We Have Questions

Right-wing supporters should, too

A bit of Miami sunshine [Photo by Richard G Turcotte]

To understand the modern Republican Party, you must understand the intense sense of fear and grievance that drives so many of its voters, which has in turn given rise to a profound desire for retribution and revenge, for inflicting harm on Democrats, progressives, and other perceived enemies. Those negative emotions existed before Donald Trump ran for the presidency, but he tapped into them with astonishing skill. — Peter Wehner (among other credentials: a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and a contributing editor at The Atlantic).

Supporters of the extremist-right leaders in Congress and the media have attached their hopes to the wrong enemies. Whether they recognize that fact in timely fashion will largely determine whether America remains an imperfect but ever-evolving democracy, or a collapsed superpower ruled by self-serving authoritarians who will have jettisoned those same voters in the blink of an eye.

Reality — the truth — still matters. We, they — all of us — will benefit greatly if embattled and aggrieved citizens on the Right recognize that fact a day sooner rather than a moment too late.

They need a clearer understanding of who bears responsibility for generating the fears and the resentments they harbor. Some are no doubt legitimate. Economic advances have not always been fairly or evenly distributed across our nation. Respect has not always been properly accorded to well-established beliefs and traditions cherished in many regions of the country. But what’s needed for the benefit of those bearing resentments as much as our own is a dispassionate assessment of how those grievances are being stoked, by whom, on what basis, and to what ends. It’s clear enough to many of us already.

A few questions come to mind: Upon what evidence do supporters of the extremists in the Republican Party and their media enablers believe those very same individuals (who are in fact most responsible for the chaos and disharmony) will suddenly see the light and devote their energies to addressing constituents’ legitimate concerns? Which liberal factions have been treating them with the contempt and disrespect their preferred spokespeople claim? Sayin’ it don’t make it so.