BY FRANK SALVATO
One of the things that Fabian Socialists – the modern day version of Progressives – understood was that perception is reality to the mass of humanity. This is the reason the two most coveted institutions captured by Progressives in their quest to “control the narrative” were the education system and the media. In controlling both they are able to install the “truth” from the beginning and counter any challenge to their truth in the immediate. We are witnessing the latter with the faux Russian-Trump scandals.
With absolutely no evidence unearthed by any federal investigative entity – be it the CIA, FBI, NSA or any other, Progressive forces in elected office and the usual suspects in the mainstream media are advancing the narrative that there is evidence – not yet found – that confirms collusion and/or criminal activity on the part of the Trump campaign where the Russians influencing the 2016 General Election is concerned.
We are also witnessing the advancement of a false-narrative in the issue of President Trump’s conversation with former FBI Director James Comey, in which he expressed his desire – not an order, but a hope – for the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s private sector activities with Russian officials to come to a conclusion. To listen to Progressive operatives like US Rep. Maxine Waters (P-CA), Trump has committed high crimes and misdemeanors and is worthy of impeachment. Of course, nothing illegal – or even unethical – took place. Again, it is all about advancing a politically opportune narrative for the Left.
An effectively advanced narrative is, in our modern day political climate, “truth.”
To the issue of Russian-Trump collusion to affect the 2016 General Election: There is no evidence or any reports of foreign national interference with any ballot box in any county in any state. To think that this could have occurred without the Clinton campaign spotlighting the exact instance is to be delusional. It would have been on the front page of every newspaper and the lead story on every news program, and it would have affected the results of the Electoral College in a truly historic way.
In the issue of “Flynngate” – and to use a phrase coined by former President Barack Obama, words matter. Stating a desire – which does not, even in the most bizarre quarters of any alter-universe, equate to an order – is not an attempt to obstruct justice, nor does it translate into high crimes and misdemeanors, the requirement for impeachment. There is no “there” there. Yet, the Progressive Left is advancing that false-narrative to the detriment of President Trump’s promised reform agenda.
Which leads me to my point.
The danger of engaging in narrative politics; of getting sucked into narrative politics is that it sucks time, energy and political capital away from a pronounced purpose. In the case of the Trump administration, they – and congressional Republicans – are now so focused on combatting the false allegations of a Russian boogieman; on countering the false narratives advanced in the media, that Democrats are able to run out the clock on the enactment of reforms promised by President Trump during the election.
Progressives and Democrats in Congress – and in their allied Super PACs and non-profit advocacy groups – have effectively duped Republicans (and many in the Trump administration) into useless political shadow boxing instead of using their majority in Congress to move agenda items. It’s classic Alinsky and Republicans – and the senior members of the Trump administration – are falling for it.
If Republicans were bright – and quite honestly, with every year I spend in political reality the jury is increasingly out on that, they would use the media’s “scandal attention span” to their advantage. Imagine Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration engaging vivaciously in a narrative battle with Democrats so as to occupy the mainstream media’s attention while – at the very same time – moving reform legislation to law. Which do you believe the media would focus on in the immediate? Which do you believe the public would be drawn to in the daily news cycle?
To that end ask yourself this question. Did Bill Clinton’s agenda stop dead in its tracks during the Lewinski scandal, or did he move legislation – perhaps legislation not popular with his party, the people or both – under the cover of the scandal?
This is the fundamental difference between Progressives and Republicans. Progressives understand how to take advantage of a crisis…and to their advantage.