"Missing - Trust in Government, Media and in the People"

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.b;ogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“Missing – Trust in Government, Media and in the People”

July 21, 2022

 

“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers

of the society but the people themselves…”

                                                                                                                                   Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

                                                                                                                                    Letter to William Charles Jarvis

                                                                                                                                     20 September 1820

 

On a sunny but cool day in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four months after the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln gave a four-minute address. In it he reminded the audience: “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.” The freedom we experience in this experiment that is the United States is based upon the individual citizen being the ultimate source of power, expressed through their representatives in municipalities, states and the U.S. Congress. Granted, in times of emergency, presidents, governors and mayors have assumed exceptional powers, as did Lincoln when, in 1863, he signed the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863. Nevertheless, fundamental to democracy is trust by government in the people to make the right decisions – that they know best their self-interests. Also fundamental to democracy is trust by the people in the political process. Today, trust is missing.

 

A Pew Research Center study, Public Trust in Government: 1958-2022, tells a dismal story. Over those years trust in government declined from 73% on December 1, 1958 to 20% on May 1, 2022. While there were modest increases during the Reagan and Clinton years and a spike in the immediate post-9/11 period, the trend has been down for most of those years the study covers. The decline has been across both political parties and among Independents. Interestingly, according to Pew, trust in government is lowest among whites and highest among Asians.

 

Trust in government begins with elections. There are two aspects of the electoral process: Voter registration should be easy, accessible and secure. And registrars should be certain that the candidate is who she or he claims to be and is eligible to vote. Some form of ID should be required, as it is in Connecticut. In general, Democrats claim the registration process is too onerous, and Republicans claim that too many who are not legally eligible are permitted to vote. We can argue as to whether voting is a right or a privilege, but the process should be easy, fair and honest. This should not be difficult to resolve; it simply takes both sides to admit to mutual concerns.

 

The 2020 election, held during the Covid-19 pandemic, manifested the problems of not voting at one’s precinct or by traditional absentee ballot. Complicated rules, the use of ballot drop-boxes (now declared illegal by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court) and ballot harvesting, a questionable practice used by some states, lent credence to those who questioned the 2020 results. As well, early voting, in my opinion, is a mistake. Politicians use the practice to encourage voters to go to the polls after a rousing campaign speech, at a time when emotions, not rationality, dictate decisions. Taking time to consider candidates and their policies is preferable. One should always be able to vote by absentee ballot if circumstances dictate. Nevertheless, if the process of voting is not trusted, people will not trust the politicians elected to office.

 

And they don’t. An ABC/Ipsos Poll conducted In January showed that only 20% of the public say they are confident about our electoral system, down from 37% in 2021, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. While Republicans are less confident of election integrity than Democrats or Independents, only 30% of Democrats and 20% of Independents trust our system of elections – a sad commentary on the world’s oldest democracy. 

 

Politicians, and the media who cover them take no prisoners. There is no civility, no Robert’s Rules of behavior, no “according to Hoyle.” The news we get today on television would be unrecognizable to Lowell Thomas, John Cameron Swayze, Walter Cronkite, or Eric Sevareid. In terms of trust in the media, a Reuters poll from last July found the United States ranked last of 46 countries surveyed. (A Gallup poll released three days ago showed further declines in Americans’ confidence regarding news sources.) This is a self-inflicted wound. For example, hard as it is to believe, but the Washington Post and The New York Times received Pulitzers for their reporting on the alleged “Russian collusion,” which claimed Mr. Trump colluded with Mr. Putin during the 2016 Presidential campaign. When the Mueller investigation found no such collusion, the prizes were not rescinded nor was any apology issued. This was not investigative journalism; it was propaganda. People watch, listen to and read news that supports their opinions. 

 

The nation is divided, a consequence of politicians compartmentalizing the electorate for easier access and abetted by a media that sees extremism as an easier route to profits. The January 6 committee exemplifies the problem. No matter one’s feelings about Donald Trump and the intent of those in the mob that descended on the Capitol, this is not an impartial investigation into the events of that day. It is a one-sided inquisition, without due process. Members of the committee were selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with no input from Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy. Witnesses were not cross examined. The committee is manifestation of why there is so little trust in government.

 

The wide and excessive use of mandates by government in reaction to Covid-19 suggested a lack of trust in people to behave in their own self-interest. It is not that people always decide correctly, but on balance they do, for the instinct to survive is strong. In foreign policy, relations with allies depend on mutual trust. Once lost, trust is hard to retrieve. Think Afghanistan and a failure to follow up on the Abraham Accords.

 

What will turn the situation around? I don’t know and am not sure it can be turned. We do not get straight news from the press. And the corruption in Washington’s swamp is well known. The number of politicians who have used public office for private gain is legion – the temptation is too great. The highest paid journalists on the right and on the left are those who are most extreme. John Adams wrote to a John Taylor in 1814 that “there has never been a democracy that did not commit suicide.” Man, including those in politics and the media, is an imperfect creature, subject to vanity, pride, selfishness, greed and dishonesty. It is why the Founders insisted on a government with checks and balances.

 

Now, the loss of trust signals our decline. It is sad because trust is instinctive – we are born with it – and it is not limited to humans. A puppy trusts its mother to protect and feed him, as does a new-born foal, or a newly hatched osprey. And a new-born baby trusts its mother to protect and nurture it. Trust is inherent in families, schools, sports, business transactions. “Trust but verify” was a term President Reagan used regarding nuclear disarmament, which showed rationality. But trust goes deeper. It may be an abstraction, but it is the fundamental building block of a democracy. Without it, we revert to anarchy or dictatorship.