Chronicles of American Politics: The Posters of the Chamomile Tea Party 2010-2020

Trump's Fake News, 2017

In 2016, Oxford Dictionary's word of the year was "post-truth." Since the 2016 presidential campaign, "alternative facts" have become so prevalent many are seeing this as the new "normal." This presents a significant risk to our country. Our institutions must remain trusted agents for Americans. Right now, that trust is being undermined in two ways.

Donald Trump often called out the media for publishing "fake news." In January 2018, he and the Republican National Committee issued the "Fake News Awards." But, a majority of these were mistakes that resulted in retractions. Many Americans are learning to distrust the media and gravitate towards news outlets that reflect their beliefs and biases. Blind acceptance is replacing curiosity and taking it upon ourselves to shape an informed opinion.

While the President often declared news critical of him or his administration to be fabricated, he has often been the source of "fake news." From claiming Barack Obama was not an American citizen to saying he saw Muslims cheering after the attacks on 9/11, each has provoked outrage from those who believed him as well as those who thought they were out-and-out lies. Yet, the resilience of these stories has made many question whether the truth is now meaningless.

Soon after Trump's election, he named Steve Bannon, former executive chairman of the ultra-conservative website Beitbart News as his chief strategist. Breitbart often focuses on fringe issues like birtherism, racism, and homophobic topics. Rather than treat news as facts, Bannon's style is to treat each story as an unfolding narrative where facts are less important than the grand crusade of the right against the left. Victories are more important than the facts.

We are Pawns, 2017

Donald Trump campaigned as the defender of the working class and promised to "drain the swamp" of elites and insiders. Yet, he did just the opposite. His cabinet included at least two billionaires and many multi-millionaires.

Trump signed executive orders which benefited large corporations and business interests, not the working and middle classes. These included: loosening regulations on The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a consumer protection bill passed after the Great Recession of 2008. He also reduced the scope of the Clean-Water Bill and diluted the strength of the Stream Protection Rule, which limits permits to dump excess mining "spoil" into our waterways. Conservatives said the Trump Administration's actions were a logical reaction to federal government overreach.

Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and President Trump tried unsuccessfully to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The House and the Senate voted to restructure the tax code to give corporations and the rich significant tax cuts while placing more tax burden on the middle class. The GOP’s mantra has been that tax cuts for the rich will spur economic development, providing more jobs. However, this "trickle-down economics" theory has been proven not to work.

The GOP : Serving the Party, Not the People, 2017

When the Republican Party gained control of the House after the 2010 midterm elections, the GOP not only impeded bipartisan progress but actively worked against it (although some might suggest this started in 1994 when Newt Gingrich became the Speaker of the House). A few highlights:

Jason Chaffetz, former Representative from Utah and Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, investigated Hillary Clinton’s and the Obama Administration’s alleged conflicts of interest but refused to investigate Donald Trump's. In addition, he refused to investigate former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's ties to Russia, stating Flynn's actual transgression was lying to the President. (In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and said he would cooperate with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. And after his defeat in 2020, Trump pardoned Flynn.)

Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, condemned Donald Trump's antics during the Republican primaries and general election but endorsed him anyway. Why? Because he was more interested in the GOP controlling both the Legislative and Executive Branches of the government than what was best for the American people. The Republican Party has consistently acted in its own best interests.

The Dems : We'll Let You Know When You're Needed, 2017

During the 2016 election, the Democrat Party’s establishment felt the wrath of more progressive voters. Like the GOP's Tea Party, the extreme left caused a split in the party. Lifelong liberals abandoned Hillary Clinton's "establishment" campaign for Bernie Sanders. Hillary's approval ratings were flat. And she made mistakes. But rather than deal with this issue, the party did little to engender goodwill with its more progressive wing to unite the party. Donald Trump’s election galvanized many Americans. Across the political spectrum, the electorate was saying, enough is enough. No more politics as usual. Despite American's clear message, the Dems responded: We'll let you know when you're needed.

Resistance is a Ground Game, 2017

Donald Trump's supporters voted for him because they were angry at being ignored: ignored by both political parties and left out of the social changes they saw happening around them. They voted for Trump because he said things no other politician would say—connecting his words to their rage (even when voters knew what he was saying was outlandish). To bridge the partisan divide, we have to find ways of engaging others and offering tangible alternatives.

Another group of people supported Trump for a different reason: power. Leaders of the GOP and many other conservative elites supported him because they wanted to retain their control in the legislature, in business, and on Wall Street. The only way to upend their hold is to ensure the election process is fair. As the Republican Party gained majorities in state offices, they gerrymandered congressional and state legislative districts in their favor (note: the Democrats have done similar things when given the opportunity). To restore our representational democracy to represent Americans, we must work to end gerrymandering and state laws limiting voting booth access.

We must organize at the local level and run for office to make these changes. Grab your tools and pick your issues.

GOP Lawmakers Discover Their Pants on Fire, 2017

Deception, distortion, fabrication, lies, deceit, untruth. Whatever you call it, this has become the default tactic of the GOP. Worse yet, they accuse others of "fake news" and obfuscation. This is the Republican Party in the Trump era. In 2017, they tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act multiple times. Bills to repeal were hastily brought to the Senate floor with no time for Senators to read the legislation. In a moment of honesty, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stated, “I could maybe give you ten reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered. But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.” Republican "honesty" has become a farce.

