In the world of politics, there are always nutcase conspiratorial theories. In the conservative movement, they come from those we call “tinfoil hat” folks. They are the ever-present part of the fringe. Very small in numbers and very void of influence. They could never garner serious attention – nor cause serious harm. The same is true of the left. In the past, they were mostly treated by those on the left much like we on the right treated our nutcases.
Then there are the nutcases on the right and left who are dangerous. They are either lone wolves or small groups who take up violence in support of some imagined cause that preoccupies their twisted minds. Historically, they have been treated as whacko individuals or groups that both sides condemn.
But things have changed.
The new left has decided to make the nutcases on the right the center stage – giving them much more credence and power than they deserve. The Democratic Party has gone all in on right-wing conspiracy theories as a real threat to the Republic – as have their media allies. They smear the entire Republic Party with exaggerated claims and accusations.
What tends to protect President Trump more than anything is the outrageousness of the never-ending accusations that go beyond the facts and into the realm of nutcase conspiracy theories. Democrats smear millions of Republican voters with their hyperbolic conspiracy theories.
To understand the extent of their strategic reliance on concocted conspiracy theories, we must remember how they kept the Russian Conspiracy Theory at the top of the news for several years – only to have it totally debunked by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And they even now deny that he debunked it — although the final report proclaimed that no American conspired with Russia.
Neither humbled nor shamed, they used a protest-turned-riot on Capitol Hill to claim an Arron Burr-level treason on the part of Trump, the GOP leadership, and tens of millions of conservative voters.
In journalism, there is a phenomenon called “story creep.” It occurs when a story keeps getting increasingly embellished even though the facts of the situation do not change. That is why the Capitol Hill riot rose in the left-wing echo chamber to an insurrection – and onto an attempted coup … and onto an ongoing coup attempt … and on to a prospective civil war.
The left’s conspiracy theory would have us believe that the 246-year-old American Republic was – and is – teetering on the edge of collapse. Should Republicans regain power in Washington, democracy in America ends immediately. They actually say that.
Of course, the left’s nutty conspiracy theories are not mental derangement (at least not entirely). It is strategic. They are peddling it as propaganda in a calculated effort to cling to power after the November midterm elections.
If you examine their conspiratorial claims closely, you will see that they actually report things that never happen as their vision of the future.
You will recall that the left-wing media warned that the riot (their insurrection) was part of a nationwide attempt at a violent takeover of the American government. They warned of violence erupting in major communities throughout the nation. None of that happened.
On the anniversary of the January 6th riot, they warned of violent throngs descending on the Capitol to continue their insurrection. This time Speaker Pelosi built a fence around the Capitol Building and deployed the National Guard. (We still have not been told why she rejected such protection on the day of the riot.) About 100 or so protesters – with proper permits – arrived on the scene. They listened to a few speeches and went home peacefully. The predicted coincidental nationwide violent protests never happened.
Weeell … you would think that with their various conspiracy theories falling flatter than a fashion model’s chest, the conspiracy theorists on the left would cool it. But nooooo. They are now trying to sell an even more outrageous theory … a pending civil war. (It is hard for me to be kind to folks who profess belief in this garbage. Are they just that gullible? Are they really that stupid? Or are they just dishonest for political purposes?)
There have been several reports on left-wing media that various groups are planning to launch a civil war. There may be some nutcases out there who get off on romanticizing such an event – just as we have seen the nutcases on the left romanticizing their version of a revolution to overthrow the government.
What has been missing from the reports is any evidence of a civil war in the offing. No amassing of forces on the scale a civil war would require. In fact, most Americans have no appetite for political violence – much less a civil war. Even in these times of partisan political animosity, the people are not sufficiently distressed to take their pitchforks to the barricades.
Following the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, the left-leaning newsies started to AGAIN raise the notion of widespread violence and the potential of civil war. The point to the one nutcase who tried to enter an FBI facility with a nail gun. (Maybe he did not know that “nailing” some FBI agents is a metaphor.)
