When Entire Political Movements Are Based on Big Lies

 

“How can you tell if a politician is lying? His lips are moving.” But some lies are bigger than others.

It is with intense sadness that I watched the labeled Russian “retaliation” – amped-up bombing and shelling of major Ukrainian cities, particularly the teetering Mariupol – for Ukraine’s sinking of Russia’s Black Sea flagship guided missile cruiser. Except Russia told us that the sinking was not due to the obvious success of a double missile strike from Ukrainian designed and built Neptune missiles. Russia swore the damage was from a fire that broke out on board. So, what are they retaliating against? So, they used the nebulous words, “terrorist activities” instead. Putin continues his diatribe, his crusade, to de-Nazify Ukraine – a clear nerve in a nation that suffered 70% of all the casualties in the Great Patriotic War (WWII) – and crush dissent with brutality and a 15-year prison sentence for those prosecuted.

Russia finally sent its expected but ominous threatening diplomatic communique to the leaders of all NATO nations, including Joe Biden. The letter said: “We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security,” warning that U.S. and NATO shipments of the “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine were “adding fuel” to the conflict there and could bring “unpredictable consequences.” 

The world is concerned with weapons of mass destruction (better: those inflicting uncontrollable destruction in the general area of the target) and the possible onset of a full-on WWIII. Biden has tiptoed on the brink, but Putin is a master of testing resolve. What if Putin did not immediately escalate to strategic or even tactical nuclear weapons? Or even biological and chemical warfare? What if Putin just fired a single missile into Poland, a shot across the bow if you will, focused on those supply lines? Do NATO treaty obligations force an immediate escalation? A single responsive missile into Russia or Belarus aimed at their supply lines? A no-fly zone over Ukraine? And if NATO did nothing?

Given several NATO members’ leanings toward disengagement – Hungary and perhaps Greece and Turkey… even France if Putin ally Marie Le Pen defeats Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election now pending – could such a move implement Putin’s belief and desire to facture the NATO alliance? He’s made the same saber-rattling threats against the pending addition of Sweden and Finland to NATO. It’s a risky choice, but Putin has a history of never deescalating, a “double down” tactic embraced by his autocrat wannabe protégé, Donald Trump.  Experts warn that even if Putin offers of one or more ceasefires, these entreaties are nothing more than an enabling a respite for his troops to reconfigure and resupply until they are ready to resume and continue to try and negate Ukraine’s existence.

But lest we believe that autocratic destructive social policies predicated on massive fabrications are the stuff of “others,” let’s look at the lies that threaten our own democracy, promulgated by a neo-populist Republican Party: Biden stole the 2020 election by massive voter fraud, the radical left (heavily populated with supporters of child pornography) are attempting to poison the minds of public school children and must be stopped, the January 6th attempted coup showed “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse,” endemic racism died in the 1950s/60s with civil rights legislation and judicial rulings, most Americans abhor allowing abortion rights that must be stopped, individual “rights” trump even most reasonable efforts to stop the spread of a pandemic-level killing infections and “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Not one single statement above is remotely true, but repetition of these fabrications justifies a thoroughly antidemocratic GOP platform. Tolerance of people with gender difference has left the building. 

The response to that purported “voter fraud,” still a core GOP belief despite a continued and dramatic lack of proof, is massive new gerrymandering and out and out voter suppression that, lo and behold, coincidentally seems to reduce Democratic votes while amplifying GOP supporters. The rising number of criminal convictions of Capitol insurrectionists decimates the notion of “legitimate political discourse.” That COVID remains a killer (2021 was the deadliest year and we now face a new B2 strain of a more infectious COVID virus), beginning to surge again, makes us question the rights of individuals to engage in activities that spread the disease to others. That mass shootings with assault weapons are soaring, noting that only one in thirty-five civilian gun homicides are justified, blows away the press for increasingly lax gun laws in red states… which continues unabated. The new transparency evidencing racism – thank you ubiquitous smartphone footage – conclusively proves racism is anything but gone in this country. Finally, virtually all credible polls show that a majority of Americans do not want Roe vs Wade to be reversed; only under a third of Americans want it gone.

I suspect the “it’s the economy stupid” maxim is what augurs badly for the Dems, since the party in power during any economic decline (regardless of the real cause) gets blame, and mid-terms generally go against the incumbent majority. It would be a big mistake to believe that this expected vote against that Democratic majority is a vote for Republican values. And yes, aging political leaders have that strike against them as well.

Personally, I do not believe that Donald Trump will be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024. Even if he is able to delay or evade the many felonies he faces, his obsession with a lost election, his admiration for a war criminal in Russia and his proclivity to engage in vitriol and blame are slowly cutting him away from political viability. Further, a risk which may be exacerbated if Trump-endorsed candidates do not defeat their rivals in the mid-terms, Trump would further face probable another catastrophic loss – perhaps engaging in another extended battle to reverse an election – that would signal his impending political irrelevancy. A massive public humiliation that I believe he cannot tolerate.

The rising star in right-wing populism is clearly Ron DeSantis, extreme in every way but one: his lack of polarizing personal attacks. He does not engage in meaningless political ad hominem vitriol or responsibility-shirking blame; he does not openly admired Vladimir Putin, but he does represent every radical right policy and belief down to the decimal point. He does favor white traditional rule above all else, and he is driven to support a minority evangelical platform that does not reflect who America really is. Stand back and stand by!

I’m Peter Dekom, and when you see how many autocrats began as elected leaders campaigning on a bed of lies, you really have to be concerned with the anti-democratic direction too many Americans seem to be willing to accept going forward.