America’s path forward, according to a children’s book author and retired elementary school principal
By Bill Smith
Sun contributor
The horrific events on Wednesday, January 6, in Washington, D.C., and the pain of the past four years with Donald Trump in the White House prompted the Glen Arbor Sun to ask Bill Smith for his political analysis on a path forward. Smith is a children’s book author who wrote the acclaimed Chickadees at Night and Four a.m. December 25. He is also a retired elementary school principal who worked at Suttons Bay and Eastern Elementary. And Smith is a political moderate who has voted for both political parties. On Facebook, Smith resists the temptation to yell and instead appeals to reason and common ground.
BACK TO THE SWAMP, AND THE WAY FORWARD
Recently a conservative friend posted this: “You sent us back to the swamp. Are you happy now?” …. a mild representation, I think, of the feelings of tens of millions of Trump-supporting Americans. So, what’s the way forward? Here are five ideas. Buckle up…….
1. SUPPORT ELECTION REFORMS
As distasteful as this idea is to some, we can’t afford to ignore these millions of deeply distrustful fellow citizens, the vast majority of whom are hard-working, law-abiding Americans. We can’t ignore their profound distrust of elections across America, regardless of how misguided we feel that distrust to be. A fair election is THE key issue. Elections are also a state, not federal, responsibility. I think the new Congress should appropriate funds, funds made available to non-partisan commissions in every state that wishes to address TWO objectives: 1. Examining claims of “massive” fraud, then implementing reforms that eliminate verified claims, and 2. Implementing reforms that help legally and safely EXPAND the franchise to all eligible voters. Four years is enough time: expose the lies/inaccuracies: eliminate any substantive fraud; legislate inclusion over exclusion.
2. SUPPORT AGGRESSIVE PROSECUTION OF RIOTERS AND THOSE WHO INCITE THEM
Those who incited or committed violence at the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection must be prosecuted, including any public person who repeatedly posted and/or stood up at rallies using incendiary language with large supportive crowds. Prosecution should reach the highest levels possible, the HIGHEST. Likewise, those who incited or committed violence at Black Lives Matter-type events must be prosecuted, including any public person who repeatedly posted and/or stood up at rallies using incendiary language with large supportive crowds. Again, prosecution should reach the highest levels possible. No excuses for lawlessness.
3. BE GENEROUS IN SPIRIT
Whether in person or on social media — we must encourage each other to be respectful listeners, and to voice our own views respectfully. To be clear, the millions who still think Donald Trump is a good person, and many may never be able to separate the policies/actions they like from the profoundly dangerous man that he is — they will be difficult to reach. However, we cannot allow that difficulty to prevent us from gently strongly, consistently affirming the principle we all should hold dear, that we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
4. PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION ON MODERN PROPAGANDA
Recent national polls found that millions of Americans still doubt that Barack Obama was born in the United States. Obama’s verified long-form birth certificate long ago confirmed his citizenship. So did the CEO of birtherism himself, Donald J. Trump, who (in)famously tweeted in 2016, “Barack Obama was born in America period.” Yet in 2019 around 80 million Americans still doubted Obama’s citizenship!
With birtherism, Trump learned a valuable lesson — the power of the “big lie.” He learned that it is far, far easier to shape a few scraps of truth into a credible lie, and then to relentlessly persist in broadcasting that lie, and then to reap the rewards of that persistence (i.e. a Presidential nomination!), far easier it is to do all that, than it is for your opponents to refute the lie itself. Thus, the President and his many enablers used birtherism, along with many other distortions of truth, to help achieve the greatest prize — the Presidency of the United States.
Therefore, it is not surprising that four years later the President and his enablers, with a far greater megaphone, contrived the “massive fraud” claim — again deploying that same “big lie” tactic, again distorting scraps of truth, again relentlessly amplifying and broadcasting those scraps to manipulate millions of good people — all in order to cling to the coveted prize. He had learned that refutation of “massive fraud” claims would require painstaking evidence-gathering, time-consuming hearings, complicated explanations, and long attention spans. And he knew that millions of loyal followers were already primed and predisposed to believe such a claim, and that to convince them otherwise would be well-nigh impossible. He was right. And were it not for a pandemic and about 60 members of our independent judiciary, the tactic might have worked again. The tactic ultimately didn’t work, but millions of minds have been scarred with distrust for years.
My point is this. Over the next four years, our high schools, our colleges, media outlets, independent documentarians — all need to provide substantive education on how we all can become far better critical consumers of important political claims, of social media posts, and on how to recognize and deal with “cherry picking,” mob psychology, and thought-manipulation of all kinds. In my dreams I see an eight-part Ken Burns historical documentary called “Propaganda, USA.” Certainly, our secondary schools must deal comprehensively with the challenges of using technology to manipulate opinion.
5. ALLOW TIME TO HEAL
We must all be patient. If even a fraction of President Trump’s depiction of a Biden America — economic ruin, descent into Venezuelan socialism, cartels rushing across the border, gun rights dismantled, live-birth babies murdered, chaos in cities, etc, etc. – comes to pass, then Republicans will surely retake Congress and then the Presidency in 2022 and 2024. But if the dire predictions fail to materialize, supporters will finally, finally move on from their Trump-inspired apocalyptic fears. Either way, our strong democracy will guide us wisely, if we allow it to.
So, about that post: “You sent us back to the swamp. Are you happy now?” Yes, I am. The National Geographic Society called swamps among “the most valuable ecosystems on Earth.” Swamps block flooding. Swamps protect coastline. Perhaps our Founding Fathers intentionally created this kind of Constitutional swamp — one that blocks autocrats, and one that, with its checks and balances, protects us all from the worst decisions of our flawed leaders. I am happy about that kind of swamp. And I want to find ways to move forward, positively, to help ensure that that messy, beautiful swamp continues to be “the most valuable on Earth.”
