2024

Joe Biden wanted to do the right thing, make a bold move, and so he promised to make his vice president a woman. While, as a woman myself I applaud the sentiment, I now see that he has painted himself into a corner. I have nothing personal against Kamala Harris—I’m sure she’s intelligent, skilled in her profession, and has all the right motivations in her heart.

BUT – and you knew a ‘but’ was coming, right? But she has zero charisma. And in a job where it’s not cool to upstage the president with policy ideas or championing big issues, she can only come across as a silly token. With a younger president, this wouldn’t carry as much punch, but with Biden’s age already past the average life expectancy for men in the United States (77.28 years), it’s relevant that observers on either side of the aisle would be concerned about Harris as a potential president.

This is why so many Democrats (not to mention everyone else) are voicing concerns about the current Biden/Harris ticket for 2024. It’s not just that Kamala Harris seems less than forceful or skilled—we really haven’t seen her shine because that’s not the role of a VP. It’s that these are terrifying times we live in, and it’s human nature to look for a strong leader especially in such times. This alone accounts for much of Trump’s appeal. Despite the fact that he understands virtually nothing about the job of a president or the many important aspects of the United States in world affairs, he comes across as a strong leader. This is all smoke and mirrors, of course—the fake tan, architectural comb-over, and elevated shoes make him appear to some as if he’s a healthy sportsman; the loud authoritative voice (well, mostly, until his words trail off into a familiar whine); and the positive spin he puts on his daily tribulations, obviously wishful thinking coming out as fake news.

Biden, on the other hand, is often speaking in public in a whispery voice. His footsteps across a stage, up or down stairs, or anywhere else, are slow and careful. His haircut somehow manages to look unkempt with that little layer of hair that sticks out around his back collar—he needs to give up some of his hair for a closer cut. These are visual/auditory obstacles to any hope of showing him as a vital, strong man. In a perfect world, we would not be misled by these obstacles. Instead, we would pay attention to his abilities and accomplishments—unquestionably major achievements that result from his long career as a statesman dedicated to a just society.

Sadly, I’m worried that no matter how well the campaign might illuminate those accomplishments, many voters will judge on appearances.

One solution would be to replace Kamala Harris with a more dynamic vice-presidential candidate. I can think of several experienced Democrats who would reassure voters of competent leadership in the circumstances of Biden’s incapacitation. I floated this idea on a Facebook post and was immediately excoriated by some of my female friends. Harris, they say, deserves more respect. Well, yes, of course she does, but you’re living in a dream world if you don’t see that the General Public does not share that opinion.

In short, it is my opinion that no amount of touting Biden’s accomplishments or respecting Kamala Harris is going to reassure voters that this is the leadership they want or need. By default, the most horrific possible candidate has a chance of winning a second term, and the nation will never recover from that.

Never.

The forces driving public anxiety are greater than ever before. It’s not just the conservative-progressive debate, burn books versus read more, cut government programs or continue working toward a more just culture, leave-it-all-to-God versus progress and evolve as humans, etc.

It’s that this was the hottest summer on record, evidence of the long-heralded advance of climate change.[1]

It’s that right now, Russia is led by an autocratic psychopath who dares the world to stop him from a) taking over neighboring nations, b) using nuclear weapons, c) enabling Kim Jong Un, d) murdering any domestic opposition, and e) blockading international waterways.[2]

It’s that Artificial Intelligence technology has arrived at the threshold of independent thought and action that could threaten human existence.[3]

It’s that the majority of Americans don’t understand the scientific method, or how science works, meaning that technologies we all use—Internet for example, or cell phones, or GPS, or targeted chemotherapy—are mysterious useful toys but not compelling enough for us to respect the science that has created them.

It’s that a significant portion of the population is too lazy to read or learn beyond their set prejudices and ignorance, thus remaining easy prey to rumor, fake news, and magical thinking (God will take care of us). A select few power brokers take advantage of these deficiencies by using hot button issues (abortion, gay marriage, racism) to instigate fear-driven voting.

It’s that the core of conservative voters are facing statistics showing that the nation is moving inexorably toward a non-white and non-Christian majority. “Remember, the predicted and projected end of a white Christian majority in this country is what’s driving most of our worst political trends right now. It’s not ‘economic anxiety’. It’s the arrival of minority-majority America.”[4]

The Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/fox-news-spins-lies-in-the-service-of-greed/

Worst and most tragic of all, now in the United States of America, there is not an accepted source of factual news. As famously remarked by Trump’s press secretary, there are facts and then there are “alternative facts.”[5] FOX News is the mainstay for conservative audiences, even though court judgments have confirmed that the network lies repeatedly, and more such cases are in the pipeline.”[6] FOX itself has defined their “news” as “entertainment,” not a source offering factual information by any journalistic standard. Yet despite losing nearly $800 million in penalties in one case and expected to lose even more in upcoming trials, FOX continues its campaign of fake news. One wonders about the motivation of FOX owner Rupert Murdoch; the New York Times reports on Murdoch’s accomplishment with Trump’s presidency which, “cemented Murdoch’s global influence.”

