Every Christmas brings a flood of new Christmas music and movies. But it’s the old songs and old movies that dominate the airwaves. Soon Americans will be indulging their favorite Christmas fantasy, a visit to the little town of Bedford Falls U.S.A., home to the evil Mr. Potter and the virtuous George Bailey. “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore is generally accepted as the most popular Christmas movie ever. Filmed in 1946 it’s a David vs. Goliath story. The rich skinflint Mr. Potter would like to take over the entire town of Bedford Falls. What stands in his way is a modest building & loan company owned & managed by George Bailey. George has devoted his entire life to helping his fellow citizens, but Mr. Potter turns a foolish mistake by George’s absent-minded uncle to his advantage and threatens to bankrupt the company and send George to jail. In the end, virtue and honesty win out over evil & treachery.
The enduring popularity of this film has to do with America’s love and empathy for the honest and hardworking underdog. Sadly, their support for the little guy exists only in their minds and in the movies. Why is it, if Americans often feel like David pitted against Goliath, that they allow this state of affairs to persist? The answer can be found in the ballot box.
On October 19th, 2000, George W. Bush was addressing a well-heeled crowd of Republican supporters at a fund-raising dinner. “This is an impressive crowd”, he said “the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base”. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the poorest state in the Union was Mississippi. It voted overwhelming for Bush in 2000 (and again in 2004). What on earth was George W. going to do for these people and why did they vote for him? The answer to the former is easy, nothing. The latter is more complicated and a little scary.
First let’s go back to 1946 and the little town of Bedford Falls. It was a good time to be an American; the war was over and the country was on the verge of a great economic boom. But the deprivation of the Great Depression was still fresh in people’s minds. Their main concern was job security and for this they turned to labor unions. Unions negotiated decent wages, healthcare and job security. Like them or loath them, unions gave rise to the modern middle class in America. But union membership started falling around 1980, coincident with the Reagan Administration. From a high of about 30% of workers, it’s now less than 10%. Interestingly, this did not happen in other industrialized countries. Why only in America? The answer of course is political.
Not only do politicians lie but the lying is non-partisan, both sides do it. Republicans, however, have more incentive to misrepresent their agenda than the Democrats who campaign on social issues that mainly benefit the poor & the middle class. Most Americans have little time for politics and economics. To attract those who are referred to euphemistically as “low information voters”, politicians, especially Republicans, appeal to their patriotism, religion, family values and their fears and prejudices. Come election time they might promise an end to abortion or a marriage amendment forbidding same-sex marriage, but what they deliver are tax cuts for the rich and lowering of the estate tax. Americans often vote for policies that are not in their own self-interest, because politicians seldom reveal their hidden agendas.
The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was seen as a watershed event in American Politics. But the echoes of the swearing-in ceremony had barely faded away before the right-wing sound machine was in full throat with half-truths, innuendo, and outright lies. “Obama was born in Kenya”; “Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim educated in Indonesia at a Madrassa”. Over 90% of talk radio in the U.S. ranges from right-of-centre to the crazies on the fringes. One entire news network, Fox News, is devoted to espousing the views of the Republican Party. Most Christian religions in the U.S. favor conservative politicians over progressives. According to the Pew research center, a clear majority of Americans regard the Republican Party as the protector of religious and family values. Even the supposedly non-partisan Catholic Church has a strict litmus test - abortion. If you are pro-choice, you will not get their support.
In hindsight, Obama’s election victory was an aberration. It turns out the killer smile and inspiring oratory were not what charmed the electorate. It was the fact he was NOT George W. Bush. After eight long years that ended with a catastrophic failure of the U.S. financial system, many Americans reluctantly came to the realization that Dubya was incompetent. Who knew? Obama had the misfortune to inherit the fetid pile of problems left by his predecessor. But America has a short memory. Not only are they now his problems but they are his fault. Republicans, with help from conservatives in Congress and the media have convinced the public of that even as America and the world are still reeling from the failures of the Bush years.
We are told that Democracy works best with an informed electorate. It’s not clear that America has ever enjoyed that luxury. Both sides attempt to misinform, but especially the right. While it’s true that many Republicans in Congress are honest and ethical, it’s difficult to convince folks you’re on their side when you’re determined to reduce or eliminate their entitlements, move their jobs to China & India and cut taxes for corporations and the rich. Shading the truth is the best they can do, and America is well on its way down that slippery slope.
When handed the levers of power, Republicans don’t govern so much as campaign. Ronald Reagan won the presidency on the usual conservative platform of lower taxes & smaller government. His “trickle-down” theory of economics (i.e., tax cuts for corporations & the wealthy would trickle down to workers) was thoroughly discredited when he doubled the federal deficit and real income for the rich soared at the same time that it fell for the middle class. Despite all that, he won two terms by dint of his folksy charm & personality. He was, after all a movie actor.
George W. Bush was handed a huge surplus by the outgoing president, Bill Clinton. He quickly turned it into a massive debt. Two wars, a prescription drug plan and tax cuts for the rich were all unfunded. It was the most reckless expansion of government spending in two generations. His term ended with the collapse of American financial markets that very nearly plunged the entire world into a second Great Depression. How could Americans have voted for this irresponsible & incompetent cowboy, not once but twice? The answer is simple; he used propaganda on a scale that would have impressed even Joseph Goebbels. The most egregious use of lies and propaganda was the lead up to the Iraq war. In order to justify that tragic & unprovoked invasion, the Bush Administration actually set up a White House team whose sole purpose was to promote the case for war by whatever means. They began by linking Saddam Hussein to 9/11 using the false assertion that Iraqi intelligence had met in Prague with one of the terrorists. Another strategy was to leak dubious classified information to friendly reporters such as Judith Miller of the New York Times. Then top officials including Vice-president Dick Cheney would show up on the Sunday news shows and validate the story. Having lived & worked in the U.S. for most of the last 12 years, I can attest to the success of their efforts which culminated with Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations Feb. 5, 2003. It was powerful and well-received by the mainstream media but has since been completely discredited. On my trips back home to Calgary I would have to de-brief myself with real facts. The international media, including Canada, had not been cowed by the Bush administration. But in the U.S., 10 years after 9/11, a clear majority of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein was involved with the 9/11 attack. Such is the power of persuasion & propaganda.
Today, watching right wing rallies by the Tea Party and their ilk, you see signs portraying Obama as a Nazi or a Fascist. George Orwell has called Fascism “nothing more than an insult that some groups use against their political opponents”. Wow, that nailed it! But the tea party has it backwards. Strictly speaking Fascism is a far right ideology. In his 1935 satirical novel “It can’t Happen here”, Sinclair Lewis wrote: “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” Patriotism & Religion, America’s sacred cows.
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