https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/01/10/not-all-self-evident-truths-are-created-equal-sleazy-propaganda-wars-on-truth/
Not all ‘self-evident truths’ are created equal. Sleazy #propaganda wars on #truth.
The debate isn't whether #government should deliver “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” but which self-selected tribe grabs the spoils and which doesn’t.
By Robert S. Becker -January 10, 2024
..." Provable, measurable, reality-based truths are the most reliable standards for starting, let alone running a functional, sustainable government. Fake racial distinctions, fake inferior “blood purity,” lawless delusions about secession, even dishonest paternalistic domination—these “false truths” have to be expunged if a diverse culture works together in peace and prosperity. That full equality will never be achieved does not invalidate the ideal.
What separates science (and close scrutiny) from religion is that one provides a method to confirm consensual truths to people of good will—and one looks to faith and invisibility. Because Trumpism defies facts and evidence, even consensual judgments, they are then “free” to assert non-negotiable, “self-evident” truths—however contrary to the best American values.
Is it an assumption or just democratic common sense to insist that stable democracies demand, even enforce peaceful transfers of power? When Trump couldn’t unearth voter fraud across 60 court cases, nor prove election irregularity, he substituted bad faith to justify not conceding, rather than trusting to the next election. The sorest loser, like the political assassin who asserts willfulness over the voting majority, will cling to any fiction to avoid the shame of being a loser. That’s like demanding four outs in the bottom of the ninth by throwing a tantrum. Either rules reign or chaos rules. Either the majority rules or a maniacal minority takes over.
Thus, warring against our Declaration’s “self-evident truths,” MAGA inserts self-serving assumptions at odds with a country of immigrants, positing the racist lie that white “blood lines” are innately superior to darker skinned “newcomers.” Ditto, though the Constitution explicitly separates church from state, MAGA overtly favors Christianity as the winner of some alleged battlefield. Though amendments and judges have ended much discrimination against women, MAGA’s contempt for women’s rights drives them to abortion bans that preclude full procreative freedom.
Finally, for ultra-MAGAs, what denies their alleged lost freedom are demonic, Democratic oppressors out to steal “their country” from “real Americans.” One can invent a false self-evident stance by refusing (or being disturbed by) America as a diverse, secular, complex world.
...
Of greatest importance, American/western values for tolerance, diversity, and integration have ridden historical trends still winning converts. The whole point about democratic humanism is that universal rights – once recognized and formulated—are not open to veto by a supposedly victimized minority. Birthright citizenship is a special American value that will exist until the Constitution changes. Ditto, three branches of government, the balance of federal and state power, and the integrity of each part.
Trump wants to destroy checks and balances by asserting total strongman immunity so he can corrupt federalism and commandeer the military to oppress the domestic populace. Because of GOP Senate cowardice, Trump knows that impeachment is a farce, confirming perhaps the first self-evident MAGA truth (so far): no installed president, whatever his crimes, can be held institutionally accountable. The Founders would turn over in their graves."...
