Stoking the Lunatic Fringe

The health care debate in the U.S. brought an unfortunate element to the fore.

So far, 2010 – and really, much of the last few years – has been disheartening to anyone who follows or cares about Canadian politics or, more generally, the notion of good government. No matter where one falls on the political spectrum, everyone can see that our Parliament is now eternally at odds, with petty bickering, mutual mistrust, and vicious animosity obviously poisoning the Canadian body politic. Still, before we all start to despair, it only takes a look across the border at our neighbour to the south to put things into perspective.

In case you don’t know, it’s getting ugly down there – really ugly. In the week and a half since the Democrats managed to pass their landmark health care reform bill, there has been a nasty spasm of anger and vitriol. Large and angry demonstrations by the so-called “Tea Party” movement coalesced in Washington. Bricks, wrapped in paper bearing charming messages such as “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no sin,” were thrown through the office windows of Democrats who had voted in favour of the bill. Black members of Congress on the way to the vote were spit upon, with calls of “nigger” ringing from the protesters. Openly gay Democratic representatives faced similar treatment, enduring anti-homosexual epithets from the mob. During the vote itself, a pro-life Democratic lawmaker was subjected to cries of “baby killer” by one of his Republican colleagues on the floor of the legislature.

But the most disturbing thing about all of this? That it was thoroughly predictable. Frankly, the lunatic fringe in the United States has prospered since the election of Barack Obama. Statistics show that there has been a spike of over 300 per cent in the number of extreme right wing militias and white supremacist groups throughout the country. Opposition to the new administration, or perhaps more accurately to the new president personally, has also manifested in absurdities such as the “Birther” movement (organized groups that believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Obama is not actually a U.S. citizen and thus is not entitled to hold the presidency), the bizarre fears that somehow America is on the path to becoming a totalitarian state, and the hysterical calls to action for citizens to “take back” the country.

Against this backdrop, certain politicians and right-wing media outlets turned to obstruction and scaremongering to galvanize opposition to the Obama administration and its agenda. These tactics reached their apex during the acrimonious health care debate, with the public being bombarded with frenzied warnings of “death panels,” massive government takeovers, and the inevitable remaking of America into a socialist state if “Obamacare” became law.

Given those characterizations, it is hardly a surprise that there would be an explosion of tension and that the aforementioned incidents would result when the legislation finally passed. Even now, there are very real fears of violence in the American capital. This is the problem with scaremongering: paranoid ranting may be great for fundraising and motivating the base, but some listeners will take the hyperbole at face value, and it only takes a few disturbed souls to cross the line into violence for disaster to result. Of course, lunatics reside on both sides of the political spectrum. Though Democratic lawmakers have been bearing the brunt of the health care backlash, some 20 per cent of the recent vandalism and threatening behaviour has targeted Republicans.

To their credit, some conservative leaders have belatedly been trying to cool things down. John Boehner, the Republican minority leader in Congress, held a press conference shortly after the outbreak to declare that when it came to expressing dissent, violence was unacceptable. (Granted, this was a little like denouncing arson after you’ve painstakingly nurtured a fire, but it was a start). Others displayed less class, such as Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor, who held a press conference to say that it would be “inappropriate” and “dangerous” for the Democrats to attempt to profit politically from the optics of the threats and violence unleashed against them. Some just didn’t get what the big deal was. Demonstrating her usual subtlety and appreciation of consequences, Sarah Palin urged her supporters to continue their fight against health care, declaring this was not the time to retreat, but rather to “reload” and “take aim” at Democratic opponents. She later clarified that she had been using one of those metaphor things…

Distasteful as it has been, the conservative strategy of stoking fear with respect to health care has proven to be somewhat effective, and dissenting voices who cautioned against the tactic in the American conservative movement have been summarily silenced. Most recently, David Frum, the Canadian-born former Bush administration speechwriter and conservative commentator, was fired from his post at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank for decrying the obstructionism (which I’ve written about before) and hysterical tone of the conservative opposition to health care reform. In essence, Frum has been rendered persona non grata amongst the conservative movement after having had the temerity to sensibly point out that wild, overheated rhetoric may mobilize supporters, but makes it near impossible for Republicans to participate in governing.

This is exactly what happened in the health care debate – after decrying the obviously flawed plan as the end of Western civilization, the Republicans had no choice but to utterly oppose it rather than to force amendments that would have served their interests (after all, you can’t negotiate on a bill that you’ve claimed would pull the plug on Grandma). Accordingly, the U.S. conservative opposition, which still holds around 40 per cent of the elected national positions, had exactly no say in the biggest legislative initiative and, indeed, achievement in decades. Frum saw this as a problem, which apparently led the conservative establishment to view him the same way.

Suffice it to say, politically it’s a mess down south.

So as bad as our politics have seemingly become, there’s proof at hand as to how much worse it could be. Thankfully, we can still look across the border and say, “That’s not us,” though unfortunately we seem to be seeing the first tentative forays in that direction. Pre-emptive smear campaigns, such as the televised “He’s Just Visiting” attacks on Michael Ignatieff and the Conservative’s recent direct mail campaign of flyers insinuating that the Liberals are secretly anti-Semitic, are pretty mild by American standards, but are eerily reminiscent of the tactics employed in America years ago, before the discourse deteriorated to its current level. Still, these “mild” tactics go about as far as the Canadian public would likely tolerate, which speaks well of our country, if not the politicians who use them.

Ultimately, we should take pride in this, but the disturbing events in the United States stand as a stark warning. If we continue to go down this road, it is not hard to see where it will eventually lead.