Thomas Jefferson, American hero of profound thought (as well as an early supporter of interracial relations) said, “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic.” If he was correct, the United States is in trouble.
The American citizenry has a serious case of unenlightenment.
And many are not only unenlightened, but are actively anti-intellectual. This can be seen among such criticisms of the president as: he is “professorial,” he is “intellectually distant,” “he listens to pointyheads and leftist professors,” “he eats arugula.” Such benightedness is nothing new. Consider the “Know Nothings,” Pitchfork Ben Tillman, America Firsters, the John Birch Society. Consider such current presidential candidates as Santorum of Pennsylvania, who believes that gay marriage will lead to sex with animals.
To that list may be added the modern tea partiers who want to “get government out of Medicare.”
Dark as that smudge is on the national fabric, the really dark stain is one of deliberate pandering to ignorance and prejudice by political leaders. For a politician to say something he (or she) knows to be false is an all too frequent characteristic of the breed. That three of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination swear they do not believe in evolution is nothing new. The real fear for the republic is that disinformation – or outright falsehood and superstition – is now instantly expanded by modern communications. In this new electronic world, the fertile fields in which intellectual benightedness flourishes are expanded to acreage unimaginable to Tom Jefferson.
The meteoric (and exceedingly profitable) rise of Fox News in only a couple decades is not only a cultural phenomenon – it is a fire whistle, it is an armed terrorist in the aircraft aisle, a threat that should get everyone out of their seats. That Fox could flourish – let alone survive – in this explosive new world should be a wakeup call to the republic. Pulitzer and Hearst could urge the nation into war a century ago. Huey Long and Father Coughlin could fulminate their poison during the 1930s, Joe McCarthy could excite fear with his drunken nightmares in the 50s, but never has there been an immoral communication empire with the ability to reach every single citizen – one answerable to only one man – to mislead and “unenlighten.”
Ignorance and prejudice as a hallmark of American culture can be accepted as a historical fact; it seems part of the national DNA. NASCAR is more exciting than reading a book. Big Macs taste better than broccoli. Fear is easier and more natural than courage. Texas schoolbooks have replaced Thomas Jefferson with Jefferson Davis (perhaps the name confused the Texas school board). It is one thing to accept the beguiling symbolism of an earth created in six days; it’s another to believe that dinosaurs were saddled and ridden by humans. But, in the interest of Mr. Jefferson’s “properly functioning republic,” such weakness should be recognized and sterilized. This monster that competitive financial greed and technology have foisted onto the republic needs to be balanced.
The Tea Party’s hero, Tom Jefferson, rewrote the New Testament, proving to himself that Jesus was neither the product of divine birth nor the Son of God. He kept an English translation of the Koran in his library. He had a long-term relationship with his black slave beginning when she was 16, who bore him several children. He drank booze distilled on his own farm and he often bet on horse races. What’s worse, he unilaterally (without congressional approval) committed the American taxpayer (who was sorely burdened at the time) to the purchase of a zillion acres of Louisiana wilderness – just to make America competitive.
Would Fox News and the tea partiers support him for president today?
Quote of the week: “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Sinclair Lewis
Rodney Quinn, a former Maine secretary of state and university history and government instructor, lives in Westbrook. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.
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