let's build a better media ecosystem
and the Party of No
Over the last several decades, and especially since 2009, Republicans have set the media world on fire. After losing badly to Obama's messages of hope and collaboration, Republican leaders saw the writing on the wall that the policies that work for the few and the wealthy (i.e., the Republican platform) aren't all that appealing to the masses. Unless they changed gears, they would watch their demise.
Faced with this reality, they could have decided to be a rational and conservative partner to Obama and Democrats in building a country that works for most Americans. Having two healthy parties to debate ideas is really important and helpful. I'd love to see a truly conservative party come to the negotiating table in good faith, looking to serve Americans.
Wouldn't it be nice if the Democrats could continue to be the party of "let's do these huge amazing things for Americans" and Republicans were the party of "great idea - we agree on the end goal, but let’s push the breaks, take a look at the financials, and make sure we’re executing the best path to prosperity."
Instead, Republicans chose to become the Party of No1, blindly opposing, fighting, lying about, and intentionally breaking the government. They sought to shred anything that might give the impression Democrats and liberalism had something to offer Americans. They chose to put a blowtorch to the government, muck up the gears as much as they could, shamelessly lie about it, and blame everything on Democrats.2 This is why Trump is returning to the White House, and why I’m convinced a lot of people who voted for Trump don’t actually know what they’re in for.
Since then, Republicans have been laser-focused on breaking the government and screaming about how broken it is to convince voters that the government doesn't work. They built an entire media infrastructure around spewing hate and lies, well-funded by billionaires (and so far, Democrats refuse to create a similar media sphere). Additionally, they've received support from mainstream media as it tries to “Both Sides” the maelstrom and sanitize the insanity.3
here are some examples
Not sure what I mean? Instead of coming to the table to negotiate and work through legitimate legislation proposals, they've worked hard to say no to absolutely anything Democrats offer.
Affordable Care Act
Under Obama, Democrats jammed through the Affordable Care Act as Republicans refused to negotiate. Then, Republicans unsuccessfully tried to eliminate it during Trump's administration, despite having no plans to replace what gave millions of Americans health care, eliminated pre-existing condition restrictions, and has been well-liked by most Americans since it was implemented. Imagine how much better it could have been if Republicans had come to the table to work together on it.
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)
Among other legislation, BIL and IRA have invested billions of dollars (and encouraged far more private investment) in our infrastructure, economy, and clean energy. We desperately need these investments for general maintenance of roads and bridges, job creation, and climate action.
Despite not a single Republican vote for the IRA, nearly 80% of investments have been made in red (Republican) districts. You better believe that after screaming about how bad the legislation was and refusing to support it, those Republican legislators take full responsibility for the economic investment and job creation benefitting their local constituents.
It’s fair to question the amount of spending on some of these bills, particularly with a ballooning national deficit. Fiscal conservatives traditionally represented by Republicans probably would have appreciated more good-faith negotiation from their representatives to challenge the expenditures. But most Republicans right now refuse to do anything other than jam up the system and tell lies about why the government isn’t working.
Instead of looking for solutions, particularly around climate, Republicans have spent the last several decades being “liars, liars, pants on fire.” At the same time, wildfires are burning up our forests, and hurricanes are washing away what’s left at unprecedented rates thanks to fossil fuels heating up the planet.
We must acknowledge the cost of not making these investments relative to paying for them now. Proactive investment in preventing problems is almost always less expensive than reactive spending on fixing broken things. This is true, especially for big things like infrastructure maintenance and climate action.
Suppose concern for the deficit was the Republicans' real motivation (spoiler alert: it's not). In that case, they'd also discuss tax increases, not substantial tax cuts for the wealthy and eliminating the IRS. It’s all a farce to protect corporate profits.
Immigration Bill
The intent to break and not fix couldn't be more evident than with the long-negotiated, good faith, bipartisan immigration bill presented to Congress earlier this year. Despite major concessions by Democrats,4 Republicans wouldn't even put the bill up for discussion or a vote. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said the bill was "dead on arrival." DOA?! If Republicans acted in good faith, they would have brought the bill to the floor, negotiated terms, and let the representatives vote. If it was that bad, representatives could explain precisely why they didn't like it.