So, why the great rush to pass another bill few lawmakers had read? According to Vox, donors pressured the GOP for a “win.” It didn't matter what that win was, but their high rollers wanted to see some benefits for injecting the party with millions of dollars. Money speaks volumes. And, the smell of burning pants wafted heavily throughout the Capitol.

A Xmas Card from the GOP, 2017

In December 2017, the Republican Party finally got its "win" with the passage of its tax overhaul bill. But at what cost? The tax cuts they've enacted will primarily benefit corporations and the rich.

These cuts will add over $1 trillion to our deficit. So, it will be our children and our children's children who will pay for all of this. Historically, deficit reduction was always central to the GOP's platform. In part, their insistence on reducing the debt during the Obama Administration was critical to taking back the House and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections. But no more. In power, both legislative and executive branches went on a spending spree. And when tax cuts passed, Republicans said they would have to cut programs, like Medicare, to pay for these cuts.

Merry Christmas, Republicans. Thanks a trillion.

Spineless!, 2017

In January 2018, President Trump met with a bipartisan committee of lawmakers who presented him with a comprehensive immigration proposal. When he discovered the plan included immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa, he said, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” His racist language drew immediate condemnation from around the world. Illinois Democrat Senator Richard Durbin, who attended that meeting, corroborated what Trump had said. Yet, very few GOP lawmakers repudiated his remarks.

Some Republicans, like Senators John McCain, Bob Corker, and Jeff Flake, have spoken out about the dangers of Donald Trump. But Corker, Flake, and a growing number of GOP legislators are retiring, freeing them to speak up. After The Washington Post reported this, Jeff Gates wrote a letter to the editor, stating legislators have always been free to speak honestly. They just have chosen not to. Party loyalty is more important to them than a candid and rigorous discussion of the president's tactics. Former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly wrote a May 6, 2018 opinion piece expressing similar sentiments.

The silence from the GOP is deafening.

President Trump was known for his false and misleading statements. The Washington Post catalogued them. And by the end of his presidency, the count was 30,573. Yet, despite this, many disenfranchised voters ignored his lying because they saw him as authentically representing their interests when the establishment has ignored them.

In 1959, sociologist Seymour Lipset called this a "crisis of legitimacy." Mark Buchanan wrote in his article, Why Trump Gets Away With Lying, "Lipset suggested that a crisis of legitimacy would have psychological consequences—and set the stage for a lying demagogue to be perceived by many people as bravely speaking suppressed truths. In normal conditions, voters shun any candidate who obviously lies and abuses widely shared social norms. But in a crisis, Lipset argued, disenfranchised voters may see such violations as a symbolic protest, and a deliberate poke in the eye to the elites they have come to despise."

The video below, extolling the GOP's progress in making Americans' lives better, was produced by House Republicans in July 2018. They said, "Republican policies are helping improve people’s lives and making it easier for families to get ahead, with a renewed sense of confidence for the future. America is stronger at home and abroad, with a booming economy, safer communities, and a stronger military."

This contradicted citizens' reality. Instead, the GOP passed a tax cut for the rich. They refused to acknowledge the dangers of climate change and have lowered pollution standards throughout the country. Every month, there is legislation or executive orders meant to weaken the Affordable Care Act. And finally, they have only offered their "thoughts and prayers" whenever there is a gun massacre. This is not bettering Americans' lives.

How long will we have to hold our breath to get a government that puts its citizens before politicians' ambition? Just let that sink in.

"In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the milk can escape. In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an over-sized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death," the escape proved to be a sensation. Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him."

Jeff Gates' posters started with an interest in propaganda and how it's used to sell ideas. According to Timothy Snyder, an historian who has studied 20th century fascism in central and eastern Europe, today we are experiencing a "crisis of responsibility." Those in power say they are blocked from taking action by the opposition. Yet, in reality, the internet allows us to effectively target our messages to very specific groups.

Russia successfully used the net to influence the 2016 presidential election. The reaction by the students to the massacre at of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was so effective, the gun lobby was forced to mobilize to counter and discredit them. And, just as quickly, when conservative pundit Laura Ingraham mocked shooting survivor David Hogg's college rejections, within a day, this 17-year-old successfully called for a boycott of Ingraham's sponsors on Twitter. This is a new and more efficient propaganda from that practiced by the Nazis and Soviets of the 20th century.

Timothy Snyder suggests that Factuality is one of our most threatened institutions. If we don't believe in facts, he says, we can't cooperate, leading to a breakdown of our society. This is happening in America now. His book, On Tyranny offers twenty ways we can mitigate the technological changes that have made this so easy and potentially so dangerous.

Seek different opinions, question our own biases, and find ways to engage the opposition in dialogue. A curious American is a patriotic American.

For more information, watch a dialogue with Timothy Snyder that took place at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs on February 21, 2018.

The poster above was part of the tuberculosis education campaign started by the American Red Cross. Every year, the Red Cross would commission stamps to benefit the study and prevention of tuberculosis. The stamp, pictured in the lower left corner of the poster, depicts a Santa Claus holding a sack marked with a red cross.

Part 1: Partisanship on Overdrive
Part 2: The Electorate
Part 3: Politicians and Our Political Process
Part 4: The Issues
Part 5: Post-Truth: The Contentious 2016 Election
Part 6: Post Election: Post-Truth Reaches New Heights

Next:
Part 7: Immigration, Obstruction, Redaction, Oh My!

Download a brief bibliography of topics covered in this exhibit.