The Incivility Of The Trumpist Regime

Monday night, Maxine Waters was Chris Hayes' guest on All In to explain how Señor Trumpanzee had misinterpreted-- purposefully-- her call for Americans to confront Trumpist Cabinet members into a call for violence against GOP Voters. What she had said had zero to do with violence and zero to do with GOP voters... it was simply about legitimate, constitutionally-protected protest about usually cloistered and unavailable government officials... very healthy. She then read a list of times Señor T had publicly called for violence against Americans. A few we should all easily remember:

• "Maybe he should be roughed up"
• "I’d like to knock the crap out of them"
• "Try not to hurt him but if you do, I’ll defend you in court. Don’t worry about it."
• "I’d like to punch him in the face."

Real civil, right? Speaking of which... Early Tuesday morning Mark Sumner posted an important essay at Daily Kos about the media's "civility debate." "The media demands for “civility”over the last three days," he wrote, "are not just being unfairly applied in a wholly one-sided manner-- dirty hippies aren’t allowed to comment on their betters-- they are themselves a dangerous and unreasonable demand that is threatening the nation."

It’s not just that major media sources have settled into a routine where when Donald Trump insults someone, their first instinct is to repeat that insult. Or that they are constantly in search for a comment from the left which, no matter how it is phrased, can be turned into the focus of some serious nose-lifted high dudgeon. It’s not simply that while the right punches, the press plays stenographer, and when the left fights back, they declare fighting out of bounds. It’s not even about the incredible spectacle of journalists who have personally been on the receiving end of both spit and thrown bottles while Trump rants about ending “political correctness,” suddenly chiding the left for refusing to be good little frogs while the water boils.

It’s that the demand being made for “civility” isn’t about language at all. It’s about throwing a ring of protection around the powerful. It’s about pretending that people whose actions wreck millions of lives on a whim, are cocooned from the consequences of their actions, not just because they have money, and connections, and resources, but because their power puts them on a different plane.

The idea that “politics” represents some kind of insulating blanket, that someone should be able to take any action in the service of a political office, then stroll out into the street and be treated with cheery “civility,” giving no consequence to what they’ve done in their day job, is not just foolish. It’s dangerous. That’s not civility. That’s royalty.

This isn’t some theoretical thing. The arguments here are not about angels on pins or the health of unseen cats. There are children being taken away at the border who may never see their parents again. And there are parents out there who will absolutely never again see their child again because he was gunned down for simply being black. And there are people out there whose lives are purposely being made worse, simply because those people-- those people who feel like they deserve to rule from inside Washington, and still go out to demand a good meal from the peasantry-- find them handy objects of ridicule.

The idea that political statements take place in some privileged space, and that pushing back outside the beltway is wrong isn’t just sickening, it’s surrender.

For many of the journalists engaged in this latest round of finger-waving, A large part of the argument is about who they value. They value those people they see, they meet, they talk with every day. Those people that they interview and quote are real people, worthy of nice things, even when they don’t say nice things. And the people who don’t have power, the people whose only appearance on television is as a literal face in the crowd, … are not. Not valued. Not worthy. Not real.

It’s why Sarah Sanders can lie directly to their faces every day, and threat them like a class of unruly third graders, and they’ll still moan in sympathy when Sanders is featured in a punch line. Because jokes hurt … not like the policies that Sanders is promoting that only take food and medicine from those who need it, and pump pollution into the air and water to the tune of 80,000 American lives lost. That tendency to place more import on those around you is only human. But the media’s tendency to demand it, is part of protecting the power structure.

When senators and congressmen wax lyrical over the magic age of civility past, even that is just another way of saying “when we once went to our country clubs together, free of our lessers, and the press coddled us even more.”

The press would be happier if Americans storming the castle would limit their efforts to the occasional neatly proscribed march. With colorful signs! And a permit!

The press is going to continue to be disappointed in us. If we’re lucky.

Democracy is messy-- and establishment media has always been worried about "civility"

A biproduct of reactionary Trumpism: A new poll released this morning found that half of us think the country is in "real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country." But maybe still civil? 55% see democracy as "weak" and 68% believe it is "getting weaker." About eight in 10 Americans say they are either very or somewhat concerned about the condition of democracy here. What an historical mistake we made... as a people! I hope it's not too late. We'll all counting on November! 

Now, please, go back up top and watch that lovely video of New Oder's "Age of Consent"-- and don't worry about all that civility in the beginning... it ends well. And you can sing to it, dance to it, dream to it.

Won't you please let me go
These words lie inside they hurt me so
And I'm not the kind that likes to tell you
Just what I want to do
I'm not the kind that needs to tell you
Just what you, want me to