The U.S. will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Saturday, a milestone that will confer upon the reality-dwelling citizenry a grim reminder of the potency of propaganda and how quickly it can warp perception when introduced into the public square.
Just three years ago, most of the country watched with dismay and horror as a violent MAGA mob beat back authorities and stormed the country’s citadel of democracy. The Donald Trump-incited crush of disillusioned rioters, fueled by a stream of fantastical lies, believed that the 2020 election had been stolen by sinister forces working to undermine the democratic election.
Of course, not only was their belief flatly incorrect, but evidence later emerged indicating that it was Trump who, in fact, had tried to subvert democracy.
Facts, however, have little bearing on the sentiment inside the Republican Party, which has been fed a steady diet of lies and half-truths by Fox News and the rest of the sprawling right-wing media machine. To wit, the false notion that Joe Biden nefariously stole the 2020 election is now widely shared inside the GOP. A CNN poll conducted over the summer found that nearly 70% of Republicans believe Biden’s win was not legitimate, a number that has continued to tick up.
You know, the First Amendment was created to make sure the average citizen would have protection against speaking out against the government with reasonable confidence they couldn’t be persectued. Like when kings or The Church could have you imprisoned or executed on a whim, not long before The Founders drafted The Constituiton. But now, bad actors acting in bad faith use it as a weapon to spread fear and hate propaganda.
I think a new Amendment is needed to stop blatant and obvious seditiuous and hateful speech. But they’ll figure out a way to pervert that too, and corrupt the officials who enforce such laws.
Wdym 3 years? Is it currently not 2022?
I think a much easier solution is to disenfranchise every trump voter as accessory to sedition because that’s basically the only way this isn’t going to get much worse as they start finding less stupid fascist leaders.