It’s Not The Odds, It’s The Stakes

Our media are obsessed with the horse race, missing the larger picture.

Jay Rosen, the well-regarded New York University professor of journalism said these words in cajoling the media not to “cover the presidential horse race, but the consequences for our country if Trump wins.” It’s a tall order. For as long as I can remember the media has only covered the horse race. It’s something critics have rightfully complained about, but in truth, until the Trump era, the horse race was the interesting aspect of a national campaign because the major party candidates’ positions were not that far apart.

Democracy’s survival was never on the ballot.

The thought that a presidential candidate—and I mean a viable one, not a John Birch Society put-up or a George Wallace segregationist with little national portfolio and less chance to win—would espouse anti-democratic, fascistic dogma was heretofore unthinkable.

Those who have tired of democracy are getting plenty of help, although so much of it comes in the form of a latter day Keystone Kops, the hapless police officers of the silent film era. Peter Sellers was the next iteration of the same kind of bumbler in his classic Pink Panther movies. Inspector Clouseau could be relied upon to get everything wrong, especially when the truth was right under his nose.

Today’s bumblers are much less entertaining. Led by former sane person Rudy Giuliani, and Representative James Comer (R-KKKentucky), chair of the House Oversight Committee, who was all ready to spit roast Hunter Biden and his presidential father, intimating they were guilty of serious crimes. He had everything he needed…except evidence. Comer had to admit on Fox News (the irony there is kind of delicious) that his informant and whistleblower had gone with the wind, and that were nowhere to be found. It was a mess. Maria Bartiromo had him all teed up to eviscerate the Bidens but Comer danced and spun, and finally sputtered to a halt, forcing her to ask whether he had any actual evidence. The $787.5 million settlement seems to have had at least a temporarily clarifying effect for the host who is already in hot water for her part in the Dominion Voting Systems fiasco, and was in no mood to give that guy any more rope than he needed to hang himself.

I won’t even bother with Rudy. After he stood outside that adult bookstore leaking hair dye like my E-Type Jag leaked oil, I decided he and his unsupportable lies weren’t worth the ink. He’s got his hands full trying not to get disbarred for his part in the Big Lie, and is now defending a lawsuit brought by Noelle Dunphy, his hired marketing gun, who says he failed to pay her, was chronically drunk, and very handsy. Oh, America’s Mayor, we hardly knew ya.

Nor do I want to talk about Paul Gosar (R-Goose Step Mountain). He’s the guy whose siblings spent a lot of money on ads begging Arizonans not to return him to Congress. Said his brother David, “I’m just hoping either in this election cycle or next, the people get the idea that he’s just not fit for that office and he needs to be removed.” Suffice to say, his office staff is riddled with racists, fascists and, according to the conservative publication, The New Republic, neo-Nazis.

In 2003, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wondered what would happen if we took the lid off the trashcan that was Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. We wonder no more. We saw it with our own eyes, and now we’re seeing what happens when a former US President enables anti-Americans.

We need to focus on consequences, not polling data. It’s not the odds; it’s the stakes. And the stakes are very, very high. Higher than at any time since Reconstruction.

It’s pretty clear that we’ve entered a new era, one where political violence is condoned by one of our major parties. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, saw his district office attacked by a right-wing vigilante wielding a baseball bat. The perp struck two Connolly staffers, one in the head. Both were hospitalized. One was a young intern on her first day at the office.

The 1440 Daily Digest, a straight news aggregator, said, “The attack follows a series of threats against lawmakers, their families, and associates. Last year, the US Capitol Police recorded more than 9,000 threats, up 400% in the past six years, and investigated 7,501 cases, including the intruder attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” 

I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious: these attacks on our democracy and electeds started with the election of one Donald J. Trump. His rhetoric has real-world consequences.

Odds are he’ll lose, but the stakes are more important than the odds.

©2023 Jon Sinton