The New Normal

Eduardo del Buey
Photo: Afp
La Jornada Maya

Tuesday July 23, 2019

I recently saw a T-shirt that said “racism is so much a part of America that when you protest it many think that you are protesting America”.

Is this the new normal?

Is having a President of the United States who is undoubtedly a racist based on his history and actions and who is supported by racist elements in U.S. society the new normal? Is the unwavering support of the Republican Party for this President the new normal? Many Republicans came out in support of the President and defended his statement, and only two or three actually criticized Trump’s racist rantings.

Donald Trump’s recent Twitter ranting on July 14th that “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” is just the latest racist commentary to come out of this President’s mouth.

Many are asking how this came to befall the most powerful country in the world. Many wonder if voters support Trump not despite his racism, but because of it.

While he does represent the worst of American society, his Presidency is not a simple accident of history. It is the logical outcome some two hundred fifty years in the making.

It’s a fact that the Confederacy lost the Civil War in 1865, after two hundred years of slavery and racial prejudice.

I would argue that the Confederacy may have only lost the battle, as the innate racism that led to this tragic war continues unabated in the United States today, and is emboldened by the current Republican administration and its supporters.

Racism remained in daily life and law in many states for a century more. The current political resurgence grew out of the backlash of the 1970’s against the liberalism and humanistic culture that arose from the 1960’s – both from the counterculture that brought on revolutionary concepts of morality, as well as from the establishment that passed major civil rights legislation that sought to end racism and hatred in the United States.

The backlash started to gain momentum after the Supreme Court legalized abortion in its landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

The fundamentalist Christian right organized against this decision and, for the first time, created a real opposition to the permissiveness of the 1960’s and the social democratic government policies that were implemented in the 1930’s by a succession of progressive administrations – Democrat and Republican.

Since the fundamentalist Christian Right is white in its composition, this has created a racial divide that permeates U.S. politics today.

By 1978, over 1300 right wing Christian radio stations were broadcasting their messages across the United States (one in every seven in the country), and over 5000 evangelical primary and high schools were teaching fundamentalism to a new generation of Americans.

Major preachers like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell were attracting millions of viewers weekly and receiving tens of millions of dollars in donations yearly.

Falwell also founded Liberty University in 1971 and The Moral Majority political movement in 1979 and, and soon claimed over four million members. It became a major factor in Ronald Reagan’s overwhelming electoral victory over Jimmy Carter in 1980 and has influenced Republican politics since. Indeed, Senator Ted Cruz initiated his presidential campaign at the University in 2015.

While Jimmy Carter was and is a born-again Christian, his Christianity reflects a fundamental belief in Christ’s message of love and compassion – not the driving forces of the fundamentalist Christian Right then or now.

Social conservatism and political activism have been the hallmarks of this movement, and much of its support arose from a rejection of the social legislation of the 1950’s and 60’s that included racial equality and affirmative action. This, with the takeover of the South by the Republicans after Democrat President Lyndon Johnson’s civil rights legislation of 1965, which most Republicans at the time supported, created a strong political base in which racism had and continues to have an essential role.

Then, on October 6, 1996, Australian-born right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch founded FOX News. This network quickly became the mouthpiece of the extreme right – the only source of news and views in which they believed. The traditional role of three major national television networks espousing journalistic neutrality soon became a two-player competition between CNN and FOX News – reflecting the growing ideological and religious divisions in the United States.

Today, FOX News serves not only as the Trump Administration’s mouthpiece, but also serves as major source of domestic and foreign policy input for this President who reportedly never reads briefing notes nor depends on the views of experts whose opinions differ from his own.

Conservative icon George Will has called the Trump Republican Party a cult.

The evolution has been a political phenomenon, but not an accident of history.

In 2015, the nascent Trump campaign was highly criticized by the Republican establishment and by his fellow candidates for the nomination. He accused his opponents viciously and created a cult-like following among the extreme right wing of the party that soon became its driving force.

Today, some of his then harshest critics like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Lindsay Graham actively support Trump and his vision, and defend his policies and tweets without reservation.

The takeover of the Republican Party establishment by Trump, together with the attempt by some Democrats to shift their party to the left, are leaving moderates in both parties out of the electoral loop. The danger is that they may decide to stay at home in 2020, assuring Trump of his reelection and the United States of more of the same.

The slow and tardy reaction of major Republican legislators and opinion makers on this most recent Twitter atrocity underscores the Party’s complete subservience to the Trump clan, and its inability or unwillingness to stand up for traditional Republican values.

Some might argue that Congress is not sitting, hence their reaction. But all have Twitter and Facebook accounts and know how to contact media on the Hill or elsewhere. Consequently, reporters have had to ambush Republican legislators to squeeze out even a modicum of a reaction.

In the next few days, some Republican voices could emerge, suggesting to the President that he seek the high road in his Tweets. This belated reaction will undoubtedly be too little, too late for many. And the chances of the President listening are nil. The chances of his seeking revenge against these voices is very real – hence the reluctance of Republican leaders to challenge the President.

If, as he says, he is not one, then Donald Trump certainly behaves like a racist and a demagogue, as his comments and actions have shown on so many occasions.

When the President of the United States publicly and proudly tells duly elected political opponents to go back to where they came from based on the color of their skin and their country of origin and gender, he calls into question any respect that he may have for American institutions, laws or commitment to basic human rights and decency. While he did not refer to their race, the fact that he singled them out and treated them as if they are not real Americans speaks volumes to his racism.

He continues to create deep divisions at a time when the country needs leaders who will bring society together in this century of challenges to U.S. interests and traditional values and reestablish U.S. influence in a world challenged by autocratic illiberalism.

That is the new normal.

And the new normal affects not only U.S. citizens, but all of us who believe in liberal democracy, full equality, and human rights.

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