the tide on his support from that stalwart base).
By the People, Of the People, and For the People
In terms of popular sovereignty: “EEEEEEEEEE!” You know, like the buzzer noise the play on game shows when a contestant gets something wrong? Trump loves the opposite of democrats–authoritarians–wants to sit with them at lunch, and wants to be one when he grows up. As Stand Up Ideas and Protect Democracy noted in an analysis via an article by Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post: Trump “politicizes independent institutions” like the FBI and the Justice Department, and he “spreads disinformation” by threatening and delegitimizing the free press anytime he perceives it to have published a story that paints him in a negative light. A free press is a vital pillar in a robust democracy.
And: In News, Trump blamed the chaotic last few weeks in the White House on an unlikely source.
Equal Ain’t Just an Artificial Sweetener
As the above-excerpted analysis makes clear, every model of U.S. democracy “require all citizens to possess equal rights.” Meanwhile, the Stand Up Ideas and Protect Democracy study found that Trump, ” Since taking office [he] has continued to undermine the legitimacy of elections, exaggerating the prevalence of voter fraud, refusing to condemn Russian interference in the 2016 election, and neglecting adequate measures to prevent its recurrence.”
Zero for two, Trumpykins. If this were a game–god, if only–you’d be warming a bench on the sidelines with your rapidly spreading orange derriere.
Free to Be You and Me
So went the 1960s album by the same name produced by Marlo Thomas. And so should go the soundtrack to the lives of all U.S. citizens. Instead, a more fitting collective soundtrack to our lives under Trump might be, “What happened to Miss Independent?” a la Kelly Clarkson.
Again, the Stand Up Ideas and Protect Democracy report found that “Mr. Trump has demonstrated virtually no tolerance for those who disagree with him. He has threatened political opponents with imprisonment, fired or threatened to fire government officials who criticize him or his policies, pressured private employers to restrict the speech of their employees, and cultivated an atmosphere of fear that prevents many from speaking out against him.”
That’s pretty much the opposite of fostering an environment in which people feel free to voice their opinions, and more importantly, to protest governmental actions. Welcome to 1984, a la George Orwell. We hope you have a terrible stay,
O’er the Land of the Not-Free
We know, Alt-readers, we know. We’re supposed to blindly follow Trump, no matter what happens. We’re supposed to continue supporting him no matter what he says or does–or even doesn’t say or doesn’t do. Hence, Trump supporters, like us here at SYRW and you readers have become pretty good at watching him fail spectacularly at so many things and immediately spouting our go-to rationalizations:: “He was joking,” “He didn’t mean it, “The Fake/Liberal news media made it up,” “Only we understood it,” “Well, Obama..,” “And, Hillary’s emails…” We’re not sure that’s served us particularly well so far, but we boarded this sinking ship, and as the collective captains of it, it looks like we’ve made the decision to go down with it as it sinks at a more alarming rate every day. And so it’ll be, as Trump turns the good ol’ U. S. of A. into an authoritarian regime.
Also: How the consistency levels of food relate to Trump’s lack of consistency in political stances.
See ya’ next in the SYRW library, readers!
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© 2018 Akbar Khan
