CBS Hires Mick Mulvaney to Comment on the End of Democracy
Donald Trump’s former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was among the few in that administration who knew what he was doing. Actions taken during his tenure have been described as taking a wrecking ball to checks and balances to the institutions of democracy.
So it’s fitting, I suppose, that CBS news has hired him as a paid on-air contributor because network executives have decided to hire more Republicans to prepare for a “likely” Democratic midterm wipeout.
I’m not here to argue about the question of who will beat who in the November elections. What’s not on the ballot is what concerns me, namely that the mythology of The Big Lie has become canon for the Republican Party.
They’ve more than made it clear that they have less interest in governing and the rule of law than in paving the way toward the establishment of a more authoritarian form of government.
Mulvaney’s tenure at the White House set the tone for much of what the future will look like.
A few Mulvaney historical talking points:
Started right out of the gate by vowing to defy all congressional subpoenas.
Launched an unconstitutional attack against the process to conduct a fair census.
Arranged for at least 25 administration officials to sidestep security clearances
Was central to the scheme to extort Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
Said that media coverage of the growing coronavirus pandemic was meant “to bring down the president.”
If this was a normal midterm election coming up, Mulvaney’s upcoming role would be no big deal. Sitting in their suites surrounded by privilege, corporate executives are oblivious to the dangers ahead.
From the Washington Post:
“If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms,” CBS News’s co-president Neeraj Khemlani told the staff of the network’s morning show, according to a recording of his comments obtained by The Washington Post. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
The reaction from CBS News employees to Mulvaney’s hiring was as chilly as the reaction on social media, where many journalists and political commentators suggested that the network was jeopardizing its long history of journalistic excellence.
As Molly Jong-Fast says in her Atlantic newsletter, this year’s general elections don’t fit into the past narrative holding that it’s just one party versus another.
Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at NYU, told me that the media should “redraw the baseline for election-year conflict. Instead of just assuming it’s Democrats vs. Republicans in a familiar battle for control of government, start with a more urgent contest: those from both parties who still abide by the norms of American democracy vs. those who have demonstrated they do not—the Trump loyalists in the GOP, the Stop the Steal movement, the crazed conspiracy mongers, the Christian nationalists. Redirect the bulk of your reporting resources to this newer conflict, while keeping a careful eye on the ‘state of the race’ between the two parties.”
The idea that media should have a pro democracy bias is a good one. It would help us focus on politicians straying from democratic norms, and highlight antidemocratic plays like disenfranchising voters.
One warning sign should be that Republican candidates for offices big and small are avoiding primary debates, an institution that has long been a central part of American campaigns.
Given that representatives of the media are generally involved in moderating debates, some Republicans aren’t interested in giving them any credibility, especially since bashing the press for “fake news” has become standard operating procedure in campaigns.
And let’s face it, debates are just another one of those boring parts of democracy. The nihilist approach to politics would like us to believe that nobody watches or cares.
From Politico:
“If you’ve got $50 million in the pipeline to bomb your opponent back to the Stone Age, then why even put yourself out there, other than to have a very crafted message that is essentially manufactured in a PR factory,” said Carl Fogliani, a Republican strategist based in Pittsburgh, who added that voters should question the qualifications of any candidate who lacks “the courage to answer questions.”
Money and courage are only two of the factors working against debates as a lasting institution. There is also the kind of candidate that the GOP is increasingly fielding in the post-Trump era. Following the former president’s outsider example, other politically inexperienced millionaires or high-name-recognition individuals have crowded into races.
The 2022 election is not about business as usual. We, as consumers of media, should not accept normalizing bad behavior as a method of presenting balance. There is such a thing as right and wrong, and in this case being pro-democracy is right and wrong is installing pro-Trump, antidemocratic functionaries in government.
This is not an argument for selling the idea that people should vote for Democrats because they’re not as crazy as Republicans; I urge people to look long and hard at their ballots. While discussion about Jewish Space Lasers may not be part of incumbent Democrats reparatory, there are plenty of elected officials who just don’t get it when we say democracy itself is endangered.
Educate, agitate, and do what you have to do. Just don’t sleep through the 2022 elections.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com