To me the current situation seems like a crisis brought on by a combination of Internet-fuelled misinformation and wishful thinking.
I think the people running the major platforms - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter - need to think pretty hard about how to combat misinformation. Besides kicking off bad-faith actors, maybe produce a short weekly video summarizing recent stories that got a lot of attention. Something short and entertaining enough that a lot of people will watch it, and that can provide a vehicle to re-establish consensus reality.
Wow - this article is my thoughts exactly. No off ramp, no redemption, no reconciliation, no democracy. This would apply of course to both the situation in the Capitol and Kenosha.
"This is an existential crisis in American democracy. We at The Line have no illusions about the rot on the left, and the danger radical elements there also pose to the great experiment. The cultural left is in ascendance and holds many key institutions, and they are treating them roughly."
The left is not treating the institutions roughly; they are treating those who do not "belong" in those institutions roughly. I'm hearing a lot about the Republicans who think Trump's actions were supportable, but I don't see anyone interviewing these people, or indeed any of the rioters, to ask them why they think so. Why is that? Why is everyone speculating and not going to the source?
There's a huge gap between those who have benefitted from sweeping globalization and those who haven't, and it's the left's failure to recognize( let alone address), that gap that's the real, underlying problem. Ask leftists about it and they seem to permanently have their fingers in their ears singing "la-la-la" while the world burns down around them. They just don't want to know.
Biden is typical of the genre and, so far, is not doing well. His rhetoric is not designed to build bridges. Kamala Harris, as a prosecutor, has a history of taking no prisoners. I really doubt they will steer the country into smoother waters.
One bright spark was a (somewhat over-long) video made by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He provided a poignant and timely narrative about what happened in Austria in the 1930's when many were mislead by a toxic leader. It's too bad he can't be president, because he's the only one I see speaking directly to the disaffected.
I think you're way off base about Portland not having a patch on what happened on Capitol Hill. I agree that the Trump rioters committed the far worse transgression, but the cumulative effect of watching Portland and other U.S. cities burn all summer means that indifference to political violence is setting in. People are shrugging it off because, meh, it's becoming a norm. I don't like Trump, but in fairness to him, that indifference is not something that can be laid at his feet.
Clinton's phrase "a basket of deplorable" has a lot to do with the Capitol Hill riot, but I doubt that many are going to make the connection. So much easier to just keep scorning the riff-raff and feeling superior. We'll see where that leads.
There's a more promising poll taken yesterday, in which only 18% of Republicans supported the mob attack on the Capitol; 80% were opposed. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/most-americans-blame-trump-for-capitol-attack-but-are-split-on-his-removal
Of course the underlying problem is that 82% of Republicans believe that the election was stolen. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-poll-most-feel-election-is-settled-but-trump-voters-disagree/
To me the current situation seems like a crisis brought on by a combination of Internet-fuelled misinformation and wishful thinking.
I think the people running the major platforms - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter - need to think pretty hard about how to combat misinformation. Besides kicking off bad-faith actors, maybe produce a short weekly video summarizing recent stories that got a lot of attention. Something short and entertaining enough that a lot of people will watch it, and that can provide a vehicle to re-establish consensus reality.
Wow - this article is my thoughts exactly. No off ramp, no redemption, no reconciliation, no democracy. This would apply of course to both the situation in the Capitol and Kenosha.
"This is an existential crisis in American democracy. We at The Line have no illusions about the rot on the left, and the danger radical elements there also pose to the great experiment. The cultural left is in ascendance and holds many key institutions, and they are treating them roughly."
The left is not treating the institutions roughly; they are treating those who do not "belong" in those institutions roughly. I'm hearing a lot about the Republicans who think Trump's actions were supportable, but I don't see anyone interviewing these people, or indeed any of the rioters, to ask them why they think so. Why is that? Why is everyone speculating and not going to the source?
There's a huge gap between those who have benefitted from sweeping globalization and those who haven't, and it's the left's failure to recognize( let alone address), that gap that's the real, underlying problem. Ask leftists about it and they seem to permanently have their fingers in their ears singing "la-la-la" while the world burns down around them. They just don't want to know.
Biden is typical of the genre and, so far, is not doing well. His rhetoric is not designed to build bridges. Kamala Harris, as a prosecutor, has a history of taking no prisoners. I really doubt they will steer the country into smoother waters.
One bright spark was a (somewhat over-long) video made by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He provided a poignant and timely narrative about what happened in Austria in the 1930's when many were mislead by a toxic leader. It's too bad he can't be president, because he's the only one I see speaking directly to the disaffected.
I think you're way off base about Portland not having a patch on what happened on Capitol Hill. I agree that the Trump rioters committed the far worse transgression, but the cumulative effect of watching Portland and other U.S. cities burn all summer means that indifference to political violence is setting in. People are shrugging it off because, meh, it's becoming a norm. I don't like Trump, but in fairness to him, that indifference is not something that can be laid at his feet.
Clinton's phrase "a basket of deplorable" has a lot to do with the Capitol Hill riot, but I doubt that many are going to make the connection. So much easier to just keep scorning the riff-raff and feeling superior. We'll see where that leads.