What Murdoch expects to accomplish aside from his “global influence” remains a mystery. Is $5 billion not enough? He’s built a family empire that has resulted in animosity between his children. He’s created a crisis in the United States not only in politics but in the growing chasm between segments of the society which has led to the current level of daily gun violence.

In the 22-year history of the network, the Fox News Effect had never been more pronounced. A March study by Navigation Research, a Democratic firm, found that 12 percent of Fox News viewers believe that climate change is mostly caused by humans, compared with 62 percent of all other Americans. At the same time, 78 percent of Fox viewers believe that Trump has accomplished more than any president in American history, compared with 17 percent of other Americans.[7]

Meanwhile, the Biden/Harris White House lists its achievements and the world pays little attention, or in the case of Republicans, outright deny the veracity of the list.

Lowering Costs of Families’ Everyday Expenses
More People Are Working Than At Any Point in American History
Making More in America
Rescued the Economy and Changed the Course of the Pandemic
Rebuilding our Infrastructure
Historic Expansion of Benefits and Services for Toxic Exposed Veterans
The First Meaningful Gun Violence Reduction Legislation in 30 Years
Protected Marriage for LGBTQI+ and Interracial Couples
Historic Confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Federal Judges of Diverse Backgrounds
Rallied the World to Support Ukraine in Response to Putin’s Aggression
Strengthened Alliances and Partnerships to Deliver for the American People
Successful Counterterrorism Missions Against the Leaders of Al Qaeda and ISIS
Executive Orders Protecting Reproductive Rights
Historic Student Debt Relief for Middle- and Working-Class Families
Ending our Failed Approach to Marijuana
Advancing Equity and Racial Justice, Including Historic Criminal Justice Reform
Delivering on the Most Aggressive Climate and Environmental Justice Agenda in American History
More People with Health Insurance Than Ever Before
Lowering Costs of Families’ Everyday Expense
The Inflation Reduction Act Infographic

For each item on this list, there’s a link to a greater explanation of these efforts.[8] But who is reading this?

Really, who reads? The public is conditioned to pay attention for maybe a 15-second sound bite.

The truly alarming reality is that our primal instincts are engaged in this time of unprecedented crisis, personal, national and global. We want a strong leader we can believe in. It seems extremely risky to depend on an enlightened element of our population to do the reading and thinking necessary to continue to support Joe Biden when there is a dedicated segment swept up in mindless support of a man who presents himself as a strong man.

We can always hope for quick justice on any of Trump’s many indictments and/or a firm ruling on the 14^th Amendment which states, in part, that any American official who takes an oath to uphold the US Constitution is disqualified from holding future office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or have “given aid or comfort” to insurrectionists.

We can also hope that ole Sleepy Joe and Ms. Harris somehow figure out how to sell themselves as a dynamic duo, but I wish there was a Plan B waiting in the wings.

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-summer-2023-hottest-on-record

[2] https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/psychologist-putin-is-a-psychopath-and-loves-bloodshed-3606460

[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/06/02/the-15-biggest-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/?sh=29f9a17b2706

[4] https://twitter.com/axios/status/1703223852539474292

[5] “’Alternative facts’” was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer would “utter a provable falsehood”, Conway stated that Spicer was giving “alternative facts”. Todd responded, “Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_facts

[6] https://www.axios.com/2023/02/27/rupert-murdoch-admits-fox-news-hosts-peddled-election-lies

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/magazine/new-fox-corporation-disney-deal.html

[8] https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

No Surprises

German citizens saluting Adolf Hitler at the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Before the sun rose on Wednesday July 24, 2019, before the widely heralded appearance of Robert Mueller before committees of the U. S. House of Representatives, Donald Trump and his cohort had long since established their response. The game plan had been distributed to their colleagues in the Senate and to their buddies at FOX News. Most importantly, the plan had been well-rehearsed by Republican House committee members who would have a front row position from which to attempt to undermine the hearings.

There would be no outrage, no cry over the evidence presented. Republican committee members would discreetly and not so discreetly question Mueller’s competence and motivation. They would grandstand their outrage at the ongoing travesty against ‘their’ president. There would be no acknowledgement of any facts presented either about the collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to sway the vote or Trump’s various attempts to obstruct the investigation.

Afterwards, the tactic was to shrug off the hearings, ho hum, the Democrats beating a dead horse. Oh dear, how upset they must be after all this hoorah and still Mueller didn’t hand them a smoking gun. A big fat nothing.