That action resulted and grave warnings of potential assaults on FBI agents. The Agency sent out directives and warnings. The government and media response was overwhelming – even claiming that Trump was responsible for the attack. Pretty heavy stuff. (You might have noticed that the left-wing nutcase who planned to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not get anything near the reaction from Democrats or the left-leaning media. No warnings about left-wing terrorism. It is a point worth noting,)
Perhaps the best example of this sort of baseless fearmongering conspiratorial reporting is (you will not be surprised) CNN’s supposed media analyst Brian Stelter.
(CNN is supposedly trying to move to a more moderate reporting position, but their plan will fail as long as they keep guys like Stelter on the payroll. But I digress.)
In portending real violence, Stelter claimed that after the raid on Trump’s home, there was a noticeable increase in violent chatter on social media. Stelter – and others – take terms such as “lock and load” and “target Democrats” as literal calls to shoot government officials. In one case, he read an online posting by Jim Barnes, who tweeted that “Republicans have a moral duty to fight back” as evidence of a call for violence. That was the entire tweet. Using that as an example of a call for violence is dishonest. It is not a bridge too far since no bridge can span Stelter’s report and reality. Those terms are all metaphors that are commonly used in political campaigns (🡨 also a military term) and Stelter knows it.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough went into one of his iconic rants about the criticism of the FBI after the raid on Trump’s home. He repeatedly said it COULD lead to violence. But like Stelter’s report, there was no hint of mass violence in the wake of the raid on Mar-a-Lago. In fact, the only serious incident of political violence in the current news was the arrest of a terrorist intending to assassinate a conservative political figure, Trump’s former White House foreign policy advisor John Bolton.
Stelter and Scarborough know that there is no evidence of any real organized political violence – and certainly nothing that warrants claims of insurrection or coup attempts. It is all malarky. It is disinformation. It is a left-wing political spin.
Yes, there can be periodic violence from nutcases on the American right AND the left – and an occasional terrorist. But these anecdotal cases do not suggest anything close to a widespread uprising against the government any more than one of those senseless mass shootings represents a “movement.” Folks mentally bent on violence will find their excuse – and sometimes is political.
For sure, America is sharply divided along partisan and philosophic lines. There is a general dissatisfaction with the great institutions – law enforcement, the courts, news media, government, religious institutions, schools, etc.
It is occurring on both sides of the divide. The left stands up for the FBI and the Capitol Hill police but condemns the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and local community police. Ironically, the left’s attacks on local policing have been a major factor in the surge of non-political street violence. That is very real.
Compare the criminal street violence that Democrat policies and officials protect to the amount of violence coming from the imaginary ongoing insurrection and it is a million to zero. (I exaggerate, but you get the point.)
We can all agree that Trump and his associates were very aggressive in trying to flip the initial results of the 2020 election. Most of their attempts were both legal and constitutional – even if some were unprecedented and repugnant to one’s sensibilities.
It is entirely possible that some actions by some folks were outside the limits of law and constitutionality – and that is what the various investigations are all about. The Select Committee investigation is nothing more than political posturing and overheated Trump hatred. The actions of the Department of Justice and various local prosecutors are the only games that count. Whether they are politically motivated, they still have the force of law – and they still have to convince 12 jurors that there is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We are a long way from those decisions.
In the meantime, take heart and abandon all fear. There was no real insurrection – and there is no ongoing coup attempt. We are not on the edge of civil war. The American Republic remains sound. It is not about to fall – and was not close to falling on January 6, 2021. The rhetoric coming from the left does not represent reality. It is shameful political disinformation.
On the other hand, if you want to focus on the real long-term threat to the America’s democratic Republic, look to the growing power and oppression of the federal government. America is not in imminent danger of a sudden coup as much as it is from a slow evolution to national authoritarianism coming from the left – and from the political party that believes in ruling over the populace without opposition. But a closer look at that will have to wait for a future commentary.
So, there ‘tis.