Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
“This was an insurrection incited by the President.” — Republican Senator Mitt Romney
What a week it was. What an attack on democracy and how horrible the consequences. There can be no doubt, at least in my mind, that Mitt Romney is right. You simply cannot defend the indefensible.
President Donald Trump incited a riot, plain and simple. It was stunning to watch. He summoned the crowd in the first place. He intentionally fired them up. He urged them to “get rid of the weak Congress people” and then he sent them to the Capitol, where the House and Senate were in joint session to certify the election of Joe Biden as President.
He urged them to fight, fight, fight, raising his fists like a boxer, to ensure they got the message and adding, “This is the time for strength”. To top it off, his henchman, Rudy Giuliani, gleefully urged “trial by combat”. If all of that is not inciting an insurrection, I do not know what is.
The result is five people dead, elected representatives forced into hiding, and a ransacked Capitol building. Not to forget the global shock that this could happen in America, too close to home for many of us. Videos taken during the rioting clearly demonstrate the out-of-control anger, the hatred and the determination to overthrow Congress that ran freely through the halls of power.
And to watch Donald Trump, after the mob brutality he incited, actually come out and condemn the violence, drove incredulousness to a high new level. CTV’s Evan Solomon got it right when he said Trump “now condemns the fruit of the very poison tree he watered.”
There are few, I believe, that will now think that Donald Trump is fit to be the President of the United States. Last week was somewhat of a wake-up call, even for some of his ardent supporters. But there are some hard truths that need to be faced here, and one of them is how a person like Donald Trump ever got to be President of the United Sates in the first place and even now, at least before Wednesday, had very nearly half of the American voting population supporting him.
I have spent a lot of time over the years in the United States, and still have a number of friends there. Some of them are Republicans and I suspect they voted for Donald Trump. I know them to be good people who would abhor what happened in Washington this week. I spoke to two of them in recent days. They believe Donald Trump, in terms of his character, is unfit to be President.
The problem, however, and it is a serious one, is that they could not vote for the alternative, a political party that they sincerely believed was moving so far to the left it was sowing the seeds of socialism. That, too, was abhorrent to them and they felt between a rock and a hard place.
Politicians like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have espoused aspects of a socialist agenda, scare the hell out of people who are right of centre in their political thinking, who believe that government cannot be all things to all people, that free enterprise should be encouraged, excellence rewarded, and mediocrity discouraged.
President-elect Joe Biden has said time and time again, since his election, that he will govern for all Americans. He had better mean it and, more importantly, he had better do it. He appears to be a middle-of-the-road liberal. But if he caters in any way to the radical left in his party, as Donald Trump has catered to and enabled the radical right in the Republican Party, the great divide between left and right in the United States will continue to expand.
Joe Biden’s greatest success, or his greatest failure, as President of the United States will be determined by his ability to find a middle ground on which most Americans can feel comfortable. His party’s hold on the House of Representatives is diminished and control of the Senate is razor thin. Biden must now reach across the aisle. He has a reputation for doing that. He must encourage a sense of common good, unity on basic principles, and rejection of extremism. He must be seen as a healer and not a divider. If he can accomplish that, at a time when it is so sorely needed, he will go down in history as an effective president.
It is also important to note that if healing is to be effective, revenge must be put on the back burner. That is why, in my view, President-elect Biden has appeared cool to the growing movement to once again impeach Donald Trump, when he has little more than a week left in office. It is also worth noting that James Comey and John Bolton, both men who have every reason to dislike Donald Trump, believe he should not be impeached.
That Trump deserves impeachment is pretty clear, but its successful implementation, or invoking the 25th Amendment, besides being nearly impossible timewise, will have other less-desirable implications. It will embolden Trump’s base, to many it will give him martyr status, and it will impede any meaningful process of healing. Much better, in my view, to let him exit stage right, get him off the front page as much as possible, and add as little fuel as possible to the dangerous and incitive movement Trump has created that transcends and currently overshadows the Republican Party. Let’s just say goodbye.
On a closing note, I must admit I have some uneasiness about the decision to ban Donald Trump from Twitter. If I support it because I don’t like Donald Trump, what do I say when someone who I do support is banned and what is to stop that from happening? It is about censorship and freedom of speech and where to draw the line. I am still noodling that.
