LIES, LIES
The result of unfettered speech
The lies that cascade from republican candidates and party functionaries are so common that they literally define their communication. The Big Lie, that the Democrats stole the last election, is still believed by a plurality of republican voters, The Big Lie morphed into a fraudulent attempt to restrict voting under the false supposition that non-citizens were voting. The scope ranges from the latest lie that Haitians eat your pets to falsely blaming Biden for delaying government help during climate related disasters. Their hypocrisy is boundless, taking credit for projects that they voted against for example.
Why would what we like to think as the leading democracy in the world, tolerate a level of political discourse that is frequently unadulterated fraud? The reason is that it is sheltered by the rubric of free speech. Everything short of telling someone to overthrow the government now rather than hypothetically gets a free pass. One result of this miasma is that social psychosis coexists with reality.
Lowell Bergman, a notable journalist recently provided historical perspective on the decline of truth in public discourse in an online UC Berkeley lecture. A republican president, Herbert Hoover, recognized the importance of honesty in information delivered to the public when he signed into law, the Radio Act of 1927. Enshrined in that law was the obligation of the public media, radio at the time, to function in the public interest and convenience. A corollary of this obligation was the “fairness doctrine.” Broadcaster’s licenses were revoked for propagating lies. President Reagan repealed these regulations opening the door to the current information wild west. The problem is compounded by the steady demise of newspapers and the drift toward social media like Tik Tok as the leading source of information.
Only the restoration of some degree of restraint will abate the endless stream of lies that have now polluted public discourse. Giving Democrats control of all three federal branches is the only hope of turning this trend around.
Your LIES, LIES, rip the bandage off the GOP Big Lie that is still sucking in pluralities, taking on the shape of voter-fraud fiction and Haitian-eating pets, all riding on the credit they are earning themselves of not voting. You follow it all in a line: Wild West of free speech in the post-Reagan era, Fairness Doctrine emasculation, dying newspapers, TikTok lies. The lesson in the history of Lowell Bergman falls hard. Hoover was aware that integrity was important.
Spot-on diagnosis, and your fix beats to punch: Dems sweeping branches to keep it. Positive note, your fire at 90+ ignites, with lawyerly accuracy and the righteous fury of a grandpa to it, and complex media rot feels exigent and capable of being ameliorated. Issues: Two years later, Trump/Vance is here to stay, whiskey whispers Fairness 2.0? TikTok does not allow helping, or does it herd elsewhere? Social psychosis relieved since 24, or further? Additional balls of your truth, please.