Congruent – having the same shape and size, or being similar in character or type
Back to Normal
We hear it from both sides of our polarized world: we want things “back to normal”. There was a time, maybe two decades ago, when politics were important, but not all-consuming. There was a time when a Republican and a Democrat could stand shoulder to shoulder for local issues, then amicably disagree on National ones. And there was a time where we “trusted” our institutions, from schools to banks, to the National Institute of Health, to something as common place as the Weather Bureau (now NOAA).
We used to trust college professors to teach their students. Sure, if there was a Marxist professor, it meant students would get a Marxist view of the course subject. But that was acceptable, it was college, and, theoretically, student minds were ready to be “exposed” to all kinds of thought. Marxist theory wasn’t some disease; exposure didn’t guarantee infection. In fact, exposure might prove to be inoculation.
But today, an avowed Marxist would be unlikely to keep their tenured position. Not sure about that? Substitute the word Palestinian for Marxist.
Trusted Institutions
For most Americans, the FBI was one of the most trusted institutions in the government. Some of us were around in the 1960’s, the “bad old days” of the J Edgar Hoover era. We knew that the FBI could be a weapon for political suppression.(Remember the George Carlin joke about answering the “always” FBI-tapped phone; “F**K Hoover, may I help you?”) But post Hoover and Watergate, the FBI was the neutral arbiter and law enforcer, and after 9-11 and the Robert Mueller era, the great protector.
We used to trust the partisan election boards to count the votes. Instead of being “bipartisan”, they were carefully divided between the two parties. A Republican and a Democrat looked over each shoulder. We trusted that they would be fair, because they were so transparent. And while there was the occasional corruption, in the fifty-one different state election systems, controlling thousands of local divisions; the vast majority were fair. We accepted their results.
Confidence in institutions, like the United States Constitution, are fundamental for the success of our Representative Democracy. (Or our Federal Republic; the two terms are congruent). If we don’t trust our institutions, if we believe that everything from the FBI to NOAA are now politicized then our government has failed. (Doesn’t that sound like Project 2025?) And if our government has failed, then what is the alternative?
Alternatives
Back in college I had a Spanish professor who was a former minister in the Castro government, and then a refugee from Cuba. He taught us Spanish, but he also taught us the failings of Castro, and the successes of the Batista dictatorship before “the Revolution”. The Professor offered a different alternative to us American students, an alternative to Representative Democracy. He proffered Batista’s fascism as a legitimate form of government; something that us children of the Greatest Generation who fought World War II against Nazism would never have considered.
President Xi of China offers a similar choice. In a nation of 1.4 billion, he claims that the efficiency of authoritarian rule is “necessary”, as is the totalitarian control of the economy. His argument is that “democracy” is too messy, too inefficient; to work in a large, diverse, modern nation.
So there are alternatives to our form of government (alternatives that I am NOT advocating). But to get Americans to seriously consider those alternatives, it is necessary to destroy confidence in our present institutions. And in the “age” of social media, when every American has a direct link to the world in their pocket, it’s not that hard to do.
Shared Interest
Who is interested in destroying our confidence? What are the “congruent interests” for the end of the American democracy?
Certainly our “competitors” in the world would get a “leg up” if the United States was no longer a part of the “free world”. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea; all would benefit from a US that was no longer the “shining city on the hill” of Ronald Reagan days. We know that those nations are constantly on “our” social media, adding to the chaos, and undermining American Institutions.
And there are those forces in the world that aren’t necessarily “competing”, but find our democratic ways abhorrent. The terrorists; from Hezbollah and Hamas to Isis and the Haqqani Network, have a religious fervor to disrupt America (here’s the State Department list).
But those aren’t the most insidious threats to America.
From Within
The CBS news show “Sixty Minutes” this week, interviewed Shelby Busch, the Vice Chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Party (Phoenix). She made it clear there was no level of “factual evidence” that would convince her that the elections aren’t “fixed”. Even clear evidence presented by a fellow Republican, election administrator Steve Richter, isn’t enough to convince her. In fact, she threatened to “lynch” him for suggesting the elections were fair.
From election-deniers to anti-vaxxers, Americans are overwhelmed with attacks on our institutions. Some assertions are ridiculous, like “evidence” of government control of hurricanes being aimed at Republican voters (the flight charts of the Hurricane Hunters). Some are insidious; “FEMA spent all the disaster money on migrants, so there’s none available for relief in North Carolina”. Each one creates another doubt in the integrity of our institutions.
Who in the United States benefits from loss of “faith” in our institutions? Who has “congruent” interests with our world rivals? And who talked to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin seven times, while surrounded by purloined National Security documents?
You know who.