But that is a debate for another time.
Hugh Mackenzie
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Britt’s post above is correct, those who say it was a lie are wrong. Here is the direct quote and link to the Kamala Harris tweet in question. Judge for yourself, based on the direct evidence:
“If you’re able to, chip in now to the
@MNFreedomFund
to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1267555018128965643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1267555018128965643%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fpolitics%2F2020%2F09%2F03%2Fkamala-harris-tweeted-support-bail-fund-money-didnt-just-assist-protestors%2F
The pattern has been repeated over and over in history. Unscrupulous and charismatic leaders like Mussolini, Hitler, Bin Laden (Al-Qaeda), and Al Baghdadi (ISIS), used disinformation to exploit, recruit, and radicalize followers who “feel deprived of something” even if it was of their own making. But since 2004 the avalanche of un-regulated electronic “social media” gives unscrupulous leaders an infinitely more-powerful tool to spread disinformation, instantly, around the world, every day. ISIS was able to recruit and radicalize vulnerable young men on the other side of the world. Russia was able to use social media as a cheap and effective cyber weapon to influence elections in other countries.
Starting in 1980, a fringe group of far-right US billionaires led by the Koch brothers exploited the once-great US Republican party to systematically and progressively change election campaign contribution laws and tax codes to look after the top 1% at the expense of the 99%. That culminated in the 2010 supreme court ruling called “Citizens United” that virtually eliminated all limits on election campaign contributions. As a result, an average federal politician in the USA now needs $26 millions to get elected and big money has almost total control. Well-meaning politicians are often forced to abandon their principles to raise the money to get elected. That has casued growing inequality and social unrest.
Along came Donald Trump with his well-documented lack of scruples. He seized on the opportunity to salve his well-known narcissistic personality disorder by exploiting the disinformation that almost half the US population wanted to hear; that America’s problems were all caused by other countries, and that an isolationist “America First” policy was better than international cooperation. “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good (Republican) men to do nothing.“
Certainly we are at a crossroads respecting the legal aspects of communicating anything we want, to anyone we want at any time we want via social media platforms.
Government will always lag industry, but in the instance of social media, they have lagged too far too long and need to address this complex issue quickly.
For example, when automobiles were first invented, the governments had no fully published at the ready “rules of the road” to guide those who recently purchased a new motor car. The rules evolved when accidents happened. “Hey, maybe we need to place a Stop sign at this intersection to curtail all the accidents that are happening here? Maybe we could reduce the number of cars from skidding off that section of road by imposing a speed limit? And so on… until we had a safe and equitable system of very detailed rules in place (that continus evolving). And consequences for disobeying them.
Following the rules of the road and adhearing to this code of conduct while in the public domain protected your “priviledge” of driving… not your presumed “right” to drive on the road. Break the rules and you lose your privileges. It’s pretty simple.
Gov’t lags industry. If it were the other way around you’d have the gov’t telling industry what to do, and that’s not democratic – and I’ll assume that’s not wanted. We need the government to react to these platforms now.
Big tech companies developing social media platforms have been allowing inaccurate information being spread on them from day one… all in the name of preserving and protecting free speech?
We’ve got a lot of accidents taking place on the internet right now, and as the analogy above shows, we’ve got people skidding off the road left right and centre, and it’s hurting the innocent bystanders. Time to re-address the rules of the internet roadways. The government must step up to the plate.
If you allow someone to continuously communicate false facts, especially someone in high political office like the President of the United States, to the point that they feel like they’ve become a sovereign state, impervious to question or fact checking, and without consequences, well, now you have the tail wagging the dog. You also don’t have a Democracy.
The President, or anyone for that matter, can choose to espouse on any communication medium, call a press conference or shout their message from the rooftops if necessary. No one is stopping anyone from communicating to anyone any time on any subject. Nobody is stopping free speech. You just might have to change your platform if you break the rules too many times.
It appears to me Twitter had had enough. They stepped up to the plate and stopped the insanity. This being an example of industry policing itself. Quite refreshing actually! And it only took one company to set an example, quickly followed by Facebook and Instagram and I dare say others will follow too.
