Birth of a cynic Part 2: When the fringe wins

At the end of last week’s column, we were stuck in the ’80s on my journey from idealist to political cynic. To summarize, I’d gone from having faith in the lessons learned in high school civics class to having doubts about the way politics and government work in real life.

Two significant factors of the mid-1980s helped edge me toward my more cynical view. One was the increase in right-wing extremist groups. The other was the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine. 

Fringe groups long have been part of American life. Sometimes they’ve popped up in the public eye, though most of the time they remained on the fringe. Hence the name. Most folks saw them as kooks and didn’t take them seriously. They opposed taxes, despised the federal government, contended state and federal laws didn’t apply to them, claimed only gold and silver were legal tender, and even that it was unconstitutional to require a driver’s license or register a vehicle. However, many also promoted white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and Christian nationalism.

Survivalist groups sprang up during the ’80s, including The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound on Bull Shoals Lake in the Oakland area. The CSA presented itself as a religious back-to-the-land survivalist group waiting for Armageddon in the Ozarks. However, an April 1985 standoff between the CSA and federal, state, and local authorities serving criminal warrants revealed much more. The CSA had links to The Order, a violent Pacific Northwest group responsible for murders and armored car robberies, and the Aryan Nation. Two wanted members of The Order were hiding at the CSA compound. There also were connections to synagogue bombings, arson, plots for other attacks, and the murder of an Arkansas state trooper.

Unlike later confrontations with extremist groups, the CSA standoff ended peacefully. It exposed other groups across the country, but as happens in America public interest in them waned, but some of their ideas caught the attention of political parties’ fringe members.

The demise of the Fairness Doctrine began in 1985. Adopted in 1949, the Fairness Doctrine required broadcast companies to present both sides of controversial issues in a fair manner. Broadcasters could not promote only one side of an issue and had to present contrasting views. However, the Republican administration contended this violated free speech rights, and suits challenging the doctrine were filed during the following two years. In 1987 the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to revoke the Fairness Doctrine

A year later, Rush Limbaugh went from hosting a talk show on a little-known California radio station into national syndication. Conservative talk radio never looked back or slowed down.

How did these two factors increase my political cynicism? It was a combination of ultraconservative politicians adapting ideas from right-wing extremists and the unbridled growth of one-sided talk radio spreading them. Those on the fringe, who previously had only newsletters to spread their messages, now had a free and growing national platform to espouse their causes. Amazingly, people took them seriously. Fringe elements began their move into mainstream politics. With development of the Internet later, everyone, everywhere could espouse anything to a global audience with no vetting. Facts and fiction blurred, distrust of mainstream media grew, and discerning truth from lies became more difficult than ever.

In 1992 today’s massive polarization began. A Democrat from Arkansas surprised the nation with an upset win over the incumbent Republican president. I never understood why, but Republicans and conservatives hated him from the beginning. It wasn’t disagreeing with him, or disliking him, it was hate. But people admired him, despite his being a womanizer and better politician than businessman. When he won re-election in 1996, his opponents doubled down efforts to oust him.

Dark clouds hovered over his administration. Investigation into a questionable land development plan in Marion County’s Rea Valley that he’d invested in dominated much of his first term. That investigation led to probes of other allegations. Halfway through his first term, in 1994, the GOP’s ultraconservative young Turks won control of Congress and stepped up their opposition. Party elders on both sides worked for compromise but found little interest in working together.

After his re-election in 1996, opportunity presented itself for a chance to remove him from office. Testifying in a civil suit, the president denied having an affair with an intern in his office. In fact, they had an affair from 1995 until 1998. Still, the president denied it again on live national television. When this story broke, his opposition launched hearings that ultimately led to his impeachment. However, the Senate acquitted him during his impeachment trial.

I thought my political cynicism peaked, but it continued growing. Through the past 24 years, we’ve watched American politics decline. We’ve seen the Tea Party movement, Black Lives Matter, continuous corruption and scandals, the rise of MAGA, and an overall dumbing down among both the Democratic and Republican parties as well as among voters. As citizens, we’ve been manipulated, deceived, ignored, and condescended to throughout this century.

Lambasting one side for being socialists while labeling a presidential candidate as a fascist are accepted as normal. Proposals to dismantle much of the government and maybe parts of the Constitution are actually considered. We’ve seen the middle-class shrink, the “working poor” grow, and the rich grow richer. Mom-and-pop businesses and family farms fade away as corporations gobble up everything in sight. Corporations control everything, including Congress.

The mechanics of how government works remain in place, for now. The spirit of how our country and government should work and the spirit of politics we were taught in civics class aregone. We delude ourselves thinking we can change what happens in our country. Sure, we can vote, and candidates we support can win, issues we support can pass. But do we really change anything?

Tuesday’s election may be the most critical one for our nation. There’s potential for existential change in America, but through more than 50 years of political deterioration, I wonder if anyone will win? In the end, our country will never be what it once was.