In truth, the Democrats never expected a smoking gun from Mueller. Their strategy for Mueller’s testimony was to create a televised iteration of the Mueller report for all the Trump supporters out here in the countryside who never had and never would read the actual report. They wouldn’t even read news summaries of the report, instead willing—even eager—to take Trump’s word for it, whatever it said.

Trump had it right when he said he could shoot someone on 5^th Avenue and no one would care. He took that to the bank. Get cozy with Russians endeavoring to subvert the election? No problem. Pretend it didn’t happen—they’ll believe it. Do everything possible to sidetrack the subsequent investigation? Whatever works. Nobody can prove it if Trump doesn’t talk and the testimony of key players like Don McGahn never sees the light of day.

Democrats should be credited for their effort to pull back the curtain on this shameful and arrogant corruption of American democracy. Their mistake, once again, is assuming that Trump supporters care about our nation more than they care about their boy. Trump legitimizes their ignorance with three-word sentences and double-speak. He shares their terror of “Other” whether other religion, other skin color, or other ethnicity, and they can’t chortle enough over their sense of ascendancy in a nation where religion, skin color, or ethnic background are not supposed to make a difference. A nation FOUNDED on the concept that all of us are created equal.

Democrats forgot that ignorance doesn’t recognize its own ignorance and isn’t eager to discover it.

The thread of idealism progressives have shared throughout our nation’s history has changed faces many times. It ran through the revolution even though many colonists clung to King George. It suffused the push to end slavery, to grant women the right to vote, and to form labor unions whose members sacrificed lives and livelihood to end child labor, gain a 40-hour work week, and ensure safe work environments. The same thread has continued through liberal ideas behind school integration, rights for the disabled, and a woman’s right to reproductive choice.

The same thread colors political discourse today, resisting the onslaught of racism and hate freed from its restraints by Donald Trump. It rises in the election of women, of people of color, to public office. It thrives in the hearts and minds of those who say “Vote Blue No Matter Who” as progressives seek to reclaim the dignity and honor of the presidency.

Trump and his horde of pitiful followers would rather risk the future of the nation than love their neighbors. They would rather spout hate speech than address the problems we face. There are solutions, and we can find them. Let’s keep our eye on the ball.

NOW HEAR THIS!

With apologies to The Men’s Shouting Chorus, http://www.acappellanews.com/archive/003086.html

Once upon a time, people reserved loud outbursts for very special occasions.

HELP!

FIRE!

CHARGE!

In each case, the raised voice with its guttural message alerted anyone within earshot that an emergency required their immediate attention. Or in the case of warfare, now was the time to kill or be killed.

Polite company abhors a loud voice, such breech of manners considered the province only of drunkards, boors, or madmen. Like the boy crying wolf, making a loud noise with our voice serves us when normal communication fails, calls attention, and provokes a fight or flight response in those who hear it.

We respond to shouting both physically and emotionally as adrenalin dumps into our system. Our hands may form fists, our jaw clenches, our heart rate accelerates. Psychological studies have shown the negative impact of shouting:

Yelling activates structures in the limbic system that regulate “fight or flight” reactions. Repeated activation to these areas tells the brain that their environment is not safe, thus the interconnecting neurons in these areas must remain intact. …At work, overreacting creates a perceived unsafe environment and can also put others into constant fight or flight mode.[1]

Countless studies and publications warn against shouting at children, spouses, or employees. But why? Here’s an explanation.

The threat response is both mentally taxing and deadly to the productivity of a person — or of an organization. Because this response uses up oxygen and glucose from the blood, they are diverted from other parts of the brain, including the working memory function, which processes new information and ideas. This impairs analytic thinking, creative insight, and problem solving; in other words, just when people most need their sophisticated mental capabilities, the brain’s internal resources are taken away from them.[2]

Most of us realize that shouting is bad form. We also recognize that we don’t like to be the target of shouts. Then why do some of us tolerate shouting on a daily basis?

In the mid-1980s, a certain conservative radio announcer discovered that shouting on air provoked a rewarding response – people listened. Rush Limbaugh had been fired from previous radio jobs but finally found his niche after Congress repealed the Fairness Doctrine.

In 1984, Limbaugh returned to radio as a talk show host at KFBK in Sacramento… The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine—which had required that stations provide free air time for responses to any controversial opinions that were broadcast—by the FCC in 1987 meant stations could broadcast editorial commentary without having to present opposing views. … Rush Limbaugh was the first man to proclaim himself liberated from…liberal media domination.”[3]

It’s no surprise that the media had become, in some views, rife with so-called liberal viewpoints. Journalists are exposed to higher education before qualifying for a media job. Not only do journalists study literature, history, and political science which paint the broad picture of human suffering, but also upon being hired to a media job, journalists are immediately thrust onto the front lines of all the world’s social ills—crime, disease, prejudice, and injustice among them. Through these experiences, many journalists embrace a point of view that can be described as ‘liberal’ – by definition, “tolerant of different views and standards of behavior in others” and “concerned with general cultural matters and broadening of the mind.”

