February 4, 2022
Legitimate discourse is dead. It met its untimely death today at the hands of the Republican Party. Admittedly, it was on life support like an unvaccinated patient on a ventilator, but it was the “right to life” party that killed it while it was struggling to survive. Dr. Kevorkian is now the Surgeon General of the GOP. The Republican Party called the January 6th insurrection legitimate political discourse. If that is legitimate political discourse, then what have the rest of us been engaged in? I suppose it is not surprising given that the Insurrectionist-in-Chief decided to offer pardons to the great patriots engaged in political discourse. I guess “Hang Mike Pence” qualifies as discourse.
Legitimate political discourse used to be debates in the well of the Senate. It used to be bull sessions late at night in your dorm room. It was reporters having it out on national television. It was David Brooks debating Mark Shields in the Springfield Public Forum. It was Lincoln vs. Douglas (Stephen, not Frederick.) It was Kennedy-Nixon; it was Bush v. Gore. That was political discourse, warts and all.
The only thing I can say in response to the Republican Party’s reprehensible position on legitimacy is “Illegitimi non carborundum.” February 4th can now join January 6th, September 11th, November 22nd, and December 7th in the annals of American history because that is the day American political discourse died.
The Spin Doctor 