The government appeared too afraid to tackle what is undoubtedly a difficult hill to climb. How sorry are they this week that they didn’t take actions sooner.
Unfortunately, spreading public mischief or false facts on a social media platform won’t soon end with the banning of anyone from any specific platform. The instigator can simply choose to use another platform if they’ll have him. No one is supressing free speech. But we do require laws that prevent anyone from taking advantage of these mediums by continuously, and I emphasize CONTINUOUSLY, spreading false information.
Perhaps demerit points, leading up to suspension like the system that’s evolved with driving a car is needed here. It works pretty well.
I’m not a lawyer. I can see difficulties with something like this. However, just like the suspended driver who now must get around by taxi, bus or walking, the perpetrator of bad information must choose a different medium with which to communicate his bad messages.
No one is stopping anyone from free speech. It’s just that your media platform of choice has to change. Those are the consequences of poor communication… just like those faced on the road by a poor driver.
It’s a privilege to communicate via social mediums, not a right. Break the rules and you’ll need to find another way to conduct yourself. Free speech isn’t being questioned here.
And while the Government is working on this, don’t be surprised if they simultaneously tackle the other major problem the internet has afforded everyone: Anonymity.
It’s another subject… or is it?
Paul Whillans: I always welcome a healthy and interesting discussion and am perplexed at your aggressive response. I actually agreed with your thoughts on this article, let’s keep it professional.
You are missing my point however. When you google “Kamala Harris raises bail for protesters” you found one article that “kind of, sort of, but not really” supports your point among the 100’s that support mine. See full article by reuters and keep in mind this is 90+ days after the rioting began: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-kamala-harris-late-show-rio-idUSKBN27E34P
My point is that if our leaders, the parties they represent, the media, and we the people would be more diligent, less bias, seek the truth and do the right thing regardless if you are left or right the world would be a much more peaceful place. Kamala Harris & Donald Trump are not responsible for the fringe rioters that make headlines at protests and rallies. We are all responsible for our own actions.
Thank you, Mr. Mackenzie for opening discussion about these events. As an outsider to the US, I am not fully informed and have many questions.
1] I do not understand your Republican friends’ great, acute fear of socialism. Surely, there are degrees of socialism that might be palatable, even to the most hardened “individualist”. This is the country that still does not provide basic healthcare to their citizens. This is the country where some of the population is against “Obamacare”, yet thinks the Affordable Care Act is just fine (these are one in the same).???
2] What is truly frightening about DT and the GOP is that he got a nomination to run, and the surprise at his governance, and fitness for office. How did it take them so long to see who he really was?
3] There is a time for the ideology of “individualism” or that of “the common good” to have greater priority, depending on the situation of the citizenry (e.g. Winston Churchill during WW2, FDR’s New Deal during a depression). It’s a little along the line of, to everything there is a season. The key is knowing when/how to nuance these seeming competing viewpoints.
4] DT has skewed language and ideas, to the simplest form which pleases his base – he is a salesman & conman. So his idea of “revenge” substitutes for “justice”, black & white thinking. Unpack his rhetoric a bit more. What is very helpful here is understanding his mental illness and disorder – there has been plenty of information with which to observe his behaviour, interpret his language, and have some elemental understanding of how he sees the world.
5] I take some issue with your comment about the cancellation of his Twitter account. Frequently, I hear “freedom of speech” as the rallying call for Anything said. At all levels, communication is NOT a one-way process, neither is it simple. There should always be concern in how the receiver of that communication hears the message. DT knows the effect of his communication, double-speaks in code that he knows will be understood as a mixed message. I applaud, in this context and at this time, the sanctioning of the mob-talk of DT via social media. Can you imagine if we could have interrupted the steady propaganda of Hitler? Could lives have been saved?
6] Finally, the steady feed of grievance and emotional, abusive populism (which the GOP have chosen to use in their campaigning) has a wearing effect, as does the continued repetition of lies – this is how DT deals with a reality he cannot abide – lie repeatedly – soon enough it will be believed. Recognizing underlying problems of economic disparity. the security of healthcare, a strong public education, and public health system, seem to be some of the root causes. These ideas have previously been well-addressed by others.
