The storming of the Capitol on January 6th was not motivated by differences in political views but rather a belief in a fabricated reality. Over our history we have experienced significant and profound political disagreements—some of which have led to bloodshed. Political disagreements reflect genuine differences in viewpoints regarding how to structure our society. Although Trump supporters tend to hold extreme views on many political issues, it was their belief in the fabrication that the election was stolen that drove the insurrection. We are being torn apart by propaganda that is being purposefully promoted to divide us.
In some sense we are fighting over nothing. That is, we all believe in the principle that the people should elect our government officials. We all want fair and transparent elections. During my lifetime, there has never been any significant concerns about the conduct of our elections. In fact, our process has been hailed throughout the world as a model.
So how did we go from having the gold standard in election processes to having a third of the country believing there was massive fraud? Trump has repeatedly created “alternative facts” as Kelly Ann Conway stated. He lies. While many politicians lie, Trump has true mastery of this communication technique. He laid the ground work for lying before he became President by attacking the mainstream media. Among his supporters, he has undermined the creditability of the media by arguing that they are out to get him. Once the media was neutralized, he demonstrated that if you repeat a lie enough times and say it with authority, bravado, and outrage, and have cable “news” echo it, people will start to believe it. He introduced the idea of fraud prior to the election and has singularly focused on it since then. Basically, a share of the electorate has been manipulated (brain washed) through propaganda to believe a falsehood.
The challenge we face is how to de-Trumpify voters. Pushing back on the inroads extremists have made in our political system will not be easy and requires a long-term plan. However, there are some immediate steps that can be taken. First, we need to prosecute those involved in the insurrection to show there are consequences to breaking the law. This includes those who physically stormed the Capitol as well as those in positions of power who actively incited the violence. We need to close down the social media accounts of any group associated with Trump (or any other political group) that has advocated or supported violence. We need to tighten the FCC rules as to what constitutes a news show verses an opinion show. We should limit the use of the term news, preventing propaganda shows from masquerading as news. We need to remove Donald Trump from office under the terms that he cannot hold political office ever again.