Instead, Donald Trump knew it would pass because it was pretty good. It wasn't perfect. Our immigration system is woefully broken and has been for decades. A solution requires more than one piece of legislation. However, under no circumstances did Republicans want a Democratic president to receive any credit for successful, bipartisan legislation that began to fix a real problem in our country. Instead of passing a solution, they wanted to perpetuate the problem to keep citizens angry through election season.
No legislation is perfect. That's not the goal and never will be. We want incremental change. As society changes, so does our work around building policies and programs that serve us. It’s always a work in progress. But imagine what we could accomplish if Republicans would partake in the business of cooperative legislating instead of just being arsonists.
Time and again, Republicans are clear that they aren't looking for solutions; they're just looking to break things and make the government appear dysfunctional.
Some of the worst acting representatives have larger communications teams than legislative teams. That's telling! They're more focused on creating social media mayhem and accruing press appearances than writing legislation to get anything done. We don't need to name them; we know precisely who these people are.
independent media to promote liberal priorities
While it's taken a while, Democrats have started to build an independent media ecosystem to counter the Republican dumpster fire of personalities shamelessly lying to Americans. These outlets alone won't counter the angry, disingenuous voices being paid handsome sums of money to create outrage content to profit off your fear.
The objective isn’t to lie better, create more outrage content, or beat them at their own game. The goal is to convince Americans that it doesn’t have to be this way; there is a better option than hating all. the. things. Hopefully, more liberal independent media outlets can give each of us the tools and information we need to have meaningful conversations with people in our own lives to be the antidote to the hate and lies coming from Republican mouthpieces.5 Maybe we can even talk about global warming with the crazy uncle at Thanksgiving. One can dream. 🫠
a few voices whose perspectives I appreciate
To that end, here are some of my voices in the liberal (little L) media space that offer thoughtful critiques and commentary on building a better government that works for all Americans. From this crew, you'll get a mix of daily news, thoughtful analysis, and ways to move forward in a world currently led by Republican politicians and their megaphones trying to burn it all down.
Most of these media sources have multiple channels (Substack, Instagram, YouTube, and maybe others), so look them up online, and you’ll surely find them.
We’ve all got a part to play to end the nonsense. Let’s do this. 💛
Liberally-leaning analysis and commentary
| | Brian Tyler Cohen | | | Crooked Media (Pod Save America and Pod Save the World) | | More Perfect Union | |(Former) Government officials with an insider view of politics that appeals to reasonable audiences
Pete Buttigieg | Jen Psaki | Jeff Jackson
Daily news outlets
Mosheh |
Podcasts on specific topics about community resiliency and climate action
Additionally, here are some podcasts about building a more resilient country that uses liberal policy to work for the people and make our country a better place to live. You can find all of them in your preferred podcast player.
- (clean energy)
Reconnect America (rail as a climate solution)
Strong Towns (building more robust, more resilient municipal government and local communities)
Regen Brands (highlighting brands operating with regenerative business models)
How to Save a Planet (older podcast/archives, actions we can take as individuals to be more client-friendly)
- (conversations about what the world can look like if we get climate action right; it’s not all doom and gloom)
I'm sure there are so many more. Let me know what I'm missing! I look forward to finding good resources that can help us rebuild and reconnect in a way that makes our country better for all of us.
From Shameless: Republicans' Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy by Brian Tyler Cohen
I'm not suggesting Democrats are perfect or without their cranks—they're not. But this is not a 'both sides are the same' business. Republicans' lying and conspiracy theories are off the charts, and that's not the case for Democrats to the same degree. Furthermore, Democrats are trying to make the government work—maybe not exactly how everyone wants, but work nonetheless. Republicans in leadership right now are just trying to break everything.
Nowhere are Democrats as a party promoting big lies like stolen elections (which seem to be a thing of the past since Trump won???? 🤥), climate change is a hoax, immigrants eating neighbors' pets, and the list goes on. No left-leaning equivalent of QAnon is infiltrating the party platform and sending representatives to Congress.
Republicans made concessions, too, but Democrats didn't kill the bill just because they didn't get 100% of what they wanted. That's not how government (or life!) works. We all have to compromise every day on just about everything. That's life, and that's OK! It’s precisely what we want from our representatives because compromise is how we arrive at solutions that reflect what most Americans want from our government.
Surely, some people support Republican initiatives that have good intentions. The loudest voices, however, are generally not showing up with benevolent intentions.