By Andy Brack
It’s beyond unfathomable that people are really talking about taking Greenland or Panama by force – and that others around the world are paying attention and responding with grave concerns.
Sure, when the future leader of the free world, President-elect Donald Trump, starts spewing nuttiness again about Greenland – and then throws in Panama for good measure – you probably need to pay attention, particularly when the United States has a huge nuclear arsenal in its back pocket.
But come on, really? This is nonsense – just another way for the narcissistic Trump to try to steal the limelight from real events that matter, from the terrible wildfires in California to war in Ukraine to the emotional state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter.
Instead of giving these issues and others their proper respect, we’re left with a political version of Seinfeld – big, old nothing-burgers. Perhaps that’s what’s ahead for four more years – emotional rollercoasters of political nothingness – not to make America great, but to lead the country into a downward spiral, just as Great Britain lost world power decades ago to become just plain old Britain.
Americans of all stripes should be outraged by this manufactured malarkey caused by intellectual laziness about what democracy actually is, the lack of appreciation for history and the unfettered algorithm that spews forth nonsense in the social media channels that addict Americans.
Even some solid conservative Republicans seem to be a little frustrated, as illustrated in recent days by a comment by S.C. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, after the squeaker of a vote to reelect U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, as House Speaker. He wrote:
“The number of messages and emails I have received today from people complaining about me not voting for Rep. Mike Johnson for Speaker of the United State House of Representatives really … seriously … makes me question if there is even a basic understanding of civics (or spelling or geography) in this country. Please bring back Schoolhouse Rock!”
Massey also hit it out of the park this week by encouraging holistic tax reform, not just another round of income tax cuts being sought by the establishment. He said he believes sales and property taxes that fund local governments also need to be on the table, particularly when some local governments have passed measures so that taxes on prepared food at restaurants are higher here than in places like Los Angeles and New York City.
“In the name of home rule, we’ve let some localities go crazy,” Massey said, according to the S.C. Daily Gazette. “That has an impact on the business climate.”
A story this week in Statehouse Report highlights how some budgeting experts say the proposal to reduce South Carolina’s income tax is little more than a bait-and-switch to give the richest South Carolinians another tax cut to the detriment of regular taxpayers.
So yes, bring back more civics education in the form of the $50 million national campaign we called for in 2018 to teach people about the importance of free speech, the common good, democratic institutions and the rule of law.
Bring back common sense. Stop paying so much attention to the screen. Bring back thinking.
As GOP Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said in 2019: “All educated people should have an understanding of our founding documents and understand where individual rights come from and how those individual rights are exercised. If we ever lose sight of those, we’re back into mob rule.”
Embracing the rule of law, he said, “is something that conservatives and liberals should both embrace — the whole notion of a public discourse where you’re in the marketplace of ideas.”
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
