THE
REPUBLICAN AGENDA
For decades
now, the Republican Party, Republican leaders and officials, Republican talk
radio, and Fox news have been aggressively pursuing an agenda that sometimes
doesn’t seem to make any sense or have any cohesive message.
But, there
is an agenda and the message makes perfect sense if the goal is to create an
unquestioning citizenry willing to turn over US assets and commons to private
corporations for the benefit of the 1%.
Long ago, we
saw a marriage of convenience between Evangelical Christianity and the
Republican Party. There is nothing quite like having God and the only true
religion on your side! Evangelicals vote in droves for Republicans. And, single
issue voters create a win for Republicans: Opposition to abortion sealed the
deal.
A bonus is
that creating a marriage made in heaven between the Republican Party and the
religious right gives Republicans a large following of people predisposed to be
authoritarian followers. See what I did there!
It is easy
to fuel the fires of envy and jealousy and nothing does it better than propaganda
against non-white non-Chrisitan groups. And, add a heavy dose of “Us vs. Them” and you have a winning political
strategy. We seem to have large numbers of citizens who
·
hate
Muslims and African Americans, and immigrants, and…
·
approve
a ban on Muslim immigration,
·
are
happy to break up families to deport people who have been law-abiding hard
working members of our communities for years,
·
believe
that Black Lives Matter is a violent anti-white group and that white men are
the most persecuted group in the USA
There have
been decades of Republican attacks on education – which makes a smooth
transition to for-profit charter schools and religious schools which are able
to further the Republican agenda. This paves the way for big tax cuts for the
wealthy and for corporations.
Add to
that, decades of slander against higher education, tenure, liberal professors,
etc.and we are contributing to an uneducated unquestioning populace of followers. And,
that is terrifying.
Countless
attacks on experts and expertise, science and scientists have produced a devout
citizenry who put their trust in … a political party!?!
And, that
makes deregulation – of wall street, banking, environmental protection, media,
etc. very very easy and very very profitable.
Yes, if
scientists are liars and scientific processes cannot be trusted, but the GOP
can… Well, cut more funding to universities, research programs, the EPA and
give more tax breaks to the 1%.
All this leads
us to the present where a large segment of the population believes politicians
and no longer see science as a means of progress.
Then, falsely
present pseudo-science as science and we produce
a voting
public who are so ignorant of basic science that the non-expert doesn’t know
what legitimate science is and what it isn’t. Global climate change? Accepting
the science on climate change might put a damper on business, so that is
unacceptable.
Now, we
have a large minority of the population who do not believe that experience,
knowledge, or expertise is needed to run the government! And, we get 45. His supporters are still happy with him.
Constant
attacks on the free press have created a citizenry who seem to feel it is their
duty not to listen to or read anything that isn’t specifically Republican.
95%
of talk radio is right-wing. Every day, our 45th president rails
against “fake news.” And, every day, citizens flock to fake news sites and
believe even the most demonstrably false information.
These
attacks pave the way for total trust in propaganda and “fake news” while
insisting that any divergence from the right wing message is “fake news” by
definition.
After
decades of hate talk about “libtard femi-nazi agnostic atheist humanists (!)”
plus successful efforts to own the airwaves and end the fairness doctrine, we
have a media dominated by the right wing.
But, large
numbers of our citizens are unaware of this.
Listen to
more Republican talk radio, watch more Fox News, read more “InfoWars.” We have
an uneducated unquestioning populace that are willing to be followers of
authoritarians – and, support Fascism.
Have mercy on us.
VLL