Professional journalists and the media outlets where they work must adhere to professional standards.

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility.[4]

Not so with Rush Limbaugh, a college dropout. His admitted objective in radio is to sway people to a conservative point of view. People not only listened to his bombastic style but became agitated as if whatever was said in this shouting voice carried greater meaning, more importance, and undoubtedly revealed a threat heretofore unnoticed. His attention-grabbing delivery gained purchase among a vulnerable demographic.

The lesson quickly spread to other media, most notably to FOX News who came on air in 1996 with commentators who never miss an opportunity to shout. Few of these ‘announcers’ are professional journalists. As noted in a 2017 report in the Washington Post,

With the departure of credible centrist and conservative voices and professional journalists (e.g. Megyn Kelly, Greta Van Susteren, George Will, Major Garrett), the alternative-reality programming seen in the Fox evening and afternoon lineup and on “Fox & Friends” now overwhelms the rest of the operation.[5]

Neither Sean Hannity nor Glenn Beck, both popular FOX News commentators, completed college and are not journalists. Yet their audiences believe these men are delivering unbiased news.

The success of both outlets in hooking rapt viewers didn’t go without notice among other media. Some CNN reporters stepped up to the plate and began shouting as well, in particular Wolf Blitzer who doesn’t seem capable of speaking normally. Thus the current political and social crisis was born.

The Rush Limbaughs of the world use shouting not to intimidate listeners as might a parent, spouse, or employer, but to signal alarm. LISTEN TO ME! I’VE GOT NEWS! Whatever the content of such commentary, it’s not simply information that we can take or leave or interpret in comparison to equal but opposing information. This is life or death information. Dangerous. The context screams EMERGENCY!

Not only are listeners held captive by the threat of such emergencies, they suffer physical and emotional damage that makes them vulnerable to manipulation.

Researchers have long known about the infectious nature of stress… Studies have shown that there is “crossover” stress from one spouse to the other, between coworkers, and “spill over” from the work domain to home. The stress contagion effect, as it’s known, spreads anxiety like a virus. Our mirror neurons help suck us into the emotional eruptions of others. …Emotions are highly contagious, as film directors and fear-mongering propagandists know, especially negative emotions.[6]

Held captive by unconscious physical and emotional response to shouting newscasters, listeners become victims of a kind of Stockholm syndrome, “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.”[7] An urgent need to hear what the shouters say takes over normal intellectual function. There’s an emergency and they’re telling us about it. We have to listen.

No one questions that regular shouting at a spouse is a form of domestic abuse, or that shouting repeatedly at children is a form of child abuse. So why do so many people not question the harmful impact of loud-mouthed media personalities?

What could be a more perfect explanation for the masses of people walking around seemingly without the ability to think rationally about matters of critical importance in our nation’s politics? While liberals may gravitate to quietly spoken news of the day uttered by a calm commentator on the PBS NewsHour, many conservatives seem to require regular doses of shouting. There’s probably a clear connection between being shouted at with its rush of body chemistry and the acceptance of a point of view that seems to solve the problem just described in those shouts.

What any reasoning adult should know is that shouting is a theatrical tactic used to capture the attention of listeners/viewers, a form of bullying meant to hold its beleaguered audience. Sportscasters shout in order to build visceral excitement for whatever game they’re announcing. But why would we want the adrenaline rush of sports when we’re hearing news?

Isn’t ‘news’ at its most basic concept a source of information about important events around the world? About electing those who will steer our nation through challenging times? Do we really want to unquestionably accept a shouter’s point of view on such critical topics?

Limbaugh, FOX and other conservative shouters groom their audiences by occasionally lowering their voices, providing strokes to calm those just incited by the shouts. “Here, here,” the shouters say. “It’s not so bad. Here’s how to think about this.” And then the prescription is delivered, a calming pill of hate and prejudice, of unthinking narrow-mindedness convinced that any further information is not needed. The audience becomes like other sufferers of Stockholm syndrome, eager to defend their captors, afraid to turn away from the source of their agitation.

~~~

“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.” – Desmond Tutu

~~~

[1] https://mindfullifetoday.com/yelling-and-the-brain/

[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/stop-yelling-at-your-employees-its-making-them-stupid-2009-9

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

[4] https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2009/10/27/30-reasons-why-fox-news-is-not-legit/156164

[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/05/15/fox-news-undermines-a-free-independent-press/?utm_term=.90a81b4a1232

[6] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-robinson/dealing-with-stress_b_4097921.html

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome