This commentary is by John Bossange of South Burlington, a retired middle school principal.
The day after the inauguration of Donald Trump, Sean Spicer was sent to the White House pressroom to make his first appearance as the President’s press secretary. There, he promptly announced that the crowds on the National Mall were the largest ever seen during a president’s inauguration.
That statement became a baldface lie when news publications printed photos of larger crowds witnessing previous presidential inaugurations. Given what we now know about Mr. Trump, it’s doubtful that anyone else truly cared about the size of the crowd, but Mr. Spicer was directed to make that silly announcement regardless.
However, it was the interview between the reporter Chuck Todd and White House counselor Kelly Anne Conway that really turned heads and sent the nation on the long, destructive journey down the road of lies and falsehoods that have become the norm for the cult-wing of the Republican Party which now, sadly shadowed our midterm elections.
When asked why Mr. Spicer lied about the size of the crowd at the newly elected president’s first news conference, Mrs. Conway defended Mr. Spicer by stating that “we have alternative facts.”
For anyone listening to that conversation, it was a stunning moment and turning point now etched into the nation’s fabric. America received a taste of what was to come when the White House then claimed the photos were doctored to make the newly elected president’s crowds look smaller. “Fake news,” cried the president.
A fact is a fact. There is no such thing as an “alternative fact.” There can and should be alternative opinions based on the same fact. But to take an opinion about the size of the crowd and then call that opinion a fact is a lie.
Unfortunately this has become the foundation for creating an “alternative reality” for the Republican Party’s universe. The intense polarization now engulfing our nation is a direct result of different opinions from the Republican Party becoming “alternative facts.”
President Trump and members of his administration told hundreds of lies based on “alternative facts,” and repeated them again and again until their lies grew into a belief system with a new set of values. Today we are witnessing the weight from six years of lies, still coming from the defeated president and his loyal followers in Congress.
The party’s allegiance to its charismatic leader has created a cult of believers who, by using the media and internet, have spread the untruths and lies across America.
“Alternative facts” have colored beliefs in climate change, economic policies, border issues, the insurrection, the FBI and the Department of Justice, and, of course, the Democratic Party agenda.
But nowhere has the force of “alternative facts” been more destructive than in the support given to the belief that the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen from the former president. The conspiracy theories that have been hatched and spread throughout the media and the internet have fueled violence and created a real threat to the cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.
Sadly, these lies were at the center of our midterm elections, represented by the increase of fringe candidates in the Republican cult coming from the celebrity and entertainment industries, with no governmental or municipal work experience. These candidates fed off the toxic and polarized political environment stoked by the defeated president, spreading more and more lies based on “alternative facts,” which added more fuel to multiple conspiracy theories and violent threats.
Today, members of Congress have sought protective services for themselves and family members, while local militia groups intimidated voters at drop boxes, volunteer poll workers, town and county clerks, and statewide election officials.
This election was not only about the candidates but also about supporting the truth and preserving democracy. Thankfully, there were candidates from both parties who were elected because their opinions and positions were based on a common set of true facts, not an opinion that was a lie, which later became an “alternative fact.”
By electing those candidates who did not spread lies, voters sent an important message to the Republican cult and to America: There is no such thing as an “alternative fact.” There could be no more important message as we head into the elections in 2024.
There were lots of reasons to vote for a candidate from either party. But voting for a candidate who spread alternative facts supporting conspiracies and threats of violence did severe harm to our communities and to our democratic election process.
Now that candidates have been elected, we need to have respectful concessions followed by peaceful transitions reflecting our town, county, state and national results.
