Bigotry, Jamie O, Political Crack, So Called Liberal Media

Stop The Right From Setting The Agenda

Harvard University President Claudine Gay testifying in front of a bunch of disingenuous grifters.

Adrastos touched on this as something that irked him, but I’d like to expand on it – the resignation of Claudine Gay, the now former president of Harvard.

There are several levels to this. One is the seeming lack of understanding by those three Ivy League presidents that they were walking into a trap set by disingenuous people. Another is the obvious racism. Yet another is how this is part of a much broader attack on higher education. And finally, how right-wingers constantly drive the narrative in this country and the fact that Democrats/left-of-center people really need to figure out how to change this.

First off, Gay and the other presidents seemed very unprepared for the hearing, which was allegedly about anti-Semitism but was more about going after diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at higher education institutions. Let’s face it, if you think Elise Stefanik is all about fighting anti-Semitism, you must be a low-information voter or someone like a university president. As a person who works in higher education, I pay a lot of attention to my particular silo especially how its leadership works. Often I feel like many in university senior management do not grasp the moment we are in, and view congresscritters as fellow elites, therefore anyone who I might be at a dinner party with can’t be disingenuous, right? As this hearing demonstrates, this kind of naivete makes them vulnerable.

Then there is the racism. I have served on DEI committees in the past, and they are certainly not perfect. But they are important, as is diversity itself. Going after DEI has long been a right-wing project, and if you also take down a Black woman in a position of power, all the better. One of the main drivers of this rotten project is Professional Evil Bastard Christopher Rufo. It’s a grift, and Rufo is not hiding this.

Rufo is also quite open about a broader war on higher education. So is Stefanik. They are gleefully talking about how they want to turn higher education into a right-wing institution that controls what is being taught, an extension of the work cretins like Moms for Liberty are doing for K-12. None of this is about improving education and upholding the current standard set by American universities, which causes young people from all over the world to flock to the U.S. for a quality education.

The right has had it in for higher education for decades, and they smell blood. Along with their weird anti-science stance that has infected the party, the idea of a dumber voting population certainly has its appeal to the modern GOP. Critical thinking is their enemy.

Finally, why the media is even talking about this story – the manipulation of the media by the far-right. People…listen…they set the agenda. They have for years.

They are why Obama’s birth certificate was a thing.

They are why there was a Climategate.

They are why we obsess over immigration.

They are why we get extremely worked up over trans athletes.

They are why countless “think” pieces are written about campus protests, as if college students are the ones we have to worry the most about.

All of this stuff came up during times when they were far, far from the most important thing. Currently, we have a democracy under serious threat, and we are not certain if our system can protect it. There are serious debates that are basically about whether the 14th-Damn-Amendment means anything. We just had a year where climate change slapped us around pretty good and sent up all kinds of warning flares. The economy is actually doing much better than anyone thought it would, and there are a few signs that people are coming around to that.

Given all that and other things, that the focus is on an Ivy League president’s academic integrity and questionable attacks on it is maddening. But it’s what Rufo and others want us to be talking about. They drive the agenda.

Why are we focused on this so-called “anti-Semitism” and barely bringing up the anti-Semitism endemic throughout the right wing and their GOP enablers? If this is about institutional corruption, why are we not talking about the mountains of evidence of corruption by Clarence Thomas and Donald Trump (or for that matter, the NRA, the GOP, etc. etc.)?

This is working quite well for them. It always does. What is happening is what always happening. The punditry, including most of the center-left, will “thoughtfully” stroke their chin and say “well they do have a point” and take the bait. At some point, there will reporting (buried on page A17) that it was all a load of bullshit. Remember the hysteria over organized shoplifting that was supposedly so bad Walgreens was forced to a bunch of stores? It would be perfectly understandable if you do not also remember that Walgreens admitted they were full of shit.

With Climategate, it was revealed it was a hit job, and words and sentences were taken out of context. However limited reporting was done on that, and the fraudulent subject haunted climate researchers for years. See, the GOP/right-wing know that the media are their partners in this, and they also know how this stuff works. Think about how it works outside of media…if a coworker spreads a nasty rumor about you, even if it is proven to be BS, there will be people in your workplace who will remember it as if you did something bad. It’s how human memory works.

You never see any reflection from the media people who fall for the scam. No mea culpa, not even a promise to “do better next time.” They just get yanked around by the leash and do what they are told, go chase that new shiny. They are so very comfortable with this role that they do not seem to care that the right-wing is openly telling the media that they are playing them and laughing at them about it. 

And the Democratic Party MUST do better with this. They really need to grab hold of the discourse, and create controversies that focus attention to where they want it. Call out the media, too. The GOP worked the refs for decades, claiming the media was biased against them. See the fruits of that labor? Yes, with this shitshow of a media, it will be very difficult. But at the same time, we have to figure it out.

The challenge will be that everyone, from the far-right to the media, seems to enjoy this game. It lines their nest nicely. The Democratic Party should start trying to beat the right at their own game.

The last word goes to Barenaked Ladies.

3 thoughts on “Stop The Right From Setting The Agenda”

  1. Very well put. What were once wellsprings of free speech and dissent are now being intimidated by right wing nuts. Then there is that all important endowment factor which “does not talk but swears.” The democrats need urgent galvanizing but I do not sense any ground swell. Maybe I am too cynical or near sighted. The right is not done with universities that foster research and the generation of ideas to create a more perfect union. The right have already sensed another weak link. They are not about to stop at this point.

    1. Thanks – and your points are very strong. They are not going to stop, and they never are appeased.

  2. No, thank you for writing a thoughtful piece exposing the real motives of the right.

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