As often, this too is a fair analysis of the sorry happenings in the USA. Thank you, Mr. Mackenzie.
However, I must confess I cannot understand the reasons for the, almost, pathological phobia of state socialism in North America. Would it be so terrible if North America, meaning primarily the USA and Canada, would be more along the lines of the Scandinavian countries? There too, free enterprise is encouraged, excellence rewarded, and mediocrity discouraged.
Modern progressive socialism is nothing like communism or socialism of the long-gone eras. There are free elections. There is more positive co-operation among various parties. Finland is a good example. Wealth creation is encouraged. Sharing of wealth is fairer and all the citizens are looked after. There is a universal health system and free education. Looking after the sick and infirm and affording free first-class education to all who desire it should be the goals of all countries who wish to be deemed civilized.
BJ Boltauzer
Let Us be vigilant ! That bunch of lunatics & losers has clones and sympathizers in Canada . Radicalism ,left or right is poison !
Britt Stevens: It is people like you that are the problem!!!! Kamala Harris said no such thing. The “viral” conspiracy theory that spun out of her interview with Stephen Colbert and posted on Youtube makes no mention of riots and violence. Nothing you have perpetuated here is true….It is a lie.
In fact this is what she said on August 27th as reported by Reuters
“It’s no wonder people are taking to the streets and I support them. We must always defend peaceful protest and peaceful protestors. We should not confuse them with those looting and committing acts of violence, including the shooter who was arrested for murder. And make no mistake, we will not let these vigilantes and extremists derail the path to justice.”
But no…..ignorant and vile people with their own agenda such as yourself, can’t be satisfied with the benign truth, you mindlessly pass on demonstrably false stories to make yourself relevant
I think that it is a mistake to focus on Trump and not on the underlying problems that gave rise to his particular brand of politics. We now live in a culture where “facts” are just inconvenient. Unadjudicated social media platforms turn harmless gossip into national movements. This is what Canadians need fear.
I would note that last Friday (two days after the attack on the US Congress) the Conservative Party posted on its website a request for donations under the title “Justin Trudeau is rigging the next election”, using the same language that arguably set off the US insurrection. Within 8 hours it was removed. Words matter. I have no doubt that Erin O’toole never saw nor approved this “lie”. And to their credit, it was removed. But the Conservatives need to do more, and publicly denounce this dog-whistle type of politics and publicly fire those responsible.
All leaders at every level need to overtly push back against every instance of “viral” misinformation. Every journalist needs to return to their roots and seek the truth, even if it can’t be presented in 50 second sound bites or 144 characters.
Is Kamala Harris directly responsible for the death and destruction that happened in the US all summer and fall? She suggested they raise money to bail out all those arrested. 25 people died, billions in damages, police cars burned, police departments and city halls taken over, shop owners beaten, looting etc.. These riots went on for months. By your very definition Hugh, Kamala encouraged this anarchy and should be responsible? Is she fit to be VP? Joe said nothing, not a single word, not even at the convention? A new precedent for damage caused at a riot/protest was set yet the media just glazed over it? Why is that? Always referring to it as a march or a movement?
The events that happened this week at the capital were horrific and yes Donald Trump should have handled himself and the crowd much better. However the media bias (both sides) only amp up the tension and are destroying countries more than the political leaders themselves. Some days I wonder if we are any different then Russia or China with their state run media.
Explain Donald Trump and you explain Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. In Trumps case it wasn’t a vote for his so much but a vote against Clinton. Even Biden would not have won if Trump didn’t show his hand. The silly Americans could see (just as well as us around the world) that he was a bully, a liar, a racist, a pig and self serving. His reputation was well documented because of his crooked business dealings in New York but some still put him on a pedestal. Many of us can’t figure that out and have lost respect for the American way because of what they allowed and supported. Hopefully a sense of normalcy will return with Biden. Hopefully they will have weeded out the politicians without credibility “to the people” and bring normal respectful political jousting the way the constitution demands. Biden is on track with support to eliminating covid and getting the economy back on track. AND including all. Good for him and we expect better from our bigger cousins to the south and wish them a speedy recovery.